Take Madness | NATE ROBINSON REGION

Welcome to Take Madness, The Pitt News’ version of March Madness, but with hot sports takes. For the third day of Take Madness, we have the Nate Robinson region. This region is comprised of four writers from three areas where Nate Robinson played during his NBA career — New York, Boston and Chicago. 

You, the readers, can vote on The Pitt News Sports Desk’s Instagram and X accounts.  

Just let Whitham play // No. 1 Sara Meyer, Senior Staff Writer

Mak Whitham made her professional debut for Gotham FC as the youngest player in NWSL history at just 14 years old last Saturday. The historic milestone stirred up controversy over the u18 players in the NWSL. While there are restrictions in place to protect u18 athletes, critics claim that Whitham shouldn’t sacrifice her childhood to jumpstart her professional career. But nearly every pro athlete has made the same sacrifice. 

Soccer athletes usually join professional youth organizations around the age of 10, and sports like tennis start around that age too. While it’s not common to officially go pro in early teen years, Whitham isn’t the first. Serena Williams made her professional debut when she was just 14, and just last summer, Cavan Sullivan joined the NSL at 14. 

Every professional athlete has devoted their life to the game — Whitham is no different. At the end of the day, if Whitham can play at the NWSL’s caliber, then she deserves to play. 

Country Roads, Take Me … to the couch // No. 2 Sean McQuillan, Staff Writer

The West Virginia Mountaineers will not return to the coveted March Madness tournament.

Whether you are a Pitt fan or not, you would have had West Virginia over North Carolina any day of the week. West Virginia’s resume included a NET ranking of 51 and a Quad 1 record of 6-10 with key wins against Gonzaga, Kansas, Arizona and Iowa State — teams that are listed as 8 seeds or higher in the March Madness bracket.

North Carolina’s resume? They had a NET ranking of 36. Better, but the Quad 1 record the Tar Heels obtained was 1-12. The lone key win was against UCLA — a 7 seed.

How did UNC get in over West Virginia?

It just happens that the athletic director of UNC, Bubba Cunningham, is a part of the selection committee. The governor of West Virginia, Patrick Morrisey, spoke out about the situation, threatening legal action against the NCAA and going as far as labeling them as “The National Corrupt Athletic Association.”

Pitt should participate in the NIT // No. 3 Andrew Lavin, Staff Writer

After a lackluster season that resulted in Pitt missing the NCAA tournament for the second straight year, the university has opted to decline invitations to any postseason tournaments. 

It seems that athletic director Allen Greene and head coach Jeff Capel believe focusing on recruitment is more important than participating in postseason play this year. But winning a tournament like the NIT would provide a much stronger selling point to recruits than the underwhelming season Pitt has had.

Competing in the NIT could also serve as a confidence boost for returning players as they look to bounce back next season. This year’s NIT bracket features strong competition including many frequent NCAA Tournament participants, three of which are ACC teams.

Rather than accepting a disappointing season, Pitt’s men’s basketball team should seize the opportunity to compete in the NIT where the chance to win a lower-level tournament is right in front of them.

The ballpark experience has deteriorated in recent years // No. 4 Robert Thompson, Staff Writer

Major League Baseball’s implementation of a pitch clock has undoubtedly succeeded in its objective. The pitch clock shaved 24 minutes off the average MLB game in 2023, the first year of the timer. Even after these improvements, the MLB lowered the time between pitches with runners on base from 20 to 18 seconds. 

The threat of an automatic ball or strike has limited batters stepping out of the batter’s box to adjust their batting gloves, or pitchers roaming the mound to collect themselves for a pivotal pitch. But with the new time constraints, fans are far more likely to miss an at-bat, if not more, when leaving their seat for the concourse between innings.

If the MLB is steadfast in its use of the pitch clock, it should improve the in-game fan experience. It should loosen time constraints to reduce the frenetic pace of games. Teams should also restore the practice of vendors meandering sections with beverages and food to prevent fans from missing any action.