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re: Will Missouri try and bolster their baseball program?
Posted on 5/20/14 at 4:43 pm to Sleeping Tiger
Posted on 5/20/14 at 4:43 pm to Sleeping Tiger
quote:
Anyway, it seems like some things could be added to the ballpark to make it more respectable without going overboard financially.
Can you see anything Mizzou can add to the stadium that would get people more interested besides booze or a winning baseball team?
I'm not even talking about Mizzou specifically. Our AAA team here was having attendance issues until they started winning. Other minor league teams add party areas, special nights for groups, cheap drinks, better concessions.
I just don't see what can be built to make the experience better besides a deck out in right field next to Devine where people can bring drinks and party. That kind of experience gets people interested.
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Posted on 5/20/14 at 4:49 pm to Sleeping Tiger
Between the softball team being a better product to watch (quicker games, better program), the weather, aluminum bats, and having the Cards/Royals down the road, I don't see Mizzou ever having a well-attended program.
I suppose they could add alcohol to the mix, but there aren't enough reasons to get folks out to the ballpark. If I'm in St. Louis or KC I will save my time and money and go to a MLB game. If I live in Columbia I might go, but if softball has a game the same day I'm going to watch that, because I have small children and they can't handle the length of a college baseball game. Families are, for the most part, who you market to for non-revenue sports, and college baseball in the Midwest isn't very family friendly, especially when you have a better product right across the street. I just don't see it happening any time soon.
And if crowds are going to be crummy in perpetuity then I wouldn't sink the money into the product unless you can at least have very good teams. In The SEC that's extremely difficult to do, given Mizzou's inherent disadvantages that the rest of the conference recruit against.
I suppose they could add alcohol to the mix, but there aren't enough reasons to get folks out to the ballpark. If I'm in St. Louis or KC I will save my time and money and go to a MLB game. If I live in Columbia I might go, but if softball has a game the same day I'm going to watch that, because I have small children and they can't handle the length of a college baseball game. Families are, for the most part, who you market to for non-revenue sports, and college baseball in the Midwest isn't very family friendly, especially when you have a better product right across the street. I just don't see it happening any time soon.
And if crowds are going to be crummy in perpetuity then I wouldn't sink the money into the product unless you can at least have very good teams. In The SEC that's extremely difficult to do, given Mizzou's inherent disadvantages that the rest of the conference recruit against.
Posted on 5/20/14 at 4:53 pm to NEMizzou
quote:
If I'm in St. Louis or KC I will save my time and money and go to a MLB game. If I live in Columbia I might go, but if softball has a game the same day I'm going to watch that, because I have small children and they can't handle the length of a college baseball game.
I don't see the people travelling in to go to a baseball game being the answer, it's never going to happen. Hell, I'd doubt many people are travelling in for a baseball game at most SEC schools.
It's about getting the students involved and the local area to a lesser extent. Group nights for local area scout troops, elementary school students, or something. Even then, getting people into the game in groups and then losing badly isn't going to help too much.
The situation at Mizzou isn't unique to Mizzou baseball, it happens in other levels of baseball. Hell, it happens at plenty of other schools in every sport.
Win (which is fun for fans) or make the experience fun for fans regardless of the product on the field. That's all there is to it.
This post was edited on 5/20/14 at 4:54 pm
Posted on 5/20/14 at 4:57 pm to Sleeping Tiger
This Faciliy improvement article shows some of the various plan for spending, the football field turf surface renovation was 1.5 million, that may or may not have been part of an initial 10 million project that included renovating the press box to the higher floor and adding the club level. I think the hill move renovation may have been part of that project so you might have gotten your idea from that, but as you see that was a larger more encompassing project than just the hill.
You can see the estimate for the new softball field was around 18million, so a new baseball park would obviously take that kind of money at the least.
Alden outlined the earlier renovations to the field as "aesthetic" and I have to agree the results are less than spectacular. At this point in the 200 million over 10 year plan, I think baseball is on a back burner and something big will have to happen for that to change. Just for what it's worth.
You can see the estimate for the new softball field was around 18million, so a new baseball park would obviously take that kind of money at the least.
Alden outlined the earlier renovations to the field as "aesthetic" and I have to agree the results are less than spectacular. At this point in the 200 million over 10 year plan, I think baseball is on a back burner and something big will have to happen for that to change. Just for what it's worth.
This post was edited on 5/20/14 at 5:01 pm
Posted on 5/20/14 at 5:05 pm to Jagd Tiger
quote:
This Faciliy improvement article shows some of the various plan for spending, the football field turf surface renovation was 1.5 million, that may or may not have been part of an initial 10 million project that included renovating the press box to the higher floor and adding the club level. I think the hill move renovation may have been part of that project so you might have gotten your idea from that, but as you see that was a larger more encompassing project than just the hill.
So basically you don't know how much just the Hill cost.
And I'd guess that the new addition to the student side of the stadium is costing more than 10 million.
Is the softball field totally new? Or is it being renovated?
I just feel like you could do some things to the ballpark to add some charm and help legitimize the program for under 10 million.
Everyone has been focused on how terrible Alden has been with some basketball hires, but it's things like the miserable failure of the ballpark renovation that shouldn't escape our criticism. He should have to answer for that debacle.
This post was edited on 5/20/14 at 5:06 pm
Posted on 5/20/14 at 5:12 pm to Jagd Tiger
Tear down Hearnes, build a new baseball stadium there.
Move softball into the old Simmons Field, center the new grandstands in the spot, use the additional space between the field and Devine Pavilion to make it cool.
Done deal.
Move softball into the old Simmons Field, center the new grandstands in the spot, use the additional space between the field and Devine Pavilion to make it cool.
Done deal.
Posted on 5/20/14 at 5:23 pm to Mizzeaux
Where does Volleyball play then?
I think they still get decent use out of Hearnes.
Tearing that down would be costly, and they just put a few bucks into the current stadium. Renovation is the only option.
I think they still get decent use out of Hearnes.
Tearing that down would be costly, and they just put a few bucks into the current stadium. Renovation is the only option.
Posted on 5/20/14 at 5:30 pm to Mizzeaux
They aren't building a new baseball stadium. They just renovated the current one. Although they did a shite job.
Our baseball program isn't going to compete well in the SEC. Oh well, we all knew that coming in. Spend every available dime on football.
Our baseball program isn't going to compete well in the SEC. Oh well, we all knew that coming in. Spend every available dime on football.
Posted on 5/20/14 at 5:33 pm to Sleeping Tiger
quote:
So basically you don't know how much just the Hill cost.
No, to be clear I'm no construction expert, but I do know a half million dollars would buy a whole lot of fill material, including light fill concrete along with turf and other surface construction items, and another half million would pay for a lot of architectural planning and construction, which essentially, factoring in weather and other delays, really only took a few weeks. I would imagine the hill reno cost around 1.4 or so, but not that close to 10.
The east side project is certainly more than 10 million, I think it's right around 40 million, remember they are adding an entire club level as long as the length of the field and another 5k seats above it, plus the concourses for those levels and outer facade for the towers that go with it. Much much bigger construction project than moving the hill in was.
quote:
Is the softball field totally new? Or is it being renovated?
The plans to build an entirely new softball complex are in, that's why the 18 million cost estimate figure is still relevant.
Not sure if the final location for the new softball park is determined, but if not, it will have to be soon. I agree that Alden needs to excel at handling the money because he's just not that great with the coaching hire aspect of the job.
This post was edited on 5/20/14 at 5:41 pm
Posted on 5/20/14 at 5:33 pm to Sleeping Tiger
quote:
Where does Volleyball play then?
Mizzou Arena?
The real issue is indoor track. Pretty sure Hearnes is going away soon, isn't it?
ETA: I remember I did that whole dumb thing about tearing the arena part of Hearnes down, leaving the track part of Hearnes up and putting a baseball or softball stadium in the spot where the arena is. I still think that was a cool idea. But this is all me having some fun.
I really think putting a little free/public admission deck in right field with some porta potties would do a lot to get students involved.
This post was edited on 5/20/14 at 5:41 pm
Posted on 5/20/14 at 5:53 pm to Mizzeaux
quote:
I really think putting a little free/public admission deck in right field with some porta potties would do a lot to get students involved.
Yeah, that probably would.
And if I envisioned your ballpark with a track around it, no thank ya. We already have a track around the football field, which is very dumb, and the other kids make fun of us for it.
Posted on 5/20/14 at 5:54 pm to Sleeping Tiger
quote:
And if I envisioned your ballpark with a track around it, no thank ya. We already have a track around the football field, which is very dumb, and the other kids make fun of us for it.
No. Indoor track. I'm sure you know, but Hearnes is bigger than the arena. Tear down the arena half, leave the indoor track half, and build the field where the arena was.
Posted on 5/20/14 at 5:58 pm to Mizzeaux
I think we should go all out and build the nicest softball complex in the SEC, it is one of the premiere SEC womens sports and we should focus on makeing it a cornerstone of our athletics system.
Build it someplace with a nice tree/park like view from beyond the outfield that will be very picturesque on TV, along with the best locker rooms, coaching offices and training rooms. Just my two cents.
Posted on 5/20/14 at 6:22 pm to Jagd Tiger
When we announced the SEC move, it was my opinion that baseball would be the sport to struggle most in the new conference. I'd love to see it change, but realistically that will take a new coach and money pumped into the program. Down the road, maybe. But y'all have outlined plenty of reasons for me to be pessimistic about that.
Posted on 5/20/14 at 6:28 pm to semotruman
I literally do not understand why baseball needs fans to succeed. It's not like Mizzou is a small market team or something, the SEC money will be pouring in. Make the facilities great, if the team wins the fans will show. It's just the way it works.
Right now there is a culture of not giving a frick about baseball. Good fan experiences and winning will change that. One of them have to come before the other. Money can be thrown at facilities to make the talent come to Mizzou, but the fan experience is easy.
Get a bunch of fans, they demand winning.
Get a bunch of winning, they demand fans.
There's only two ways to fix this. It's not really difficult. That being said, baseball in central Missouri is at a disadvantage versus other SEC teams due to the weather. No way around that one.
Right now there is a culture of not giving a frick about baseball. Good fan experiences and winning will change that. One of them have to come before the other. Money can be thrown at facilities to make the talent come to Mizzou, but the fan experience is easy.
Get a bunch of fans, they demand winning.
Get a bunch of winning, they demand fans.
There's only two ways to fix this. It's not really difficult. That being said, baseball in central Missouri is at a disadvantage versus other SEC teams due to the weather. No way around that one.
Posted on 5/20/14 at 7:08 pm to CNB
quote:
doomed to be an afterthought due to weather and a strong professional baseball foothold
This post was edited on 5/20/14 at 7:09 pm
Posted on 5/20/14 at 7:11 pm to KCM0Tiger
I appreciate the discussion, but the whole starting a thread, saying "no flame," then never showing up in the thread makes me feel like I've been played like a whore.
Not that that's bad, but I didn't think the No Flame was necessary except to bring up a shitty subject and hope not to be kicked off.
So, real question for the Mizzou folks, if this was a flame, would this thread have been bad?
Just trying to get a bearing.
Not that that's bad, but I didn't think the No Flame was necessary except to bring up a shitty subject and hope not to be kicked off.
So, real question for the Mizzou folks, if this was a flame, would this thread have been bad?
Just trying to get a bearing.
Posted on 5/20/14 at 7:22 pm to Mizzeaux
I know the AD is not happy with Hearnes right now. It's a very expensive dinosaur.
and FWIW I haven't seen much flaming
and FWIW I haven't seen much flaming
Posted on 5/20/14 at 7:23 pm to Mizzeaux
He's probably at work Mizzeaux. And I think it was an interesting thread regardless. Our program is a mess and needs an infusion of money, talent and support. In a lot of ways.
Posted on 5/20/14 at 7:25 pm to Mizzeaux
It's CNB, so flames should be no surprise
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