Since announcing the PRAWN rule effective for 2006 ISC play, there have been numerous and predictable comments made by various individuals. We want to take this opportunity to fully explain the ISC’s position on why this rule is being adopted.
State of the Game – No one involved in our sport can deny the declining state of men’s fastball. We are continually losing teams, mainly because sponsors cannot or will not continue spending the amount of money currently needed to sponsor a competitive, top level team. We have tried various means over the years to reverse this trend but as long as there are sponsors willing to invest $200,000+ for their teams, the current trend is likely to continue.
Spread The Talent – One of the desired affects of PRAWN is to spread the talent among more teams. The feeling is certain existing teams are just lacking that one key pitcher or player. Current lower level teams can also see where a key world-class pitcher or player could turn them into World Tournament contenders or at least have a chance at a decent finish in the ISC World Tournament.
The Big Four – No, not teams. This is about the various segments needed to continue staging a successful 40-team ISC World Tournament. Those segments are teams, fans, host city and the ISC as an organization. If any one of these segments is not happy or their expectations are not met, the tournament is not successful.
Host City – 2 of the past 3 years, the ISC has had only one city bidding for the World Tournament. To be a successful host city, there are various components to have in hand. Adequate facilities. Fan base. Competitive host team. Volunteers. A typical host city will have an operating budget of close to $250,000US. To have a chance at financial success, the host must have the economic impact brought by 80 teams (WT & II) and game attendance to generate sufficient sales revenue from parking, admissions, concessions, programs, beer, photography and souvenirs. Remember, if there is no host city, there is no ISC World Tournament.
Teams – In Eau Claire, we had 40-teams with none to spare. There was not another team in North America that wanted to be in the ISC World Tournament that wasn’t there. And of the 40, two were International teams. Re-read State of the Game above. I could be wrong but I don’t believe many, if any, of our current players have ever played competitive fastball in a setting quite like the ISC World Tournament. 5000+ fans per night, extensive local newspaper and TV coverage of the tournament, Worldwide Streaming of numerous games, the carnival atmosphere at the park, the Hall of Fame inductions, the Bridge To The Future clinic for local kids and the 40-team ISC II Tournament of Champions nearby. I hope everyone has noticed and appreciates the number of ISC II players who attend the World Tournament every day as fans.
Fans – People can say what they want but in Eau Claire, the Power Pool concept attracted more fans to round robin games from Friday thru Wednesday than we had in Kimberly in 2003 or Kitchener in 2002 or Eau Claire in 2001. Fans do not want to spend money or waste time watching a 17-0, 5-inning blowout. But they will and do come to see top 10 teams play one another. If the fans don’t come, the host won’t be successful and the teams won’t be happy.
The ISC – To operate the ISC organization, we need the standard bid fee our host city guarantees, just to run our organization each year. If we have to lower our minimum bid fee, we have no choice but to reduce or eliminate services we currently provide, i.e., Web Site, Guide, Streaming, Statistics, Internet information continually updated, Team Travel Fund, etc. All those services cost money.
As a related aside, the ISC has now instituted two changes beginning in 2006 to help lower our host city’s expenses. These changes are all internal and won’t impact teams or fans. But they will certainly help our host cities. This cost reduction project will continue with other host cost-cutting efforts.
Options To PRAWN – The PRAWN concept was developed by the ISC Player Rep Committee as a means of spreading the talent among more teams thereby creating not only more teams but teams who can be legitimately competitive in the ISC World Tournament. Our original effort many years ago, was the Out of Area rule which has been moderately successful and just last year the Pitcher List concept which was approved and rescinded because it would have had zero effect.
In reading many of the criticisms about the PRAWN rule, it is disappointing that no one has offered any suggestions or options. It’s easy to criticize. How about some alternative ideas? Too many of those commenting are looking at the overall picture from only one or two perspectives. As an organization, we have to look at what is best for every involved segment.
Double Elimination? – Many are still critical of the ISC’s move to a round robin format. Everyone, including the well-sponsored teams, enjoy the aura of a 40-team tournament. Right? How many teams would we get if we went back to double elimination? I guarantee we would have no international teams and my guess is we’d be lucky to attract 24 total teams. What’s wrong with 24 teams? Nothing from a pure competition standpoint but our hosts are not going to bid our minimum for a 24 team tournament where some teams get eliminated on the 2nd or 3rd day. It’s a cycle and all parts of the cycle must be satisfied.
Too Many Rules? – We have been criticized for having too many rules governing players and their options. Virtually every player control rule we have adopted has been for a stop-gap purpose as certain teams do anything and everything possible to circumvent a rule or figure out how to get around it. One manager has already told me of a loophole in the PRAWN rule. Maybe he’s right, I just don’t know. Details haven’t been provided. So in less than a week, someone has spent considerable time trying to figure out how to “break” the intent of the rule. Why wasn’t that time spent trying to figure out how to field the best possible team within the structure and intent of the rule? We don’t create new rules for the sake of rule creation. We are forced to new rules by a handful of individuals who spend inordinate amounts of time trying to figure out ways to circumvent the rules we have.
Summary – I am very proud of our ISC body and the talented, dedicated individuals who invest unbelievable amounts of time to better our sport and our organization. Do we always do things right? No, but it’s not for lack of effort. We’re trying very hard to maintain the sport we love and hopefully see it grow. We continually try to make each World Tournament a little better than the prior one. We try to encourage and assist in player/pitcher development but don’t seem to get the needed help from those outside the organization.
Is PRAWN the answer? Obviously, no one knows and won’t know until we have at least a year of experience with it. I honestly believe the first year will be the most difficult. After that, it should smooth out. Let’s give it a try.
Ken Hackmeister
ISC Executive Director
Mailto:iscken at comcast.net