So I went for a run on campus today. While running by the baseball field I noticed a small sign about a campaign to renovate baseball facilities. I remember talk about renovations with the sports masterplan, but I figured it was on hold. I snapped a picture of the sign, maybe some posters on this board would be interested in donating or finding out more info. There is no website, which seems like 1995.

See the attachment for the picture.
  BASEBALL.jpg (Size: 353.73 KB / Downloads: 84)

Wow!! A secret campaign! No web site, no publicity, no marketing, and you have to contact someone via e-mail (which you only find out through this sign). Gotta love it!

They were counting on Big Man to snap a picture and post it on here. STF has succeeded again!!!

(05-29-2021 03:02 PM)Dog Fan Wrote:  Wow!! A secret campaign! No web site, no publicity, no marketing, and you have to contact someone via e-mail (which you only find out through this sign). Gotta love it!

LOL

(05-29-2021 03:09 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  They were counting on Big Man to snap a picture and post it on here. STF has succeeded again!!!

Maybe I'm Sean Frazier.....

(05-29-2021 04:19 PM)Big_Man Wrote:  

(05-29-2021 03:09 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  They were counting on Big Man to snap a picture and post it on here. STF has succeeded again!!!

Maybe I'm Sean Frazier.....

Well, he is a big man on campus. But then again, he wouldn't be replying to some bum under $1M donor.

Or is that a sign from the campaign they announced with much fanfare in early 2020? The three-phase plan ... infield, outfield, grandstand? Still listed on the Huskies Invest project list.

Actually, I like the conspiracy secret plan sneaky campaign stealth project thing better.

Or maybe someone found it cleaning out a storage closet and STF said hey, go hang that out on the fence somewhere. Are you sure it wasn't just covering a hole in the fence?

What is that picture in the middle on the left hand side? Did STF put in a picture of his 4 car garage and photoshopped "NIU Baseball Center" on it?

(05-29-2021 08:30 PM)Schaefer Beer Wrote:  What is that picture in the middle on the left hand side? Did STF put in a picture of his 4 car garage and photoshopped "NIU Baseball Center" on it?

I’m pretty sure that’s my mechanic’s garage. Bockman’s in Sycamore does great work.

(05-29-2021 06:27 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  Or is that a sign from the campaign they announced with much fanfare in early 2020? The three-phase plan ... infield, outfield, grandstand? Still listed on the Huskies Invest project list.

Actually, I like the conspiracy secret plan sneaky campaign stealth project thing better.

Or maybe someone found it cleaning out a storage closet and STF said hey, go hang that out on the fence somewhere. Are you sure it wasn't just covering a hole in the fence?

The infamous Masterbation Plan.

(05-29-2021 02:18 PM)Big_Man Wrote:  So I went for a run on campus today. While running by the baseball field I noticed a small sign about a campaign to renovate baseball facilities. I remember talk about renovations with the sports masterplan, but I figured it was on hold. I snapped a picture of the sign, maybe some posters on this board would be interested in donating or finding out more info. There is no website, which seems like 1995.

See the attachment for the picture.

Where is White Sox ownership on this?

There’s some existing relationship between NIU and White Sox ownership and with interest in baseball as a sport on the decline among youths, it seems as if this would be an obvious, and not too costly, investment for the White Sox.

Someone at NIU needs to earn their paycheck, make some calls, and get to work.

(05-29-2021 04:32 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  

(05-29-2021 04:19 PM)Big_Man Wrote:  

(05-29-2021 03:09 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  They were counting on Big Man to snap a picture and post it on here. STF has succeeded again!!!

Maybe I'm Sean Frazier.....

Well, he is a big man on campus. But then again, he wouldn't be replying to some bum under $1M donor.

I thought Doug Simpson was the Big Man on Campus.

(05-30-2021 06:32 PM)Schaefer Beer Wrote:  

(05-29-2021 04:32 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  

(05-29-2021 04:19 PM)Big_Man Wrote:  

(05-29-2021 03:09 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  They were counting on Big Man to snap a picture and post it on here. STF has succeeded again!!!

Maybe I'm Sean Frazier.....

Well, he is a big man on campus. But then again, he wouldn't be replying to some bum under $1M donor.

I thought Doug Simpson was the Big Man on Campus.

Johnny Bravo.

(05-31-2021 05:23 AM)Big_Man Wrote:  

(05-30-2021 06:32 PM)Schaefer Beer Wrote:  

(05-29-2021 04:32 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  

(05-29-2021 04:19 PM)Big_Man Wrote:  

(05-29-2021 03:09 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  They were counting on Big Man to snap a picture and post it on here. STF has succeeded again!!!

Maybe I'm Sean Frazier.....

Well, he is a big man on campus. But then again, he wouldn't be replying to some bum under $1M donor.

I thought Doug Simpson was the Big Man on Campus.

Johnny Bravo.

Warren Mullaney

I saw an article pop up on The Athletic yesterday about the rising trend of D-I baseball programs being dropped from their athletic programs. I didn't get to far into it yet but it's centered around the Boise State baseball program (with a few others sprinkled in).

Boise State dropped it's program about 20 years ago and then decided to restart it for the 2020 season...which was an utter disaster for everyone. They played a few games but the HC recently was notified they were cutting the program "permanently".

His daughter did a GoFundMe or something and raised well over $100k to run the program but when presented with this, the athletic department said, in essence "thanks but no thanks".

Apparently, the Bowling Green program was saved by this same thing but it's looking like, even with college baseball becoming more popular (per the article) schools are looking at it as a non-revenue sport and one that they are either willing, or eager, to cut.

It could very well be the Title IX thing or mixed in with it somehow. But it's clearly not just an NIU or an Illinois thing. This is across the board.

College baseball in DeKalb is a strange strange idea.

Could that money be better used elsewhere?

Is someone making logical, smart allocation of capital decisions?

What factors should be evaluated when evaluating capital allocation to different sports? I suggest revenue is not the only one-- but it's a factor. If you make little revenue but provide a lot of enjoyment to the student body and to alumni, bring prestige to the university, help attract more/ better students, help increase donations, etc..... that is one thing. If you are an expensive sport with little success and little interest from students or alums... that's another.

So.... baseball fits in where? All sports fit in where? Do we care? Or do we just pretend we (the athletic department) have a bottomless bag of money to do what we want with it?

Let's see who else plays Div I baseball. Hmmm. Frazier's former school? Wisconsin ... a quick search reveals the following:

The Wisconsin Badgers baseball team was the varsity intercollegiate athletic team of the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. The team competed in NCAA Division I and were members of the Big Ten Conference. The school's first baseball team was fielded in 1900. The baseball program was discontinued at the conclusion of the 1991 season.[2][3]

hmmmm.... so... nope. Wisconsin, with its Athletic donation dollars that dwarf NIU's does NOT spend its dollars on men's intercollegiate baseball!

But we can.

Personally speaking, I have never been interested in college baseball. But, I respect and support those who are interested. However, having said this, I think Athletics should conduct a professional survey to gauge the interest of the NIU supporters and donors in baseball. If, as I suspect, the interest is not there or only minimally, Athletics should work towards eliminating baseball after the current team and signees have graduated. Obviously, if the decision is made to eliminate the program, no further signees should be accepted once that decision has been made. Money that has been earmarked for baseball should be re-budgeted and re-allocated to other more viable sports in need. Just my opinion but, again, I respect those of you who support baseball.

(06-21-2021 11:46 AM)chihuskie Wrote:  College baseball in DeKalb is a strange strange idea.

Could that money be better used elsewhere?

Is someone making logical, smart allocation of capital decisions?

What factors should be evaluated when evaluating capital allocation to different sports? I suggest revenue is not the only one-- but it's a factor. If you make little revenue but provide a lot of enjoyment to the student body and to alumni, bring prestige to the university, help attract more/ better students, help increase donations, etc..... that is one thing. If you are an expensive sport with little success and little interest from students or alums... that's another.

So.... baseball fits in where? All sports fit in where? Do we care? Or do we just pretend we (the athletic department) have a bottomless bag of money to do what we want with it?

Let's see who else plays Div I baseball. Hmmm. Frazier's former school? Wisconsin ... a quick search reveals the following:

The Wisconsin Badgers baseball team was the varsity intercollegiate athletic team of the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. The team competed in NCAA Division I and were members of the Big Ten Conference. The school's first baseball team was fielded in 1900. The baseball program was discontinued at the conclusion of the 1991 season.[2][3]

hmmmm.... so... nope. Wisconsin, with its Athletic donation dollars that dwarf NIU's does NOT spend its dollars on men's intercollegiate baseball!

But we can.

Pretty poor comparison to use the only B1G school without baseball. Given that thirteen of their fourteen schools have baseball, I would suggest a different conclusion.

Frankly, on a strictly financial basis, none of our athletic programs are justifiable. Certainly, none of the Olympic sports make any financial sense.

Without mandatory student fees, we wouldn’t even have an athletic department.

I love baseball and routinely follow college baseball nationally and at NIU, so certainly I would strongly prefer that we keep the sport.

I would agree that probably football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball provide some intrinsic value not measurable by revenue. Beyond those three sports, I highly doubt any other sport really provides anything of value other than to the participants and their immediate families.

But a “financial viability” test would shutdown the entire athletic department. I would choose baseball, but, I understand those with a differing opinion.

(06-21-2021 01:02 PM)HuskieDave Wrote:  

(06-21-2021 11:46 AM)chihuskie Wrote:  College baseball in DeKalb is a strange strange idea.

Could that money be better used elsewhere?

Is someone making logical, smart allocation of capital decisions?

What factors should be evaluated when evaluating capital allocation to different sports? I suggest revenue is not the only one-- but it's a factor. If you make little revenue but provide a lot of enjoyment to the student body and to alumni, bring prestige to the university, help attract more/ better students, help increase donations, etc..... that is one thing. If you are an expensive sport with little success and little interest from students or alums... that's another.

So.... baseball fits in where? All sports fit in where? Do we care? Or do we just pretend we (the athletic department) have a bottomless bag of money to do what we want with it?

Let's see who else plays Div I baseball. Hmmm. Frazier's former school? Wisconsin ... a quick search reveals the following:

The Wisconsin Badgers baseball team was the varsity intercollegiate athletic team of the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. The team competed in NCAA Division I and were members of the Big Ten Conference. The school's first baseball team was fielded in 1900. The baseball program was discontinued at the conclusion of the 1991 season.[2][3]

hmmmm.... so... nope. Wisconsin, with its Athletic donation dollars that dwarf NIU's does NOT spend its dollars on men's intercollegiate baseball!

But we can.

Pretty poor comparison to use the only B1G school without baseball. Given that thirteen of their fourteen schools have baseball, I would suggest a different conclusion.

Frankly, on a strictly financial basis, none of our athletic programs are justifiable. Certainly, none of the Olympic sports make any financial sense.

Without mandatory student fees, we wouldn’t even have an athletic department.

I love baseball and routinely follow college baseball nationally and at NIU, so certainly I would strongly prefer that we keep the sport.

I would agree that probably football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball provide some intrinsic value not measurable by revenue. Beyond those three sports, I highly doubt any other sport really provides anything of value other than to the participants and their immediate families.

But a “financial viability” test would shutdown the entire athletic department. I would choose baseball, but, I understand those with a differing opinion.

I honestly did not pick Wisconsin knowing the outcome. I thought I would look at a football power, and thought Alabama. But then I thought, no. That's a southern school, let's look at a school in northern climate, and I thought of Wisconsin-- because they are good at football, and our AD came from there.
So I thought I would look and see what they did. And..... I found they gave up on baseball. And that's what I posted.... as an open question.... a thought provoker. I did not look beyond Wisconsin to other Big10 schools.

Independent of that, the point is NIU should do what is best for NIU. That means having sports that make sense for us and not any that don't. And allocating scarce resources wisely. Open question as to how "wisely" is defined. but worthy of a discussion among stakeholders (i.e., donors, fans, student athletes, university administrators, DeKalb officials.....)

(05-29-2021 04:19 PM)Big_Man Wrote:  

(05-29-2021 03:09 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  They were counting on Big Man to snap a picture and post it on here. STF has succeeded again!!!

Maybe I'm Sean Frazier.....

Just make sure there are damn hot dogs STF.



And about those bathrooms......