JimBob
02-14-2008, 04:08 PM
BEDLAM BASEBALL: Schools work to add games
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
2/14/2008
OU, OSU hope to gain two more Bedlam matchups beginning in '09.
STILLWATER -- Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are working to complete a contract that would match their baseball teams in one or two nonconference games each season beginning in 2009 at OU's L. Dale Mitchell Park and OSU's Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
OSU coach Frank Anderson said Wednesday the schools were close to completing the deal, and OU coach Sunny Golloway later confirmed it.
"We haven't finalized it, but we're going to play. I believe so," Anderson said during OSU's media day interviews.
Said Golloway, "I'm all for it. I think that Frank is all for it."
Since the formation of the Big 12 in 1997, the teams have met in regular-season conference contests three times each spring, with the opener played at Drillers Stadium and the next two played in Oklahoma City. The additional games would count as nonconference games and would be played on campus, both coaches said.
Golloway said he'd like to play two additional games each year, perhaps a week apart, in Norman and Stillwater. Anderson said he'd prefer to play one extra game every season, with each school's home park alternating as host.
Golloway was an OU assistant coach when the Sooners and Cowboys played five times a year in Big Eight Conference action. The teams met once in Tulsa, twice in Oklahoma City and once each at campus sites.
"It would be a five-game grind on the weekend and in the middle of the week," Golloway said.
OU recently completed a multi-million-dollar stadium upgrade, and OSU has had stadium work and is expecting a major renovation, although it's not likely within the next two years.
"If we're going to spend all this money on these ballparks," Golloway said, "we might as well enjoy 'em with Oklahoma State and Oklahoma home and away each year."
OU and OSU conclude the 2008 regular season -- which begins Feb. 22 nationwide -- with a three-game weekend series May 16-18. Three days later, they begin Big 12 Tournament play. Adding nonconference Bedlam games to the schedule would enhance what is already one of college baseball's most intense atmospheres. Both coaches warned of the dangers of a Bedlam showdown so late in the spring.
"Sometimes it can be a distraction, because it's such a huge deal to everybody in the state and the kids that are from here," Anderson said. "Obviously you can't have any type of letdown."
Said Golloway, "Our concern, and I think it was both of ours: our kids are under so much pressure with finals getting finished up at that time, and then with the Big 12 Tournament there's a lot of pressure. Then you throw on top of that Bedlam and it's going to make it real exciting, I'll tell you that. It's an awful lot for 'em, no doubt."
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
2/14/2008
OU, OSU hope to gain two more Bedlam matchups beginning in '09.
STILLWATER -- Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are working to complete a contract that would match their baseball teams in one or two nonconference games each season beginning in 2009 at OU's L. Dale Mitchell Park and OSU's Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
OSU coach Frank Anderson said Wednesday the schools were close to completing the deal, and OU coach Sunny Golloway later confirmed it.
"We haven't finalized it, but we're going to play. I believe so," Anderson said during OSU's media day interviews.
Said Golloway, "I'm all for it. I think that Frank is all for it."
Since the formation of the Big 12 in 1997, the teams have met in regular-season conference contests three times each spring, with the opener played at Drillers Stadium and the next two played in Oklahoma City. The additional games would count as nonconference games and would be played on campus, both coaches said.
Golloway said he'd like to play two additional games each year, perhaps a week apart, in Norman and Stillwater. Anderson said he'd prefer to play one extra game every season, with each school's home park alternating as host.
Golloway was an OU assistant coach when the Sooners and Cowboys played five times a year in Big Eight Conference action. The teams met once in Tulsa, twice in Oklahoma City and once each at campus sites.
"It would be a five-game grind on the weekend and in the middle of the week," Golloway said.
OU recently completed a multi-million-dollar stadium upgrade, and OSU has had stadium work and is expecting a major renovation, although it's not likely within the next two years.
"If we're going to spend all this money on these ballparks," Golloway said, "we might as well enjoy 'em with Oklahoma State and Oklahoma home and away each year."
OU and OSU conclude the 2008 regular season -- which begins Feb. 22 nationwide -- with a three-game weekend series May 16-18. Three days later, they begin Big 12 Tournament play. Adding nonconference Bedlam games to the schedule would enhance what is already one of college baseball's most intense atmospheres. Both coaches warned of the dangers of a Bedlam showdown so late in the spring.
"Sometimes it can be a distraction, because it's such a huge deal to everybody in the state and the kids that are from here," Anderson said. "Obviously you can't have any type of letdown."
Said Golloway, "Our concern, and I think it was both of ours: our kids are under so much pressure with finals getting finished up at that time, and then with the Big 12 Tournament there's a lot of pressure. Then you throw on top of that Bedlam and it's going to make it real exciting, I'll tell you that. It's an awful lot for 'em, no doubt."