No more BallySports OK - Page 3

steverocks35 · 05-05-2022, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WTSooner

I just don't base my interest on a sport by how fast paced it is or isn't. I can equally enjoy an up and down basketball game and a game played at a much slower pace.

The skill shown in baseball far exceeds the skill shown in softball. My opinion of course. That is why it's (softball) played on a shorter field with shorter bases and a bigger ball. I've played a lot of sports. Hitting a round baseball being thrown 90+ mph with movement with a round bat is the hardest thing I've encountered in sports. It's tough. Like, your brain has 0.25 seconds or something to see the ball and decide if you are going to swing tough.

Yeah I'd like to see you step in and try to hit a 70 mph rise-ball thrown from 43'. The reaction time is actually less than a 95 mph fastball thrown from 60' and the sweet spot on a softball is actually harder to hit because the ball is bigger.

skyvue · 05-05-2022, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WTSooner

Using OU football is a poor example. Yes, there are some bandwagon fans I suppose, but OU had incredible fan support even through the Blake years. Let OU softball fall to those levels and see what happens. Hint, it won't mimic what happened with OU football.

I have always been impressed by Sooner fans' continued support in the '90s, but on the football boards, many posters tell a different story, of a much bigger drop-off than I perceived from my distant vantage point (I moved to NYC in 1982). But either way, had the failures of the '90s continued into the 2000s, the support would have continued to dwindle.

But my real point is that Coach Gasso has been building a hugely successful program where there was none, much as Wilkinson did (Coach Owen enjoyed some success, but that was an entirely different time, and in any case, his success didn't remotely resemble what Bud built). Do you look down on the people who became season ticket holders in the 1950s? They were every bit as much "bandwagon fans" as today's softball fans are. And there was a dropoff in support in the 1960s after Bud left. I know because I went to games then and you could get endzone seats for next to nothing. And I would put Coach Gasso right up there with Bud as a top five all-time coach at OU. She takes a backseat to no one.

sunnyjim48 · 05-05-2022, 05:31 PM

Joan Joyce, the Florida Atlantic softball coach who recently died, once struck out Ted Williams and Henry Aaron in an exhibition. I think softball players display an astounding level of skill. How skilled is Grace Lyons? The catch that Jayda Coleman made against Iowa State is as good as any catch I've seen by most major league plsyers.

TarheelstateSooner · 05-06-2022, 06:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyvue

The increase in the popularity of collegiate softball is not a matter of opinion; it's a documented fact. To name just one example: Last year's Women's College World Seri9es drew 59% more viewers than the Men's College World Series did.

https://sportsbrowser.net/most-popul...ts-in-america/

https://playersbio.com/most-popular-sports-in-america/

I get it. You're an OU softball fan. But it's not even top 12 in most popular sports in America. Badminton is more popular. So I think the talk about how it's gaining more steam in popularity is overblown. It's not even top 12 on the American sports landscape.

WTSooner · 05-06-2022, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunnyjim48

Joan Joyce, the Florida Atlantic softball coach who recently died, once struck out Ted Williams and Henry Aaron in an exhibition. I think softball players display an astounding level of skill. How skilled is Grace Lyons? The catch that Jayda Coleman made against Iowa State is as good as any catch I've seen by most major league plsyers.

Link to the Coleman catch?

WichitaSooner · 05-06-2022, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunnyjim48

Joan Joyce, the Florida Atlantic softball coach who recently died, once struck out Ted Williams and Henry Aaron in an exhibition. I think softball players display an astounding level of skill. How skilled is Grace Lyons? The catch that Jayda Coleman made against Iowa State is as good as any catch I've seen by most major league plsyers.

Well, it’s not exactly surprising that guys strike out when facing a style of pitching they have never seen before. I’m guessing they would probably fare ok if they spent a meaningful amount of time training against softball pitchers. There is no question that the elite softball players are skilled, but this isn’t really the best way to show that. And as good as they are, they aren’t nearly at the level of big league baseball players. In some ways, I think softball is easier to enjoy when you just accept the fact that it is a very different sport than baseball.

MsProudSooner · 05-06-2022, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WTSooner

Link to the Coleman catch?

I think the catch referred to was the NCAA Softball play of the week earlier this spring. Go to the bottom of the article to see Coleman's catch.

https://www.ncaa.com/news/softball/a...all-plays-week

skyvue · 05-06-2022, 08:36 AM

I'll never forget Mackenzie Donihoo's amazing catch in last year's WCWS. One of my favorites.

steverocks35 · 05-06-2022, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WichitaSooner

Well, it’s not exactly surprising that guys strike out when facing a style of pitching they have never seen before. I’m guessing they would probably fare ok if they spent a meaningful amount of time training against softball pitchers. There is no question that the elite softball players are skilled, but this isn’t really the best way to show that. And as good as they are, they aren’t nearly at the level of big league baseball players. In some ways, I think softball is easier to enjoy when you just accept the fact that it is a very different sport than baseball.

Nobody who knows anything about fastpitch would say that it’s like baseball. It IS a very different sport. I find it much more watchable and enjoyable but I realize I’m biased.

AdaSooner · 05-06-2022, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steverocks35

Nobody who knows anything about fastpitch would say that it’s like baseball. It IS a very different sport. I find it much more watchable and enjoyable but I realize I’m biased.

Agreed. You’re not alone in your bias, though. I would rather watch an OU women’s softball game than any sport (amateur or pro) on television, except Sooner basketball and football.

I don’t like it when I have to pay extra to watch a game on a streaming channel I don’t have access to on a regular basis, but I do it because I’m an OU softball fanatic. Sooner softball is the most exciting sport on television right now!

There, I said it! Don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it! 😆

WichitaSooner · 05-06-2022, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steverocks35

Nobody who knows anything about fastpitch would say that it’s like baseball. It IS a very different sport. I find it much more watchable and enjoyable but I realize I’m biased.

Nothing wrong with being biased, especially when you have a good reason to be, and when you acknowledge it.

skyvue · 05-06-2022, 10:11 AM

I was hooting and hollering when Tiare Jennings hit that three-run homer last night. I'm sure people wandering past my open window (not to mention my fellow residents) were wondering what in the world was going on in Apartment 2A.

SoonerinNC · 05-06-2022, 01:11 PM

I was originally anti-ESPN+ but I finally subscribed and was able to watch almost any game I wanted this year. Adding OU Video to the mix just makes it better. The Long Horn Network and ACC were added for 21-22.

skyvue · 05-06-2022, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoonerinNC

I was originally anti-ESPN+ but I finally subscribed and was able to watch almost any game I wanted this year. Adding OU Video to the mix just makes it better. The Long Horn Network and ACC were added for 21-22.

Longhorn Network's only available on ESPN+ if your TV provider carries it. It wasn't there for me (I use Youtube TV) when I tried to watch OU-texas in softball. It showed up as an option on the screen, but when I tried to watch, it told me I didn't have access.

scrybe · 05-06-2022, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WTSooner

Using OU football is a poor example. Yes, there are some bandwagon fans I suppose, but OU had incredible fan support even through the Blake years. Let OU softball fall to those levels and see what happens. Hint, it won't mimic what happened with OU football.

You can put your worries to rest, then. OU softball ain't falling to those levels – at least not as long as Patty Gasso is at the helm.

scrybe · 05-06-2022, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyvue

Longhorn Network's only available on ESPN+ if your TV provider carries it. It wasn't there for me (I use Youtube TV) when I tried to watch OU-texas in softball. It showed up as an option on the screen, but when I tried to watch, it told me I didn't have access.

That's 100 percent correct, sky.

jmizzy4ou · 05-06-2022, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdaSooner

Agreed. You’re not alone in your bias, though. I would rather watch an OU women’s softball game than any sport (amateur or pro) on television, except Sooner basketball and football.

I don’t like it when I have to pay extra to watch a game on a streaming channel I don’t have access to on a regular basis, but I do it because I’m an OU softball fanatic. Sooner softball is the most exciting sport on television right now!

There, I said it! Don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it! 😆

I agree!!! And being selfish I will say I kinda wish it was still a secret sport, so it wouldn't be so hard to get tickets to the games.

I can remember taking my daughter to the WCWS in OKC, and getting tickets in the parking lot for 20 bucks apiece. We watched Kelani Ricketts lead us to a Natty, and we had no issues finding cheap tickets back then.

My daughter isn't a huge sports fan, but we had many a great time attending OU softball and WBB games in Norman while she was growing up.