For those who don't think the U needs a practice facility ...

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I would like to hear a good reason why they can't build some nice practice fields for far less and play the actual games at Target Field/Metrodome. It seems a waste of $$ to build a new outdoor baseball stadium for 20-30 sparsley attended home games when they can play at the nicest stadium in MLB a few miles away and probably draw more fans. I get the 'we need to be on campus' for football. I don't buy it for baseball. They haven't played the majority of the games on campus for 30 years, it hasn't hurt recruiting. Then there would probably be enough left for the Practice facility.
 

howeda7 said:
I would like to hear a good reason why they can't build some nice practice fields for far less and play the actual games at Target Field/Metrodome. It seems a waste of $$ to build a new outdoor baseball stadium for 20-30 sparsley attended home games when they can play at the nicest stadium in MLB a few miles away and probably draw more fans. I get the 'we need to be on campus' for football. I don't buy it for baseball. They haven't played the majority of the games on campus for 30 years, it hasn't hurt recruiting. Then there would probably be enough left for the Practice facility.
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Are you saying that the 'U' should take money specifically donated by private contributors for the baseball field and use it for the practice facility? Also, my guess is that the Gophers have played a majority of in-season home games on campus when the field was in playing shape.

I don't understand why people are picking on the outdoor baseball field. The University isn't funding it. We have some basketball alums who are making or have made good money playing professionally, why can't they give like some of the former baseball players have?
 

NorthernVaGopher said:
Are you saying that the 'U' should take money specifically donated by private contributors for the baseball field and use it for the practice facility? Also, my guess is that the Gophers have played a majority of in-season home games on campus when the field was in playing shape.

I don't understand why people are picking on the outdoor baseball field. The University isn't funding it. We have some basketball alums who are making or have made good money playing professionally, why can't they give like some of the former baseball players have?
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First, I'm still saying you use a portion of that money to upgrade the baseball practice facilities. Second, I would think most of the donors would be willing to see it shifted to another sport. Obviously, depending on what was stipulated when the $$ was given this may or may not be OK with a given donor and that is fine.

I am not picking on the baseball stadium. The AD is bringing this on themselves with the way they are essentially refusing to raise money for the basketball facility until the baseball facility is funded. But since they are already playing games at Target Field and the Dome will be around for at least a few more years, I question whether a full-blown stadium is still needed the same way it was when they hatched this plan 10 years ago. Are we just pushing ahead with it out of obligation after 10 years or real need?
 

Nebraska (NEBRASKA!!!) has a practice facility open now? According to GopherJake's article they opened an $18.7 million facility AND our opening up a brand new arena next year. This for a program that has played second fiddle to Creighton for many years and has historically struggled significantly.

Minnesota, who at worst is a top 25 revenue school for college basketball, has yet to even break ground on a practice facility and has no current plans to do ANYTHING about one of the oldest arenas in the nation. To make matters worse, I believe the current plans for the practice facility call for something like $15 million dollar facility, which means they are going on the cheap compared to Nebraska (not UNC or MSU, but Nebraska).

I understand Selection Sunday's desire for a baseball stadium to come first in and either/or scenario but I disagree. Many talented kids go straigh from high school to the minor leagues watering down college baseball talent. Those who do go to college flock to warmer weather schools where more games can be played and the Big Ten in baseball is like Conference USA or the WAC in football it is basically irrelevant. To me this is the type of decision that schools with successful revenue sports do not even blink an eye at and Minnesota has to make a decision in the direction it wants to take.
 

howeda7 said:
The AD is bringing this on themselves with the way they are essentially refusing to raise money for the basketball facility until the baseball facility is funded. But since they are already playing games at Target Field and the Dome will be around for at least a few more years, I question whether a full-blown stadium is still needed the same way it was when they hatched this plan 10 years ago.
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First, according to Gophersports.com, fundraising for the basketball facility has started. As for the baseball team playing at Target Field (if the Big Ten can arrange scheduling around the Twins) and the Dome, couldn't the same thing have been said about football? No fundraising for the on-campus football stadium probably resulting in more money available to donate for the practice facility.

I just think there are shades to gray to this situation. The baseball team has won several national championships and sent a lot of alums to the major leagues and shouldn't be considered as a second tier program just because they don't charge $70 a ticket to watch.
 


NorthernVaGopher said:
First, according to Gophersports.com, fundraising for the basketball facility has started. As for the baseball team playing at Target Field (if the Big Ten can arrange scheduling around the Twins) and the Dome, couldn't the same thing have been said about football? No fundraising for the on-campus football stadium probably resulting in more money available to donate for the practice facility.

I just think there are shades to gray to this situation. The baseball team has won several national championships and sent a lot of alums to the major leagues and shouldn't be considered as a second tier program just because they don't charge $70 a ticket to watch.
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I don't dispute they've raised 'some' money for the practice facility. But they're giving it zero priority. Is there a link on Gophersports.com where we can all donate? If not there should be. I suggest you email our esteemed Athletic Director and inquire how you might donate to it. My guess is he will hmm, haw and give you someone else's email address. They are making it entirely difficult. And anyone with real $$ to donate is being squeezed for the baseball stadium first.

Second, how is the B1G scheduling around the Twins any different then what's been done in recent years? They'll still have the Dome to play early games in for a long while.
 

NorthernVaGopher said:
First, according to Gophersports.com, fundraising for the basketball facility has started. As for the baseball team playing at Target Field (if the Big Ten can arrange scheduling around the Twins) and the Dome, couldn't the same thing have been said about football? No fundraising for the on-campus football stadium probably resulting in more money available to donate for the practice facility.

I just think there are shades to gray to this situation. The baseball team has won several national championships and sent a lot of alums to the major leagues and shouldn't be considered as a second tier program just because they don't charge $70 a ticket to watch.
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A greater focus was placed on funding a baseball stadium and the basketball practice facility has been on the back burner. Gopher baseball has been very good and successfull, but on a national level that was years ago. The landscape in college baseball has changed so drastically since then that a Big Ten team might not ever win a national title again. Baseball players are mostly home grown and benefit the school but I think to be successfull you really need to put the focus on the revenue sports. I just think things were prioritized incorrectly, in the end I think both benefit if that is done. I'd hate to see baseball dropped because revenue from basketball went down drastically.
 

With the Practice Facility coming up more today, I stumbled upon this video of Iowa State players talking about the team's practice facility. Includes Royce White comparing the ISU facilities to Minnesota.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YEJzQKGWSI

Also, a tour of the in progress West Virginia practice facility

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxjR5xOEqFE

If you think for a second these things don't impress/matter to the top recruits in the country, I don't know what to tell you.
 

We need Maturi to go away. As long as he is in place, everything is in a holding pattern. New pres. needs to make his decision so things can move forward.
 



SelectionSunday said:
I consider myself a Gopher basketball basketball fan, but I say this with 100% honesty. ... IF push comes to shove and ONE MUST COME BEFORE THE OTHER, I'd rather see John Anderson get his baseball stadium before Gopher basketball gets its practice facility. The man (Anderson) deserves the stadium before Gopher hoops deserves a practice facility, and yes, I fully understand the need to keep up with the Jones' in the football/men's basketball arms race.

There's the easy thing to do (men's basketball precedence over baseball), but there's also the right thing to do. The right thing to do is get the baseball stadium for Anderson first. A class man who has respresented this state and this university for a long, long time, long before the "we have to have a new practice facility right now in order to compete" excuse became a yet another convenient crutch for Gopher basketball followers. I want to see Gopher hoops become truly relevant again, but I'd rather see John Anderson rewarded first. If there's a line to stand in with regards to getting new toys, Anderson first, Tubby 2nd (and I'm a Tubby guy).
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I hear you- but you have to do what is best for the overall U program. If you stop 50 people at random and ask them how the Gopher baseball team did last year - you will be lucky to find two that know the answer. (How did they do?) It's a minor sport and not a revenue generator. If you do better in basketball -everyone will know it, it is better for the UofM and it will fund the minor sports better.
 

Question for any hockey fans - Is it a big deal to have separate mens and womans hockey arenas? Do other schools do this? I would think its a giant waste of money to build and maintain 2 arenas.

Simple point being we made a separate facility for the womans team and one of our only profit generating programs has crappy facilities.
 

Ridder

captain.hindsight said:
Question for any hockey fans - Is it a big deal to have separate mens and womans hockey arenas? Do other schools do this? I would think its a giant waste of money to build and maintain 2 arenas.

Simple point being we made a separate facility for the womans team and one of our only profit generating programs has crappy facilities.
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According to wiki the Gophers are the only school with a separate facility for their women's hockey team.

I admit that when I heard this thing was being built that I thought it would be a huge waste of resources. However, when it opened I read an article where far more than 50% was financed with fundraising (largest obviously being Ridder). They also did a lot of studies and with the increase of womens/girls hockey in general, they operating costs are largely covered by selling icetime to outside local teams. It could even bring a profit down the road. Additionaly, the men use it when practicing for upcoming games on non-Olympic ice sheets (they used to rent time at Augsburg) and it's used for several University activities.
 

Ope3 said:
According to wiki the Gophers are the only school with a separate facility for their women's hockey team.

I admit that when I heard this thing was being built that I thought it would be a huge waste of resources. However, when it opened I read an article where far more than 50% was financed with fundraising (largest obviously being Ridder). They also did a lot of studies and with the increase of womens/girls hockey in general, they operating costs are largely covered by selling icetime to outside local teams. It could even bring a profit down the road. Additionaly, the men use it when practicing for upcoming games on non-Olympic ice sheets (they used to rent time at Augsburg) and it's used for several University activities.
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I think the biggest non-ticket non-TV moneymakers for the department are rental fees, both for Mariucci, Ridder, and the Baseline Tennis Center.

People are always looking for icetime & courttime.
 



captain.hindsight said:
Question for any hockey fans - Is it a big deal to have separate mens and womans hockey arenas? Do other schools do this? I would think its a giant waste of money to build and maintain 2 arenas.

Simple point being we made a separate facility for the womans team and one of our only profit generating programs has crappy facilities.
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Wisconsin is currently building another hockey rink for its women's team.
 

Excuse my ignorance but I haven't looked into it (I'm sure its been discussed here). What would a facility comprable to those built by bcs schools in the last 5 years cost?
 

No Big Time potential doner is going to contribute to this program without a commitment from the Pres, Board of Regents, and the ADs office that there will be a focus purely on Revenue Producing sports. Sorry baseball team. Anyway, there is a complete lack of confidence in the ecosystem that has bred this mediocrity for the past 50 years...It's not all Maturi. The problem runs a lot deeper and systemic then the AD's office. The Culture needs to change.
 

millions2spare said:
No Big Time potential doner is going to contribute to this program without a commitment from the Pres, Board of Regents, and the ADs office that there will be a focus purely on Revenue Producing sports. Sorry baseball team. Anyway, there is a complete lack of confidence in the ecosystem that has bred this mediocrity for the past 50 years...It's not all Maturi. The problem runs a lot deeper and systemic then the AD's office. The Culture needs to change.
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Really? If a donor is smart he/she can say exactly what they want the money used for and it doesn't matter what anyone at The U thinks it should be used for.
 

Few people have problems spending other peoples $$$. Lets see nolan and Tubby get some skin in the game buy starting a fund to build a new practice facility .
 


Gophers09 said:
Excuse my ignorance but I haven't looked into it (I'm sure its been discussed here). What would a facility comprable to those built by bcs schools in the last 5 years cost?
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I think the figure used in discussions for a new Gopher practice facility was in the area of $15 mil. Confirmations?
 

I often listen to the post-game on 1500 with spencer. I missed it tonight, must have interesting.

Anyone catch it?
 

GoodasGold said:
I think the figure used in discussions for a new Gopher practice facility was in the area of $15 mil. Confirmations?
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If they ever build a practice facility I hope they put a serious weight room in there. This club has obviously not been introduced to one. How a guy can get through 4 years as weak as Ralph is- well it's beyond me. If they have a strength and conditioning guy - he needs to be fired.
 

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