So many things went wrong this weekend, including today. Our guys kept grinding and got the win. Yes, we probably should have swept, but getting two is huge after what transpired. We can now move on.
I've never been more pleased to win 2 out of 3 vs. an unranked team in the first week of April.
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I'm happy, but we could easily be on a 6 game SEC win streak right now, and we're not playing that well.
They were rather pleased , when they won last night.
If you watched that part. Like they made the playoffs or something.
Their remaining players beat our remaining players.
If you watched that part. Like they made the playoffs or something.
Their remaining players beat our remaining players.
We lost more than them last night.
Yes. I really don’t like that team. Good to get the win. This team definitely has more fight in it than the last two did. And much better pitching.
I have watched most every inning, in person and on tv. I am very pleased with the improvement I see in them. Some of “the never happy” will disagree with this assessment. We aren’t the top of the pile, just yet, but this team fights in every game, with anybody.
UGA is unranked but Top 10 in the RPI. It’s a good series win.
It is very possible that Georgia, Florida, & LSU are not very good baseball teams based on the results of the first 4 series. Fortunately for us, it also appears that Ole Miss, Auburn, Missouri, & possibly Alabama are also not very good baseball teams and we still play series against all of them. We need to win go 7-5 maybe 8-4 in those 4 series because UPIG & Vandy will be challenging.
Our 2022 & 2023 teams would be 3-9 or 4-8 against the SEC opponents we have played thus far this season.
Our 2022 & 2023 teams would be 3-9 or 4-8 against the SEC opponents we have played thus far this season.
This team reminds me a little of the 2011 and 2012 Cohen teams. A couple guys that could be drafted high. Some dirt bags. Some young guys that are going to be really good either at the end of year or next year. Probably not a CWS team unless they get hot at the right time, but it's going to be fun ride still.
None of those are really good teams. Florida is ok. We’re not that great either, but we’ve got a very good chance to get to 14-15 wins against a very favorable SEC schedule.
And that’s probably going to be good enough for a regional. In fact, it almost certainly will be.
Right now, the SEC is of course the #1 RPI conference yet again. But there are a lot of struggling teams at the bottom. Far more than usual. Right now, Auburn, Ole Miss, LSU, and Mizzou all look like extreme long shots to finish anywhere near .500. Some high RPI’s in that group there, but we wouldn’t have to worry about leapfrogging them if they keep playing their way out of postseason contention. I think out of MSU, Bama, Florida, and Georgia….3 of those 4 teams will get in the field at minimum. Bama is just barely hanging on to hope, and UF is only 3 games over .500 overall and has a steadily dropping RPI. UGA is currently in the best shape of those four, us and UF are kind of neck and neck for the next 2 spots.
Long way to go, but you have to think we’re on the right side of the bubble as of right now.
When you went down as far as we did, you have to begin somewhere. Great job getting 2 of 3 this weekend. Baseball and softball teams both got two out of three this weekend.
It's hard to have fight when your pitching is completely incompetent.
I think the SEC is really good. 10 teams ranked in the top 25 coming into this week. When you have more good teams than bad teams playing a 30 game schedule, good teams are going to lose games.
I expect a surprise SEC team in Omaha like always.
Gotta let the entire 30 games play out. Just about all teams will have a bad weekend, and just about every team will upset someone. Its way to early to be thinking about NCAA predictions. Again I think two years ago we were in the field with 4 weeks to go and basically fell apart.
We are 6-6. Which is think is about where we should be at this point. As long as we win the home series and dont get swept on the road we will be fine. So far we are finding ways to get this done.
There will be teams that play better and separate the second half of the schedule and teams that will falter, we need to be in the good side of that this year.
We are 6-6. Which is think is about where we should be at this point. As long as we win the home series and dont get swept on the road we will be fine. So far we are finding ways to get this done.
There will be teams that play better and separate the second half of the schedule and teams that will falter, we need to be in the good side of that this year.
SEC is best conference in the land... but i dont think its as good as years past. Not yet anyway. Minus Smith at Arkansas, seems like we are lacking top end pitching this year. Not as many Leiters/Rocker/Skenes/Bednar/Sims/Burns in league this year.
Poll voters are lazy. Especially baseball poll voters. There's no question watching the SEC teams play, and looking at some of their records, the conference is down this year.
What? Only dirtbag I see in Johnny Schlong. Rest of these guys are a bunch of boys who were coddled too much growing up in travel ball, but I can see some maturity happening.
I'm usually with you on the disdain of travel ball, but aren't Mangum, TA, Rowdy, LoTan, et al also products of travel ball?
Nowadays, they all play travel ball to some degree, so it's hard to separate the dirtbags from the coddled guys. But it's possible. You generally can start by finding the ones who at least played another fall sport in high school. Because if they aren't good enough to do that at the high school level, generally speaking they won't be athletic enough to excel at the college level.
Guess maybe I should start making fun of the year-round baseball-only travel ballers, rather than generally. If you're having to take lessons and specialize in baseball in 7th grade in order to keep up, you probably ain't gonna make it.
so if you arent a two sport star you arent going to be a good baseball player? Its actually working both ways now. Plenty of guys that could be playing baseball that arent, so they can do the 7 on 7, light weights, and get ready for spring as well.
I prefer the multi-sport guys as well. But its not as clear cut or an exact science or everyone would find the exact player they want. Plenty of 3 sport stars make it, and plenty of guys that specialize make it as well.
That's not what I said. There's no hard fast rule and there are always exceptions.
It's a good starting point to find the best athletes in the modern day USA, and ultimately the dirtbag/more mature types who have different experiences in sports. And in the case of football, an indicator that they might be a tough player.
Think there are just many that make it due to specializing as the other way around. Plus the way the seasons work now-a-days at bigger schools its nearly impossible to play all 3 sports anymore.
Mangum for example quit playing football like his 9th grade year to concentrate on baseball.
There isnt a correlation. Or a strong enough one for coaches to find that dirtbag.
Mangum is a different kind of beast. Didn't matter what he did. On the other hand, Slate Alford was his HS QB as well, and while the dirtbag attitude isn't quite the same, you cannot deny the athletic ability. He's a 3 hole hitter for an SEC team batting well over 300. You can say the same for Dakota Jordan - his maturity isn't there but the athletic ability is. You can't completely get away from the coddled attitude, but that athletic ability sure does make it easier to handle. And those athletes generally make big jumps in college.
So I do disagree with you, but it's an equation. And you can definitely still play multiple sports if you're a D1 caliber athlete. Tanner and Rowdy both played football.
The ones "making it" to college due to specialization is one reason the talent is watered down. And the specialized guys often are so overcoached that they don't make the big jumps that get them high draft picks.
Most people who really get into arguing about specialization usually have an agenda - whether it's being a coach, instructor, parent or whatever, of a kid who is doing it. And if you do it right, it can be find. You need to incorporate a strong strength and conditioning protocol during the off-seasons, to develop that athletic ability I talk about. And you need to spend much more time practicing, than sitting around in games. That's what the Dominicans do, and they all specialize.
The Slate and Mangum arguements are exactly why there is no exact correlation. If you went and looked you could probably find many multi-sport stands out that didnt and dont make it. I know you hate travel ball, but Mangum is the poster boy for travel ball. He basically quit everything to play baseball year around. His family (could afford it) paid who knows how much money traveling him around the country.
The whole those athletes usually make big jumps in college happens sure, but not all do, and some of the 1 sport guys do too, again there is no correlation. There are some that do, but i've seen plenty of draft picks and college signees that get there because they are athletic or have tools that dont pan out.... and had they spent some more time honing in their talent in the game of baseball they would have gone farther, but instead chose to be an average football or basketball player.
I prefer kids playing all sports. But I also see why people choose 1 sport and run with it.. and again its happening in football now than many other sports. The football athlete is choosing to play football only so they can improve their 40 times, weights, play the 7 on 7s, go to camps, graduate early etc......
but regardless I dont think there is any indication that playing 1 or playing 4 helps or hurts your chances to anymore than the other at the given moment. For every kid you name that has done well in one option, there is one in the other. And same for failure.
Football is an athletic sport, and it's used in practice and games. Baseball, you only get it in practice, and there's still a lot of standing around. In games, it's almost all standing around. That's why baseball attracts a lot of kids who can't make it in the athletic sports.
It's there, if you look past the black and white. I'm talking US kids here.
I brought up Mangum and Alford to make examples. And did you realize that Mangum never really got better in college? He was the same (great) college player from beginning to end. But he was maxed out. Alford has made a jump.
Its really not there. If its there.. then there would be teams of people out there getting paid lots of money to find these guys and coaches beating the bricks daily to get these kids in their programs.
Again-- Mangum is a travel ball poster boy. 1 sport. Quit everything else. Spend money. Travel the world. Hold Back in grade school so you can be 19 and dominate your senior year... and he turned out to be a pretty good player. There are people like that littered all over the college game... who took that exact same route.
Flip side there are the people that run from one sport to the next-- and make it in the college and professional game just fine.
Ive also seen a lot of cant miss 3 star athletes fade into the light and disappear.. think there was a 30 for 30 on one in mississippi--Brian Cole.
Again I agree with you-- I prefer the multi-sport guy--- but there is literally no correlation on who makes it and who doesnt-- based on how many sports you play in HS or if you played travel ball, or whatever else like that
There are, and a lot of them don't have Mangum's success, because they aren't the athlete he was. So if you give that advice to all these kids, you're hurting them more than you're helping. And overall you'll helped them develop better baseball skill, but at what cost? All their childhood playing tournaments? A blown elbow? Missing their talent elsewhere?
The correlation is athletic ability/skills/whatever. The question is, what's the best way to develop them. We're getting off on too many side trails. And weekend tournament travel ball itself, by it's very nature, does none of them optimally. So dropping other sports to do that year round is a PROBLEM.
At what gain is the question. Developing that kids baseball skills might get them into college. Might get them a degree. Might get them drafted. Might get them into coaching, might get them into a network of people that make them better....and all sorts of other fields that puts them into a better place in life. Being at that baseball tournament might keep them from getting shot. I mean we are quick to point out the negatives, bc again you are very anti travel ball, but there are positives to it. And to a lot of kids playing baseball tournaments is a great child hood, even if you dont think so or disagree with it.
Agree there are a lot of ways and paths to get where you want to go. You dont like the travel ball, playing 1 sport path. That is fine. I prefer other path's as well. But there are plenty of people who take that path and have it work out just fine. And there are some who are better off for taking that path.
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They could have gotten that same degree by investing the travel ball money in a 529. Most degrees are over-valued anyway. And most kids at travel ball tournaments are not kids that at risk of being shot on the weekends. Coaching and network - sure. But remember, baseball is declining in popularity - is that a good career field?
Let's get down to brass tacks on the tournaments.....it's entertainment for the parents, development for the best kids, subsidized by the other kids. And it teaches a transactional, one-weekend return with the sport. Not a season-long grind where you actually learn something.
really? shot was a metphor. But they are in danger of drugs, DUIs, alcohol, and numerous other bad decisions teens make when they have tons of unsupervised free time.
But again-- not going to go on trying to convince someone who clearly hates travel ball the positives of it.
I stopped in to say that someone that plays travel ball or specializes in one sports isnt more or less likely to make it in the game than someone else. Just like someone that plays 3 sports in high school isnt more or less likely to make it. There are numerous examples of both path's that have led to success and failure..... you obvious despise the travel ball path...and i too dont particular like that path as much as other ways... but plenty have made it successful for them... and there are far worst things a family can be doing on their weekends during the summer than watching their kid play travel ball, and some families (including the kid) enjoy it very much.
Well, it's certainly positive for the tourism industry. Not so much the game of baseball.
so, most of us older folks grew up doing this:
Joining a rec league: playing 10 or so games against each other. All the talent split evenly, where there were 3-4 good players on a team of 12. Then if you were lucky, get selected to all stars, where you practice for another week and play 2-3 extra week for another 6-8 games.... Then go to the pool/beach the rest of the summer
Then as a high school player: Playing a 20-25 high school season. When the season was over, having to join a post ball team, where the local retired coach or college player comes back to coach and you play another 20-30 games with zero practices in b/t. Because everyone has jobs or football workouts to attend. Games ended somewhere middle of July and you had a few weeks off before school started back
There was basically no such things as fall leagues or fall teams... we all went off to do whatever. Some to the football field, some to the hay field, some to a job. And most didnt pick up a ball and bat again until high school practice started back.
Thats the preference on how to develop baseball players now?
I dont want full fledge crazy travel ball-- but i dont want the above either.
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How about the middle ground? How about the younger kids play rec ball from Feb/March until May. Then you break into Select teams and play for the rest of the summer, and do the tournaments during the week nights? Then do lessons and S&C during the fall, and start your throwing programs right after NY. And hey if you want to play for in the fall, go for it.
I'm not sure if you've noticed, but our current tournaments are all day, on weekends. Thus, we only do them in spring and fall. Guess why? Can't play during the day in the hot summer, no one would show up and pay money.
This current format is ALL FOR MONEY, not development. It's meant to cram as many parents and kids into ballparks as possible and separate them from their money. In no way is this meant for actual development of players.
But none of this matters, it's not changing, because people are fine doing it. The game will decline and lose fans as a result, as more kids choose not to play and more parents choose to get out of the matrix.
My friend-- im over talking about the money aspect of it. What people decide to spend their money on is their own business... what you see as an unnecessary expense someone else says is investing into their kid. Some people blow thousands on beach vacations, some people would rather go play a summer of baseball than spend it on the beach.. to each their own.
You said its bad for baseball. What we did in the past is what I posted. Rec league kids played 10 games, the better ones played 20 or so. High School kids played 25, another 20 in the summer... the kids playing travel ball are at least playing.. in our day we didnt pick up a bat again until after basketball was over (unless it was HR debry or wiffle ball), and you could forget out lessons and throwing programs.
Im not sure how that is better for the game and for the players trying to develop their skills. The scenario you laid out as middle ground is fine for you if you like it. I mean I havent sat down and tried to find the middle ground.
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Not many people who actually care, have. That's why capitalism took over and we are where we are.
There's a reason so many in the development space, and MLB, see this as a problem man. It's not just a mUh GoAt deal.
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