anyone listen to SEC drive time tonight?

[DerHntr]

They had a tribute to Ron Polk. I caught the interviews with Pigott, Skip Bertman, Cohen, Jim Morris, Mike Martin, O'Sullivan, Ray Tanner....there were others but I missed them. Here is a very brief review of it. I thought this was well done. I hope stuff like this will help me to put this season behind me and to finally be a fan of the guy again one day.

Basic questions asked were:
1. What has Ron Polk meant to college baseball?
2. Will there ever be another like Ron Polk?
3. What has your relationship been like with Ron Polk?
4. For the coaches: What was it like playing against Ron Polk?

Cohen: Called Ron a father figure, a mentor, and a pioneer of the game.

Pigott: Called Ron a father figure but said his relationship with him wasn't very close because Ron treats everyone the same and wouldn't have time to play favorites on the team. Said that Polk is always trying to do things "the right way." Said that one of the most significant things he had seen Polk do was fight for the guys this summer/fall against the NCAA. He said this took too much of a toll on Polk and that this was the thing that made him decide to stop coaching...that "Polk could give no more to college baseball because he had given so much already."

Jim Morris: Had the funniest interview. He said that he knew Polk was a competitor when he was coaching at Georgia Tech back in the 80's. He said Polk got thrown out of an exhibition game against GaTech in Starkville. It was the third game and the only one that we won. He said he had never seen anything like the atmosphere in left field lounge and hasn't seen anything to match it since.

Bertman: Said that he and Polk were "first generation" coaches and that new coaches don't fully understand what they went through. He also said that "the current coach at LSU makes more money than me and Polk's successor will make more money than him...this is the way it is supposed to be." He said the parks are bigger, the facilities better, and that this can all be credited to Polk (Cohen said something similar to this last line). He also said that Polk was the only person to really stand up for college baseball and that he (bertman) should be considered as one of those guys that sat on the sidelines and bitched while only Polk would take the initiative.

Anyone else listen?

/Discuss</p>

 

[BillBrasky10]

I listen to that show alot and its a good one. I think what Polk said summed up his career very well. Most of the coaches they talked to underlined the fact that Polk always took care of his players and put them first in his life. Also, they all said that Polk was the leader of the group of coaches that helped build college baseball from the bottom up. Facilities are a big part of it also. Skip Bertman (LSU) also said that he never knew Polk to have any problems with any other Coaches or players that he knew of. Pretty impressive for a baseball coach with many rivals.

Either way Polk did not say much about this season and I will be there to see his last game tommorrow. I'm not too happy with his antics this year but you have to give credit where it is due.</p>

 

[thatsbaseball]

what I got from the interviews was this. Polk`s impact on the evolution of college baseball nationally and particularly in the SEC will in the end be what he will be remembered for much more so than his success at MSU. We hit some high spots in his tenure and had some fun but the bigger picture will be of a guy who showed the rest of the collegiate world that baseball is a sport that really fits nicely into an athletic program if it`s run and promoted correctly. The enigma of this whole thing is that the man really did enshrine himself as an icon of college baseball without winning as much as he probably should have. The most vivid memories that most in the college baseball world will have of Polk will be their trips to Starkville where Polk provided average to slightly above average coaching and MSU provided an unmatched atmosphere for college baseball. So Ron Polk gets a lot of credit for college baseball`s attaining new levels but MSU provided a very high profile pulpit for Polk to preach his semon about his sport. In reflecting back I just wish he had coached MSU as well as he promoted the game he loved.</p>

 

[RHobbs9]

For a long time we were as well coached as any team/program in the country. That is a fact.

The problem is/has been that we are still in the same mindset that we were in 20 years ago. Times have changed, kids have changed, coaching has changed, and our program has basically stayed the same while others around us and in the nation have advanced with the times.