Maverick Park - UNO Baseball & Softball Stadiums

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Maverick Park - UNO Baseball & Softball Stadiums

Post by Coyote »

I am having lunch with one of UNO's pitchers who just told me that there has always been funding for the baseball stadium, and now that Baxter is almost done, that may start very soon on the Baseball stadium "on the other side of the creek" can someone find and post those old drawings we had here a few years back?
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by iamjacobm »

From the master plan.

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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by Coyote »

Thanks!!!
What was the seating capacity.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by iamjacobm »

I didn't read every word, but I didn't notice any mention of capacity.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by Coyote »

Here a couple renderings from a while back:

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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by skinzfan23 »

I love that rendering from the Maverick busting through the wall.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by Coyote »

Looks like the same pic iamjacob found... the indoor facility in the upper left seems to be a 300m indoor track, and the building north of the tennis courts will be indoor tennis with a maintenance/landscaping building behind. Baseball and softball stadiums need a little better renderings on this schematic, which, doesn't look like it will have any great vista...

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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

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Any room left for a football stadium? :(
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

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Stargazer wrote:Any room left for a football stadium? :(

Not according to Division I requirements...
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by Brad »

The bull through the wall renderings are really old, the master plan is a lot newer.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

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Grading this area today...
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by Greg S »

Is it confirmed that's the baseball stadium under construction?

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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

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Greg S wrote:Is it confirmed that's the baseball stadium under construction?
No, But this is where it is projected to be, and a UNO baseball player, and a players mother has confirmed they will be starting soon...
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by omaha79 »

Baxter Arena is up and running with a full year in the books. Baseball season is in full swing.

I wish we'd start hearing some rumblings of an announcement on a new UNO baseball stadium. I feel bad that UNO baseball has to compete at what I'd consider to be an embarrassing facility for a Division I program.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by Coyote »

Sorry, I posted this in another thread...
Coyote wrote:I just talked with one of the track coaches at UNO. I didn't know they used Burke's facilities since they lost their outdoor location.

He said that the 300 m indoor palindrome was tied into the baseball and softball phase of the Chili Green development. Because of the success of Baxter he believes they may start during the 2017-2018 school year. It was slated to be done sometime before 2025.

He also said that they are trying to tie it into some sort of Sports Medicine program, possibly jointly with UNMC.

But with an indoor facility they could host all sorts of local High School events.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by Greg S »

Wasn't that the baseball stadium that they were grading for last fall?

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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by cp jay 07 »

UND announced it is cutting baseball yesterday. UND not playing baseball in the Summit makes no sense at all.

I know there are a few rumblings of UNO baseball being not to far behind UND if they can't get a stadium done, hopefully that is not true.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

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Greg S wrote:Wasn't that the baseball stadium that they were grading for last fall?
Yes, from all the plans I have seen/posted... but I'm sure they will have more to do when they get started.
I was told by the track coach they didn't want to go back asking the same donors for money to fund another project so soon, but with the success of Baxter they were encouraged to strike again while the iron is still hot...
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

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cp jay 07 wrote:UND announced it is cutting baseball yesterday. UND not playing baseball in the Summit makes no sense at all.

I know there are a few rumblings of UNO baseball being not to far behind UND if they can't get a stadium done, hopefully that is not true.
I hope there is no truth to that. It would seriously compromise my appetite for supporting UNO athletics going forward and continuing my season tickets in hockey, basketball, and soccer.

My guess is there's no truth to it. Cutting baseball would put UNO below the minimum number of men's sports required to compete in both D-I and the Summit League. UNO is at six men's sports right now. Technically, you're supposed to have seven, but can get away with six if you offer eight women's sports.

http://www.ncaa.org/about/who-we-are/me ... sification

And, if they dropped baseball, it would have to be replaced with a men's sport that the Summit League also sponsors. The only sports that would fit that bill would be cross country, track, or swimming and diving. Certainly, those would be cheaper sports to sponsor than baseball, but I'm sure the Summit League would have issues with UNO going this route as losing another baseball program would put the Summit below the minimum number of programs required to keep their automatic NCAA tournament berth.

Not to mention, I can't imagine UNO would want to endure another public relations black eye like what they went through in 2011 after dropping football and wrestling. To me, it would indicate a lack of integrity within the administration. Bob Herold has been promised a facility for nearly 20 years. To stab him in the back and drop the program would be unfathomable and unforgivable.

But again, I think this is all a hypothetical discussion. I don't think there is any smoke....I better be right.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by Coyote »

I can't imagine a scenario where Trev would want/need to eliminate baseball.

When Trev decided to model UNO's athletic department after other Summit Leagues teams, other city universities, he looked at the programs they had which were feasible. Here are the men's programs involved:
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And the non conference programs:
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Baseball is one of those scholarship enigmas, maybe the only program where you can give out a third of a scholarship per player, maybe hoping another program can pick up more of a scholarship, so it is not a drain of the department.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by cp jay 07 »

It's funny cause I am pretty sure this is what the UNO wrestling fans said :shock:

Just keep an eye out for the smoke if the baseball stadium falls through. Like I said I hope it doesn't.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by omaha79 »

cp jay 07 wrote:It's funny cause I am pretty sure this is what the UNO wrestling fans said :shock:

Just keep an eye out for the smoke if the baseball stadium falls through. Like I said I hope it doesn't.
It's apples to oranges though. Dropping wrestling was part of the move to D-I and overall never being Title IX compliant. They were generally overlooked at the D-II level, but if they kept wrestling with the move to D-I, they would have had to add a women's sport as well. Even with dropping football, the additions of tennis and golf wouldn't have made them Title IX non-compliant while keeping wrestling.

Also, Mike Denney was resistant to the move to D-I. Everything I heard was that he was the only coach on campus that raised a stink when the coaches were polled about a hypothetical move to D-I. He preferred to be a big fish in a small pond, from what I hear, vs. moving to D-I. I'm sure that was a secondary thought in the move to drop wrestling.

Again, UNO is at the minimum number of men's sports for D-I membership and Summit League membership. If UNO were to drop baseball? What would they add? Track? Cross Country? You may not need coaches in those sports as you can often utilize the existing women's coaches and have them coach both the men and women. I think this is what they have done for Tennis or golf, maybe both.

Still, I can't imagine that UNO would want to further alienate the fanbase in this way. The one caveat to this is conference affiliation. If UNO were to change conferences to one that doesn't sponsor baseball, the sport certainly would be in jeopardy. Or, if the Summit League had several teams drop the sport, to the point where the league was no longer going to sponsor baseball, that would be another issue.

Overall, I just don't see UNO wanting to risk alienating a portion of the fanbase and alumni yet again. Certainly, if something like this happened, they'd lose a couple thousand a year from me. I could not continue supporting the program if this happened.

Thoughts? I'm interested in any thoughts you have...or any rumors you've heard.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by nebugeater »

Admittedly not a person that follows Omaha (UNO) sports with a great amount of detail. Do know enough to know that they are Omaha now!

That being said, I know the perfect solution would be to play at a park on or right by campus. Short of that why haven't they explored ( or maybe they have) the option of playing more or all of their games at Werner park? That would seem to me to be a nice step from what they are doing.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

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nebugeater wrote:Short of that why haven't they explored ( or maybe they have) the option of playing more or all of their games at Werner park? That would seem to me to be a nice step from what they are doing.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

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nebugeater wrote:Admittedly not a person that follows Omaha (UNO) sports with a great amount of detail. Do know enough to know that they are Omaha now!

That being said, I know the perfect solution would be to play at a park on or right by campus. Short of that why haven't they explored ( or maybe they have) the option of playing more or all of their games at Werner park? That would seem to me to be a nice step from what they are doing.
As an alum, they will always be UNO to me. You can refer to the program however you prefer, but I'm not changing.

At games, we chant U-N-O...even since the change. It's not O-MA-HA (which would work just as well).

I get the push to have national recognition as Omaha, but locally, I'd guess more fans still use UNO.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by omaha79 »

Sharp and Benning hinted several times this morning that the Mavericks are now "done" playing at the Ballpark at Boys Town. The rumor is that they are in final negotiations to play all games at Werner Park until the on campus ballpark can be completed.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

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omaha79 wrote:Sharp and Benning hinted several times this morning that the Mavericks are now "done" playing at the Ballpark at Boys Town. The rumor is that they are in final negotiations to play all games at Werner Park until the on campus ballpark can be completed.
Glad to hear that. Hopefully it won't be more than next season.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by omaha79 »

Coyote wrote:
omaha79 wrote:Sharp and Benning hinted several times this morning that the Mavericks are now "done" playing at the Ballpark at Boys Town. The rumor is that they are in final negotiations to play all games at Werner Park until the on campus ballpark can be completed.
Glad to hear that. Hopefully it won't be more than next season.
Considering the costs associated with renting out Werner Park for 20 or so games, I'm optimistic that the on campus facility could be ready for 2018 or 2019 at the latest.

I heard more rumblings again that the money is effectively ready to go...just not quite ready to announce it yet.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

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omaha79 wrote:Considering the costs associated with renting out Werner Park for 20 or so games, I'm optimistic that the on campus facility could be ready for 2018 or 2019 at the latest.

I heard more rumblings again that the money is effectively ready to go...just not quite ready to announce it yet.
I was thinking the same, now that they don't have to spend the hockey rent money for CLink...
I have also heard that the donors have been rounded up, riding the momentum from the Baxter.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by Greg S »

It's really hard to tell where UNO is at right now. Something seems to have gone wrong at Baxter Arena. They let go the guy that was running it and 2 other employees. My understanding is there former hockey coach Mike Kemp has taken on those responsibilities at least for the time being.

I did hear Gary Sharp talking about UNO being "done" with Boystown. Was trying to decipher if that was for this season or permanently. If they are indeed having some financial issues, I can't imagine them starting construction on their own field.

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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by cp jay 07 »

I know Bobby is so against playing at Werner so I do find it interesting if they are truly done with Boys town if that means something with Bobby being gone, in the past Bobby has been a big practice where you play coach and the reason they only play CU once at TDAP is to save money and not have to pay rent at Werner to play an Omaha team.

Did see UNO blew a pretty big lead today in their conference tourney as well.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by omaha79 »

I was told by someone close to the program that an announcement of the on campus stadium could come as quickly as August.

I wonder if moving the program to Werner might even be a request from the conference. I've enjoyed attending games at Boys Town, but it's simply not a D-I facility. The situation isn't really acceptable. I know most of the facilities in the Summit League aren't palaces, but at Boys Town there is no warning track, restrooms at the football field across the parking lot, a scoreboard that didn't work for multiple games this season, and almost no seating/media facilities.

Whether coach wants to practice where he plays or not, there could be other pressures at play. Certainly, Werner would be an interim solution, but if this is happening, an on campus facility has to be imminent.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by Greg S »

If the baseball stadium announcement is not until August, that would mean they are not planning on playing in the new one next season, right? I can't imagine you'd have an announcement in August, start construction, then be ready in early spring.

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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by omaha79 »

Greg S wrote:If the baseball stadium announcement is not until August, that would mean they are not planning on playing in the new one next season, right? I can't imagine you'd have an announcement in August, start construction, then be ready in early spring.

Greg
I guess I don't get what you mean. The indication is that next year would be played at Werner Park. That's what was being implied when Sharp said they had "closed out the Ballpark at Boys Town era."

I don't see any way that they would be playing at the new facility in 2017...even if they broke ground now. Too much earth work still to do. Lots of terracing in that area as well I would imagine given the hills. It took a full year to make Caniglia into a soccer venue and they certainly weren't starting from scratch.

I'm thinking 2018 or 2019 for the new facility.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by Greg S »

I thought someone said the UNO coach opposed playing at Werner (and that's why they don't play a home game against CU), and someone else reported the rent was too high at Werner.

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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by omaha79 »

Greg S wrote:I thought someone said the UNO coach opposed playing at Werner (and that's why they don't play a home game against CU), and someone else reported the rent was too high at Werner.

Greg
All of those things have been said in the past, but when I sought clarification about the comments on Sharp and Benning, I was told that UNO was in final negotiations to play all 2017 home baseball games at Werner Park while the on campus baseball field was completed.

I was also told earlier in the month by someone with deep ties to the athletic department that funding is in place, but UNO just isn't quite ready yet to make the formal announcement. I asked this question because Shatel asked Trev at the Omaha Press Club event in April about the baseball stadium and he said, "funding isn't in place...no timetable." When I asked that person with deeper ties to the program, I was told that it is in place, but Trev probably said that because they just aren't ready to make an announcement yet and that an announcement could come as soon as August.

So, reading the tea leaves, if what Sharp is hinting about 2017 games being played at Werner Park, the information from the person I know with ties to the program about an announcement about the on campus stadium coming in a few months makes sense. Werner would simply be a stop gap given the costs associated with renting that facility out.

What could have changed in regards with Werner? I have no idea, but I have several guesses. If the new field is 1-2 seasons away, then there is an expiration date on playing at Werner. Again, it becomes a stop gap with an end in sight. That's more workable from a budget standpoint vs. playing there indefinitely. Maybe the Summit League is pushing for this given the limitations of Boys Town? Maybe Herold relented since it would only be a 1-2 years given the likely difficulties in recruiting with the Boys Town facility?
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by cp jay 07 »

Greg S wrote:I thought someone said the UNO coach opposed playing at Werner (and that's why they don't play a home game against CU), and someone else reported the rent was too high at Werner.

Greg
A few years ago CU and UNO were supposed to play a Tuesday night game at Werner that got cancelled for weather right before first pitch. Apparently the rental agreement for that night said they would be charged the rental fee if they did not cancel the game within 24 hours so UNO was out the fee and did not play the game. Since then Bobby has said why pay to rent a facility to play an Omaha team when they can play for free at TDAP.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by HskrFanMike »

It's been a few years since I checked out Boys Town, but my recollection is that there are high schools with nicer fields than Boys Town. That could also be an option.
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Re: UNO Baseball Stadium

Post by cp jay 07 »

HskrFanMike wrote:It's been a few years since I checked out Boys Town, but my recollection is that there are high schools with nicer fields than Boys Town. That could also be an option.
Boystown does not have a spring team so UNO is able to have the field all to themselves. I know they played SDSU at Millard North this year due to weather though.
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