I'm not sure why you think EKU's field wouldn't meet the guidelines, but if it wouldn't, it would not take much to get it there. But should Marshall really be competing to try and keep up with EKU in anything?
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I'm not sure why you think EKU's field wouldn't meet the guidelines, but if it wouldn't, it would not take much to get it there. But should Marshall really be competing to try and keep up with EKU in anything?
we're not competing or trying to keep up with eku, we both have baseball fields. our conference sets standards on those fields, theirs does not. it's quite as simple as that.
marshall does have a field, it's not on campus.
you can argue semantics all you want, but it doesn't matter what morehead or eku have, if we had identical facilities to them on campus we'd still be forced to play our conference games in charleston.
That's a mischaracterization because it implies the businesses are paying for the project. None of those businesses are paying taxes they wouldn't otherwise be paying, its just their taxes are going to pay off the construction debt for the anchor facilities they've had hand-delivered to them by the state. Without the ballpark and the interstate exit and the roads, none of those businesses would exist.
They are indeed capitalists though, and smart ones at that, who know how to piggyback on a state government pork project to make bank.
Marshall does not own that field, so it's wrong to say they have a field. And the changes to EKU's field would be minor and could be done quickly so they would have a field for conference play.
we don't own the rec ceter and several of our dorms, but they're still ours because we have agreements to use them, right?
no, they wouldn't be minor, they'd have to scrap their entire seating area, put in permanent seatings, actual restrooms, a capable press box instead of a shed on stilts, etc. their field is legitimately the kennedy center except on campus.
we don't own the rec ceter and several of our dorms, but they're still ours because we have agreements to use them, right?
no, they wouldn't be minor, they'd have to scrap their entire seating area, put in permanent seatings, actual restrooms, a capable press box instead of a shed on stilts, etc. their field is legitimately the kennedy center except on campus.
That's a hell of a lot easier to do than build from scratch with no land. The Kennedy center could be fixed up but Marshall is not allowed because it's not theirs.
we are allowed.
http://www.herdfans.com/12thman/index.php?action=printpage;topic=18172.0
The foursome have combined to fund renovations, including moving the fences back to 400 feet to center field and 330 along both lines.
Batting cages, bullpens and other projects remain pending. Marshall will allocate $120,000 toward the projects through booster contributions.
As long as the YMCA, Huntington St. Joe high school and Tri State baseball association are okay with it...yeah, sounds like it's Marshall's field.
we don't own the rec ceter and several of our dorms, but they're still ours because we have agreements to use them, right?
no, they wouldn't be minor, they'd have to scrap their entire seating area, put in permanent seatings, actual restrooms, a capable press box instead of a shed on stilts, etc. their field is legitimately the kennedy center except on campus.
Well, one thing you can say about EKU's baseball field: they certainly have enough parking to accommodate any future expansion plans!! Looks like they have as much parking, or more, for baseball than we have at the Joan.
I love the Conference USA standards stuff. How do they get to tell the conference stuff like that when this conference isn't remotely the conference we joined. When they replaced the schools that left with IAA wannabes the following the strict stadium standards of CUSA should have went with the teams that left. Obviously they don't have the same strict requirements for football stadiums.
Hamrick needs to grow a backbone. As long as our football team is playing in high school stadiums that do not meet NCAA minimum standards, we need to play baseball wherever the eff we want.
Just go play at Huntington high or build a field we can afford. If they refuse to play on our baseball field then we refuse to play football at ODU, Charlotte, and FIU.
Just go play at Huntington high or build a field we can afford. If they refuse to play on our baseball field then we refuse to play football at ODU, Charlotte, and FIU.
wait, what's this? like i said...
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/spor...cle_4ec1cb7b-e31f-55d9-8b94-7ecdaefe6e4c.html
Myth #1: "Conference USA has these high standards for a baseball park." False. After years of discussion, these vaunted "standards" were finally posted in a previous baseball thread. While the YMCA field does not currently meet these, it could for for less $$ than the millions that people bandy about.
Now whether, the place being prone to flooding and not really belonging the MU or the city, that is a good idea or not is a different discussion, as is whether you just want to meet these "standards" or excede them as all other league members do.
Myth #2: "Title IX is why MU built a soccer field rather than a baseball field." False. Ever read Title IX? It just requires "equality". OK MU plays men's and women's soccer of a gold plated soccer palace. Equal. MU plays men's and women's soccer on an abandoned lot covered in debris. Also equal.
The reason MU built the soccer thing is because MH and Dr. Kopp were able to sell it to the state as some kind of economic development project. All of the youth tournaments that the place hosts = $$. Could not do the same with baseball. Fact is the place was not really built with higher ed $$ but with econ. development $$. Hitting up the state, which grossly underfunds MU generally, for money out of another pot is certainly a good thing.
Now whether you like soccer or not, or whether you buy into the whole "spend money to make money" and "every tourist $ rolls over 1000 times" theory are likewise discussions for another day.
Now whether, the place being prone to flooding and not really belonging the MU or the city, that is a good idea or not is a different discussion, as is whether you just want to meet these "standards" or excede them as all other league members do.
Myth #2: "Title IX is why MU built a soccer field rather than a baseball field." False. Ever read Title IX? It just requires "equality". OK MU plays men's and women's soccer of a gold plated soccer palace. Equal. MU plays men's and women's soccer on an abandoned lot covered in debris. Also equal.
The reason MU built the soccer thing is because MH and Dr. Kopp were able to sell it to the state as some kind of economic development project. All of the youth tournaments that the place hosts = $$. Could not do the same with baseball. Fact is the place was not really built with higher ed $$ but with econ. development $$. Hitting up the state, which grossly underfunds MU generally, for money out of another pot is certainly a good thing.
Now whether you like soccer or not, or whether you buy into the whole "spend money to make money" and "every tourist $ rolls over 1000 times" theory are likewise discussions for another day.
please tell me more about how we're not allowed to put any money into the field there.
The only issue I have with the stadium is there has yet to be a youth soccer tournament game played on that field. The only club soccer team that uses it or is allowed to use it is the WV Futbol Club of which Long and other Marshall coaches are involved.
Please tell me more how it is Marshall's field. Fixing it up is an adequate short term fix, definitely not what the school should want for the long haul if they want to maintain a competitive baseball program.
First nit picking a side. however I'm a pro-Hamrick guy. He just hit up a lot of members for $. The indoor facility clearly is helping all teams. 2nd if you win , everything will work out. Marshall and the state , which is in a budget shortage
3rd charleston is not a bad drive and love the park , better deal could work out . Like the beckley move to again est. foothold in beckley and counter wvu. Also see mayor Williams and possible future with renovation . Give time . Remember when shortly ago all our teams sucked
we have a field that we use, that we can put millions in, that we have first priority on using, etc. i guess all you have is semantics since nothing in this thread you've claimed has been remotely true.
Right. You kept saying Marshall had a field and I said they didn't. Having a field and being allowed to use a field are two different things.
you're right, we don't have a rec center either, nor do we have any freshman dorms.
I for one am not sold on it only costing $3-5 million for the renovations at the kennedy center. If that is accurate then sure go ahead and make those changes, but i don't see what Chuck said when he claims "the field surface is down and that saves a lot of money". a new field like that, we are looking at $100,000- 200,000. With grading and complete installation maybe $500,000. Having the field in place is certainly not saving us $25 million. So I don't don't understand why he says it could be done for so cheap.
Personally, I always thought they should demolish the Civic Center and put a nice stadium there. It would never happen, but I think it would add a lot more to the downtown area than the current civic arena does.
Personally, I always thought they should demolish the Civic Center and put a nice stadium there. It would never happen, but I think it would add a lot more to the downtown area than the current civic arena does.
The Beckley Park was built on a worthless hill. Land here would be much more significant in price.
I love baseball. I hope we get a new stadium in Huntington but it will never make economic sense. It would be nice if we could find an advocate who would foot the bill, but that looks unlikely. Minor league baseball generally does not pay out. City and state are pretty much broke and the prospects do not look good. I think we are looking at a $10-12 million dollar investment to meet CUSA standards. By the time the union folks get done with it, it's hard to tell what it might cost...I have heard from folks who have built other places that it costed close to 1/3 more to build at Marshall than it did to build a comparable building in other cities he had built in. This is a guy with a lot of development experience and I am sure he knew what he was talking about.
I think a compromise may be able to be struck to build a nicer baseball facility which could host tournaments and regional teams but not a CUSA quality stadium. You would still have to play conference games in Charleston but you could probably build something for $500K-$1MM that would be better than we have and closer to campus for OOC games and would allow the students and community to get behind the team. Pick a site that could accommodate a CUSA quality stadium and start working from the inside out...first with a good quality field.
I think a compromise may be able to be struck to build a nicer baseball facility which could host tournaments and regional teams but not a CUSA quality stadium. You would still have to play conference games in Charleston but you could probably build something for $500K-$1MM that would be better than we have and closer to campus for OOC games and would allow the students and community to get behind the team. Pick a site that could accommodate a CUSA quality stadium and start working from the inside out...first with a good quality field.
I think using artificial turf would be much better for us given the climate and extensive rain in Huntington during the spring. Vanderbilt has an artificial turf field and they are one of the best programs in the country every year. I think natural grass is far superior for baseball and soccer, but logistically with our climate and the timing of spring sports, artificial turf makes more sense.
The Charlotte 49ers have an artificial infield & Wake Forest Univ has all artificial surface...it costs more upfront but you don't need to spend a lot of $$$ to maintain it....just saying.
HerdZilla22 in Charlotte
