Now is the time...

[Stallion]

Here's the point-a strong Track program at SMU in a 6 year period helped us recruit about 7 Blue Chip/Texas Top 100 types, a SWC Newcomer of the Year and Freshman All-American (later injured), 4 SWC All Conference honorees and 3 NFL First Round Draft Choices. I can tell you that it is clear based upon personally following their recruitment that the track program played a prominent role in those commitments. That's the argument for track.

[FWMustangGirl]

There may have been a following for SMU track, but in no way could it compare to the potential impact of a successful baseball program. SMU might host one or two track meets a year that would draw decent crowds. You build a nice baseball stadium and field a decent team, and you will get nice crowds every weekend. Bring in an A&M or a UT and you'll pack the place.

Were you around in 1989? That was one of the selling points about the football schedule, yet even Ownby Stadium didn't always fill up when the Aggies and Horns came to town. I have no interest in seeing maroon- and puke-colored hats take over SMU to watch a team beat the crap out of my Mustangs.

I must ask: What on earth are you people eating that causes you to puke burnt orange?!?

[southerncomfort]

We don't even have a regulation size track so we'd have to start from like step 1. That's why we can't even host a women's track meet here, our track is too small for that.

[Longtime]

Let me make this clear: I'm not against bringing back track. I would love for SMU to have men's track and field again - as long as it's a true TRACK and field program and not just a thrower's program like it morphed into. If it helps attract football recruits - bonus!

A couple of you have snickered about soccer being a marketable sport. Hey, I think it's boring, too. But have you been to one of the FC Dallas games in Frisco? Somebody's making some money off of all those kids running around in Kenny Cooper jerseys.

Have you been to the Dallas Cup? It's a dozen or so fields swarming with local soccer kids and their families. Think those families wouldn't show up to an SMU soccer match if it were properly promoted? If we had a facility that was inviting and fan friendly?

By the way, don't worry about who's paying for the facility or SMU undertaking another multi-million dollar project. SMU has the money, or can get the money. And building multi-million dollar projects is what big-time universities do on a constant basis. If you're not building, you're falling behind.

Yes, there are a lot of minor league, college and professional baseball options in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. How many of them are inside the LBJ loop? Heck, how many are in Dallas County?

Comparing 1970s-era SMU baseball (whose final seasons were played at Reverchon Park, not Armstrong Field) to current collegiate baseball is ridiculous. I'm not talking about a makeshift field with a couple of sets of bleachers. I'm talking a real venue with a lot of fan appeal, the baseball version of Ford Stadium.

And yes, there's a chance an SMU baseball team won't be supported any better than the basketball team currently is - the "Finite 1,500" theory. But with baseball you tap into different fan bases and potential revenue streams. And yes, some top college football players also play baseball.

College baseball is a huge potential market for families. Going to a ballgame is a traditional family outing, like going to the movies. The Rangers will still draw over a million this year because going to a baseball game is something to do with the kids. It's why minor league baseball has flourished in the last 10-20 years. Seen the park in Round Rock? Wonder why there are minor league teams in Frisco and now Grand Prairie? Because it's not about the quality of the play (see: Rangers) it's about the ballpark experience. See the parks Baylor, TCU and Rice have recently built. See the renovations UT has done to Disch-Falk. They're doing this because college baseball is a marketable sport.

Yes, if SMU brings back baseball in a half-ass way, it will be just another sport nobody cares about. But given our current athletic director's vision and a pumped-up marketing staff, SMU baseball done the right way would be the fan equivalent of minor league baseball right in the heart of Dallas. If we can find a way to sell beer at the games, attendance would be no problem. Put the new SMU park across Central in the old movie theater space SMU now owns - close to campus and close to the bars on Yale. Catch a game, grab a few brews afterward. Perfect way to spend an afternoon.

[PonySnob]

If we can find a way to sell beer at the games, attendance would be no problem.

Why is it that everything involving SMU athletics must involve alcohol in order to have attendance?

Do other univeristies sell beer at their baseball games?

[RGV Pony]

Some average NCAA attendances (this was 2006):

TCU 1545
OU 1289
Minnesota 1189
NC State 1175
Okla St 1408
These are all in the top 50.

C-USA Teaams:
Rice 4193
Tulane 2888
Houston 2733

Given that SMU is never top 50 in attendance in anything, I think it's a safe bet that attendance in the 500-750 range would be best case scenario. Realistically 250-400.

[CalallenStang]

Houston 2733

That might be more than what they average for basketball...

[SMUFan]

soccer is not a sport.

It's hard to believe someone can say that and still have the brainpower to get through a full day without suffering major injuries. Soccer players are among the greatest athletes on the planet, among the most successful sports at SMU and the most popular sport in the world - by a long shot.

And as for those women's scholarships to offset the men's track, easy solution. Women's Bowling Team.

Don't laugh, but that's not nearly as ridiculous as it might sound. It has been discussed, and from an operational standpoint, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than equestrian, among others. More and more schools are adding bowling.

[PonySoprano]

Do other univeristies sell beer at their baseball games?

I've been to baseball games at Rice. They do not sell beer at the games, but since Rice is a wet campus, you can sit in the outfield bleachers with some coldies that you bring with you.

[ponyboy]

Do other univeristies sell beer at their baseball games?

I've been to baseball games at Rice. They do not sell beer at the games, but since Rice is a wet campus, you can sit in the outfield bleachers with some coldies that you bring with you.

Man, I'd be all over that. Seriously.

[jtstang]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOOLX9R8 ... re=related