Group formed to bring back UNT baseball?

[Cr1028]

15 minutes ago, NT80 said:

You may want to check the facts for yourself sometime.....

I will trust the guy that does it for a living instead of someone who wants the facts to fit their preferred outcome. Maybe you should ask @Glad To Be Green and see if he’ll give you the answer you want or if he says exactly what Wren has already said. Or better yet, you can apply for Wren’s job when he moves on to the P5 and get us in all the legal trouble you want just to prove your point and get your beloved baseball back.

Edited August 16, 2022 by Cr1028

[Green Lantern]

There will be a new basketball arena at UNT before baseball is back. Just the way it is - and should be.

Not anti-baseball but now is not the time. There isn’t widespread support to add a niche sport like this with the costs/resources required.

[meanJewGreen]

It was fun watching the softball team advance and see them play on national TV and it would be a nice spring capper to the end of the academic for a baseball team to do the same. I dont know about the rest of you (and I'm not the biggest baseball fan) but watching the NCAA baseball tournament was fun and 10x more fun if NT was in it. 

If there is a group of people specifically focused on funding baseball, that's awesome. Wren is focused on making improvement in other realms and I respect him for that. Good things take time and focus. 

[DentonLurker]

I'm all for Baseball, IF...

1- We have expanded the athletic center

2- Built a new basketball arena

3- Fully supported our existing sports in all the ways Baker and Co. think they need to be supported

4- Have an NIL Collective that helps us compete with our conference peers

5- Can add it without creating any Title IX issues

6- Have the funds to add baseball without taking anything from existing sports

[meanJewGreen]

35 minutes ago, DentonLurker said:

I'm all for Baseball, IF...

1- We have expanded the athletic center

2- Built a new basketball arena

3- Fully supported our existing sports in all the ways Baker and Co. think they need to be supported

4- Have an NIL Collective that helps us compete with our conference peers

5- Can add it without creating any Title IX issues

6- Have the funds to add baseball without taking anything from existing sports

I feel like some of the bigger schools have a lot of these sports-focused donors. We're far from there though.

[greenminer]

4 hours ago, WanderingEagle said:

Yeah man baseball hasnt proven it can advance any TX programs, just look at Rice, or Texas, or Texas Tech, or DBU, or TCU, or A&M, or

Incredible baseball programs.  But when you guys talk about athletic advancement, I'm thinking football still carries the torch.

If you want to convince the people making these decisions that baseball will advance the program, you have to start thinking like an administrator, and not a baseball fan wanting to celebrate a baseball team.

[NT80]

1 hour ago, greenminer said:

Incredible baseball programs.  But when you guys talk about athletic advancement, I'm thinking football still carries the torch.

If you want to convince the people making these decisions that baseball will advance the program, you have to start thinking like an administrator, and not a baseball fan wanting to celebrate a baseball team.

Perhaps some pieces could get shifted around instead? 

An administrator of a growing Athletic Department should always be looking for ways to get fans and donors on campus, and needs as many sports to bring those people on campus year-round as possible! 

Baseball is a revenue sport in the sense of fan attendance and tickets sold.  Yes, baseball includes a semi-major facility.  Track, cross country, and golf are non-revenue and non-fan sports.  Do we need 43 male athletes in track and cross country?  NCAA D1 baseball programs are allowed to offer a maximum of 11.7 athletic scholarships, which can be divided up among a maximum of 27 players.

[Cr1028]

49 minutes ago, texx2818 said:

Consistently the worst and dumbest takes on GMG.

 

[greenminer]

1 hour ago, NT80 said:

Baseball is a revenue sport in the sense of fan attendance and tickets sold.  

Traditionally, Football and MBB are the revenue sports.  Some schools can also claim WBB.  I have never heard of baseball being one, even among the Texas schools.
 

Quote

Perhaps some pieces could get shifted around instead? 

Do we need 43 male athletes in track and cross country?  NCAA D1 baseball programs are allowed to offer a maximum of 11.7 athletic scholarships, which can be divided up among a maximum of 27 players.

Now, not only are you talking about convincing our AD to add a sport, you have to tell other sports they aren't important anymore.  Good luck with that and all the rippling implications.

Look, This comes up every year.  There hasn't ever been any compelling argument to make it a bigger priority then, and I don't see any new, compelling arguments being made this go-round.  As such, I don't have any reason to believe anything will change.  It's just a small army of the same people finding new ways to scream how badly they want baseball.

I've read everything I need to read over the years.  Have fun.

PS for one important follow-up:

I think I should be super clear: I would love love baseball.  My takeawy from all of this delay from the AD is that we are probably underestimating how badly we need some other areas addressed first. Wren likely wants Mean Green baseball too.

Edited August 17, 2022 by greenminer

[NT80]

33 minutes ago, greenminer said:

Good luck with that and all the rippling implications.

Do you want more fans and donors for this program?  Nobody is talking about cutting a sport, just moving some scholarships to start another sport.  Does track really need 43?  Seriously. 

Unless you follow softball there is no other spring sport for fans.   Football, Basketball, and Baseball have all been traditional school sports at every level from junior high to pro for 100 years.  There are 299 Division I college baseball programs across the country....but not in Denton.   

[Cr1028]

48 minutes ago, NT80 said:

Unless you follow softball there is no other spring sport for fans.   Football, Basketball, and Baseball have all been traditional school sports at every level from junior high to pro for 100 years.  There are 299 Division I college baseball programs across the country....but not in Denton.   

You could say the same thing about track and field.

Edited August 17, 2022 by Cr1028

[Green Lantern]

58 minutes ago, NT80 said:

Do you want more fans and donors for this program?  

Yes! Which is why I advocate for funneling significant resources to a proven winner and objectively Top 40 Coach in his respective sport in Grant McCasland - a winner literally everywhere he’s been regardless of competition level. We don’t have to guess, speculate, or search for the answer in this area. He’s here and done it repeatedly. Push the chips in and turn this into a monster. 
 

Oh and fix football. That’d be fun too!

Edited August 17, 2022 by Green Lantern

[DentonLurker]

54 minutes ago, NT80 said:

Nobody is talking about cutting a sport, just moving some scholarships to start another sport.  Does track really need 43?  Seriously. 

Men's Track is 12.6 scholarships. I'm not sure where your 43 is coming from?

[greenminer]

2 hours ago, NT80 said:

Nobody is talking about cutting a sport, just moving some scholarships to start another sport. 

How much have you thought this through?  You take away one or two scholarships from a team, and then expect them to compete against other programs that use the full NCAA allotment?  What am I missing here?

[DentonLurker]

22 minutes ago, greenminer said:

You take away one or two scholarships from a team, and then expect them to compete against other programs that use the full NCAA allotment?

Not to mention the fact that if you’re having to take a couple of scholarships (aka not that much money) to get the funding you need for Baseball you’re limping in before you’ve even started. It’s like using a field player at pitcher just so you don’t have to forfeit the game.

[Tully]

I would love baseball at UNT and I would absolutely be a season ticket holder. But for so many reasons mentioned above, I've all but given up on that being a reality anytime in the next 5-10 years. Basketball should be the priority in my mind. I've heard some semblance of the quote before that "the fastest way to change the growth of athletic program at any University is with 5 scholarships on a basketball court" and I believe that's where we are and should be headed to try and change the trajectory of our athletic program. Football will follow and benefit from that too ultimately. 

[Clinetort]

On 8/17/2022 at 12:39 AM, DentonLurker said:

Not to mention the fact that if you’re having to take a couple of scholarships (aka not that much money) to get the funding you need for Baseball you’re limping in before you’ve even started. It’s like using a field player at pitcher just so you don’t have to forfeit the game.

Baseball will be on campus in five years and it will be a program built from the ground up from dedicated donors that are willing to work their asses off to make it happen.  The collective that is forming to lead this initiative will be substantial and will raise money.  Sit back and watch.  

[cousin oliver]

15 minutes ago, Clinetort said:

Baseball will be on campus in five years and it will be a program built from the ground up from dedicated donors that are willing to work their asses off to make it happen.  The collective that is forming to lead this initiative will be substantial and will raise money.  Sit back and watch.  

Always thought there was a huge opportunity cost to the University when sports shuts down for the spring and summer months until football begins once again in spring.  That is a long time for darkness. Baseball could be a way to reattach with future students and alumni that could support the mission of UNT.

Edited August 20, 2022 by cousin oliver

[DentonLurker]

17 minutes ago, Clinetort said:

Baseball will be on campus in five years and it will be a program built from the ground up from dedicated donors that are willing to work their asses off to make it happen.  The collective that is forming to lead this initiative will be substantial and will raise money.  Sit back and watch.  

Time will certainly tell. I’ll be here watching. Five years is certainly aggressive.

[greenminer]

28 minutes ago, Clinetort said:

Baseball will be on campus in five years and it will be a program built from the ground up from dedicated donors that are willing to work their asses off to make it happen.  The collective that is forming to lead this initiative will be substantial and will raise money.  Sit back and watch.  

Just curious if this group has worked with the AD and come up with any preliminary financial numbers to make it happen, and what those numbers might be.  Do you know?

[Clinetort]

11 hours ago, greenminer said:

Just curious if this group has worked with the AD and come up with any preliminary financial numbers to make it happen, and what those numbers might be.  Do you know?

The groups primary focus is to build a grassroots following that will translate into financial support and reinstatement of the program.  Mean Green Baseball project is not affiliated with the University, but is open to dialogue with the athletics department.

[greenminer]

2 hours ago, Clinetort said:

The groups primary focus is to build a grassroots following that will translate into financial support and reinstatement of the program.  Mean Green Baseball project is not affiliated with the University, but is open to dialogue with the athletics department.

My main question would be, whether they have spoken with Wren or not, have they come up with a dollar figure to shoot for, and do you know it?

[HoustonEagle]

A D1 college in Texas without baseball is idiotic.  YES we need baseball and if it meant cutting Track and Field entirely I am all for it.   I have never in my life watched a UNT track event nor have I checked the results.  I would watch UNT baseball and WHEN they make the CWS I would be glued to the TV.  It's a cheap sport in terms of scholarships and not terrible on travel.  Find the big money family that wants baseball and show them what their  name will look like on the stadium.  I realize we will always be pushing football but to say we have been throwing good money after bad is an understatement.  I do think we wait until we secure the donations for the facilities but then we need to go full speed ahead. I fear what we are doing is telling potential donors that we will not entertain the idea.  If I was one of those donors I would not then turn around and give that money to football if that is not where my heart is.  

 

 

 

Edited August 20, 2022 by HoustonEagle

[GrandGreen]

On 8/16/2022 at 10:48 PM, DentonLurker said:

Men's Track is 12.6 scholarships. I'm not sure where your 43 is coming from?

My guess he/she is counting participants and not realizing very few if any have full scholarships. 

Also not considering a D! program must have 16 teams of which 6 of NT's are men and women; track, indoor track and cross country.  

[DentonLurker]

Track is not what’s holding back baseball. I’m still convinced the $’s are just not there. I’ll be glad if I’m proven wrong, but I’ll also be surprised.