by Tom Borish (12/6/03)

One of the last photos of the Bolwing Green men's team together for a final time

"We fought a good fight. We said and did all the right things, but the cards were stacked against us." Western Michigan men's head coach Mike Turk could not have said it any better. With the recent news of his program as the latest in the Mid-American Conference to be eliminated, the only question left to ask is: Will the sport survive?

Since 2001, the domino effect of men's track & field programs to get cut included Bowling Green, Marshall, Toledo, Ball State and now Western Michigan. Many have pointed to football as being the ultimate killer of non-revenue sports since the MAC is trying to compete with the "big boys" in the BCS system. Several have also pointed out that state budget cuts are just too hard to keep up with. Either way, men's track & field in the MAC will no longer be the same.

We won't get into the reasons why men's track & field is getting eliminated at a rapid pace, as that discussion can never be found to a simple conclusion. We can, however, focus on by eliminating these programs, it provides less opportunities for student-athletes and coaches in the Midwest.

The level of competition is no more and it will be easier than ever just to make the finals of each championship event. As recently as three years ago, it was a dog fight just to make it out of the prelims. Soon, with the recent number of roster spots dropping as well, it won't be much of a fight.

So many coaches have worked long hours to get where they are at today. Long time Western Michigan head coach Jack Shaw stepped down just a couple years ago as the helm was handed to current head coach Mike Turk. Now Turk must look for another opportunity at no fault of his.

We see this all the time in nearly every career field. The city of Cleveland, Ohio, is expected to lay off 300 full-time police officers and fire fighters. Silicon Valley in California is now turning to hiring overseas workers to do their work as the technology force is simply too much of a cost to most companies.

The people who suffer the most, however, are the student-athletes. To deny these young men an opportunity for the sake of saving money in which other sports, such as football, continues to spend and lose money every year, simply is not fair. This is the argument most people have come to, especially in the MAC, where football will never be in the same league as the Big Ten, SEC or PAC 10.

Although the loss of these fine programs hits the heart hard, perhaps we all should have realized from the beginning that it was never meant to be. At least we can all reminisce about the glory days of the MAC. From Dave Wottle of Bowling Green to Dale Cowper of Western Michigan, the conference will never have the glory it once did. It's just too bad that they will all be memories and not much to look forward to.