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Originally Posted by Midlo Dad:

I don't want to take anything away from Liberty, but that's a "one man's opinion" list and some of the choices/rankings are rather curious.

 

But hey, take the good pub and go use it on the recruiting trail, I guess!

Exactly.   Just a bit of regional bias there.

I was up at Liberty in the fall and it is a palace. Got the special tour behind the 3rd base home dugout that led under the bleachers. Offices, training rooms, indoor cages, everything. Nice view from the stands.

 

It's too big for them to fill up during the season. In my opinion, they built that place with the idea of hosting a regional.

 

I don't know ... if they can light a fire under the community and the student body there, they could start to fill it regularly.  Even just counting the full time students (i.e., not the on-line folks), that place has gotten huge in a hurry.

 

As for the bias, I'm not sure I see a pattern, but anyone who ranks Ga. Tech up near the top and UVA at # 28 is not paying a lot of attention.  And ranking LSU # 11 -- that is at least 9 slots too low.  Short of going to the CWS, that's the only place you'll see 11,000 fans crammed in to watch a college game in person!  Facilities, I can't say, but the fan experience rates at the top.

Last edited by Midlo Dad

We are just talking stadium- right?? Liberty over the last two years is averaging around 1000 fans which prior to this new complex seemed to average a few 100 unless a big ravel came to town (Coastal Carolina). Now when the big teams come in over 2000 are there watching. Regardless, Fridays and Saturdays bring in big numbers as well. So your commit about fire up the community or student body doesn't hold true. They are fired up.

 

Haven't been to Ga. Tech so cant say for sure, but I always thought the S Carolina's stadium was one of the number one parks I've been to along with ECU. And this rankings showed both up there with S. Carolina as the #1 slot. 

 

My only point was, it's a great stadium and facility for the ball players and fans alike, with a play ground for kids, rocking chairs for us old folks, fire pits for the young, hills for the kids to slide down on-  what else are you looking for????

 

And Midlo Dad, it seems it's not only my opinion that agrees that this is a GREAT STADIUM, every person that comes their agrees and say's  - "WOW"....

 

 

I think it is amazing what Liberty has accomplished since hiring Jim Toman.  We knew they would win when Jim took the job, be cause he was one of the best recruiters in the business at South Carolina. But what has happened within the entire program is mind boggling.

 

I have to agree that the list is far different than what many might put together.  Having seen many of these facilities, there are some major errors, both too high and too low, in how these facilities are ranked.  Makes me wonder if they have actually been to all these places or just guessed at many of them.

The best I can say about that list is that the authors and I seem to have very different criteria for determining what makes one stadium better than another.

 

An additional thought: What makes a stadium great for us fans might not necessarily make it great for players and coaches. From the latter group's perspective, it's the interior (clubhouse, players' lounge, coaches' offices, training room, weight room, etc.) that means as much or more than the exterior; and, at times, a stadium's exterior can be much nicer than its interior.

With all due respect to Jim Toman, Jason Murray & the rest of the staff at Liberty, I believe that they will back me up when I say everything they have is thanks to the late Jerry Falwell.  His passing instantly took the school from in the red to in the black financially speaking.  To give you an indication the baseball facility was running about $20million and was a drop in the bucket for their current projects.  Keep in mind, as Midlo made reference to above, LU is pushing 125,000 students.  Probably 100,000 being online students around the world.

 

Liberty is definitely one of the highlights on the VA College Bus Tour.  It is not an exagerration to say that unless a player makes it to the Big Leagues they will probably never have access to a nicer facility.  From locker room to players lounge to on site weight room & hitting facility the place is 1st class everything.  There are pictures on my website from last years tour if you are interested... http://www.playinschool.com/tour_pics.html

 

On a related note, we just finished up the VA Softball College Bus Tour and Liberty is building a mirror image of the baseball facility for the softball program.  And in yet another show of commitment to their athletic program they have gone out and hired a pretty good coach.  Her name is Dr. Dot Richardson.  She is literally a living legend in the softball world.  She a 2 time gold medalist.  Little girls swing bats with her name on them!  And, oh yeah, she's a surgeon and has practiced medicine with several big league baseball programs.  She was not looking for a coaching job.  LU needed a coach.  They went and found her.  Living legend.

 

They only won 11 games last year in softball.  But with her & the new facility, I wouldn't be surprised if LU baseball & softball are hosting regional games across the parking lot simultaneously in the near future.

 

I can't comment on too much of that list.  I will say that even though I love Miami, no way in the world I'm putting their ball park & facilities at #2 unless they get weighted credit for offering the best Cuban food at any college ball park!

 

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com/bus_tour  <--- Not to late to sign up.  But almost!

 

 

Originally Posted by Ace 45:

We are just talking stadium- right?? 

I looked at the full list, and the rankings are of "stadium experience", which I take to mean more than just "stadium".  No doubt some of these stadiums are worth their ranks.

 

But I had to giggle....one school listed in the middle of the list of 200+ is one we have frequented and keewartson has actually played on. This "stadium experience" lacks bathrooms, decent concessions, (think all prepackaged foods), and you can't get to the home or visitor's seats without walking up a steep unpaved hill.  Fans rarely sit in the stadium, but rather outside the outfield fence  at the parking lot.  But, games are free and the actual field is nice.  The physical "stadium" and "experience" ....not so much.

I watched a Sunday contest at Liberty this spring and was amazed at the facility. I knew it was brand new, but I really wasn't expecting to find such a nice ballpark.

 

It was also cool to see brooms (3-4) tied to the light posts indicating the number of weekend sweeps of opponents - impressive....

 

4-5 years ago I met an older gentlemen (my guess is he was over 70) at a Big South football game and we talked more than we watched the game.... 

 

He told me he was from Lynchburg, that he was friends with Dr. Falwell and that they routinely had lunch. He said that Dr. Falwell had a dream that he knew he would never live to see - that dream was to see Liberty play Notre Dame in football.

 

With the improvements to many of the sports programs, I wonder if the school is moving forward toward fulfilling dreams?

 

So wether you believe the facility is number 5 or number 25 I agree with ACE, take an  afternoon or evening and go see for yourself, you won't be disappointed In the facility or the ball.

 

Last edited by Flying Dutchman

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