This probably could have waited for a couple of weeks.

Like after all the fallout from the UofL Foundation audit and the NCAA Infractions Committee report have died down. Get all the negative news out en masse had to be the thinking behind the timing.

Success in the College World Series would go a long way toward making the new policy more acceptable. Timing is everything.

The freebies for University of Louisville baseball will be nothing but a fond memory in the immediate future. No more free chair backs, zeroing out what was one of the best bargains in town. Going down in history alongside those Convenient Store coupons for UofL football in the mid-Sixties.

After decades of free parking, UofL announced Wednesday that season passes are expected to be offered for as low as $150 – saving fans almost double off the single-game price.

Single-game tickets will begin at $10, which presumably includes prices for tickets on the left field berm area. Whether that price pertains to chair back seats is not clear. UofL students will receive free admission by showing a student ID.

Vice President of Athletics Tom Jurich had resisted charging admission for games, indicating that free admission was a reward for fans who have been so supportive of UofL. The only explanation for a change in the official announcement was that “many of our terrific fans have wanted to have a reserved seat in Jim Patterson Stadium for years …”

Sad that the free admission days are going away. But it was probably a luxury that UofL can no longer afford with all the financial belt-tightening that has begun across the campus.

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By Charlie Springer

Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.