glm38 wrote:I don't think MSU got hosed by the Hogs at all. I tried to get tickets and couldn't. Disappointing but I don't blame Arkansas.
But the ncaa is another matter. The Springfield cardinals were willing to work around the super regionals. It would have worked fine. Kind of stupid IMO that the ncaa insists on their game being the only ones played in said facility.
Call it a rented facility if you want but no team in the Valley gets to play in a finer facility than Hammons field.
This is exactly how I feel. The Razorbacks are doing what any hosting team would do: Give their fans the first chance to get tickets. It just happens that they had over 10,000 ticket orders in the first couple of hours from just donors and season ticket holders. Even the regular Razorbacks fan never had a chance to get tickets.
What I dislike (and, perhaps, would use the word "hosed" for) is that the Springfield Cardinals were willing to work out a schedule and the NCAA said no. Sure, I get that they have policies, but it's a policy that seems overbearing.
Now, I also understand why the policy exists. There was a time when the NCAA allowed a different college to host a super regional when another team was also slated to play at the stadium, and one of the games went into extra innings and they conflicted. I understand that this is a possibility and something the NCAA wants to avoid.
Now, about the "rented mule" comment. When Hammons built the stadium, while the Springfield Cardinals are certainly the primary tenant and the Bears have to pay rent, that was part of the agreement that Hammons struck. He made it very clear from the very beginning that this facility was
intended to serve as a facility for Missouri State as well.
Additionally, I quite frankly don't want Missouri State to build its own baseball stadium. Hammons Field is an excellent ballpark and the indoor facilities are just as crucial to the team as playing on a high quality field. When recruits tour campus and Hammons, to them it's not some degrading status of sharing a ballpark also used by a minor league team. For them, it's a
perk to play on an AA quality field with indoor workout facilities. A significant reason why the Bears have attracted the kind of talent necessary to be the #8 national seed is because of Hammons Field. I'll take being a "rented mule" who gets to Super Regionals over being a property owner who goes 0-2 in the MVC Baseball Tournament.
