Baseball is doing less w/ more. Ditto for men’s basketball. Women’s basketball is more like softball, and I am already a big fan of Coach Duffy. I sure hope football can turn it around, every VT sport would benefit from that. So I’m rooting hard for that to happen. But regardless of that, softball ought to be getting more and baseball ought to be getting less, in my opinion. It comes down to how well the staff uses their resources. I think Pete and his staff have proven that they know the value of a dollar and whatever resources they get are invested wisely. I am not sure the return on dollars into the baseball program has been all that great. They had one outstanding season, but they aren’t that consistent. Some of the in-game pitching decisions are just baffling, and player development seems to be hit or miss. Softball hasn’t reached the peak we want them to reach yet (‘22 was very close), but I think they can. They are consistently good to great. You know what to expect when you watch them and I think Pete is excellent at roster construction in terms of having all the pieces he needs and having good instincts about how they’ll play together. This is not meant to pit softball against baseball. They can both do well simultaneously (as they did in ‘22), and I hope they do so in the future. But when resources are limited, and baseball (like softball) is never going to become a profitable program, you allocate more to the Olympic program(s) that can best elevate the overall athletic department. By definition, that means less to the ones that are less likely to elevate it. Softball will look very good in that regard when it gets compared to all other Olympic sports, men’s and women’s. And there are a few other Olympic programs (on both the men’s and women’s side) that are comparatively underfunded relative to their results and ultimate potential. ** Edited by HolidayInnHokie at 9/2/2024, 4:33:33 PM