From SI: "5 Early Impressions as ACC College SB Teams Begin Fall Ball"
There is nothing particularly earth-shattering about the article - just some general notes on FSU, Duke, Clemson, VT, and North Carolina. Most of it is a recap of last season with some notes on newcomers.
Candidly, there is some head-scratching pieces, such as this comment about UNC: "With a large goal of making it to the Super Regionals for the first time in program history in 2026, head coach Megan Smith Lyon and her staff have built a fall schedule that will push the roster to complete readiness by the time spring comes around. They close out fall play against William Peace, Walters State, Greensboro, and Mt. Olive."
Link:
Sports Illustrated
25 Replies
9mo
(In response to this post by VTChip)
9mo
"Nicole Reitz graduated from Indiana University Indianapolis with a degree in sports journalism in 2022 and has been writing about softball and baseball since 2018 .Her work has been published in various publications like Softball America, the Indianapolis Star, and SoxOn35th."
I will agreed that it's not very well written and poorly researched.
(In response to this post by VT_AD)
V
VT_AD
9mo
You can't credit AI directly. If she was truly writing about sports for 7 years she, at a minimum, should know the teams they are scrimmaging are not good and never have been. The way it's written makes it seem like they are going to be a real challenge when clearly they are not - even to a casual softball fan.
(In response to this post by VTChip)
9mo
(In response to this post by ancient alien 2018)
9mo
never
<< sigh >>
(In response to this post by VTChip)
9mo
(In response to this post by VTChip)
9mo
UNC scheduled!
(In response to this post by VTChip)
9mo
. . . fall opponents. Anyone (or AI) could have written this. More interesting is this . .
Link:
speculation.
(In response to this post by VTChip)
9mo
With all the hoopla around the increased financial commitment from the university, has anyone heard anything about VT adding scholarships in softball or baseball? It’s obvious from some the signings that some ACC schools have already increased theirs!
(In response to this post by MidloHokie)
9mo
A friend asked her Hokie account rep that question was told "I don't have access to that information."
You are correct that other ACC schools are adding scholarships to softball. FSU and Clemson are both on record as being fully funder to the max of 25.
(In response to this post by Slider!22)
9mo
as well!!
(In response to this post by VTChip)
S
saret
9mo
(In response to this post by VTChip)
9mo
(In response to this post by saret)
9mo
But I'm glad they didn't do so before now. Had they done so six years ago, Emma Lemley might never had played at VT.
(In response to this post by MidloHokie)
9mo
This apparently was a follow-up story: "No, Softball Isn't Coming to WVU and Likely Never Will — Here's Why"
"It's simple: softball isn't a profitable sport, and in this day and age, where raising money is more important than ever, creating more debt doesn't make much sense."
The story included this quote from the WVU Athletic Director from a year ago:
"I tell people all the time you take out football and men’s basketball and look at the rest of our sports. This comes up when people push me about adding softball. They’re like you’d make money. There’s a difference between bringing in revenue and be profitable. Yes, we would bring in revenue. We would be nowhere near profitable because there’s no profitable softball program in the country. So to assume that we would be would be a fallacy.”
Link:
No softball at WVU
(In response to this post by VTChip)
9mo
. . than football and, in some cases, men's basketball that is. If profitability is the criteria for adding a sport then there will never be another added anywhere. Going further, there will be no women's sports in any university.
(In response to this post by VTChip)
9mo
I'm surprised that they didn't also book games with Delta Gamma and Chi Omega
(In response to this post by VTChip)