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No one ever gives them any pub, but the Tennis team is ranked #30 and headed to Regionals... in Pensacola.

I'm not a big tennis fan, but I wouldn't mind making that trip.

I would get into the tennis a lot more if anybody acted like it mattered. Maybe get an official out there, a scoreboard or at least some score flip-cards, an official scorekeeper ... something to differentiate it from your average Joe out there messing around.

To the girls on the team and the coach," tennis matters"

We don't have flip cards and referees because that would require a budget as big as those sports people "act like they matter"

Trust me there is no mistaking the Sugarbear Tennis team as average Joes. The # 13 in the nation in an individual sport is something to watch. And it is truly a shame that in her four years here ( two player of the year awards and 4 1st team all conference selections) that I can list from memory the people that attended a match to see her play.

The team is awesome. You really should come watch sometime!

I've been out a few times and I definitely respect the talent of the team ... I've tried my hand at tennis on more than a handful of occasions and it's no easy task doing the things they do. But, regardless of their abilities as individuals, it's just a boring setting out there.

And I don't think you need a football-sized budget to get a scorekeeper. Hire some students through work-study like intramurals, pay them $6 an hour or something, and there you go. Or maybe that falls to sports information? Get them out there.

Morning

Everyone likes different things, that is what makes the world go round, I like playing golf but hate watching it. Sorry we bore you .

Any score keeper/ line judge must be USTA/ITA registered and they wouldn't blow their nose for $6 an hour. Matches and how they are ran are regulated by a whole lot of rules. Next year in Div I we have to have an official at every match though.. Lots of changes are coming.

Nobody in their right mind would blow their nose for $6/hr. That's a painful process, and going a full 60 minutes for that paltry wage is just utterly ridiculous.



Anyway I think having an official out there next year will be great and lend at least some officialdom to it all.

And again, it's nothing personal toward the team, it's just not a fan-friendly atmosphere. There are a lot of matches going on at once so you can't watch them all, you have to watch through a black screen on most of the courts, there isn't much in the way of seating, there might be five, seven people total out there outside of the players and coaches, and there's no band, cheerleader, mascot, music, etc. Not that you usually get that in tennis anyway, but those are elements you get at bigger, more fan-friendly, events in the spectator sports. And, unless you're really on top of things it's going to be difficult to know what the score is since there's no display. Oh yeah, and the casual fan is going to have a tough time knowing who is who. Maybe if there was a schedule of who was playing on what court, maybe some ranking or something ... something to indicate to the casual observer that "hey ... this person over here is really good! Oh, and she has a name!", might help those who do come to watch.

The matches also happen at inopportune times, and have been known to start at times different than that on the schedule. That also puts a kink in the plans of making it out.

It's not necessarily your fault or the team's that it's hard to come out and enjoy some tennis – but, regardless of blame, that's the case. Plus, there aren't just a lot of tennis aficionados around here anyway, and you have to have a pretty decent appreciation of tennis to sit out there and watch and really enjoy a match.

But anyway I don't want to come off sounding like the tennis team doesn't deserve any respect or anything like that. It just goes back to the first post in this thread where he said that tennis doesn't get any pub ... there are reasons why.