(SB) Ongoing UF Softball Commentary

I will be posting the Sun Devil Classic tournament schedule soon..

 

Lol, you can’t even be bothered to pony up for the espn+ sub. Not sure why you care so much about a couple extra games being broadcast on that platform. That is where these games would likely land if/when they’re ever broadcast.


Sure, UF has the money. They’ve chosen not to spend it. Softball is already subsidized. The guys pumping money into the program are talking to the guys who make these decisions, and they’ve told you why the games aren’t being broadcast. The people I see complaining the loudest about all this stuff are the people who do not appear to be contributing any more than I do, which is almost nothing. I’m pretty happy with my ROI though. I pay for espn, I get access to more games on tv and on demand than I have at any other time in history. I pay for my tix, and I get to go watch a few games in person too.

I don’t really care what the reasons are why you can’t contribute financially or attend the games in person, just that you don’t, yet still constantly complain.

 

Taking everything you just said to us softball fans to shut up and stop complaining. I want you to justify the TV coverage that the UAA and University currently provides WITHOUT similar complaints to other women's teams with similar or less in-person games attendance, Basketball,Soccer (which both haven't nationally ranked in years) and Lacrosse (doesn't play in SEC, but Jeremy Foley's personal sports team) all of which get subsidized.as much if not more than softball. BTW I have ESPN, ESPN+, SEC Network and SEC Network+ and have had all since they have been in existence. I also have ACCN & ACCNX along with B1G Network so I can watch the Gators play games at their home games when available.

 

No, I do not care about your excuses. You know what the quick solution is to this problem. You feel you're entitled to these games anyway. You complain and criticize. I'll do the same.

I don't have to justify anything. I don't decide what gets broadcast and what doesn't. I get what they give me. They've outright told us they don't broadcast these games because they don't want to spend the money. I'm not going to provide them with the money or help them raise it, so I accept what they give me in return. If they choose to broadcast them, I'll watch. If they don't, I'll miss them, or go in person. Just seems petty to constantly complain about something when you have zero interest in actually providing the known solution, especially at a time when we already have more access than we've ever had before.

 

Ocala is asking for nothing more than to be able to watch the same amount of games as fans of the other SEC schools are able to watch. I totally agree with him. Go Gators.

 

What's preventing you from being able to do so?

 

I am lost. I can't find a post with "entitlement" and apparently a lot of BS along with it. The only possibility I can think of because it came from the idiot I blocked long ago. Which is totally expected and why I blocked him. In all my many years on the internet and various places, he remains the only clown I actually ever blocked. Couldn't take it anymore.

 

"Funny". That would be the guy. I've had so much peace since blocking him that I couldn't remember his handle and it was wonderful.

 

Still crying.

 

Just curious, anybody know how much $$ we r talking about to increase the # of games broadcasted.

 

More than anyone here is willing to give them.

There were some numbers posted here a year or two ago, but I don't remember and don't know how much that could have changed. There was an opportunity to get more info recently, but the folks here chose to run from a real response, and just continue to complain here instead.

I think we'll eventually have most of these games broadcast anyway and this is all for naught. If someone wants to speed up the process, the solution is known though and there are people inside the UAA willing to talk about it.

 

Assuming what I was told a couple years ago by the Asst. AD, Alicia Longworth remains the case and I think it does. Alicia had complete and total control at the time of what events get broadcast and she told me this. She told me our broadcast facility is grossly under par from the rest of the league and we can only realistically do two events at a time. Around 2018 or 2019, she and several others were a team that traveled to several other SEC schools to analyze their facility (which can do up to five events at a time) and they determined exactly what needed to be done to ours and the cost, at that time, was ten million. Then Covid hit, finances went into the toilet, and the project never was completed. Since nothing has changed since then, I don't believe anything was done to fix the problem. The one major thing that bugs me now is they, somehow, put the Duke game on last weekend when they were also broadcasting gymnastics and baseball. I don't know how that was done but I aim to find out. It calls into question why it isn't done more often and if softball isn't simply getting screwed by someone. (btw...I have been told that over the years our current AD has been very much made aware of this situation and that he can fix it. I'm told he doesn't care. It is as simple as that.)

 

BTW...Alicia was fantastic. I have said what I have said above in multiple places when people erroneously blamed the SEC or ESPN. They can't provide a game when cameras aren't turned on at KSP or we would get the games. Until recently I never named her because I didn't want to get her into trouble for speaking so freely to me. She told me even her father would call her and scream at her when a game he wanted to watch wasn't on. "Dad...there simply isn't anything I can do about it." She moved on to Tennessee where the pasture is much, much, greener. Don't know if she is still there.

 

Acting like the softball program is some kind of neglected step child is a joke. What do you think the total net loss is on the softball program since it's inception (almost 30 years)? I would guess tens of millions easily. I'd be surprised if it was under 50. I would be the happiest little step child ever if someone spent that kind of money on me. Instead all you see and hear is MOOOOAAAARRRRR.

For shits and grins, would you guys who think you're owed every softball game on tv be happy if they did regional/national blackouts for games with poor attendance? I've been to a couple of these early games that weren't on tv and the stadium is maybe half full. The ones I've watched on TV have mostly looked the same. Lots of empty seats behind the plate. We fill up for FSU and some big sec weekends, but for the most part, there's lots of empty seats at most games. If the uaa agreed to play any game on tv that had the stadium at 90% capacity, would you be happy with that? I think it would cut your viewable games probably in half. There's only like 3k capacity, and you guys can't keep it more than half full for most of the games? Why should they invest even more money making it easier for people to stay home? Spend more, generate less-- Doesn't seem like a good business model to me.

Contrast that around the league, and most other games I see channel surfing appear to have much fuller crowds. Some small, crappy, stadiums sometimes, but they fill up what they have. Maybe that's why their UAA's don't mind footing the bill to get more of their games on tv.

 

She's still at UT.

 

Every sport needs/wants more money. Football guys are always complaining about not having enough $$, too much going to spring sports, etc etc. As you say, it's about priorities and it's the ADs call I would think.

I was just curious as to the $$. Thanks to Rick for giving me a ballpark # and it's probably more than I would have guessed.

 

That is just completely incorrect. This myth that there are limitless funds is crazy.
The UAA has countless decisions regarding resource allocation. There can certainly be debate re those decisions, but none will make everyone happy. If there is a general focus from this admin I would say it is facilities and staff.....something many have complained about for decades under the previous administration.
Track people will argue mouse deserves an indoor facility. Swimming fans will point out our dated and inadequate facilities that are way behind for an elite program. Golf fans point out that Bostick course is too short for elite play. Tennis doesn't have full sized indoor facilities. I could go on and on.....resources are not unlimited and there are plenty of needs. And we aren’t even getting into the need to spend up to a billion on the football stadium