NATIONAL COLLEGIATE BASEBALL WRITERS NEWSLETTER (Volume 43, No. 2, Feb. 27, 2004) NCBWA President’s Message By NCBWA President Jeff Hurd Before basketball’s March Madness descends upon us, it is a little amazing that some Division I baseball teams are approaching the 20-game mark (notably Kansas at 9-7-1 through Feb. 23 and Cal Poly at 12- 4 prior to its Feb. 25-29 games). Before you know it, the NCAA Regionals will be upon us. This absolutely is one of the busiest but most intriguing times of the college sports year with as many as 10-12 sports occurring simultaneously from baseball to men’s volleyball to golf to indoor track to gosh- knows-what. It’s also refreshing to welcome the initial 2004 NCAA Division II NCBWA poll to this month’s newsletter and to see some of the baseball teams from cooler weather regions migrating south for the annual ritual of spring break baseball. The incessant pings of the aluminum bats remind us that the sights and smells of springtime and conference baseball cannot be far off; enjoy and sneak out of the arenas when time permits for some great diamond activity. Sincerely, Jeff Hurd - NCBWA President - Western Athletic Conference NCBWA Division I Players of Week The NCBWA Division I National Players of the Week are into their third week of the 2004 season. Nominees for the aw2ard are taken from Conference players of the week and announced on Tuesday. NCBWA Vice-President Mike Montoro of Southern Miss (
[email protected]) coordinates the weekly awards.