Baseball

[Catdude]

I know this got discussed a month or so ago but the baseball team is having an absolutely awful year. They are currently 6-24 and 2-9 in the conference (with one of those wins being a comeback from 10 down in the 7th inning). So far this year they have lost to such baseball powers as Tennessee Tech (sweep), Evansville, Maine, LIU Brooklyn, Bucknell and E. Michigan.

I'm confused about the $10 million renovation of Rocky Miller. It's just such a large amount to sink into such a historically bad program that receives such little attention. Basketball obviously has a terrible history but putting money into that program is sensible and even advisable because men's basketball is such an important and high-profile sport. Is the family that donated the money just really into baseball? Maybe better facilities will lead to better results but I just don't see NU baseball ever being a power, though softball has certainly evidenced that it is possible to excel in a warm-weather sport. For whatever reason, the Big 10 is good at softball but not at baseball.

 

[shakes3858]

Ever consider that the reason for the absolutely dreadful season and the historical bad-ness is that we've been behind on facilities forever and that by pumping throwing $20,000,000 at the program maybe the solution?

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

I think the issues run deeper than facilities...and as for the B1G not being strong in baseball - Indiana did make it to the CWS last season...which is a pretty nice accomplishment in my book.

 

[docrugby1]

Baseball does not have a full complement of scholarships. The cost of attending NU on a partial or preferred walk-on status may be beyond many family's means. The cold weather is a deterrent also. Rice and Stanford will always have that advantage. State universities can attract players because of relatively low instate tuition. Baseball is not an upper class sport , like lacrosse currently is, therefore the pool of players usually come from more modest backgrounds

 

[haywood jahblowme]

yes - something with the family and someone was a huge fan who was affiliated with the university and watched the games all the time.

think the family is putting up like $5 mill of the $11 mill cost.

I would be shocked it current coach sticks around much after this thing is built. He is awful.

clicky the linky

 

[hdhntr1]

THe stories of descnt guys that were interested in that we did not even get around to calling is especially concerning.

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

Just read that Curtis Granderson has given $5 million to UIC to help upgrade their baseball facility. It's the largest donation ever by a professional athlete to his alma mater. Chicago could be home to a couple of state-of-the-art facilities over the next few years.

 

[WildcatWillie]

Don't look now ...

but the Cats have won a series against Nebraska in Lincoln and threaten to sweep. Last night's extra-inning win was exciting to watch.

I'm not saying they're a strong team this year, but not quite an embarrassment.

 

[docrugby1]

Re: Don't look now ...

Success in baseball relies more on talent than any of the major sports. You can't surprise anyone with a 1-3-1 or the spread. NU has won in BB and FB with schemes and coaching but that doesn't work in baseball. You either can hit or you can't. NU cannot accumulate enough talent to be successful because of the constraints mentioned in an earlier post

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

Re: Don't look now ...

I don't buy that for a second...there is no reason NU can't be successful in baseball. Plenty of examples of cold weather climate and/ or highly academic programs having success. Improved facilities, the right coach and the full allotment of scholarships are a must. If Pete Manieri was able to win at Notre Dame, someone can be successful in Evanston. The University (just like in basketball) needs to make the commitment.

 

[docrugby1]

Re: Don't look now ...

I am not sure what you disagree with. Baseball is the most individual sport of our team sports. Talent wins games ,rarely coaching. You need 8-10 pitchers with 5 good starters because of the compressed schedules. It is difficult for an expensive private school to accumulate that level of talent with the limitations of facilities and weather place on NU. ND was terrible when I played and I don't know of any recent success.

UVA has impressive facilities, thanks to the author John Grisham's generosity, but the state of Virginia has an abundance of HS talent to choose from.if you were a parent of a player with a 25% scholarship and could attend NU or UVA, which would you choose-$60,000 v $18,000 ?

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

Re: Don't look now ...

I disagree with your premise that NU cannot accumulate enough talent to be successful based on those "constraints" set forth earlier. Those constraints are just excuses...those same constraints are overcome at other private institutions like Rice, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Miami and Notre Dame. With proper institutional support (full alotment of scholarships), improved facilities, and a dynamic head coach/manager Northwestern should regularly finish towards the top of the B1G and make it to Omaha every once in a while. I'm not saying it's easy to do, but it can be done. We've actually had some decent talent over these as the number of pro-Cats illustrates. I don't believe there aren't 6-8 highly regarded high school prospects per year that would find Evanston to their liking. As for your UVA example...I count 21 out-of-state athletes on their current roster, correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't they be looking at 25% of full tuition as they are not residents of the Commonwealth?

 

[docrugby1]

Re: Don't look now ...

My son played lacrosse at UVA but he was in state and turned down offers at Duke and Princeton -it was his first financial decision, since we agreed to pay his costs at UVA so his college fund stayed intact. I believe athletes are considered in state for NCAA purposes. I could be wrong

 

[JoeWildcat]

Re: Don't look now ...

Nope; out of state athletes are considered out of state, and their financial aid computations are based on what any other out of state student would pay. So for example if the total cost (tuition, room and board, books) for an in-state student were $30,000 and for an out of state student it was $60,000, then if the out of state student athlete received a $30,000 non-resident tuition waive plus a $15,000 scholarship, this would count as a 0.75 athletic scholarship toward the NCAA scholarship limit. However, many states now give partial or full out of state tuition waivers for students from neighboring states or for out of state students who achieve some established test score. because these are available to all students, these would not be treated as athletics scholarship money (but the "base cost" would be reduced as well).