College Baseball Conference Tournaments in Omaha

[Brad]

College Baseball Conference Tournaments in Omaha

Kevin and Mike'l just said that the Big 10 Conference toured Werner Park today as a possible site for the 2013-2016 Big 10 Baseball Tournament.

[iamjacobm]

Ugh.

Why they heck wouldn't they want it at TD?  I would think 20K fans would be there for Husker games easy.

[nebugeater]

Ugh.

Why they heck wouldn't they want it at TD?  I would think 20K fans would be there for Husker games easy.

Just a guess but are there any agreements with the NCAA about usage level or not having a Conf Tourny there because of the CWS that it was built for?

[Brad]

Just a guess but are there any agreements with the NCAA about usage level or not having a Conf Tourny there because of the CWS that it was built for?

The Missouri Valley has had a Tournament there.  May be the Mo Valley already has one of the years booked for another tournament.  The Big 10 wants it in the same place 4 years in a row.

[nebugeater]

Just a guess but are there any agreements with the NCAA about usage level or not having a Conf Tourny there because of the CWS that it was built for?

The Missouri Valley has had a Tournament there.  May be the Mo Valley already has one of the years booked for another tournament.  The Big 10 wants it in the same place 4 years in a row.

Forgot about the MOVA being there.


Maybe the Big 10 is just looking at as many possibilities as they can to be able to say they had X teams make it to OMAHA!

[nebugeater]

Here is a short bit from WOWT
Sounds like Big 10 officials were at the park today.


http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/Big_ ... 35833.html

There could soon be more places to see college baseball in the metro area. Werner Park is being considered as a possible site of the Big Ten baseball tournament starting in 2013.

Big Ten officials toured the park Monday and heard Sarpy County's proposal to host the event from 2013 through 2016. Werner Park is one of nearly a dozen other sites being considered for the baseball tournament. A final decision is expected this spring or summer.



Sarpy County Administrator Mark Wayne says the Big Ten prefers a neutral site. The tournament this year is being held at the Hunting Park in Columbus, Ohio, the home park of the Triple-A Columbus Clippers.

The Big Ten baseball tournament usually runs around the Memorial Day weekend. It starts on Wednesday and finishes up on Saturday or Sunday. It usually includes at least 10 games.

[cp jay 07]

Werner would fit the B1G tourney much better than TDA would. Think about it we are talking about a low major baseball conference where fans do not travel. I watched last years championship from Penn States stadium and there might have been 1,000 people there. The fact is is that the B1G does not care about baseball, they have their own recruiting rules which pretty much screw all their teams and the fact that their most southern team is now Lincoln, Nebraska does not help either.


Nebraska fans will have to realize that while the move to the B1G helped a lot of their teams it was pretty much a death sentence to the baseball team.

Another thing to think about when talking about attendance is who Nebraska is playing. Back when they were playing Texas and all the other serious CWS contenders in the Big 12 you could maybe get 20,000 but I don't think they would show up to see the powers that are Purdue, Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois.

[iamjacobm]

Well I don't know what tournament you watched last season, but the B1G tournament was at Columbus' AAA stadium which has more seats than Werner.  Moving to a smaller stadium in the quintessential college baseball city in the country makes 0 sense to me.

Also if Nebraska baseball is winning people will pack the place no matter who they play.  Husker fans will support a 1st place B1G team much better than the 9th place Big 12 team they turned into the past seasons.

[HskrFanMike]

I had heard that MECA was interested in the Big Ten tournament previously.  Maybe the Big Ten isn't interested since the Missouri Valley tournament is already booked for one or two of those years.  Or maybe the Big Ten toured Ameritrade as well; MECA may have just not sent out a press release.

[joeglow]

This seems like a better fit than TD Ameritrade.  I would assume a fair amount of fans at these tournaments are local people and Omaha probably gets its fill of tournament baseball from the CWS.  I don't see 20,000 coming to these games.  Coupled with a rent payment that I am sure is much lower and this makes more sense.

[cp jay 07]

Well I don't know what tournament you watched last season, but the B1G tournament was at Columbus' AAA stadium which has more seats than Werner.  Moving to a smaller stadium in the quintessential college baseball city in the country makes 0 sense to me.

Also if Nebraska baseball is winning people will pack the place no matter who they play.  Husker fans will support a 1st place B1G team much better than the 9th place Big 12 team they turned into the past seasons.

My bad two years ago was at Penn State. Same story though, no one there. And yes if UNL does make the title game it would be a good crowd but not 20,000.

Werner is a AAA park just like Columbus so that also makes more sense, since they have played at Penn States single A park and Columbus' AAA park.

[Greg S]

Yeah Werner Park is a much better fit for these types of tourneys compared to TD.  The Valley tourney got swallowed in TD.  We kept hearing about how many fans would come but it just did not materialize.

Greg

[Big E]

The Valley tourney got swallowed in TD.

That's what she said.

Wait...  wrong thread.

[cp jay 07]

Yeah Werner Park is a much better fit for these types of tourneys compared to TD.  The Valley tourney got swallowed in TD.  We kept hearing about how many fans would come but it just did not materialize.

Greg

To be fair there were 8,000 fans at the championship, which for college baseball is great. Of course when you get 8,000 in a 24,000 seat stadium it's going to look empty.

[HskrFanMike]

On the other hand, there are restaurants, watering holes, and hotels within walking distance of TD Ameritrade Park.  (You know, the whole reason why the NCAA asked Omaha to build TD Ameritrade Park in the first place.)

[byrdrules]

I have no idea if this has any bearing on the situation, but the Big Ten and Missouri Valley have their baseball tournaments on the same dates.

[Greg S]

Yeah Werner Park is a much better fit for these types of tourneys compared to TD.  The Valley tourney got swallowed in TD.  We kept hearing about how many fans would come but it just did not materialize.

Greg

To be fair there were 8,000 fans at the championship, which for college baseball is great. Of course when you get 8,000 in a 24,000 seat stadium it's going to look empty.

It was some of the earlier games at that series that were brutal.  There was talk ahead of time about teams traveling here especially the Shockers but it just did not happen.  I think the game I went to had less than 100 for the first pitch....


Greg

[cp jay 07]

Well yeah of course two teams like Indiana State and Illinois State drew less than 100. I can't imagine Iowa vs Indiana would draw more than 100 either. Wichita and MSU brought up fans and that helped the attendance. Do you honestly think fans in a conference that does not care about Baseball would drive to Omaha, NE? when the closest opponent is 4 and a half hours away?

To clarify I don't think the Big 10 tourney couldn't do well in Omaha but to think it could easily draw 20,000 is just not going to happen. I think Werner is probably the best stadium for it, I think the MVC would also be a better fit at Werner as well cause CU isn't drawing 20,000 either but they like doing it in their own stadiums so you will see a rotation between WSU, MSU and CU now.

[HskrFanMike]

And it's official... the Big Ten did look at TD Ameritrade as well.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/co ... story.html

[BRoss]

It says they are hoping to draw 5,000 to 7,000 fans. TDAPO is too big for that. Werner Park would be a much better fit.

Plus it said the bid was for an “alternating years” format rather than for consecutive years and I'm pretty sure they want to go with someone who will do consecutive years.

[nebugeater]

who really cares what park it is at.  Choose what works best as far as fit and $$$.   All I hope is that it end up in the Omaha metro for one or more years so we can really see how it is supported.

[HskrFanMike]

If the B1G tournament is played in Omaha and Nebraska is still in contention on the weekend, demand will be way more than 5,000-7,000 seats.  Probably double....maybe more.

[Greg S]

It's too bad MECA is only offering every other year.  I think that hurts their bid big time.  The Big 10 seems to prefer consecutive years at the same location for the their tourneys.

Greg

[HskrFanMike]

Maybe as negotiations progress, maybe Sarpy County and MECA could actually work together and combine bids, with the games alternating between the two ballparks.  One year downtown, the next way out west, or vice versa.

Of course, the years there were two conference tournaments in the region could get a little dicey...

[Greg S]

I was kind of hoping they would work together on bids as well.

Greg

[Huskerbaseball13]

Werner would fit the B1G tourney much better than TDA would. Think about it we are talking about a low major baseball conference where fans do not travel. I watched last years championship from Penn States stadium and there might have been 1,000 people there. The fact is is that the B1G does not care about baseball, they have their own recruiting rules which pretty much screw all their teams and the fact that their most southern team is now Lincoln, Nebraska does not help either.


Nebraska fans will have to realize that while the move to the B1G helped a lot of their teams it was pretty much a death sentence to the baseball team.

Another thing to think about when talking about attendance is who Nebraska is playing. Back when they were playing Texas and all the other serious CWS contenders in the Big 12 you could maybe get 20,000 but I don't think they would show up to see the powers that are Purdue, Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois.

Death sentence? LMAO...maybe in your dreams. The only way it would be a death sentence is if Nebraska stopped pumping money in the program.  That won't be happening anytime soon and that's evident by the facility we just built and the coaches we brought in during the offseason.  I fully expect Nebraska to become the "WSU of the Big 10" so to speak.

[cp jay 07]

Werner would fit the B1G tourney much better than TDA would. Think about it we are talking about a low major baseball conference where fans do not travel. I watched last years championship from Penn States stadium and there might have been 1,000 people there. The fact is is that the B1G does not care about baseball, they have their own recruiting rules which pretty much screw all their teams and the fact that their most southern team is now Lincoln, Nebraska does not help either.


Nebraska fans will have to realize that while the move to the B1G helped a lot of their teams it was pretty much a death sentence to the baseball team.

Another thing to think about when talking about attendance is who Nebraska is playing. Back when they were playing Texas and all the other serious CWS contenders in the Big 12 you could maybe get 20,000 but I don't think they would show up to see the powers that are Purdue, Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois.

Death sentence? LMAO...maybe in your dreams. The only way it would be a death sentence is if Nebraska stopped pumping money in the program.  That won't be happening anytime soon and that's evident by the facility we just built and the coaches we brought in during the offseason.  I fully expect Nebraska to become the "WSU of the Big 10" so to speak.

The problem isn't Nebraska pumping money into the program its the rest of your conference. heck your conference wants to leave the NCAA, thats a reaaaallll good idea.

You are not in the Big 12 anymore, you aren't playing the Texas schools and other southern schools, you are losing that recruiting advantage of the south, you are playing all Northern schools with some playing at glorified high school fields, if you get upset in your conference tourney your season is over, and then there is the Big 10 recruiting rules which makes it very risky and almost impossible to recruit the really good players that could bolt for the pros.

I like Erstad and what he is doing with what he has been given, a bad program in a bad conference and he has done a heck of a job, and I like his mentality of we will schedule tough in the non conference. He is not your typical Big 10 coach in that he is not trying to find excuses or just say "that's how the Big 10 does it" like most Big 10 coaches.

UNL can dump all the money it wants in its program but untill the Big 10 makes some changes and realizes the weather is not the reason their conference is a joke. And as much as Minnys coach and some other Big 10 coaches like to think other Northern schools have made the CWS since 1984.

Also kind of off topic of how bad the Big 10 is, I noticed that UNL is playing La Tech this weekend after Creighton gets them tonight, I am hoping that we can see more of this now that CU has a nice stadium, get some of these southern schools up here to play some weekends in Lincoln or Omaha then a tuesday game vice versa. This March should show them we have some good weather.

[Linkin5]

I think its only a matter of time before the Big 10 changes it recruiting rules, and with that the conference will get a whole lot better IMO.  

As far as the Minnesota coach's idea of having their own league, that is idiotic and I can't believe he would even say something like that, it sends the message that if you can't compete then you might as well quit and do your own thing.

[cp jay 07]

I think its only a matter of time before the Big 10 changes it recruiting rules, and with that the conference will get a whole lot better IMO.  

As far as the Minnesota coach's idea of having their own league, that is idiotic and I can't believe he would even say something like that, it sends the message that if you can't compete then you might as well quit and do your own thing.

I would hope so, as much as I can't stand their fans, having both in state programs playing good baseball is good for the rivalry (sorry UNO not quite there yet). Never forget 2005 when it was a top 25 match up in May, Rosenblatt had a special feeling that night.

As for as changing the recruiting rules it needs to be done, from what I hear though Delaney always points out weather when he gets asked baseball questions, he wants the CWS pushed back to late July which will never happen with MLB having their draft in June, some MLB clubs feel as if the CWS is already to late. He needs to stop dodging the recruiting issue and change that instead of trying to win a fight you have 0% chance of winning.

From some of the stories I've Delaney seems to be a little stubborn sometimes and thinks its the Big 10 vs the world. I recently just heard he told all the Big 10 basketball teams to decline a CBI invite, yeah it may be the 3rd tourney and a joke but when you look at VCU two years ago and CU this year seems to me like extra practice can never hurt.

[Huskerbaseball13]

Werner would fit the B1G tourney much better than TDA would. Think about it we are talking about a low major baseball conference where fans do not travel. I watched last years championship from Penn States stadium and there might have been 1,000 people there. The fact is is that the B1G does not care about baseball, they have their own recruiting rules which pretty much screw all their teams and the fact that their most southern team is now Lincoln, Nebraska does not help either.


Nebraska fans will have to realize that while the move to the B1G helped a lot of their teams it was pretty much a death sentence to the baseball team.

Another thing to think about when talking about attendance is who Nebraska is playing. Back when they were playing Texas and all the other serious CWS contenders in the Big 12 you could maybe get 20,000 but I don't think they would show up to see the powers that are Purdue, Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois.

Death sentence? LMAO...maybe in your dreams. The only way it would be a death sentence is if Nebraska stopped pumping money in the program.  That won't be happening anytime soon and that's evident by the facility we just built and the coaches we brought in during the offseason.  I fully expect Nebraska to become the "WSU of the Big 10" so to speak.

The problem isn't Nebraska pumping money into the program its the rest of your conference. heck your conference wants to leave the NCAA, thats a reaaaallll good idea.

You are not in the Big 12 anymore, you aren't playing the Texas schools and other southern schools, you are losing that recruiting advantage of the south, you are playing all Northern schools with some playing at glorified high school fields, if you get upset in your conference tourney your season is over, and then there is the Big 10 recruiting rules which makes it very risky and almost impossible to recruit the really good players that could bolt for the pros.

I like Erstad and what he is doing with what he has been given, a bad program in a bad conference and he has done a heck of a job, and I like his mentality of we will schedule tough in the non conference. He is not your typical Big 10 coach in that he is not trying to find excuses or just say "that's how the Big 10 does it" like most Big 10 coaches.

UNL can dump all the money it wants in its program but untill the Big 10 makes some changes and realizes the weather is not the reason their conference is a joke. And as much as Minnys coach and some other Big 10 coaches like to think other Northern schools have made the CWS since 1984.

Also kind of off topic of how bad the Big 10 is, I noticed that UNL is playing La Tech this weekend after Creighton gets them tonight, I am hoping that we can see more of this now that CU has a nice stadium, get some of these southern schools up here to play some weekends in Lincoln or Omaha then a tuesday game vice versa. This March should show them we have some good weather.

Correction, it was one coaches idea....not the whole conference.  

Nebraska has always recruited regionally first and foremost...and then have dipped into other states for players.  That has not changed...recruiting is all about connections...I'd venture to guess Erstad, Bolt, and Silva have some dam good connections.  If Nebraska continues to get the best players in the state and recruiting the region hard that will suffice.  As far as facility wise, lets not act like MVC is that much better.  I'd put Big 10's facilities right up with MVC after Purdue and Idiana build their new facilities.  Certain programs in the Big 10 are starting to dump more money in their programs, not sure it will change anything but its a good start.  Of course, I'm not worried about them...if Nebraska can beat them the rest will take care of itself.   The recruiting rules you just have to be careful that you recruit players that want to go to college....and for the most part, Nebraska has always done that.  We haven't had very many kids bolt to the pros out of our recruiting classes. It would be nice if Creighton and Nebraska could piggy back off eachother to get better teams to visit...I know Nebraska is beefing up its schedule next year.  Not sure if Creighton will benefit from that.

[Huskerbaseball13]

I think its only a matter of time before the Big 10 changes it recruiting rules, and with that the conference will get a whole lot better IMO.  

As far as the Minnesota coach's idea of having their own league, that is idiotic and I can't believe he would even say something like that, it sends the message that if you can't compete then you might as well quit and do your own thing.

I believe changing the recruiting rules is already in the works.  For the time being it just means Nebraska coaches need to be more cautious on the recruiting trail.  You make sure you recruit kids that for sure want to play college ball.  Off the top of my head that hasn't been a problem in the past....I would be interested to see how many recruits over the past 5-10 years have jumped to the pros.

[Linkin5]

I think its only a matter of time before the Big 10 changes it recruiting rules, and with that the conference will get a whole lot better IMO.  

As far as the Minnesota coach's idea of having their own league, that is idiotic and I can't believe he would even say something like that, it sends the message that if you can't compete then you might as well quit and do your own thing.

I believe changing the recruiting rules is already in the works.  For the time being it just means Nebraska coaches need to be more cautious on the recruiting trail.  You make sure you recruit kids that for sure want to play college ball.  Off the top of my head that hasn't been a problem in the past....I would be interested to see how many recruits over the past 5-10 years have jumped to the pros.

There have been tons.

[cp jay 07]

The problem with recruiting is that before you could go into a kid in Texas' house and tell him "yeah we will come back and play UT, A&M, Tech and Baylor". Now you have to tell him hey come to Lincoln, Nebraska and play Purdue, and Michigan in March and April. Not quite the same.

[Linkin5]

The problem with recruiting is that before you could go into a kid in Texas' house and tell him "yeah we will come back and play UT, A&M, Tech and Baylor". Now you have to tell him hey come to Lincoln, Nebraska and play Purdue, and Michigan in March and April. Not quite the same.

The great thing about Erstad is that he has recognized this and has stated our non-con is going to be as difficult as possible, so we probably will be seeing these teams still in the future years.

[Big E]

The great thing about Erstad is that he has recognized this and has stated our non-con is going to be as difficult as possible, so we probably will be seeing these teams still in the future years.

Hire him to coach basketball.

[cp jay 07]

The problem with recruiting is that before you could go into a kid in Texas' house and tell him "yeah we will come back and play UT, A&M, Tech and Baylor". Now you have to tell him hey come to Lincoln, Nebraska and play Purdue, and Michigan in March and April. Not quite the same.

The great thing about Erstad is that he has recognized this and has stated our non-con is going to be as difficult as possible, so we probably will be seeing these teams still in the future years.

Definately agree there with his scheduling but still not the same as saynig "We will be playing all the Texas schools for 4 years"

[Huskerbaseball13]

I think its only a matter of time before the Big 10 changes it recruiting rules, and with that the conference will get a whole lot better IMO.  

As far as the Minnesota coach's idea of having their own league, that is idiotic and I can't believe he would even say something like that, it sends the message that if you can't compete then you might as well quit and do your own thing.

I believe changing the recruiting rules is already in the works.  For the time being it just means Nebraska coaches need to be more cautious on the recruiting trail.  You make sure you recruit kids that for sure want to play college ball.  Off the top of my head that hasn't been a problem in the past....I would be interested to see how many recruits over the past 5-10 years have jumped to the pros.

There have been tons.

Recruits....or players that were actually on the roster? I'd very very surprised if we have lost "tons" of recruits due to the draft.

[Linkin5]

I think its only a matter of time before the Big 10 changes it recruiting rules, and with that the conference will get a whole lot better IMO.  

As far as the Minnesota coach's idea of having their own league, that is idiotic and I can't believe he would even say something like that, it sends the message that if you can't compete then you might as well quit and do your own thing.

I believe changing the recruiting rules is already in the works.  For the time being it just means Nebraska coaches need to be more cautious on the recruiting trail.  You make sure you recruit kids that for sure want to play college ball.  Off the top of my head that hasn't been a problem in the past....I would be interested to see how many recruits over the past 5-10 years have jumped to the pros.

There have been tons.

Recruits....or players that were actually on the roster? I'd very very surprised if we have lost "tons" of recruits due to the draft.

We have lost a lot of recruits to the draft, that was one thing Mike Anderson said hurt him.

[Greg S]

The problem with recruiting is that before you could go into a kid in Texas' house and tell him "yeah we will come back and play UT, A&M, Tech and Baylor". Now you have to tell him hey come to Lincoln, Nebraska and play Purdue, and Michigan in March and April. Not quite the same.

The great thing about Erstad is that he has recognized this and has stated our non-con is going to be as difficult as possible, so we probably will be seeing these teams still in the future years.

Definately agree there with his scheduling but still not the same as saynig "We will be playing all the Texas schools for 4 years"

One thing that will definitely help is the new Big 10/PAC 12 scheduling alliance.  We'll get those schools out here, which would be difficult without the alliance.  Was not thrilled with it for football, but it's great for us with baseball and will also provide more BCS schools for non conference basketball.

Greg

[Greg S]

The MVC chose Illinois State over TD Ameritrade  Park and Creighton bid.  Hopefully this opens the door for the tournament to come to Omaha.  MECA had given priority to the MVC since it's Creighton is a tenant, hopefully now the B1G 10 choses Omaha.

Greg