admiraltarkin said:

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dabo man said:

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What's wrong with Olsen?

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We were at capacity last night for a midweek non-conference game during Spring Break. We need lots more seats. More importantly, schools in the SEC have built palaces in recent years. I've read that our player amenities have fallen badly behind.

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Fallen behind? They renovated it when I was in school and that was "only" 10-15 years ago

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Yep...Olsen is definitely a middle of the road facility in the SEC. Middle of the road may be generous. I'd say we're closer to the bottom of the list than to the top.

Sorry. I just don't believe that is true.
The coach has stoked the fan base that we need this massive renovation, just like Jimbo did with the football facilities. It's what all coaches do to have a protective smoke screen on the program performance.
The fans buy into it, and then you have people thinking that we need to renovate after 11 years. It's ridiculous.

Have you been to other SEC baseball facilities? Olsen is nice, but definitely worse than South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Alabama, Auburn, and possibly Florida. I'd say Olsen is better than Vandy, Kentucky, Georgia, and definitely Missouri. Olsen will be nicer than Oklahoma's and Texas' stadiums when they join the league.

Dudy Noble >>>>> Olsen (and many more)

To clarify, are we talking about the player development areas, or the fan bowl, or all of it combined. I admit that our hitting and team indoor area needs significant upgrades, but the stadium is perfectly fine for years to come.

Ole Miss's stadium is not better than Olsen.
Notice how everything that makes their "experience" is organically developed in the outfield, for the people, by the people. It's all folding chairs.

Here's where I'll lose 99% of you….the fan experience and the shininess of the stadium has zero impact on winning national championships.

Cash in hand….that's where it's at.

https://www.ncaa.com/history/baseball/d1

I am not at all saying we have to have the fanciest facility to win a national title. What I am saying is that we need a better stadium, fan experience, and player development areas to keep fans engaged and make Aggie baseball a "destination" like Aggie football is. Olsen is great...it really is. And in any other conference, it would be the best or 2nd best facility in the league. But in the SEC, it's a so-so facility, at best.

We all badly wanted this move to the SEC and we need to keep up with the facilities arms race. We've thrown millions (billions?) at the football program with virtually nothing in return. I'd like to see the university, the athletic department, and the fan base start throwing money at a sport (or sports) where we have a legitimate shot to be a national power. To me, baseball seems like the most likely candidate for that.

Luke The Drifter said:

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I am not at all saying we have to have the fanciest facility to win a national title. What I am saying is that we need a better stadium, fan experience, and player development areas to keep fans engaged and make Aggie baseball a "destination" like Aggie football is. Olsen is great...it really is. And in any other conference, it would be the best or 2nd best facility in the league. But in the SEC, it's a so-so facility, at best.

We all badly wanted this move to the SEC and we need to keep up with the facilities arms race. We've thrown millions (billions?) at the football program with virtually nothing in return. I'd like to see the university, the athletic department, and the fan base start throwing money at a sport (or sports) where we have a legitimate shot to be a national power. To me, baseball seems like the most likely candidate for that.

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I understand what you are saying here and largely agree with you. My opinion is a lot of Ags are tired of hearing about facility upgrades due to Sherman getting a brand new everything, then Sumlin needed it all redone in the mid 2010s, then Jimbo comes in and he needs it all redone again. It is renovation fatigue on top of the lack of trophies. Then boosters are asked to provide more money for NIL. It is all starting to look like a racket where the only people winning are the construction companies (I have no doubt they "lobby" real hard) and the AD's office who can point to the fundraising when updating their resume. Meanwhile basketball plays in a joke of an arena again.

Guess I don't understand. I thought blue bell park was already a massive upgrade from Olsen Field back when I was there.

Luke The Drifter said:

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Have you been to other SEC baseball facilities? Olsen is nice, but definitely worse than South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Alabama, Auburn, and possibly Florida. I'd say Olsen is better than Vandy, Kentucky, Georgia, and definitely Missouri. Olsen will be nicer than Oklahoma's and Texas' stadiums when they join the league.

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Here's Olsen/BBP, including behind the scenes. There are other, similar videos of other SEC facilities.

What exactly are we missing?

91AggieLawyer said:

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Luke The Drifter said:

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Have you been to other SEC baseball facilities? Olsen is nice, but definitely worse than South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Alabama, Auburn, and possibly Florida. I'd say Olsen is better than Vandy, Kentucky, Georgia, and definitely Missouri. Olsen will be nicer than Oklahoma's and Texas' stadiums when they join the league.

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Here's Olsen/BBP, including behind the scenes. There are other, similar videos of other SEC facilities.

What exactly are we missing?

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Nothing. Just use the stadium upgrade cash on NIL and win a championship first. After that, we can decide if we need a gold plated home plate.