Unt Baseball

[UNT Mean Green]

South CarolinaSouth Carolina

Just as a benchmark, Sunbelt baseball stadiums:

South Alabama (Pretty nice digs. They put some effort into the place)

Ark. St (Not good when this is the only pic available)

UALR (First view, I thought it was a softball field)

FAU Different view (For a pretty decent program, I honestly expected something more.)

FIU (This little thumbnail seems to be the only thing available)

ULala (No frills, but looks pretty good)

MUTS (Now this place looks like a great place to watch a game)

Troy (Decent. Could host. Expansion seating planned.)

WKU(Tough to tell. Not many pics available for this place)

Anyhoo, going down this list, South Alabama and MUTS look to be the class of the conference in baseball facilities. Any kind of financial and architectural effort whatsoever would put UNT right up there. The baseball stadiums get a lot better as you move up in conference.

Rice

Baylor

And the crown jewel of them all, LSU.

Nice research there! I'd expect UNT's baseball stadium to far exceed anything in the Sun Belt when it's constructed.

And if your crown jewel is LSU, give me South Carolina

[UNTDude]

Seems to me we already have the material for a 5,000 seat capacity baseball stadium- one of the Fouts end zones. I don't know if it's cost effective or not but that metal seating can be disassembled and re-erected at the proposed baseball field location. Those bleachers can easily be dressed up, brick and mortar enclosing the exterior. Just a thought....

Western Kentucky moved seating from their old baseball stadium to their soccer fields. It's seat back type seating and really very nice. Their soccer coach said they were going to dispose of the seating when he asked that it be moved. Link: http://www.wkusports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=5400&ATCLID=204963747

[KRAM1]

Coming from a fiscal conservative, I love these ideas. Heck, they even fit in with UNT's "Go Green" environmental theme of re-cycling. WOW...a win-win and a positive PR move if handled correctly. Why not use the staff? I'll best there are some additional items that could be utilized as well.

Now, in UNT just had a need for a baseball stadium.

[oldguystudent]

Seems to me we already have the material for a 5,000 seat capacity baseball stadium- one of the Fouts end zones. I don't know if it's cost effective or not but that metal seating can be disassembled and re-erected at the proposed baseball field location. Those bleachers can easily be dressed up, brick and mortar enclosing the exterior. Just a thought....

That is a great idea that has been done before, but with one caveat. If UNT is going to build a baseball stadium, it really, really, really needs to build with the intent to host in the post season. Requirements for that are a minimum of 3,000 assignable seats (so grass berms don't count). Now, you can assign seats on metal benches, but the intangible reality is that seat backs are the standard. What some schools will do is 1,000-1,500 seatbacks behind home plate, then run the metal benches down behind the dugouts. But seriously, putting metal benches as the sole seating option would be akin to doing so for basketball and calling it a division 1 facility.

Edited January 21, 2011 by oldguystudent

[ColoradoEagle]

Anything less than a concrete, proper structure for baseball shouldn't be considered. We just got away from Fouts and the embarrassment that thing is, and the suggestion is to place Acme Brick around an aluminum grandstand? No thanks.

[Green Mean]

If you're going to do it then do it right.

[KRAM1]

Ain't this board great? Here UNT has no baseball team and will not have one for the foreseeable future, but we can all debate the merits of the baseball stadium that will not be built for how many years? Greatness! Would love to see this happen sooner than later, but there is no indication, given the current budget constraints and the opening of the new stadium and all that goes along with that from a financial standpoint, that it is even in the headlights at this time.

But, if you are one of those folks who would love to see baseball return to UNT, let me tell you one way you CAN make it happen even faster than it might now happen. That is, join the Mean Green Club...plain and simple. Every dollar that goes to the Mean Green Club goes to student scholarships. Every outside dollar that goes to cover scholarship costs frees up a dollar to be used elsewhere within the athletic department. So, you want to help? Do you really want to see baseball return and just don't have the deep pockets to fund the whole thing, then do what you can do...join the Mean Green Club.

Seriously, too many people want to sit back and "let someone else do it" while they continue to complain about not having baseball or anything else for that matter. You know, it's sort of like voting...if you don't vote and are not part of the solution, then you really have no room to complain. If you do not help build the program, you really have no room to complain. Those that are contributing need your help. Actions matter, not so much words.

My son went to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY and the Academy motto is ACTA NON VERBA. That pretty much means "Action not words", and pretty much sums up what i am trying to get across here about baseball at UNT and everything else for that matter. Talk is cheap, let's see some action if you really want baseball or simply want the UNT program to move forward. Now, more than ever, your "action" is needed.

PM me if you want to discuss the Mean Green Club more. I'd love to chat with you about it and try to answer your questions.

GO MEAN GREEN! With your help, "good things are happening at UNT these days".

[DeepGreen]

Anything less than a concrete, proper structure for baseball shouldn't be considered. We just got away from Fouts and the embarrassment that thing is, and the suggestion is to place Acme Brick around an aluminum grandstand? No thanks.

I agree with you 100%, but that type of structure will require tens of millions of dollars to construct. In the long run, that's what we should have. But.....as much as I think Central Florida's "erector set" football stadium is cheezy compared to our new stadium, they seem to be doing quite well with theirs.

My point is, we need a baseball program to make our "sports portfolio" more attractive to potential conferences. If recycling the end zone seating, or some portion of it will make a baseball stadium and program a closer reality, then I'm all for it. Maybe a combination of concrete seating with chairbacks for a premium section of seating, and the zone bleachers along 1st and 3rd base sides. I have no idea if this is feasible with the curviture of the seats themselves. If we can save $250K in construction costs, why not try it?

We need baseball at UNT and we may have to think out of the box to get it sooner than later.

[MootPoint]

To my knowledge - there was a donor a while back, who offered to bank roll baseball operating expenses. Don't know if that had anything to do with building a stadium.

That is correct

[ColoradoEagle]

I agree with you 100%, but that type of structure will require tens of millions of dollars to construct. In the long run, that's what we should have.

TCU's Lupton was $7.5 million and Baylor Ballpark was $9 million. Both are great venues. If we roll some aluminum bleachers out there, or a high school level grandstand with no overhang, chairbacks, or suites, then we might as well not do it at all. We want something that will be competitive in getting recruits here and will make people want to come and watch a game.

My point is, we need a baseball program to make our "sports portfolio" more attractive to potential conferences. If recycling the end zone seating, or some portion of it will make a baseball stadium and program a closer reality, then I'm all for it.

Our sports portfolio will be attractive if we have good baseball. No one wants a rusted out Buick from the 70s just to say they have a car except for Dennis Franchione.

Maybe a combination of concrete seating with chairbacks for a premium section of seating, and the zone bleachers along 1st and 3rd base sides. I have no idea if this is feasible with the curviture of the seats themselves. If we can save $250K in construction costs, why not try it?

Most college baseball parks started out with a grandstand behind home and then expanded down first and third as the demand surfaced. That said, college baseball is becoming more popular and most new parks today are built from first to third from the get go.

Edited January 22, 2011 by ColoradoEagle

[oldguystudent]

That is, join the Mean Green Club...plain and simple.

KRAM,

To a certain extent, I tire of this statement. I don't however mean to single you out. That said, I will join the Mean Green Club and start making donations to UNT athletics when:

1) I actually graduate

2) I get a handle on the impending $500/month for 15 years loan payments

3) I secure non-ghetto housing with plumbing that actually works

4) I am comfortable that my kid is properly provided for and her college experience funded

I'm at a net worth of zero, count 'em, zero dollars. My entire financial everything went to the bride. I have some rebuilding of my own to do. In the mean time, I would ask that older, more established alumni not discount me for the priorities that I hold.

Edit: The "you" and "me" in this post are intended to be in the royal form, as in general "you" and general "me," not KRAM and OGS.

Edited January 23, 2011 by oldguystudent

[KRAM1]

KRAM,

To a certain extent, I tire of this statement. I don't however mean to single you out. That said, I will join the Mean Green Club and start making donations to UNT athletics when:

1) I actually graduate

2) I get a handle on the impending $500/month for 15 years loan payments

3) I secure non-ghetto housing with plumbing that actually works

4) I am comfortable that my kid is properly provided for and her college experience funded

I'm at a net worth of zero, count 'em, zero dollars. My entire financial everything went to the bride. I have some rebuilding of my own to do. In the mean time, I would ask that older, more established alumni not discount me for the priorities that I hold.

Edit: The "you" and "me" in this post are intended to be in the royal form, as in general "you" and general "me," not KRAM and OGS.

Well, there was really no reason for you to have to justify why you don't contribute or to tell us all when it is that you might. I get it, and none of my posts are ever aimed at those who truly feel they cannot give at this time. You are not, believe it or not, the only person to have ever been in the situation that you are in financially. In fact, I dare say the vast majority of us on the board, myself included, have been in your situation. If you tire of it, understand it is not directed at you, but more to those who can give and choose not to do so. That is also their right, but, hopefully, they will change their minds and start to give a little back. Giving is a "learned" activity. Many people who live at or near the poverty level still give to the causes they see as important. They may not give money...or much of it, but they give of their talent and time. I happen to have been taught very early by my parents that I have a duty to others to give back, and I just found ways to do so and made the choices that, for me, were right regarding giving. My parents set the example for me and saw that I learned by their example. At the time, I wasn't real excited about giving back part of the money I earned around the house and at odd jobs and part-time employment as I grew up...but, the habit had been formed, and I guess it continues to this day.

So, no offense, but no one here has ever "discounted" you...if you feel you have been discounted, it is of your own doing, it's not my doing or anyone else's as I don't think I have ever...EVER posted anything other than along the lines that people should do what they can...however large or small that amount might be....and only if they can. Your priorities are your priorities...there is no value judgment assigned...never has been...everyone gets to set their own. I have always respected that and never posted anything to the contrary. You set 'em...you own 'em. No need to have to justify why or what you do. Good luck and God speed with your priorities. They seem like good ones to me.

GO MEAN GREEN!

[FloMoGrad]

See my above post with 9 football-playing SBC members able to also have baseball. Are they all in non-compliance with Title IX? I didn't research their sports offerings but I believe most are similar to UNT's.

They balance their sport offerings slightly. FAU has no golf, no mens track and no mens cross country. Others are similar, and we're just starting to collect a Student Fee, that plays a large role in the 1-2 million it would take to fund a team. If we have the space in Title IX compliance, then it's only a matter of time and money before we see it added.

[Uh Paul in uh]

To throw a coaching name out there, there is a guy who lives in the area that would be a great choice, James Vilade. He started the baseball program at UT Tyler ten years ago, and built them from practicing at a local high school to building a new facility to eventually a potential NCAA tourney team in D-III every year. He resigned last year and now lives in the Dallas area and works as a scout for the Marlins. Were going to need a guy who has experience building a program from the ground up and who has recruiting ties to the area and who doesn't cost too much, just throwing it out there.