Norman!!! Who's Going???

[Rosewood]

http://newsok.com/ncaa-baseball-norm...ad_story_title

That's the respect I'm talking about.

[Rosewood]

http://newsok.com/ncaa-baseball-norm...ad_story_title

It's probably good that ORU isn't in this regional.

You know any of your Razorback friends that want to sell some WSU/OU duckets?

[WuDrWu]

Hard to believe a "top-notch" BCS institution with such a dinky little ballpark.

Seriously? Are you sure you want to really go there?

LOL I promise this isn't a conversation you really want to have.

Seriously, are you really going to try and defend it? The OU athletic program has enough money to bail out GM. The baseball program has a National Championship (more recent than ours). They have a great coach and a very good product. There ought to be a shrine down there. There isn't. You should be ashamed. Get off your high horse, you're in over your head here.

[Shirley Schmidt]

ICTSooner is the same as ICTBear.

He is an OU grad with some ties to SWOMO.

He thinks he is a high roller, hangs around in the press box and thinks he is very cool.

OU can do no wrong, he says so.

[CharlieHog]

http://newsok.com/ncaa-baseball-norm...ad_story_title

It's probably good that ORU isn't in this regional.

You know any of your Razorback friends that want to sell some WSU/OU duckets?

I'm sure there will be plenty of Hog fans selling their non-Arkansas tickets at the games (most people I know bought all-session tickets). I'd just show up after the first game and look for tickets in the air.

[Ricardo del Rio]

Hard to believe a "top-notch" BCS institution with such a dinky little ballpark.

Seriously? Are you sure you want to really go there?

LOL I promise this isn't a conversation you really want to have.

Count me in the conversation about the dinky Sooner ball park. It is pathetic.

Where do you work, ICT Sooner?

[Shocker85]

Seriously? Are you sure you want to really go there?

LOL I promise this isn't a conversation you really want to have.

Yes, I'll be happy to discuss it.

I started to look for average attendance at the OU games, but it became obvious it wasn't going to impress. Looking at the last series vs. TAMU, the average attendance was about 1400. Maybe a bigger ballpark isn't necessary in Norman. Where's the support???? Will there be 2,500 OU front-runners at the regional games? Would the baseball program draw better if they wear helmets and pads? Or maybe goat-roper hats?

Looks to me like OU is a BCS step-child when it comes to baseball. What's the story?

--'85.

[newshock1234]

I guess Wichita Sooner doesnt want to discuss it

[WichitaSooner]

I am not ICTBear or have any affiliation with any other school.

And as for L Dale and our small crowds..... It is what it is.... I'm not saying our ballpark is big or that our baseball support is outstanding. I am first disputing the comment of "top-notch" BCS which seems to indicate that OU isn't in fact top-notch. That assertion coming from a WSU fan is irony at it's best.

Secondly, OU baseball would probaby be a much bigger deal if it was the only game in town. WSU baseball carried your athletic department for so many years it's easy to see why it has such a loyal following. Just this academic year alone OU has played for the BCS National Championship in Football, Elite Eight in Men's Basketball, Final Four in Women's Basketball, Regional host in Softball, and now a top 7 seed in Baseball.

Our list of accolades included:

Sam Bradford- Big 12 Football player of the year; National Player of the Year, Heisman Trophy winner
Bob Stoops- Big 12 Football coach of the year
Blake Griffin- Big 12 Men's Basketball player of the year; National Player of the year, Naismith Award winner
Willie Warren- Big 12 Men's Basketball Freshman of the year
Courtney Paris- Big 12 Women's Basketball player of the year
Whitney Hand- Big 12 Women's Basketball Freshman of the year
Sherri Coale- Big 12 Women's coach of the year
J.T. Wise- Big 12 Baseball player of the year
Garrett Buechele- Big 12 Baseball freshman of the year
Amber Flores- Big 12 softball player of the year
Patti Gasso- Big 12 softball coach of the year

If you just look at what has been asked of OU fans this year alone it's dizzying:

Start with Football. You have season tickets for home games. Then there was a game in Seattle with the Washington Huskies that drew A LOT of OU fans for the trip, followed closely by the OU/texas weekend in Dallas, Big XII championship game, and culminating with a BCS game in Miami.

This is overlapped and followed by both men's and women's basketball teams that were highly ranked all year. Then consider that OKC hosted both the men's and women's Big XII tournaments with both teams making deep runs into the NCAA tourney's including the Final Four for the women and a first and second round appearance for the men in KC.

When you add all of it up it is a HUGE financial burden for a lot of OU fans.

The sad part is the baseball team has succeeded as much or more than any program at OU this year but unfortunately it comes last chronologically.... and the reality is most fans are both worn out and broke by the time baseball comes around. I'm certainly not here to defend the lack of fan support, as I too wish it were better... but the honest truth is baseball just gets the short end of the stick, if anything, due to timing.

While this year has been extraordinary and certainly more successful across the board than usual, the point is still valid in most years as OU almost always has successfull teams in the other major sports.

It's been discussed ad nauseum here in Norman that OU baseball is probably actually more respected outside of the state than it is right here at home. Having two national titles doesn't hurt.

Is OU's baseball support where it maybe should be? No. But to assert that OU is weak or pathetic based solely on the fact that a non-revenue sport isn't supported the way it is at schools that not only rely on baseball but also don't have many other pulls on their fan's money and time is ludicrous.

[Jeffrey Korchek]

But to assert that OU is weak or pathetic based solely on the fact that a non-revenue sport isn't supported the way it is at schools that not only rely on baseball but also don't have many other pulls on their fan's money and time is ludicrous.

Yeah, because that's exactly what happened.

[shocks771]

WichitaSooner,

You do have some valid points and there is no denying that OU has one of the best athletic programs in the nation, but to me it is still shocking to see the lack of support for OU sports other than football.

Take your basketball team for example. They started off the year ranked #14 in the nation and throughout the season spent 12 weeks ranked in the top 5 yet your average home attendance was only 11,490. Looking at the OU website the capacity of Lloyd Noble is listed at 12,000, however I see that 13,245 came to the Texas Tech game and you had three or four other games with attendance over 12,000 so I would guess that it would be safe to say that you can actually fit around 13,000 in that place. In my opinion it is sad to see a team that was in the top 5 for the majority of the season only play in a building that is 85%-90% full.

Then look at your baseball team. Just looking at various box scores it appears that you average 800-1,200 fans per game. Your team has been ranked all season and has typically been in the #10-#15 range. I know you say that people spent money on football and basketball, but to me that's a pretty lame excuse. How big is the OKC market? Probably close to 1,000,000 people right? I'm pretty sure that the majority of the people in OKC are Sooner fans so it seems pretty sad to me that you can't draw more than 1,000 people to watch a top 15 baseball team.

[WichitaSooner]

But to assert that OU is weak or pathetic based solely on the fact that a non-revenue sport isn't supported the way it is at schools that not only rely on baseball but also don't have many other pulls on their fan's money and time is ludicrous.

Yeah, because that's exactly what happened.

Just for your convenience I have a few quotes just from this page alone:

Hard to believe a "top-notch" BCS institution with such a dinky little ballpark.

We went down to L. Dale in '06 and the place isn't much.

The NCAA should adopt some minimum standards for host sites so everyone who wants to go can get a seat. WSU averages more attendance than Mitchell Park's published capacity.

--'85.

I wanna go there.

I was also there in 06 and was embarrassed by the Little League park.

Count me in the conversation about the dinky Sooner ball park. It is pathetic.

There ought to be a shrine down there. There isn't. You should be ashamed. Get off your high horse, you're in over your head here.

[WichitaSooner]

WichitaSooner,

You do have some valid points and there is no denying that OU has one of the best athletic programs in the nation, but to me it is still shocking to see the lack of support for OU sports other than football.

Take your basketball team for example. They started off the year ranked #14 in the nation and throughout the season spent 12 weeks ranked in the top 5 yet your average home attendance was only 11,490. Looking at the OU website the capacity of Lloyd Noble is listed at 12,000, however I see that 13,245 came to the Texas Tech game and you had three or four other games with attendance over 12,000 so I would guess that it would be safe to say that you can actually fit around 13,000 in that place. In my opinion it is sad to see a team that was in the top 5 for the majority of the season only play in a building that is 85%-90% full.

Then look at your baseball team. Just looking at various box scores it appears that you average 800-1,200 fans per game. Your team has been ranked all season and has typically been in the #10-#15 range. I know you say that people spent money on football and basketball, but to me that's a pretty lame excuse. How big is the OKC market? Probably close to 1,000,000 people right? I'm pretty sure that the majority of the people in OKC are Sooner fans so it seems pretty sad to me that you can't draw more than 1,000 people to watch a top 15 baseball team.

Again, I don't completely disagree. We should support the team more, but it's just hard to keep the support rabid all year. OKC metro is 1.3 million but again you really get a lifestyle here that kind of puts everything on hold for football and partially for basketball, then is forced to "catch up" after they are done and baseball just gets left behind.

Another thing to consider, especially this year, is the new NBA presence in the metro. That is yet another thing that people are being drawn to as far as spending money and time.

I remember back in the 90's when the football team sucked we hosted baseball regionals at All Sports Stadium in OKC and packed the park full of 10,000 plus..... but I also know that during that time our fans were looking for SOMETHING to cheer for and baseball was that then..... but obviously now it's quite a bit different.

[martymoose]

I don't really think we can put ourselves in OU's shoes, granted their ballpark is small, but I'd be curious to know how their attendance compares to other large BCS schools who have a football and basketball presence and have baseball teams in the top 25.

[WichitaSooner]

I don't really think we can put ourselves in OU's shoes, granted their ballpark is small, but I'd be curious to know how their attendance compares to other large BCS schools who have a football and basketball presence and have baseball teams in the top 25.

There aren't a BUNCH of schools that fit the bill....

Texas does well with baseball, but they definitely have the population to draw from. Austin is just a shade smaller than OKC, but San Antonio and Houston are both close.....

Florida is another candidate but I don't know what their baseball support is like.

LSU maybe????? But their basketball isn't usually that big of a draw.....

Any others?????