|
OPINION
| UPDATED JAN. 24
Editorial/our view
Build It So They Will Come
Maverick fans are less likely
to watch the team if they don’t have a stadium.
Due to construction at Allan Saxe Stadium, the UTA baseball team
has to change dates and move sites for the first few home games
of the 2003 season. As the university continues its push toward
becoming a traditional campus filled with student participation
and support, it seems to have taken a step in the opposite direction.
The renovated stadium, complete with new lights, more seats and
a stylish entrance, was to be completed by the Feb. 11 UTA home
opener against Texas Christian University. With the improvements,
the Mavericks would join the upper echelon of collegiate baseball,
attracting such teams as Baylor University, UT-Austin and Rice University.
Now these plans will have to wait as administrators work to shuffle
dates and fields for the season’s opening game and the UTA/Morning
News Invitational. Future home dates, such as the Feb. 25 game against
the Grambling State Tigers, are also being discussed among coaches,
athletics administration and construction company officials.
It is a shame that students and the UTA community will have to cheer
on their Mavericks at LaGrave Field, home of the Fort Worth Cats
and TCU’s new ballpark, Lupton Stadium, which was recently
completed.
The Mavericks are two years removed from a season in which they
finished 39-25 overall and 15-11 in Southland Conference play —
the best UTA finish in eight years. The third-place Mavericks went
on to win the conference tournament and land the school’s first
ever NCAA regional-tournament victory.
As UTA looks to repeat the success of a few years ago, the fans
will have to cheer at a home game not at the home field. Coaches
say the playing surface is in great shape and the team could use
it if rescheduling falls through. Then UTA’s team would play
in front of no one except construction workers.
The baseball team does not necessarily need an audience to play
or win, but then the average UTA student will put the Mavericks
on the same level as the marching band — good, but no one knows
about it.
|
|
Editorial
round-up
The issue:
Unfinished construction has delayed the baseball team’s
ability to play on its own field for the first few games.
We suggest:
The university should consider the people who use the
facilities they intend to build when scheduling construction.
|
|
|
