Softball Coach Wants New Facility Now

[The Sheriff]

Collin... I'm partial to athletic chicks that aren't lesbians also... Rather have a supermodel, but will bring my head out of the clouds for a hot chick who is athletic...

[USFFan]

this guy needs to be rewarded for his loyalty first with an increse in pay 50% at least and a new facility and i would say before a baseball stadium. IMO

Attention Eric Soncrant,

Please contact bulls96go, as he's interested in making a considerable donation to the athletic department in order to help give Ken Erikson a 50% raise and to build a new softball facility.  

No, bulls96go, Ken Erikson is the EGG HEAD of the month for taking his temper tantrum to the media instead of giving the new AD a chance to even so much as unpack his boxes before having to deal with a prima donna who, by the way, choked in a conference tournament where the top 2 seeds had already been relegated to the losers bracket.  Erikson didn't build this team, Hildred Deese did.  What's more, no person is bigger than the program.  Go ask Perri Hankins whether it was a great idea to go on a public tirade against the athletic administration.  

The long and the short of it is that our coaches shouldn't be airing their dirty laundry in public, and most of them need to start taking care of business on the field instead of spending time on the phone with Brett McMurphy.  

USFFan

[The Sheriff]

Coach Erickson has placed the girls in the right position to make it this far... he trained his assistants to coach in his absence, and honed the girls talents in the off season. Don't discredit a CUSA tourney drop as being the root of all evil for Ericson. They were the #3 seed coming in, and finished third in the tourney. A couple errors cost us the first game in the tourney... not the coaching. If you listened to today's game, you could tell Ericson let's it all out. We must have half a dozen stolen base opportunities where he said screw it and went after it. He is a great coach and has won enough to be upset! Ya... it's not football... but to be the second best school in Florida and top 17 nationally with our facilities, that is corraling some talent from other big name schools!

[USFFan]

I didn't say that Erikson is the root of all evil, and frankly I would like for him to stay and be happy at USF.  My big beef with him is that he decided to take this public on the eve of the NCAA regional.  For starters, he could/should have gone to Woolard and given Woolard a chance to address his concerns before pissing and moaning to the Tampa Tribune.  Second, he shouldn't be taking the focus of the team away from the task at hand by having them think about how unhappy he is at USF.  Especially in light of the team's relatively poor performance in the conference tournament.  If you truly believe that USF was the third best team in this conference then you are in the minority.  Look no further than the NCAA.  USF was the highest seeded team from Conference USA in the regionals.  

Let me reiterate that I would prefer that this guy stay here and be happy.  However, I also want to be clear that while he's done a good job, he didn't build softball at USF.  Hildred Deese won a national championship here when we were still playing slow pitch softball, and she was the one who oversaw USF's move to fast pitch.  She was the one who hired Erikson in the first place.  No coach (not even Leavitt) is above the university, so besmirching the same university in the press could and perhaps should be considered insubordination.  It certainly shows a lack of judgement and common sense.  

USFFan

[No_Willie_Jokes_Yet]

"... this is just girls softball." Brad Meyer, 2004.

" ... this is just women's basketball."  Every UT Vols fan, pre-1982.

" ... this is just women's soccer."  Every UNC Tarheels fan, pre-Anson Dorrance.

" ... this is just women's volleyball."  Every USC, Nebraska, UCLA, Hawaii Booster pre-Title IX.

Wow, three programs you can point to. Out of how many? There are 117 Div i-A football teams but three or four times that many colleges. So you have three examples. That's less than 1%. Yet you beleive if we throw some money at this program we will buck the odds and be one of the lucky ones. Right. Go take the million dollars they want for a new stadium and buy lottery tickets. They will have a better return.

[No_Willie_Jokes_Yet]

then we should "fire his ar$e" for trying to get his facilities upgaded.

he was away coaching the national team, hey lets reward you lets " fire your ar$e"

That wasnt my point. My point was this guy may be more replaceable than he realizes.  Perhaps he should think about how instrumental he is in the sucess we have had.  Does he really hold that much power over us.

I bet if he is so close to retirment here it will be hard to look elsewhere...

[bulls96go]

then we may be looking at loosing softball seasons because Erikson has convinced girls to play at this facility which will be quite the task for a new coach.  

I know we dont have the money but we better find some because this softball facility is terrible

a quality "new" coach will demand more money and a new stadium as part of the deal. or you go into the big east with an unproven coach.

i guess it is still true "a prophet is not accepted in his own country"

look, fire the guy for all i care, but he has been loyal and patient and a very good coach. he turned down jobs several years ago to stay here and we do need better facilities he just wants to be first in the pecking order.

the new ad can come in and fire him that would be great for moral seeing the coaches did not choose woolard as their # 1 for the ad spot

[Brad]

As far as women's sports that just rake dollars, I'm very confident every one of the programs listed above are deep into the black, though I don't have exact figures.  UT women's basketball often outdraws men's, and both UConn men and women sell out every game at Storrs.  Big 10 and Big 12 volleyball and basketball also have many profitable squads.  UNC Soccer could probably pay for all their scholies on their Nike contract alone(which also helps them get people like Mia Hamm in the long run).  I'll look for Title IX programs that are in the black and see if I can find a list. 

I'm looking for the list of "Women's sports that have proven they can be profitable and viable without the crutch of Title IX.."

[USFFan]

the new ad can come in and fire him that would be great for moral seeing the coaches did not choose woolard as their # 1 for the ad spot

Um, do you think that article in the newspaper was good for moral (sic)?  If he wanted new facilities, he should have gone to the incoming AD and politely asked instead of effectively painting him into a corner.  Now if he capitulates it tells everybody that the way to be successful is to cry to the media.  If he doesn't, he's the guy who chased away a loyal employee of 20 years.  It's a lose/lose situation, and all because Erikson showed incredibly poor judgement.  Welcome to USF, Mr. Woolard.  

USFFan

[The_Reaper]

Hey, build a new super stadium. Football, with adjoining baseball and softball complex. It would be the only one in the nation. Bill it as BULL Land! Have classrooms built around the football stadium so that the state pays for it. Make the softball and baseball stadiums the rivals of any complex in any college venue. Make it so that the only thing that people say when they see this complex is Holy Sh..!