My View/Your View: Indy 500 Hype is Tough for High School Sports to Overcome

I once had a Marian College baseball coach tell me that the worst thing to happen to high school baseball in Central Indiana was the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 500-Mile Race.

You know, that annual event that pretty much dominates the sports pages.

When we were talking baseball a few years back, the coach, now an administrator at another school, just pointed a little further west of the college campus in reference to the Speedway when the discussion centered around the popularity or lack of in terms of high school baseball in May.

He didn’t go into great deal of an explanation; he didn’t need to.

I interpreted him to mean because of all of the Month of May attention, the race itself on the Sunday before Memorial Day and the fact the Indiana High School Athletic Association baseball sectionals get under way a few days after the Race – Thursday, May 28 (this year).

I guess it makes sense that most of the attention would surround the event known as the Greatest Spectacle in Racing at the Auto Racing Capital of the World.

But if all the hoopla and hype around the race indeed overshadows high school baseball, then it’s a real shame for teams, players, coaches and parents . . . and the sport itself.

And if you think high school baseball feels overshadowed, try and imagine how the softball programs must feel. I mean, geez, the softball sectionals actually get under way on Memorial Day, and run through May 30.

In some cases, there are some girls teams that might even be able to hear the roar of the engines should Sunday’s race be rained out and moved to Memorial Day.

Getting back to baseball, a sport I’m an avid fan of (I covered high school baseball for years while in the newspaper business and coached at the game at four different levels). I managed in Little League and Babe Ruth, and coached American Legion and Semi-Pro ball. And being around baseball for so many years, you sort of notice when a sport like high school baseball takes a back seat in terms of local coverage and attendance, especially in the Indianapolis area this time of the year.

And that’s a real injustice for a sport that provides such a great game.

I’m wondering if some high school baseball coaches might want to share their thoughts on the subject. I’d be interested in hearing from them with hopes of discussing the issue, if coaches indeed see it as an issue, and possibly see if there’s a way to create more interest and pump up the volume on fan support, if you will, in general, this time of the year.

One positive thing to happen to high school baseball, in my opinion, is the fact the four class championship games are played at Victory Field, home of the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians. It’s just too bad they must be played so late (June 19 and 20), when schools are not in session. Most people are undoubtedly thinking “vacations’’ rather than baseball. Another negative for baseball, you say?

Still, Victory Field . . . wow . . . what a great venue!