Georgia renovating their baseball stadium.

[bully99]

Putting 12 million in the existing stadium. Capacity will remain about 3000. Another sec school putting some serious money in baseball.

[Todd4State]

Yes, Georgia is about to get very serious about baseball. They have some alumni that have been wondering why they are having losing seasons every year with all the talent in that state along with the Hope Scholarship. And I don't blame them.

Their baseball coach that they just hired is very good.

As far as how it pertains to MSU- I think Cohen realizes this and we're going to see him recruit California a little bit more. We're still going to recruit Georgia as always- but it's going to be a little bit harder than it was in the past.

[bully99]

When Alabama builds their 30 million stadium, will recruiting get harder in that state.

[War Machine Dawg]

When Alabama builds their 30 million stadium, will recruiting get harder in that state.

Not after we finish building the new Mecca/Carnegie Hall of college baseball. Shock and Awe, bitches.

[engie]

But this wasn't happening** Isn't that the argument I had on here awhile back?

Surprised they are only spending $12mil. Must have had trouble raising the $$ -- initial figures were much higher.

And yes, Bama building a palace and getting serious about baseball makes it harder for us to recruit there as well. That's why we've got to blow them all out of the water and build the best college baseball has ever seen when we build the new one -- we've got to set a tone -- either be the best and elite -- or just "pretty good" and be surrounded by teams that have everything that we do -- and give up our generation worth of an advantage facility-wise.

[Todd4State]

When Alabama builds their 30 million stadium, will recruiting get harder in that state.

I don't think so. Not as long as we have Butch at least. Kids in Alabama- both Bama and Auburn fans know about MSU baseball and what we have as far as tradition.

Alabama and Auburn will always be football first schools, and in a lot of cases we are going to be on even or better terms when it comes to baseball recruiting.

Going to Omaha and building our own awesome stadium will off set anything Bama does.

Actually, Saban being there may help us as far as dual sport guys because it is well known that he doesn't want football players playing both sports and it's also well known that Dan and Cohen get along very well. In fact, I wouldn't be shocked to see Trent Simpson play baseball at some point.

[Todd4State]

But this wasn't happening** Isn't that the argument I had on here awhile back?

Surprised they are only spending $12mil. Must have had trouble raising the $$ -- initial figures were much higher.

And yes, Bama building a palace and getting serious about baseball makes it harder for us to recruit there as well. That's why we've got to blow them all out of the water and build the best college baseball has ever seen when we build the new one -- we've got to set a tone -- either be the best and elite -- or just "pretty good" and be surrounded by teams that have everything that we do -- and give up our generation worth of an advantage facility-wise.

What's sad is Larry Templeton was OK with this option.

[bully99]

I did read something about Georgia not raising as much money as they had hoped, but they are going ahead with the project. Some Georgia people are bitching that money should go towards a full football size indoor practice facility.

[War Machine Dawg]

What's sad is Larry Templeton was OK with this option.

All indications are that Strick was too until very recently. LT 2.0 is alive and well.

[BrunswickDawg]

The big difference is that UGA's project is they are keeping the existing grandstand and not really adding capacity http://www.thegeorgiabulldogclub.com/pdfs/UGA_FFR_brochure.pdf

It is all about luxury seating, the concourse and concession, and press area - which they have 0 of currently. While it looks really nice, this won't get them ahead of anyone in the SEC. I have to say that the Field Level suites look like a cool way to watch a game.

[bulldogcountry1]

Too bad we spent money on a basketball practice facility. Can we sell or repurpose that thing?

It's becoming more and more evident that we have to do this thing big and do it right, even if it means pushing the start date back a few months. Once a plan is made public, the excitement will be through the roof Hopefully, the funds will be too.

I think the timing is as good as it's going to be-

1. The team is good and full of personality that connect with fans.
2. There's been enough time for the Polk disciples to kiss and make up with Cohen. If they haven't by now, they never will.
3. Other SEC teams doing expansions increase the sense of ungency.
3. Baseball is defintely due and there's no excuse for it not being the next thing on our list.

[starkvegasdawg]

The big difference is that UGA's project is they are keeping the existing grandstand and not really adding capacity http://www.thegeorgiabulldogclub.com/pdfs/UGA_FFR_brochure.pdf

It is all about luxury seating, the concourse and concession, and press area - which they have 0 of currently. While it looks really nice, this won't get them ahead of anyone in the SEC. I have to say that the Field Level suites look like a cool way to watch a game.

I was looking at your link and noticed one minor detail they left out of the drawing of the view from the field. They seem to think a pitcher's mound is not very important.

[Goat Holder]

Doesn't matter. Neither does Alabama's. Auburn's renovation didn't help them either.

Sure, it's nice to have new things. But it's capacity and fan support, that make a program. Those 3 I just mentioned don't have it and likely never will. What they are doing basically amounts to routine maintenance.

[BrunswickDawg]

I was looking at your link and noticed one minor detail they left out of the drawing of the view from the field. They seem to think a pitcher's mound is not very important.

That would explain a whole lot about their program. I have never understood why UGA can't sustain baseball success. I was lucky to have gone there for a rising SR camp in '90 right after they won the CWS - and Perno was my "team" coach that week. 95% of the kids there were Metro ATL - and most were guys I played against in Cobb HS's or hotbeds like Parkview and Redan or with the East Cobb travel program. They signed 1 kid from that group. They have a lot on their roster now from GA - but they always seem to miss on the top talent. We need to hope that Scott Sticklin's Evil Twin doesn't figure it out either.

[engie]

Too bad we spent money on a basketball practice facility. Can we sell or repurpose that thing?

It's becoming more and more evident that we have to do this thing big and do it right, even if it means pushing the start date back a few months. Once a plan is made public, the excitement will be through the roof Hopefully, the funds will be too.

I think the timing is as good as it's going to be-

1. The team is good and full of personality that connect with fans.
2. There's been enough time for the Polk disciples to kiss and make up with Cohen. If they haven't by now, they never will.
3. Other SEC teams doing expansions increase the sense of ungency.
3. Baseball is defintely due and there's no excuse for it not being the next thing on our list.

Great post. But I kinda disagree about #3(the first one). I think going "last" is a HUGE advantage to us. Everyone else will have already played their cards. We will know with relative certaintly what ALL of "our competitors" will be for the next 20+ years. This makes it really easy for us to know EXACTLY what we have to accomplish to build what will stand as the best stadium in college baseball for the next 15 years -- just like our last one was for the majority of our lifetimes. We will know what we've got to beat. Just got to step up and make it happen.

[Squidawg11]

When Alabama builds their 30 million stadium, will recruiting get harder in that state.

I heard from a former Bama student that the reason Bama is upgrading their baseball facilities is because their baseball facilities are the reason they lost Jameis Winston. Saban got pissed about it and all of the sudden they are making a big investment in baseball.

[engie]

That would explain a whole lot about their program. I have never understood why UGA can't sustain baseball success. I was lucky to have gone there for a rising SR camp in '90 right after they won the CWS - and Perno was my "team" coach that week. 95% of the kids there were Metro ATL - and most were guys I played against in Cobb HS's or hotbeds like Parkview and Redan or with the East Cobb travel program. They signed 1 kid from that group. They have a lot on their roster now from GA - but they always seem to miss on the top talent. We need to hope that Scott Sticklin's Evil Twin doesn't figure it out either.

It all goes back to Polk's recruiting philosophy, which was carried over by Perno. That's to never chase truly elite talent -- and basically have pinky promises from everyone you sign that they won't go with MLB(which are players you evaluated as unworthy of an early round MLB offer). They were left trying to "evaluate" mid round or worse talent -- and then convince them that UGA was where they needed to be when none of the elite guys(that of course are acquaintances to these players) are even hearing from UGA, leaving it as kinda the "uncool" place to be. It's a perpetual cycle of ineptitude. Occasionally, they would "hit" on the right player and personality -- who would bring along a bunch of buddies -- and would make them a title contender for 2 years before they were back to the drawing board.

Fact is -- if you just hit those East Cobb travelling teams -- and manage to get the majority of them to come to school -- you are a PERPETUAL national title contender. If they ever get their fan support rocking for baseball and become a destination to kids in Ga like LSU is in LA or MSU is in MS, WATCH OUT, because they will be a ridiculous dynasty.

[BrunswickDawg]

Fact is -- if you just hit those East Cobb travelling teams -- and manage to get the majority of them to come to school -- you are a PERPETUAL national title contender. If they ever get their fan support rocking for baseball and become a destination to kids in Ga like LSU is in LA or MSU is in MS, WATCH OUT, because they will be a ridiculous dynasty.

No doubt. My SR year I faced 10 pitchers in REGION PLAY that were either drafted and went pro or signed D1 scholarships. We only played 12 region games! Add in the 8 or so non-region tilts against Gwinnett & N. Fulton schools and non-region Cobb schools and that list hit closer to 15. It was insane - and that was 24 years ago. I was damn proud of my .250 BA and .500 OBP.

[messageboardsuperhero]

If Stricklin doesn't bring down the grandstand, I will lose all faith in him as our AD. It is so obvious that the right decision is to start over- and if he can't figure that out with all the architects and boosters in his ear, then I'd be in favor of him catching the next train out of town. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but everyone knows what needs to be done to make our facilities the best again.

Luckily, I think Stricklin's starting to get it.

[Goat Holder]

He's not stupid. I can't believe some of you keyboard jockeys really believe the stuff you type. What if an announcement is made where we ARE NOT rebuilding, and gulp, the it's the ARCHITECT'S actual recommendation?

Of course Scott is going to do what's best for MSU. Good Lord, I don't know if it's ego or what.

[Goat Holder]

be surrounded by teams that have everything that we do

Nobody else in the SEC except LSU and South Carolina have what we have. And that's the right combination of fanbase and tradition. THAT is the distinguishing factor, NOT the stadium.

The stadium is just simply something that's nice to have. Without people in it, the stadium is nothing. If we show up in droves for the next two years, yes, we'll likely be getting a new stadium. I have a sneaky suspicion that Stricklin really wants to see how serious our fanbase is about it.

[messageboardsuperhero]

He's not stupid. I can't believe some of you keyboard jockeys really believe the stuff you type. What if an announcement is made where we ARE NOT rebuilding, and gulp, the it's the ARCHITECT'S actual recommendation?

Of course Scott is going to do what's best for MSU. Good Lord, I don't know if it's ego or what.

I may have been a little harsh, but I've put a ton of thought into this over the past couple of years. Now is the time to strike, because our fan base is on fire and there is no way we can have the "best facility in America" (Stricklin's words, not mine) without starting over.

As for your question, I'd be absolutely shocked if the architects suggested anything other than a tear down. PDS is poorly designed as is- expanding on it would be an architectural nightmare.

[Todd4State]

If Stricklin doesn't bring down the grandstand, I will lose all faith in him as our AD. It is so obvious that the right decision is to start over- and if he can't figure that out with all the architects and boosters in his ear, then I'd be in favor of him catching the next train out of town. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but everyone knows what needs to be done to make our facilities the best again.

Luckily, I think Stricklin's starting to get it.

From what I have heard, Scott doesn't want to tear the grandstand down, BUT the architects and everyone else are pretty much telling him it has to be done.

[engie]

He's not stupid. I can't believe some of you keyboard jockeys really believe the stuff you type. What if an announcement is made where we ARE NOT rebuilding, and gulp, the it's the ARCHITECT'S actual recommendation?
The primary architect on the project is making it clear what he thinks needs to happen. Given the names on the line with Populous and Janet Marie -- I can't imagine either of them disagreeing with him on it either.

It's just a slow process of Stricklin fully coming to terms with what has to happen if we're going to "be the best" again...

ETR...TMI

[messageboardsuperhero]

From what I have heard, Scott doesn't want to tear the grandstand down, BUT the architects and everyone else are pretty much telling him it has to be done.

This is about right.

Except I wouldn't say that Strcklin "doesn't want to tear it down"- he just has yet to be totally sold on the idea and is still hesitant about it. I think he'll eventually come to terms with it, because pretty much everyone else of influence on this project is in his ear about it.

[bulldogcountry1]

He's not stupid. I can't believe some of you keyboard jockeys really believe the stuff you type. What if an announcement is made where we ARE NOT rebuilding, and gulp, the it's the ARCHITECT'S actual recommendation?

Of course Scott is going to do what's best for MSU. Good Lord, I don't know if it's ego or what.

No architect on the planet would voluntarily push for a renovation when a scratch option was on the table. The only way they would even explore that would be because Stricklin and Co. tell them to, and that would be based 100% on funding. Yes, you have to at least look at both options because we may not be able to come up with "mecca" funds, but I bet Stricklin would hate to have to choose that route at this point.

He really needs to be using every fundraising avenue he's got this season to make this happen.

[Goat Holder]

I agree with you in theory. But I really want to see how "on fire" our fanbase really is, especially if we hit a rough patch here or there. See, I was there during the rough years. I know how fickle our 'fans' can be.

Remember, we already have the biggest fanbase out there. Now we have to prove that we'll show up for more than just a regional and SBW.

[War Machine Dawg]

I agree with you in theory. But I really want to see how "on fire" our fanbase really is, especially if we hit a rough patch here or there. See, I was there during the rough years. I know how fickle our 'fans' can be.

: ) :

NO ONE in their right mind wants to sit in the ****ing bleachers. I love baseball, but sitting in the bleachers for a game is miserable for even the most hardcore fans. Build a new stadium with real seats and an open concourse so no one has to miss any action while getting food/drinks, and the crowds will show back up, at least on the weekend. Midweek games are a whole other animal.

[engie]

I agree with you in theory. But I really want to see how "on fire" our fanbase really is, especially if we hit a rough patch here or there. See, I was there during the rough years. I know how fickle our 'fans' can be.

Remember, we already have the biggest fanbase out there. Now we have to prove that we'll show up for more than just a regional and SBW.

Took a long time wallowing in mediocrity to kill it -- and it's taking awhile being excellent to really get it back. Did set the season tickets sales record last week...

Crazy thing is -- the Golden Years were almost over by the time Polk-Dement Stadium was actually built the first time.

I think we're going to average well over 8k this year unless we are just terrible early... Was at 7617 last year, 6143 in 2012, 6103 in 2011, 6065 in 2010, etc...

[messageboardsuperhero]

No architect on the planet would voluntarily push for a renovation when a scratch option was on the table. The only way they would even explore that would be because Stricklin and Co. tell them to, and that would be based 100% on funding. Yes, you have to at least look at both options because we may not be able to come up with "mecca" funds, but I bet Stricklin would hate to have to choose that route at this point.

He really needs to be using every fundraising avenue he's got this season to make this happen.

This is what would REALLY make me angry about not tearing down the grandstand:

You get up in public and in front of the entire baseball fanbase and PROMISE us the "absolute best facility in the country," only to take it back a few months later and do a halfed-ass, lipstick on a pig renovation. He should have thought about funding before announcing to the world that we were going to have the best college baseball stadium in America. (And yes, I know Stricklin never promised a grandstand tear down, but we CANNOT have the best without tearing down what we have now- that is an indisputable fact.)

Stricklin, you set these expectations up for yourself- in a few months, you better deliver.

[messageboardsuperhero]

I agree with you in theory. But I really want to see how "on fire" our fanbase really is, especially if we hit a rough patch here or there. See, I was there during the rough years. I know how fickle our 'fans' can be.

Remember, we already have the biggest fanbase out there. Now we have to prove that we'll show up for more than just a regional and SBW.

I guarantee you that if schools measured actual attendance, we would have easily been in the top 5 in the country last year- how is our fanbase "not showing up for more than SBW?" Do you really expect 12,000+ people at every game?

We show up as well or better than any fanbase in America (outside of LSU and maybe USCe), and that is with bunch of people staying home who would like to come but have nowhere to sit. I guarantee you that a lot of these "attendance problems" would be fixed if we had a decent seat for everyone who wanted to come.

[bulldogcountry1]

: ) :

NO ONE in their right mind wants to sit in the ****ing bleachers. I love baseball, but sitting in the bleachers for a game is miserable for even the most hardcore fans. Build a new stadium with real seats and an open concourse so no one has to miss any action while getting food/drinks, and the crowds will show back up, at least on the weekend. Midweek games are a whole other animal.

You got it. It's a whole different experience in the bleachers. There's no sense of involvement. You're just the reject between the elitist chairbacks and the the LFL.

Having a place for kids is vital as well. Both them and the parents would be more open to coming if the kids could be let loose to go play in a safe designated area instead of having to sit there for 3 hours kicking the back of my seat.

[bully99]

What is the upper limit as to what State is willing and able to spend on a new facility.

[smootness]

Having attended UGA, I can assure you that no one there gives the slightest crap about baseball. I definitely agree a good bit with Goat Holder on this one; UGA may seem like a sleeping giant due to recruiting territory, but the bottom line is that there are a ton of much better programs not too far away that most of these kids will choose over UGA no matter how badly UGA wants them.

UGA would have to make an incredible investment in baseball and would have to have a couple of generations worth of fans see a good product before they became a consistently great program. The people my age aren't going to suddenly care about baseball because they're good in it. It will take time, and I don't really see it happening. UGA is an afterthought to most of the top kids...it's hard to change that in a short amount of time.

And because most of their fans don't care at all about baseball, it is also incredibly tough to get the kind of support and funding it would take to make a serious investment in baseball to begin with.

Heck, most of their fans don't even care about basketball at all. UGA fans, including students, care far more about gymnastics than they do baseball.

You could say a school like Cal is a sleeping giant in football, but the fact is, their ceiling still isn't the ceiling of a program like Oregon or USC, regardless of location.

[Goat Holder]

I hate to break this to you, but we aren't about to build a huge ass stadium with a bunch of chairbacks for what will be a highly volatile 'general admission' crowd. It's not happening. The chairbacks will be built to accommodate season ticket sales plus their growth factor for however many years. That's it. So, for the person who just comes to a few games and sits in the bleachers, chances are he'll be doing it the same sort of environment, albeit with maybe a better angle and/or on a terraced area. And the BC contribution for those chairbacks will go through the roof. Price of 'being the best' as engie and others have alluded to. Not sure if any of you took that part into account.

Now, if anyone wants to talk about how to oblige the general admission crowd, I'm all ears. That's something we've needed to improve on for years. The LFL is way too selective. We need to limit that to one side and let GA take the whole RF side. All around the opposing bullpen.

[bully99]

Same thing with Alabama and auburn. Little interest in baseball, but bama draws good crowds for softball and are more supportive of their other sports than auburn. Auburn doesn't support anything outside of football.

[messageboardsuperhero]

I hate to break this to you, but we aren't about to build a huge ass stadium with a bunch of chairbacks for what will be a highly volatile 'general admission' crowd. It's not happening. The chairbacks will be built to accommodate season ticket sales plus their growth factor for however many years. That's it. So, for the person who just comes to a few games and sits in the bleachers, chances are he'll be doing it the same sort of environment, albeit with maybe a better angle and/or on a terraced area. And the BC contribution for those chairbacks will go through the roof. Price of 'being the best' as engie and others have alluded to. Not sure if any of you took that part into account.

Now, if anyone wants to talk about how to oblige the general admission crowd, I'm all ears. That's something we've needed to improve on for years. The LFL is way too selective. We need to limit that to one side and let GA take the whole RF side. All around the opposing bullpen.

Who has said anything about building a "huge ass stadium?" I want a grandstand that can seat about 7,000 people- which would only be about 2,500 more than what we have right now. Considering we averaged over 7,500 in paid attendance last year and our fanbase is growing faster than it has in years, how is that unreasonable? I'd also like to see us design a way to bring in some temporary seating for some of the big weekends.

[Goat Holder]

We've sold 5,900 season tickets (approximately, check the article from a week or so ago), which is apparently a record. The other 1500-1600 you speak of is obviously general admission. So we're going to build a stadium with 5,900 plus whatever our growth is. If it's 7,000, so be it. But that's a "huge ass stadium" any way you look at it. And it still won't have room for the general admission crowd. I'm guessing this thing will have two decks with the concourse deal in between, so we'll be able to conserve space.

[messageboardsuperhero]

We've sold 5,900 season tickets (approximately, check the article from a week or so ago), which is apparently a record. The other 1500-1600 you speak of is obviously general admission. So we're going to build a stadium with 5,900 plus whatever our growth is. If it's 7,000, so be it. But that's a "huge ass stadium" any way you look at it. And it still won't have room for the general admission crowd. I'm guessing this thing will have two decks with the concourse deal in between, so we'll be able to conserve space.

This is true.

Which is why we desperately need (and have needed for a while) a good ticket exchange to get tickets in the hands of people who can go. If you have season tickets and can't make a game, give/sell them to people in the "general admission crowd" who will use them. We also need to go to an honor system (ie, you can sit anywhere until a season ticket holder gets there).

This would let us have good crowds on weekends, while also having more people at the games during the mid weeks- I think a good ticket exchange is something we can all agree on.

[Goat Holder]

Which is why we desperately need (and have needed for a while) a good ticket exchange to get tickets in the hands of people who can go. If you have season tickets and can't make a game, give/sell them to people in the "general admission crowd" who will use them. We also need to go to an honor system (ie, you can sit anywhere until a season ticket holder gets there).

This would let us have good crowds on weekends, while also having more people at the games during the mid weeks- I think a good ticket exchange is something we can all agree on.

For the weekends, I agree. But the answer to that is simply to keep the grandstand open. Done. This is already happening on the weekday games. Easy fix. So in essence I think that problem is much more simple, no ticket exchange needed.

However, this only works for games where the grandstand doesn't get packed. And we still need a good general admission seating area, which can accommodate coolers and such. Love it or hate it, but Ole Miss has done a great job with this.

[messageboardsuperhero]

For the weekends, I agree. But the answer to that is simply to keep the grandstand open. Done. This is already happening on the weekday games. Easy fix. So in essence I think that problem is much more simple, no ticket exchange needed.

Agreed- opening the grandstand would be a nice, quick fix until we get the new grandstand built.


However, this only works for games where the grandstand doesn't get packed. And we still need a good general admission seating area, which can accommodate coolers and such. Love it or hate it, but Ole Miss has done a great job with this.

Which is why I want us to have the ability to bring in some temporary seating/bleachers for the really big weekends to accommodate the crowds. We can then take it out for normal weekends.

As far as a GA spot in the outfield for coolers, I'd like to put LFL in left field, a terrace in right center for general young alumni/walk-up fans and families with coolers, and then a place in the right field corner for students.

ETA: And while UM did some nice stuff for their stadium, I don't want our outfield GA section to look like their Oakes Pavilion thing. It's just too bland for my taste, and I think we can come up with something more unique.

[engie]

I get why people think Bama doesn't support baseball -- but in the longterm, you are wrong.

There was a time not very long ago when they were competing with us/LSU for the best crowds in the country when they were also good. And they will eventually be good again. Their lack of investment in the program has certainly hurt fan support somewhat -- as has their fall from relevance.

Make no mistake -- all-time, Bama is an equal if not slightly better baseball program than MSU. Not fan support wise in the past 15 years, but overall...

[engie]

We've sold 5,900 season tickets (approximately, check the article from a week or so ago), which is apparently a record. The other 1500-1600 you speak of is obviously general admission. So we're going to build a stadium with 5,900 plus whatever our growth is. If it's 7,000, so be it. But that's a "huge ass stadium" any way you look at it. And it still won't have room for the general admission crowd. I'm guessing this thing will have two decks with the concourse deal in between, so we'll be able to conserve space.

My thing is -- we've sold 1600 more tickets than we have seats at this point. What's to say that wouldn't continue in a rebuild?

We need 7k+ chairbacks -- but we don't need that number to be capped in the design-- we need to build in a way that allows expansion if/when need be similar to how Arkansas has done at Baum and really LSU has done at Alex Box.

[Goat Holder]

No way. The only thing they EVER had on us was that they reached the ch'ip in 1997. Now we've matched that. 9 CWS appearances to their 5. Bigger stadium, bigger fanbase. Not sure where you're getting that info. I'm not sure on SEC Ch'ips, Tournament Ch'ips and regional appearances, but I'm guessing we've got them beat there too.

Arkansas and Florida are closer to MSU than Bama. LSU and Carolina are clearly ahead. Georgia could be considered better because they have hardware, but less overall.

[engie]

No way. The only thing they EVER had on us was that they reached the ch'ip in 1997. Now we've matched that. 9 CWS appearances to their 5. Bigger stadium, bigger fanbase. Not sure where you're getting that info. I'm not sure on SEC Ch'ips, Tournament Ch'ips and regional appearances, but I'm guessing we've got them beat there too.

Arkansas and Florida are closer to MSU than Bama. LSU and Carolina are clearly ahead. Georgia could be considered better because they have hardware, but less overall.

- They own the head to head against us.
- They've got an all-time better conference record than us.
- More all-time wins
- 2 CWS championship games/series

It's close -- and I have to admit, I thought they had been to Omaha more than 5 times -- but to pretend they are and have always been second rate is pretty far fetched -- which is all I was saying.

[bully99]

Alabama finished runner-up to Texas at the1983 college world series. Same Texas team that eliminated State in the regional during Palmeiro and Clark's freshman year.

LSU baseball program was nothing until Bertman got there by hook or by crook.

[Schultzy]

However long it takes to fund it, we need a wrecking ball and new construction. Anything else would be a disappointment because the new baseball stadiums like Trustmark, New Alex box and alabama's have made ours obsolete.

We care about baseball here, we have passion for it, and great tradition. The pilgrimage to Omaha this past year for the national championship games was incredible.

Our baseball program's status commands new construction. Anything less would be inapropriate.

[messageboardsuperhero]

However long it takes to fund it, we need a wrecking ball and new construction. Anything else would be a disappointment because the new baseball stadiums like Trustmark, New Alex box and alabama's have made ours obsolete.

We care about baseball here, we have passion for it, and great tradition. The pilgrimage to Omaha this past year for the national championship games was incredible.

Our baseball program's status commands new construction. Anything less would be inapropriate.

http://gifatron.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/George-Costanza-clapping.gif

[State82]

We care about baseball here, we have passion for it, and great tradition. The pilgrimage to Omaha this past year for the national championship games was incredible.

Our baseball program's status commands new construction. Anything less would be inapropriate.

Nice! What happened with our fanbase in Omaha last June, in the world of D1 college baseball, is the stuff of legend. It was something even the locals/CWS folks publicly said they had never, ever seen before. And that includes the mighty LSU Tigers and their dominance. So yes, we MUST have the shining jewel in college baseball venues and absolutely nothing less than that. What Schultzy said.