Interesting comment from Stricklin RE baseball stadium

[engie]

Still amazes me that the Palmeiro kid watched us finish 2nd in the nation where his Dad is a legend , and on top of that his parents still pay for a skybox and yet he signs with NC State which is twice as far from his Texas home. Strange.

I followed him on twitter for awhile -- and I just don't that that he would have fit the culture of our team. Trust me. "You don't always get who you want -- but you always get who you are".

When Cohen says this -- and shows the success he's already having with kids he recruited while we were a dumpster fire -- I'm going to trust it 100% until he shows me anything to the contrary.

[bully99]

His kid was never coming to State. Call it the Polk factor. Not sure how good he will be, but coming out of fall practice at NC State it looked like he would be their starting first baseman, something he wouldn't have done at State.

[bully99]

Engie, I've followed both his kids on twitter for months, and I understand what you're saying. I've never seen either ever talk about MSU,never. I just don't think they have a great love affair with State just because their parents went there.

[Todd4State]

I think there possibly would have been some pressure on Preston to perform and be as good as his Dad was- and that would have been near impossible. To go along with what engie is saying I think there could have potentially been some tension between Palmeiro and the coaching staff while he was here- and that's the last thing we need to have. And we all know how Palmeiro can get when he's upset.

NC State is a good program right now- they went to Omaha last year and they have two potential first round picks including Rodon who is probably the top prospect in the game right now depending on who you talk to. It sounds like he will get immediate playing time at NC State and I highly doubt he would have been able to unseat Rea or find a spot in LF for us over Demarcus and Robson.

We've seen this happen before at other places- Peyton went to Tennessee over Ole Miss and Nick Montana is at Tulane right now even though I'm sure Notre Dame would have taken him, Barry Sanders, Jr. is at Stanford. Michael Jordan's son probably could have at least walked on at UNC and I think he ended up at Central Florida or somewhere like that.

[dawgman]

One thing to remember, you can catch lightning in a bottle only once. Once the Left Field Lounge is gone, it cannot be replicated.

[berr6728]

Coach34 how do you expect to have better tv crowds with a new stadium. It is not all about the stadium, it is partly about economics, and long baseball weekends, not like a double header on Sat and single on Sun as in past. All of our better crowds in past were on either double headers or on super bulldog weekends. Super Bulldog Weekends will continue to be large but the other weekends, imo, will still be smaller. In past all SEC TV broadcast was on Thur nights, now with the SEC Network coming there is more reason not to attend a 3 day weekend to watch baseball when you can watch it on tv. Just my evaluation.

Darryl Berryhill
Class of 1963/65
Box 13 DNF/PDS
berr6728@bellsouth.net
1-225-205-1499

[Drugdog]

Yep. The Sleeping Giant has started to stir. The money we'll generate in baseball with the new stadium will show why we are truly one of the elite, long term, here to stay baseball powers in the nation. Then throw in what Cohen is building on the field......We WILL have the hardware in Starkville in the near future, boys. I feel it.

I agree.

[messageboardsuperhero]

Coach34 how do you expect to have better tv crowds with a new stadium. It is not all about the stadium, it is partly about economics, and long baseball weekends, not like a double header on Sat and single on Sun as in past. All of our better crowds in past were on either double headers or on super bulldog weekends. Super Bulldog Weekends will continue to be large but the other weekends, imo, will still be smaller. In past all SEC TV broadcast was on Thur nights, now with the SEC Network coming there is more reason not to attend a 3 day weekend to watch baseball when you can watch it on tv. Just my evaluation.

Darryl Berryhill
Class of 1963/65
Box 13 DNF/PDS
berr6728@bellsouth.net
1-225-205-1499

The SEC Network broadcasting a lot of baseball only makes my desire to invest in a new stadium stronger:

1. Our awesome new stadium will be seen on TV all over the country, and it will help elevate our program in the eyes of national writers and recruits.
2. Considering yourself a "national championship caliber" program while playing in a dump sends a mixed message about how dedicated we are to baseball.

And yes, I guarantee you crowds in the new stadium will look better. For one, there will be more people there. Secondly, Cohen and Stricklin have explicitly said that how the crowd look on TV is very important, and they are exploring designs that will make the crowd look big on TV.

[messageboardsuperhero]

One thing to remember, you can catch lightning in a bottle only once. Once the Left Field Lounge is gone, it cannot be replicated.

Do you realize how much the LFL has changed in the last 40 years?

I'm almost positive the lounge will not be done away with, but even if there is a change or two with it, the LFL will still be a special place to watch baseball.

[Coach34]

Coach34 how do you expect to have better tv crowds with a new stadium.

Darryl Berryhill
Class of 1963/65
Box 13 DNF/PDS
berr6728@bellsouth.net
1-225-205-1499

I expect the new stadium to have more chairback seating, which will in turn bring more fans. We lose so many fans who would come on the weekend, but do not want to sit in those shitty bleachers. Many people do not know people in the LFL for the hook-up, and have zero desire to sit in the bleachers, so they stay at home.
Also, there needs to be some type of ticket exchange added to where people can sell their weekend chairbacks when they arent coming- and they can be sold by University on Gameday. With the technology we have today- this would be easy to implement with some proper planning.

I also think you will see something done in the OF to make it more student friendly. This will get more students at games for bigger crowds.

Time to progress and get the Granstand filled every weekend

[Todd4State]

Coach34 how do you expect to have better tv crowds with a new stadium. It is not all about the stadium, it is partly about economics, and long baseball weekends, not like a double header on Sat and single on Sun as in past. All of our better crowds in past were on either double headers or on super bulldog weekends. Super Bulldog Weekends will continue to be large but the other weekends, imo, will still be smaller. In past all SEC TV broadcast was on Thur nights, now with the SEC Network coming there is more reason not to attend a 3 day weekend to watch baseball when you can watch it on tv. Just my evaluation.

Darryl Berryhill
Class of 1963/65
Box 13 DNF/PDS
berr6728@bellsouth.net
1-225-205-1499

As far as economics- a good team + a new ballpark = more fans. That goes MLB, minor league baseball and yes, even college baseball. People will want to see the new stadium if for no other reason than out of curiousity.

I believe the DH increasing attendance is a myth. We had a DH a couple of years ago against Alabama that was actually programmed into the schedule before the season started and we didn't draw any better than what we were for any other SEC weekend. I would think that if that had been a success, Scott would have petitioned the SEC office to make it where we played DH every home weekend and proclaimed that as a MSU tradition. Most players do not like DH and as a fan, I don't like them either personally.

I actually think TV has an opposite effect on attendance. When people hear that a game is on TV, it is assumed that it is a "big game" and they will want to go to it.

We aren't struggling with attendance now as it is, and I expect it to increase this upcoming season. There are people at the game, but when you can't get a seat in the grandstand until the 5th inning and you have to miss a half inning as part of the great migration as I call it, that's not a good game day policy. It would be like going to a restaurant and having to wait 30 minutes when you can see that there are plenty of open tables.

I think a big reason why people went to games in the 80's was because we were really good. As the team got less prominent over the years, the attendance went along with the decline.

[bully99]

Stricklin had his radio show tonight and Butch Thompson was his guest. Stricklan said they may have something to present to fans later in the spring or summer about the new facility. Didn't really offer much new. Butch talked mostly about last season,, and is excited about new season ..

[Todd4State]

Do you realize how much the LFL has changed in the last 40 years?

I'm almost positive the lounge will not be done away with, but even if there is a change or two with it, the LFL will still be a special place to watch baseball.

I agree with you. The LFL has always and continued to morph over the years, and I imagine it would have continued to morph regardless even if we kept everything the same. I expect it to still be there, still be the LFL but safer than ever. I know people are scared of change, but the LFL might actually end up being better than ever.

[bully99]

True, crowds were good in the eighties because we won, but the doubleheaders were popular. One of the reasons they were popular was because both games were 7 innings each. Each game may last two hours or less and you could play both games in 4 hours.

Plus in a rural town like Starkville, it's much better to have Dh s because most people have to travel and stay in hotels if you want to stay the whole weekend.

[AlSwearengen]

There have been several saturdays that I have thought about making the ride to starkville for a saturday game and ended up not going because the thought of sitting in the bleachers was a deal breaker. I will tolerate it for a regional, super regional, or a big SEC game, but there has to be something pretty big on the line for me.

If I can go and sit comfortably and be able to watch the game instead of spending half my time staring at the outfield fence b/c my neck or back needs a rest, I will go simply b/c I don't have anything else to do.

[Todd4State]

True, crowds were good in the eighties because we won, but the doubleheaders were popular. One of the reasons they were popular was because both games were 7 innings each. Each game may last two hours or less and you could play both games in 4 hours.

Exactly. Now you play two 9 inning games and you're looking at 6 hours at least. The reason the SEC went away from the 7 inning games was because it hurt the SEC as far as developing pitching depth in the postseason where you had to play two 9 inning games at times. If you had a 7 inning game and you had a guy like Stratton, your bullpen was pretty much uneccessary.

[bully99]

There you go again. Cricks and sightlines. My oh my.

[Schultzy]

There have been several saturdays that I have thought about making the ride to starkville for a saturday game and ended up not going because the thought of sitting in the bleachers was a deal breaker. I will tolerate it for a regional, super regional, or a big SEC game, but there has to be something pretty big on the line for me.

If I can go and sit comfortably and be able to watch the game instead of spending half my time staring at the outfield fence b/c my neck or back needs a rest, I will go simply b/c I don't have anything else to do.

You can always find someone selling bleacher seats outside the stadium. The problem is so many hang in the outfield and don't want to give up their bleacher seats as season tickets but would otherwise sell them.

We need some kind of swap system to keep the bleachers filled but how?

[bully99]

And who was responsible for doing away with the 7 inning games. Yes Ron Polk. He brought it up every year to the sec until they finally changed it. At one time State held the ncaa record for complete games. Of course many were seven inning games. And why Jeff Brantley pitched about every 3 days.

[messageboardsuperhero]

There you go again. Cricks and sightlines. My oh my.

I vote that we force bully99 (and everybody else who doesn't get the sight line issue) to sit in the bleachers for all 27 innings of the Vanderbilt series- that way you'll understand what all the bitching is about.

That would be okay, right? I mean, according to you, bleachers and bad sight lines don't really make a difference.