Georgia renovating their baseball stadium.

[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.