NU crowds stand out in B1G baseball

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LINCOLN — Illinois pitcher Kevin Johnson emerged from the dugout after the first half inning of last month's Big Ten opener and finally got an unobstructed glimpse of a packed Haymarket Park.
Johnson had pitched in front of 1,847 fans in a complete-game win at Oregon earlier in the year. He threw against Cal State Fullerton and its 2,715 fans in the NCAA tournament last season.

But this time, it was more than 5,000, most wearing Husker red and waiting for a chance to erupt. The Big Ten Network was on hand, too. Johnson admittedly spent pregame worrying about how he'd react.

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I think a lot of us are quietly predicting a lesser crowd today. Weather is a little cooler and Friday's are so congested with other extracurricular activities. Hopefully Husker Nation surprises us all and the field is so darn packed that its standing room only on the berm (or is it burm?). Regardless, the game is on...

shoes are tied,

bats are rosined.

Let the anthem sound.

Let the crowd stand.

Let the chill go through the body

and finally, all will be well at the ol' Ball Park!!!

Its Game Day Husker Nation!!!!

G.B.R.

 
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Still would like to know what the Purdue coach said...

But I saw this visual representation of crowd size relative to Big 10 standings in baseball (via the OWH), and the disparity is alarming...though I do seem to recall that Purdue is making a big investment in their Baseball program and were trying to bring their new 5000+ seat stadium online this year in time to host a regional...

http://dataomaha.com/documents/2012-big-ten-baseball-attendance-figures

 
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matthew_m_g said:
Still would like to know what the Purdue coach said...

But I saw this visual representation of crowd size relative to Big 10 standings in baseball (via the OWH), and the disparity is alarming...though I do seem to recall that Purdue is making a big investment in their Baseball program and were trying to bring their new 5000+ seat stadium online this year in time to host a regional...

http://dataomaha.com...endance-figures
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It was in regards to having a seperate league and playing games in the fall. Mainly, giving up on baseball as a conference and accepting that the B1G is a second-rate conference.

 
Interesting. I know the Purdue coach's plan as outlined in the article I linked had to do with a split season, and playing as many as up to 14 games in the fall that would count toward your record, and then having the schools that chose that route start their season later in the spring. I'm for trying to get the season pushed back if possible, thought that article made it sound like that concept was dead in the water. I know I don't like what Coach Anderson from Minnesota proposed, that being the B1G (and potentially other 'northern' leagues) playing later into the summer and not being a part of the CWS. I'm not sure what to make of the Purdue coach's suggestion from that article. I think, at football schools, you run the risk of the games and season in the fall getting lost amidst the football season.

I think Erstad has the right approach right now, to simply try and upgrade your non-conference schedule, and do the best with the hand you're dealt. I think he'll get there with Nebraska, and whether the B1G wants to go along, we'll just have to wait and see. Sounds like Michigan State has at least been making strides in that direction. I think you're also hearing discouragement about no consideration being given to the Northern schools. What I would say to that is that we need to, as a conference, prove we're worthy of that consideration, and then start to push in that direction. But it'll take time to get any changes like pushing the season more into the summer a reality.

 
The arguement about playing the Fall is what gets me. Certain people believe that having games in the fall will compliment the football games. I just dont buy it. At several schools in the conference, I don't see people heading over in droves to watch a college baseball game in the fall. Imagine a college baseball game at 2:30 in Lincoln with a home football game in primetime a 7. With traffic, parking, and tailgating concerns......who is realisticly going to want to stride over to Haymarket to watch the game? It would be even more of a ghost town if there was an away game at the same time!

 
husker_hurdler said:
The arguement about playing the Fall is what gets me. Certain people believe that having games in the fall will compliment the football games. I just dont buy it. At several schools in the conference, I don't see people heading over in droves to watch a college baseball game in the fall. Imagine a college baseball game at 2:30 in Lincoln with a home football game in primetime a 7. With traffic, parking, and tailgating concerns......who is realisticly going to want to stride over to Haymarket to watch the game? It would be even more of a ghost town if there was an away game at the same time!
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Don't forget to pick up your 4:30 volleyball tickets.

 
HuskerFanChuck said:
I think you're also hearing discouragement about no consideration being given to the Northern schools. What I would say to that is that we need to, as a conference, prove we're worthy of that consideration, and then start to push in that direction. But it'll take time to get any changes like pushing the season more into the summer a reality.
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Agreed, though the B1G and other northern schools need to keep pushing.

Also, let's not say the B1G isn't worthy--yes, they haven't done well in non-con, save for Purdue and Nebraska (somewhat), but remember that the NCAA has admitted that the current method of determining RPI is biased against northern schools and is implementing a fix for this next season. No, I'm not suggesting that the B1G is some elite baseball conference in hiding--far from it. But I do think they're better than the 12th best collegiate baseball conference (as RPI currently suggests).

That also means that RPI won't be nearly as big a factor in determining at-large teams for the NCAA tourney this season--no sense on leaning heavily on a system that your own governing body has declared is flawed/biased and will be fixed next season.

I do hope that we see a schedule increase for B1G teams when the Pac12/B1G scheduling alliance takes root. Would also like to see the B1G coordinate scheduling with the SEC too--would like to see an ongoing home/home with Arkansas and A&M.

 
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