Two things I miss about Iowa State

cybsball20 · 05-13-2008, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by travman23

The $1.5 mil figure came sometime last year when Pollard was on SoundOff and someone brought up the question about baseball. Pollard explained it was not a title 9 issue and that we just don't have the funds at the moment to bring back baseball with all the other things we are trying to do with football and basketball which bring in most of the revenue. I believe he said if there was enough private funding committed he'd definitely look at bringing it back sooner if the money was committed to it but right now we can't afford it under our current budget.

Again, this was several months ago that I heard this so don't hold me to the accuracy of it but I distinctly remember the $1.5 mil number he put out there.

The funny thing is there is and always has been the private funding to bring it back, JP and VdV just won't accept it untill the other things are done... There was private funding available hours after VdV made the decision to cut the team...

1100011CS · 05-13-2008, 11:01 AM

College girls.
The waistline I had in college.

Tornado man · 05-13-2008, 11:04 AM

Don't forget the cost of several million $ to build a Big XII-caliber baseball stadium; where's the money going to come from for that?
Look, we never had fan interest in the program when baseball was here; no one really came to games, even though we had to be the only team in a major conference with no admission charge! It was funny to go to the games, and watch visiting fans wonder around, looking for the ticket booths, before realizing you could just wander in! They all looked bewildered.
Wisconsin has a budget almost three times ours, and has not brought baseball back, after eliminating it years ago.

cybsball20 · 05-13-2008, 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by Tornado man

Don't forget the cost of several million $ to build a Big XII-caliber baseball stadium; where's the money going to come from for that?
Look, we never had fan interest in the program when baseball was here; no one really came to games, even though we had to be the only team in a major conference with no admission charge! It was funny to go to the games, and watch visiting fans wonder around, looking for the ticket booths, before realizing you could just wander in! They all looked bewildered.
Wisconsin has a budget almost three times ours, and has not brought baseball back, after eliminating it years ago.

Most opposing fans thought they were lost and at the Ames High field too... I think if you built a nice stadium, near the others, attendance would be pretty good. People like to out out and be in the sun when it's nice out, even SEMO and Arkansas state had decent crowds when we played there. The worst thing about Cap Timm is some people would go through college and never even know where it was...

Like I have said many times, if they try and bring back baseball at Cap or rush it back with a below average stadium I will be extremely disappointed. It will take a large commitment to do it right and the money IS there, they just need to take care of other things first...

cardinal&gold · 05-13-2008, 11:13 AM

After seeing UT's and Baylor's baseball facilities first-hand I would have to say that a serious baseball venue in Ames, even if it has much smaller capacity than the two I mentioned, would help attract more fans to the games. Cap Timm does not look like a D-I baseball environment, sadly.

zdorr40 · 05-13-2008, 11:51 AM

Originally Posted by Aaron Jacobs

here is what we have to do, petition to the NCAA football is not a gender specific sport so that opens up a loophole in title 9.

The University of Maryland, I believe it was, got around this by putting football cheerleaders on scholarship. Most ingenious, IMO.

RocktheDome · 05-13-2008, 02:00 PM

I see both aspects of the baseball argument. UNI has baseball, and as a Panther fan I wouldn't be against axing baseball in favor of putting that money towards football or basketball. But, I feel that UNI's struggle in financing baseball comes from the lack of an on-campus stadium (what student wants to drive to Waterloo to watch college baseball?) as well as exposure from local media. Iowa and UNI are the only two Division I programs in Iowa, but they receive zero attention. It's hard to finance the 11 scholarships when there is so little interest in the team.

Not to mention how hard it is to sustain a successful program in the north. Weather plays a huge factor in collegiate baseball, and that is evidenced in the best programs. If you look at the MVC, the two best programs are Wichita State and Missouri State (the two most southern teams). Creighton also has strong teams but they also host the College World Series. In the Big 12, the Texas schools are pretty dominate. This is because they can have home games earlier, which obviously bring in money as opposed to spending money to travel south for games. The only way to avoid this is when the softball team plays in the Dome or up in the MetroDome in Minneapolis.

I understand many ISU fans want baseball back, but I really think it is best that you don't bring it back until you have ample funds and successful football or basketball teams.

cybsball20 · 05-13-2008, 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by RocktheDome

I see both aspects of the baseball argument. UNI has baseball, and as a Panther fan I wouldn't be against axing baseball in favor of putting that money towards football or basketball. But, I feel that UNI's struggle in financing baseball comes from the lack of an on-campus stadium (what student wants to drive to Waterloo to watch college baseball?) as well as exposure from local media. Iowa and UNI are the only two Division I programs in Iowa, but they receive zero attention. It's hard to finance the 11 scholarships when there is so little interest in the team.

Not to mention how hard it is to sustain a successful program in the north. Weather plays a huge factor in collegiate baseball, and that is evidenced in the best programs. If you look at the MVC, the two best programs are Wichita State and Missouri State (the two most southern teams). Creighton also has strong teams but they also host the College World Series. In the Big 12, the Texas schools are pretty dominate. This is because they can have home games earlier, which obviously bring in money as opposed to spending money to travel south for games. The only way to avoid this is when the softball team plays in the Dome or up in the MetroDome in Minneapolis.

I understand many ISU fans want baseball back, but I really think it is best that you don't bring it back until you have ample funds and successful football or basketball teams.

Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska have been at the top of the Big XII the last few years pretty consistantly. Mizzu was even getting number 1 votes this year.

Tornado man · 05-13-2008, 02:08 PM

There's a school even further north that's having big success. Who has been the College World Series champion for the last two years? Oregon State.

RocktheDome · 05-14-2008, 01:19 AM

Originally Posted by Tornado man

There's a school even further north that's having big success. Who has been the College World Series champion for the last two years? Oregon State.

Oregon State is an exception in that they are in the Pacific Northwest. If you have ever been there, you would know that it never gets too cold there, due to the ocean. Since Corvallis, OR is very close to the ocean it stays around 50 degrees in the winter. Hence cold weather is not an issue. But, being in Iowa subjects us to harsh winters that they never face.

Also, I am not saying it is impossible for a northern team to be successful in baseball, but if Iowa and UNI are this bad, that doesn't leave much hope for Iowa State when they would play in a tougher league than both. In my opinion, all three state schools have better things to spend their money on.

SouthernHawk · 05-14-2008, 01:22 AM

The Valley is a relatively strong baseball conference. I'll defend the Big Ten in football/basketball, but it is just downright awful in baseball. The northern Big 12 teams are OK, but I'd still put way more stock in the southern teams. They just get so much more practice, and the people down there follow it much more than they do up here (at the college level that is).

It would be fun for ISU to have a ball team, but I don't know how successful they would be.