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The Ivy League got a big feather in its cap the other day when the NCAA voted to act on the recommendation of its advisory committee and ban the text messaging of athletic recruits until at least 2008.

But check out what one of Division I's higher-profile schools thinks of the ban:

"We were in the Division I assistant coaches committee meeting at the AFCA Convention, and the discussion about this proposal from the Ivy League was brought up," Southern Methodist University recruiting coordinator Eric Roark said. "Everybody was asking why the Ivy League was proposing such a drastic shift. They don't even recruit. They don't offer athletic scholarships. I think almost everybody agreed that proposal was idiotic."

Well thanks for that wonderful insight into Ivy League athletics, Mr. Roark. Among those pot shots at the Ivies, I think you gave some great insights into what assistant coaches want to make their lives easier.

Except that's not what the debate is about.

Now, I can't speak to what a bunch of assistant coaches -- whose careers are consumed by recruiting, often against other schools -- really thinks of the new statute, or of the Ivy League. But I think it would be an utter shame if an entirely reasonable response to a loophole in NCAA laws was villified by a perpetual "Ivy League proposal" tag -- or worse, if the Ivy League were villified by it.

The idea has been student-driven. No coaches ever complained about their texting bills being too high -- that was those being texted talking. Plus, the NCAA had its choice of two proposals to consider, and did not want to consider the more moderate of the two. It chose to vote on the all-or-nothing proposal, and that is what it got.

So from now on, let's not think of the NCAA's self-regulation as the baby of some renegade league of Northerners, but as the inevitable conclusion of an ongoing problem.

And just as an aside, I think this will help out the Ivies. One of the biggest problems Ivy coaches have is that, because those coaches' yield is much lower than scholarship programs, they must keep track of many more potential Quakers or Lions or Elis than their competitors. And since text-messaging is a universal activity for coaches, removing it will do nothing to increase their workloads, and Ivy coaches won't have to worry about keeping up one more mode of communication between recruits and themselves. Given the number of recruits they have to keep track of relative to their peers, they have a tough enough time already.

So for crying out loud, level the playing field -- for the coaches as well as the athletes.

And then, Mr. Roark, maybe the Ivies' recruiting will someday be up to your standards.