Baseball
-
SycamoreFan
- Posts: 27
- Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 1:38 pm
Baseball
I remember a contingency that Loyola start a baseball program when they were admitted to the MVC. When is that supposed to happen?
Re: Baseball
That would be news. I don't recall that condition.
Re: Baseball
SycamoreFan wrote:I remember a contingency that Loyola start a baseball program when they were admitted to the MVC. When is that supposed to happen?
I read rumors about that at the time, but I believe they were unfounded. I'd love it if we had a baseball team though.
-
lusuperfan
- Posts: 999
- Joined: Wed May 15, 2013 6:06 pm
Re: Baseball
I thought lacrosse was going to be the next sport we add?
I love baseball, the sport in general, but quite frankly, I'd rather not see Loyola add it or any sport for that matter. I think with the rapidly changing landscape of college sports and paying athletes, LU is going to need every cent it can scrape up to make our flagship sport (basketball) competitive ten years from now. I especially don't see how we can justify bringing in more teams in non-revenue sports when our current non-revenue sports are already on the fringe in regards to their spending and even facilities (see: men's volleyball losing a scholarship last year and track & field's home).
Plus, how competitive can we be in baseball? Unlike midwest volleyball, which has grown exponentially in recent years, we have a small recruiting base around here. We have no facilities or even the space remotely near campus to fit a baseball field. And even if we find the players and find the space to build a nice little ballfield, we still wouldn't be able to play any games on it until midway through the college baseball season. Teams in the south start up in February, giving them a huge, inherent advantage over us.
I love baseball, the sport in general, but quite frankly, I'd rather not see Loyola add it or any sport for that matter. I think with the rapidly changing landscape of college sports and paying athletes, LU is going to need every cent it can scrape up to make our flagship sport (basketball) competitive ten years from now. I especially don't see how we can justify bringing in more teams in non-revenue sports when our current non-revenue sports are already on the fringe in regards to their spending and even facilities (see: men's volleyball losing a scholarship last year and track & field's home).
Plus, how competitive can we be in baseball? Unlike midwest volleyball, which has grown exponentially in recent years, we have a small recruiting base around here. We have no facilities or even the space remotely near campus to fit a baseball field. And even if we find the players and find the space to build a nice little ballfield, we still wouldn't be able to play any games on it until midway through the college baseball season. Teams in the south start up in February, giving them a huge, inherent advantage over us.
-
SycamoreFan
- Posts: 27
- Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 1:38 pm
Re: Baseball
LU 86 wrote:That would be news. I don't recall that condition.
reasonably sure that was a part of Loyola's sales pitch before you were selected to join the league?
Re: Baseball
SycamoreFan wrote:LU 86 wrote:That would be news. I don't recall that condition.
reasonably sure that was a part of Loyola's sales pitch before you were selected to join the league?
That's probably wishful thinking. I don't think Loyola's "sales pitch" was made public, and I didn't hear anything about a promise to add baseball mentioned by anyone that I know close to the talks. I did see some speculation on message boards, but nothing concrete.
Re: Baseball
lusuperfan wrote:Plus, how competitive can we be in baseball? Unlike midwest volleyball, which has grown exponentially in recent years, we have a small recruiting base around here. We have no facilities or even the space remotely near campus to fit a baseball field. And even if we find the players and find the space to build a nice little ballfield, we still wouldn't be able to play any games on it until midway through the college baseball season. Teams in the south start up in February, giving them a huge, inherent advantage over us.
There are a lot of teams around here... Northwestern, UIC, Chicago State, and even North Park all play baseball.
Re: Baseball
No way in the world would Loyola add a sport to join the Valley. Grace Calhoun and Tom Kelly had plans to cut men's volleyball to balance the budget.
-
lusuperfan
- Posts: 999
- Joined: Wed May 15, 2013 6:06 pm
Re: Baseball
I think there's a difference between playing baseball and playing baseball well. Northwestern does have a respectable program, but in a much bigger conference. UIC has created a nice little niche for their program. In addition to their beautiful turf field that's a short walk from campus, they also have an indoor turf facility to practice on, which helps UIC immensely in recruiting and performance. Chicago St. has never had a winning season since they joined D1 in 1989, and all of those losing seasons, only 4 finished with a winning percentage in the .400s.
86's nugget would clearly have been a sign of horrendous management and leadership but quite frankly only because men's volleyball wins. If we were Lindenwood, it'd be a tough decision to let all those athletes go but would it really be that tough of a decision logistically? Take the money we spend on a middle of the road men's volleyball team and throw it to our up-and-coming men's basketball team so they can compete in a cutthroat, revenue generating sport? It begs the question: if we do add a sport, shouldn't it be something that at least brings pride to the school through its performance? Is it worth it to totally screw up our already shoestring budget to facilitate a below .500 ball club?
86's nugget would clearly have been a sign of horrendous management and leadership but quite frankly only because men's volleyball wins. If we were Lindenwood, it'd be a tough decision to let all those athletes go but would it really be that tough of a decision logistically? Take the money we spend on a middle of the road men's volleyball team and throw it to our up-and-coming men's basketball team so they can compete in a cutthroat, revenue generating sport? It begs the question: if we do add a sport, shouldn't it be something that at least brings pride to the school through its performance? Is it worth it to totally screw up our already shoestring budget to facilitate a below .500 ball club?
Re: Baseball
Adding men's and women's tennis would cost far less than baseball and help us to compete in more MVC sports without any Title IX repercussions. Like the vast majority of college sports fans, I'd be much more interested in baseball, but with weather difficulties, field requirements, and much higher costs, we'd get more mileage in conference competition with mens/womens tennis. UNI and Drake don't have baseball either, probably for the same reasons.