It's Not The Time To Cut...It's the Time To Spend

RT Staff Note: I am posting two articles today. This one is a re-print of one I wrote on June 1, 2009. I am getting a lot of pings from the NCAA and I got tremendous response from my readers on this article. I want the NCAA to take note.

Colleges all over the country are considering cutting their athletic budgets. Many are even cutting sports programs all together. Washington is dropping men's and women's swimming programs...Pepperdine is dropping women's swimming and diving and men's track and field. Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio State will no longer print media guides and Indiana State is dropping men's and women's tennis programs.

While some of these cuts are due to lack of participation and may make sense...there are proposals out there to cut baseball budgets too. One such proposal is the reduction of competitions in a sports off-season (baseball games and practice in the fall.) This, it is thought, will lead to other in-season cuts to college baseball as well.

That's a huge mistake. I have over 20 years of marketing experience and it's a widely held fact that in down times, top of mind products need to maintain or even increase their marketing and promotion activities and expenditures to increase market share. The reasoning is that lesser known brands and competing products will do the obvious and cut back...leaving the door wide open for the stronger brands to get even stronger.

The marketing 101 case study we learned in college still stands today...In the late nineteen-twenties, two companies-Kellogg and Post-dominated the market for packaged cereal. It was still a relatively new market: ready-to-eat cereal had been around for decades, but Americans didn’t see it as a real alternative to oatmeal or cream of wheat until the twenties. So, when the Depression hit, no one knew what would happen to consumer demand. Post did the predictable thing: it reined in expenses and cut back on advertising. But Kellogg doubled its ad budget, moved aggressively into radio advertising, and heavily pushed its new cereal, Rice Krispies. (Snap, Crackle, and Pop first appeared in the thirties.) By 1933, even as the economy cratered, Kellogg’s profits had risen almost thirty per cent and it had become what it remains today: the industry’s dominant player.

Baseball is the type of top of mind product that case study after case study alludes to. The executives, Athletic Directors and coaches that run college baseball can't be complacent like Post. There's no doubt that we live in a new live within your means society and back to basics approach to spending habits. The victims are apparent...luxury resorts, big cars, McMansions, designer wear and jewelry.

But sports is the one back to basic activity that will survive this downturn...that's the way it has always been. The Yankees, Seabiscut, James J Braddock all were depression era heroes who's legend has flourished over 80 years. These sports figures gave hope to a nation on the brink of despair.

Baseball and the college game in particular, is the type of accessible sport that can unite a country once again. One has to look no further than the movie Field of Dreams to understand my point...

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time."

In these tough times, America will look to baseball for entertainment. However it won't be Steinbrenner's version of baseball...it will be the Knothole Gangs version. Like the Hummer and other obnoxious, over the top credit maxing purchases middle class Americans got duped into making over the past decade, baseball fans will realize that they don't need that "gotta be seen" concierge seat behind home plate.

The upper deck will be fine...left and right field bleachers will be a blast again and the sack lunch will replace $20 a serving ballpark sushi. Just like the old days.

I remember my dad and I stopping by Arthur Bryants world famous BBQ joint in my youth prior to a Kansas City A's baseball game back in the early and mid 60's. We would get the piled high brisket sandwiches to go, and arrive in left field bleachers about two hours before the start of a game. Between bites, I would chase home run balls while the home team took batting practice. The three things my dad loved more than anything were baseball, BBQ and his kids...On many humid, midwestern Sunday afternoons, he got to enjoy all three.

Buying a ballpark frank is nice now and then, but at $6+ a piece, it just doesn't make economical sense or conjure up the same memories as standing in line at a local landmark and ordering big, messy BBQ sandwiches...I can still smell the whiff of smoked meats and the tangy BBQ sauce overtaking my senses. That memory will always stick with me.

Now, back to how all of this relates to college baseball.

College baseball can play a huge part in bringing back the memories of how simple and beautiful baseball really can be. Baseball fans don't need $250 seats, or $100,000 a year luxury boxes to enjoy the game. They don't care about $90 million dollar players either. They care about performance, players that play their hearts out and an afternoon in the sun or sultry night under the lights....at a cost that won't break the bank.

This is a time when college baseball should increase it exposure, spend more money and position itself as a viable alternative to a pro game that is beginning to spin itself out of control. A family of 4 can enjoy a college game for under $20. If a family brings their own sack lunch or favorite sandwich, the cost of a college game could end up being a fifth of the total price of the pro game. Isn't that what America wants?

But above all, the college player is what baseball purists want to see. A college player is the anthesis of today's pro player, innocent, full of promise and hope. He represents the soul of the game...in it's simplest form. His youthful exuberance and wide eyed excitement as he studies and reacts to every pitch...that's the esence of baseball the fan can embrace...especially in these times. I have been watching college baseball players for decades and I can see it in their eyes...their love for the game is much like what Moonlight Graham was describing in Field of Dreams...

"I would have liked to have had that chance. Just once. To stare down a pitcher. To stare him down, and just as he goes into his windup, wink. Make him think you know something he doesn't. That's what I wish for. Chance to squint at a sky so blue that it hurts your eyes just to look at it. To feel the tingling in your arm as you connect with the ball. To run the bases - stretch a double into a triple, and flop face-first into third, wrap your arms around the bag. That's my wish, Ray Kinsella. That's my wish. And is there enough magic out there in the moonlight to make this dream come true?"

This summer, if you are fortunate enough to live near a town that hosts the dozens of collegiate summer leagues, go watch them. You will see what I mean. My words will make even more sense. As a fan...it will seem as if you discovered the game all over again.

"And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces."

The NCAA and Scholarships...Part Two

There are several ways that the issue of baseball scholarships can be resolved...We have a radical, but sensible solution.

De-regulate the entire scholarship limits!

The NCAA for the most part is a voluntary organization and is run by its members. The actual group that made this decision to deny the baseball scholarship increase according to Boyd Nation is actually called the Presidents' Council, which is a group of university presidents wielding power on behalf of their universities and theoretically representing the best interests of all member schools.

Well, if a unilateral decision can't be made to appease everyone, then let each school determine on their own how many scholarships they want to give out. De-regulate the entire scholarship limits.

As it stands right now, many schools don't even grant 11.7 scholarships and those are the schools that are going through the motions with the sport and will never make a difference. Let the opposite happen and have the schools that want to grant more give more.

If a school wants to grant 20 scholarships...let them. If another school in the northeast cries foul..then they need to get serious and step it up and compete.

For example, MLB doesn't have a salary cap and yes, it's unfair that the Yankees top four players make more per year than 60% of MLB teams entire salaries. But when was the last time the Yankees won the World Series?

More and more teams like the Rays, and Brewers always find a way to compete. If you can't outspend them...outsmart them. That's what these smaller market teams do with great scouts and strong minor league systems.

Likewise, more scholarships for schools such as Miami, NC, UCLA or Arizona State that would be one of the many schools to take advantage of de-regulation, would not necessarily guarantee success...although it should in theory help.

But, it would weed out the teams that seemingly are just going through the motions and we at Rounding Third would like to challenge those underfunded teams to step up or step down. If mid majors or northern climate schools don't want to compete, then they must opt down to Division I-A.

I know this is a crazy idea that needs some work...it's just a point of discussion and I would like to hear others point of view. I'm sure the responses will get interesting.

Baseball Needs More Scholarships

The NCAA's rules on baseball scholarships and academic progress are not fair, plain and simple.

First, let's tackle the academic inequities.

Collegiate baseball takes a lot of time from a student’s time in the classroom, yet no relief is usually given in terms of making sure the stress of 8 hours of school and studying along with 6 hours of baseball year round is manageable.

Baseball players must still take 15-17 credit hours in a semester based system…yet in reality, based on the time available, they should be taking only 12-13. Unfortunately, if a baseball player takes 12-13 credits a semester, he will be ineligible at many institutions before the start of his junior year because of the 40-60-80% progress towards degree rule.

Therefore, because baseball scholarships don't extend to the summer months, players have to find a way to schedule and pay for summer classes out of their own pocket to make up the difference. New NCAA rules now prohibit more mid-year certifications.

In addition, baseball players have to be eligible at the start of the academic year to play in the spring...I have no problem with a prior term eligibility rule, except the NCAA does not require this in basketball or football.

To make matters a bit more complicated, every summer, incoming sophomore and junior players get assigned to collegiate summer leagues. The Summer Leagues start a week or two after school is out and continues through the first of August. If a coach thinks a player has a chance to start the next year or has pro aspirations, he will assign him to the Cape Cod, Northwoods, Alaskan, California Collegiate or many of the other summer leagues to get more innings in. There’s no time for summer school unless they are allowed to take them on-line...and that depends on the school!!!

This is just one example that illustrates the demands on the collegiate baseball player. They are expected to play year round...56 games in the spring and 50 or more in the summer depending on the league. They have another 45 days of practice and scrimmages in the fall.

Do basketball players play over 100 games in a year? Do football players have a taxing schedule like this? The gridiron and court players get over 100 scholarships between them, yet are required to play half the games combined in a given year.

As America's Past Time...it's way "Past Time" that the collegiate sport get it's due. Dividing up 11.7 scholarships amongst 30 rostered players is the equivalent of a below minimum wage job, given the excessive time demands that baseball players are expected to accept.

I have mentioned in many posts that the NCAA needs to clear the way for 24 scholarships. It's really the only fair solution...besides...a mentor once told me, "If you don't aim high, you will never hit your target." Many schools are not aiming high enough. It has been suggested by many AD's and coaches that the NCAA increase the scholarships to 14. Are you kidding me? What good will that do? It's not a high enough number because the NCAA and it's "just Say No" negotiators will always end up back at 11.7.

Aiming at 24 scholarships will hopefully give us...the parents who foot all the bills, and the players who give up their lives to play the game they love, a bigger incentive and reward for all of the "way above the average" work load they put into the sport each and every year.

More tomorrow.

RT Staff

This CDP Lays It On The Line

The rap against what many call travel teams and what we more appropriately call College Development Programs(CDP's) is that any parent can buy his son on any team.

Honestly, we have known programs like that and it's sad that a program coordinator would put their own financial greed ahead of what is really good for the young player...and that is the truth. These shady travel programs are no different than Ponzi Scheme cons or greedy mortgage brokers that have brought down our economy...they would do anything and say anything for money.

If a player is not a prospect at any level, then he should be told that...In the end, it hurts everyone involved to lead them on and give them false hope. It hurts the families wallet, the players self esteem and WILL ruin the reputation of Elite baseball as a whole.

One such CDP that tells it like it is and publishes those words on their web site is NORCAL. Here's a paragraph that we pasted from the front page of their site....

"Many players and families approach our club for the wrong reasons. They are looking for an easy way to succeed. We are looking for players that are willing to work hard on and off the field and will be as committed to us as we are to them. The greatest compliment you can give a player is that he is a great teammate. Does that fit you? If so, you might be a good fit for our program."

Folks, there is no easy way to succeed. There are no shortcuts, guarantees, or favors. A player/prospect has to earn every ounce of success he expects to get out of this game.

Playing baseball at the next level is not an entitlement. Colleges are looking for players that have a passion for the game. They demand an unbridled work ethic. It's not just about playing everyday...although that helps...it's about being a student of the game and learning something new every time a player straps on those cleats.

Playing at the next level is about being a teammate, a leader either by example or by actual managing skills a young player may have. It's about being committed to a players own stated goals and the goals of the team.

But above all, it's about a player being honest with himself. Before any player embarks on a baseball journey, make sure that it really is their dream and not the parents. Too many times, a player goes through the motions and exerts false energy towards a goal that is not his.

The NORCAL club has the guts to explain all of this up front. And they have the resume of players to back it up. Not everyone makes it in their program, but a larger percentage of their players do and it's all because they can identify who has the passion and who does not.

Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols is batting cleanup for baseball

RT Staff Note: I am extremely busy today and don't have time to write my own piece. After over 300 entries, I am entitled to a day off. Since I am such a huge fan of Albert "El Hombre" Pujols, here's a great article we found courtesy of USA Today. By the way, they call him "El Hombre", because he is the most popular and productive baseball player since Stan "The Man" Musial. For those of you that are language challenged, "El Hombre" means "The Man" in Spanish.

By Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY

ST. LOUIS — Major League Baseball's 80th All-Star Game is Tuesday, but this year it is Albert Pujols' personal party.

The St. Louis Cardinals first baseman is having one of the greatest seasons in history, putting up numbers last approached by Babe Ruth, Hack Wilson and Jimmie Foxx more than 70 years ago. Yet, it is his 32 home runs, 85 RBI and .338 batting average that have drawn suspicion, leaving Pujols hurt and angry.

"I can understand people being disappointed with A-Rod and Manny," Pujols says of the New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Manny Ramirez, who have been ensnared in performance-enhancing drug controversies this year. "But just because Manny made a mistake, now I have to pay? Just because A-Rod made a mistake, now I have to pay? Oh, guilt by association? That's wrong.

"For people to be suspicious of me because of the year I'm having and for people to say I just haven't been caught, that makes me angry and disappointed.

"I would never do any of that crap. You think I'm going to ruin my relationship with God just because I want to get better in this game? You think I'm going to ruin everything because of steroids?"

Pujols, who fell .012 points short in batting average of becoming the first player since Hank Aaron in 1957 to hold the Triple Crown at the All-Star break, has spent most of his 8½-year career putting up MVP numbers and building an impeccable reputation. But he has become more outspoken, talking about baseball's drug problem, players who don't respect the game and his future in St. Louis.

Pujols, 29, says he was tested six times last year as part of MLB's drug policy. But if that's not good enough, Pujols vows to take a test every day and, if he is caught using performance-enhancing drugs, he says, he will pay back the Cardinals every penny he has earned.

"Come test me every day if you want," says Pujols, who has the most home runs at the All-Star break since Barry Bonds hit 39 and Luis Gonzalez hit 35 in 2001.

"Everything I ever made in this game I would give back to the Cardinals if I got caught."

Pujols realizes America is looking for a hero. He is volunteering, only if America will let him.

"I can understand why people don't know who they can trust or their hero was caught," says Pujols, who has finished first or second in the National League MVP balloting in five of his eight seasons, with numbers remaining consistent before and since steroid testing began in 2003. "I want to be the guy people look up to. But I want to be the person who represents God, represents my family and represents the Cardinals the right way.

"So many people can't wait until I do something negative. I can't understand it. That's sad, because I want to be that poster boy in baseball. Just give me the chance."

Well-respected man

Pujols, who has three children with his wife, Deidre, and another baby on the way, goes to great lengths to maintain his untarnished image and uphold his deep religious beliefs. He doesn't drink or smoke. He doesn't have a tattoo or wear earrings. He doesn't go to bars, nightclubs or any place where his character could be assaulted.

"If we're in a hotel and a woman gets on the elevator by herself, I'll wait for the next one," Pujols says. "People have their agenda. You have to be careful who you can trust.

"It's the same thing with pictures. I'll have my picture taken on the field, but not off the field. Nowadays with photo technology, you can do so many things."

Pujols' on-field skills are admired by nearly every major leaguer, but he is also among the game's most respected players.

"He's my man," San Francisco Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval says. "He's one I look up to. I think we all do."

Says Giant Randy Johnson, a five-time Cy Young Award winner, "I think Albert is the one guy in our game who could go to the opposition, say something, and they'd listen. That's how highly people regard him."

And the 6-3, 230-pounder is saying things more often, especially when it comes to showing respect for the game. The baseball cap should be worn properly. The jersey tucked. The back pockets in.

"I see teams take their jerseys out when the game is over," he says. "To me, that's not professional. I don't care what you do when you get off the field, but don't do it on the field. You don't want kids to see negative things."

Pujols, drafted in the 13th round in 1999, lives by his creed. He is in constant motion from the moment he enters the clubhouse five hours before game time until he departs late at night after lifting weights. Never is he clowning around, playing cards or watching TV.

"You've got to stay hungry," says Pujols, whose four grand slams this season are one shy of the NL record. "I see talent that is wasted after guys have one big year. I see players in the draft getting all of this money, thinking that guarantees them a trip to the big leagues.

"Just because you make $100 million, just because people say you're one of the best, doesn't mean you don't work hard."

Pujols' hard work has him on pace to go where only Ruth, Wilson and Foxx have been — a season with at least 50 home runs, 150 RBI and a .330 average. Then again, he already surpassed those Hall of Famers and every other player in history with at least 30 home runs and 100 RBI in his first eight seasons.

"It's as if he wants to not only be the best player today," Cardinals outfielder Chris Duncan says, "but the greatest player who ever played."

Free agency looms

Pujols received a record 5.3 million votes in All-Star Game fan voting and is eager to be the unofficial host of the festivities in his hometown, where he is scheduled to catch President Obama's first pitch Tuesday. He purchased a 24-person suite and tickets for 42 other friends and family members. It's a chance for everyone to celebrate his career and recognize he is the best player.

It also could be the prelude to his farewell.

Pujols, who signed a seven-year, $100 million contract in February 2004, is a free agent in two years. There are 16 players this year earning more than his $16 million salary, which includes four players who will be at the game. The question that haunts Cardinal Nation is whether the team will pay to keep him.

"I'm happy where I am and would love to be a Cardinal for the rest of my career," Pujols says. "If it's time for me to move on, I'll let God show me."

Pujols and the Cardinals have yet to open negotiations about a contract extension, but team owner Bill DeWitt says he hopes to begin talks this winter. For the Cardinals, time is running out.

"He knows we want him to be here, and we're going to make every effort to see that happen," DeWitt says.

Pujols is watching closely, trying to determine the Cardinals' plans. Will manager Tony La Russa, whom he adores, return? Will they be a big-time player in the free agent market? Or will they be content to keep their payroll below $100 million, leaving Pujols without adequate protection in the lineup?

"When you already made the money Albert has, you don't need to compromise," says Pujols' agent, Dan Lozano. "He is not going to chase the money. He wants to chase the rings."

The Cardinals, who haven't reached the playoffs since winning the World Series in 2006, enter the break in first. Yet there are fears of what will transpire in the second half. Pujols has been walked 71 times, including 32 intentionally, the most by any hitter outside Bonds since the stat became official in 1955.

It's this fear for Pujols, and the fact the cleanup hitters are batting .225 behind him, that could derail the season. It also could halt Pujols' bid to surpass Roger Maris' mark of 61 home runs, set in 1961. It since has been surpassed six times — all within a four-year period — and all by players linked to steroids. Pujols could become baseball's clean single-season home run king.

"I know I'm on the pace, but don't want to think about that," Pujols says. "To me, 62 isn't the record. You've got to hit 74. The king is still Barry."

But Pujols doesn't need the record to help his legacy. "History will be the litmus test," Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak says. "If he continues like this and there are no blemishes, he will go down as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, in an era that has been questioned."

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If You Play It Safe, You May Be Out

These are tough economic times no doubt. Families all over the country are watching their expenses and scrimping on the very things we used to take for granted.

One of the budget cuts in many families are the cost of going to showcases and playing on elite College Development Programs. Many families have to make sacrifices. But be careful. Don't play it too safe or your son may be looked over. I know several families that have cut out showcases altogether and are relying on their son's success in high school, a local rec team and the local Junior College as a steppingstone to the next level. That could work out if the proper steps are taken to continue to expose the player to 4 year college coaches.

If your son goes to a JC, then make sure you make the targeted 4 year coaches know that. Send them updates, videos and encourage your son to talk to his JC coach and tell him what 4 year colleges he is interested in. Many JC coaches are great at placing kids in 4 year colleges...some aren't. Make sure your son is at a JC that has a track record of success.

But never assume that they 4 year coaches will just come to your son. Unless he is the second coming of Bryce Harper, that won't happen...That said...the Las Vegas JC Bryce is going to next year is inundated with player requests to play there. That's a great strategy for a great high school player that got drafted in the late rounds and wants to improve his draft status for 2010. There will be dozens of scouts practically camping at the stadium gate waiting for Harper to take the field.

Bottom line...stay aggressive. E-mails, letters, and DVD's don't cost money. Keep your target coaches informed. You don't have to outspend to get your shot...just outsmart them.

Right Field Is For Winners Too

Yesterdays post, "Be Who You Are Supposed To Be" is a very important message not only for players but for parents as well. Let the path of your sons natural ability take its course. So many parents want their sons to become that top pitcher, starting shortstop, lead-off or number three hitter...when in fact he may be none of those things.

We have witnessed coaching Dad's trying to develop their sons into shortstops, when their body type screams first base. Have you ever wondered why a certain pitcher that had a hard time finding the plate was on the mound? Yup, Dad's doing.

One thing I've never understood is why right field is the dreaded spot for young players and their parents. I have actually seen fights breakout at games between parents and coaches because their son was in right field. Never mind that the player had a great arm, good tracking ability and a little power...the hallmark tools of a right fielder. Perception in this case trumped reality. Why do coaches and parents feel that the worst youth players must play there? Let's just say, good coaches don't. Tell Reggie Jackson that right field is for losers. There are Hall of Famers at every position, including some of the best in right field. They all didn't start off at shortstop.

The reason why we see these things is because parents don't let their sons "Be Who They Are Supposed To Be"...Parents have this preconceived image of their son and try to mold them into their image. I don't have stats to back this up, but I would bet that a lot of the attrition in baseball is due to a son being cast into his dad's image, failing at this experiment and then just giving up due to frustration.

The fact is, many parents don't know as much about the game that they think they do. In fact, many know very little or they would be able to analyze their sons skill set and place him into those positions that suit his ability. Or...they could just let the experts make that call, but that has it's perceived downside, because most parents don't want to hear that their son is not good enough for the position that they think is the premier position.

Last October, we ran a post called Showcase Realistic Outcomes" There's a quote in that article that rings true in this case...

“The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.”

In other words, listen to what your coaches, instructors and showcase scouts tell you what your sons position should be. Be realistic and react accordingly to the assessments that the evaluators share with you and your son. There’s no need to be defensive or mad if the evaluation differs from your own assessment of your son. Just be grateful that you know and understand where your child stands in the grand scheme of the baseball world order.

Many of the top Showcase and Player evaluation organizations know exactly what colleges and pro scouts want. They are going to be honest… brutally honest in some cases. The bottom line…Your son isn’t a part of those 5 year old recreational soccer teams that gives out a trophy to everyone in the league anymore. He’s in the real world now, on his way to being a man.

But bottom line...Let his ability take its course and don't try to be the player you want him to be...let his ability dictate that.

Be Who You Are Supposed To Be

RT Staff Note: One of the more gracious guys in the game of baseball is a man named Jim Giles of teachdgame.com. There used to be pretty decent band in the 70's called the JGiles band...so to us oldsters, his name stands out. We have used his articles before in our blog, and this next piece really hits home for us and others in our circle of baseball goons. Enjoy!

Athletics and Life are simply making the most of the moments between the beginning and the end. In your life, these are very easy points to determine, your birth and your death; in the Athletes life it can be more difficult to determine. Sure, you could say it is merely the beginning of your career (little league, jr league) and the ultimate end whether it be high school, college or the professional ranks. How we live this athletic life can be a wonderfully rewarding experience or it can be a very traumatic one.

How do you go about making the most of these moments? I believe the easiest way to have success in your Life or your Athletic Life is simply to BE WHO YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE.

At the beginning of this journey, all players have potential. Your goal at the end of the journey is to NOT be one of those players that HAD potential and never quite lived up to it or used it to its’ greatest ability. You have to find the way to perform each and every day to be the player you are supposed to be. To do this you have to challenge yourself continually every day. You can never live in the present on performances in the past. Conversely, you have to quit thinking of what you could be and just BE IT – Be the player you are supposed to be. For everyone this is different. You have to find a way to perform to YOUR greatest ability and thus fulfill your potential.

A difficult aspect of this is to not judge yourself based on the barometer of others. You can not base your life on pleasing the expectations of others. This is a sure fire way to fail. Sure your coaches, parents, teachers, etc. will have expectations. These expectations are an important part of your development and can be a component of the basis for your expectations of yourself. Ultimately though, YOU have to make the decision of what YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE.

You have to find who you are and commit to it. Determine what your goals should be and then go about striving to reach them every day. A key aspect is also to COMMIT TO THE PROCESS, NOT THE PATH. The path you take quite often will change based on circumstances and achievement. The only way you can fail in this endeavor is not by failing to achieve a goal, but failing to commit to the process. If you reach a goal, you need to immediately raise the bar and push the next goal higher. If your current path to achieve a goal is not producing the expected results, you need to determine if the path must be adjusted.

In determining who you are supposed to be, you must BE TRUE TO WHO YOU ARE! You can not fake this in life. You have to find who you are at the very core of your being and determine a path to use this as a strength. You have to truly believe and find commitment in the YOU that this represents. As an athlete, if you are not a RAH RAH type of player, you can not force yourself to be that. Any attempt will come off to those you are trying to pump up, as fake, because it will not be who you can commit to being. If you are quiet and lead by example, then DO IT.

That is the essence of who you are and you need to use this to your advantage.
What does this all mean for an athlete? If you are a Pitcher and you don’t have a 90+ mph fastball, then it makes no sense trying to blow the ball by everyone. Use what you have, hit spots, change speeds, force ground balls and GET OUTS. If you are a line drive type hitter with average power, stepping up to the plate and trying to jack home runs is not going to produce positive results.

If you have been blessed with plus running speed, put the ball in play and make the defense throw you out. Pressure them and see what happens. As a Leader on the team, if you’re not a RAH RAH guy, then lead by example. Be the first one out to practice, last one to leave, run on and off the field hustling everywhere you go regardless of the score or situation, etc. If you are the RAH RAH guy, use it in the right situations and pick up those players around you.

Coaches often make a huge mistake in not understanding who their players really are and try to make them into something they are not. They can make their star player a Captain and then expect him to stand up and lead as a RAH RAH type player. If he is not this at his very core, he will never be successful as the leader they want him to be. He will also not be successful as the Leader that the team needs him to be. As Coaches we have to find the strength of each of our players and develop their roles along these strengths.

Communicating this with the Player is extremely important as well. Pete Carroll was quoted as saying “I just live out what I truly believe and everything takes care of itself from there”. The commitment and identification of what you truly believe is the key ingredient in your ability to BE WHO YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE. And being who you are supposed to be will help you be a success in Life both inside and outside of athletics.

College Preparatory Should Extend to Sports Too.

Part of the quest for a high school to become a College Preparatory School does not stop with the academic curriculum. Sports can also be College Prep. For instance, many of the top high school baseball programs model their work-outs the way that a Major League club would run their practices. That may seem like an obvious strategy, but believe me, the majority of public and some private school baseball programs are a complete joke. Many coaches just don't understand the bigger picture like some of the top baseball schools do.

There are programs like Brophy Prep(AZ), Bishop Gorman (NV), Owasso(OK) and Moody High School (TX) that are True College Preparatory Baseball Programs. It's that way, because many of these schools have coaches that are former major league scouts and players that understand what it takes to become a player at the next level. They have a focus to help players achieve their dreams to play at the next level. The players that participate in these programs take baseball seriously and have aspirations to play at the next level. But, none of this will come to fruition if the coaching acumen, alumni and administration support is not there.

In a College Prep (CP) atmosphere, the intention is to prepare a student in all aspects of the collegiate experience. A great CP applies the most advanced learning theories and technology that in turn provides a strong learning environment. Good CP's form partnerships with art and cultural organizations, universities, businesses and community groups to give students a breadth of experiences. The mission should be to help students build knowledge, appreciation and understanding of the community and the larger world. Sports is a huge part of that larger world and partnerships with universities, off-season college development programs, trainers, instructors, etc. is all part of the total breadth of the sports experience.

A few years back, my son was invited to an Arizona State Top 50 baseball camp. The guest speaker was Scott Boras. Mr. Boras is considered the worlds best Sports agent and his story is a big part of why I feel this affinity towards the importance of being a student athlete.

Scott Boras, Scott Boras Corp, is a former second baseman and center fielder who played in the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals organizations. After four years in the minor leagues, during which he never made it above Class AA, he retired due to three knee surgeries. The Cubs paid for him to attend law school at the University of the Pacific. He also holds a doctorate in industrial pharmacology, and during his law career, he specialized in medical litigation.

He graduated with honors and was recruited by many of the top law firms in the country. Each interview, he would walk into, he was focused on touting his multiple degrees and honors...and in each interview, the first half of the conversation was ALWAYS about his experience with the Cubs and Cardinals.

His speech at Arizona State University was focused on the advantages that Student Athletes have and that doors open wider for those that excel in both. As proud as he was of his Law degree and his doctorate...law firms from New York, DC and Chicago were more interested in his days playing baseball. While he practiced at a Chicago law firm for a few years, he never forgot how it was the discipline of baseball that helped him get a degree, achieve his dreams and open doors for him that he never thought possible.

Today, Scott Boras runs the Scott Boras Corporation, where he employs former major leaguers as scouts in Asia and Latin America. He has continued to negotiate deals for many of Major League Baseball's high-profile players in recent years, including Barry Zito and Alex Rodriguez; Rodriguez's deal, for $252 million over 10 years, is still the most expensive contract in U.S. professional sports.

I say all of this, because it is so important that high schools maintain that College Prep approach to baseball and in a high schools sports program in general. Being a student athlete is an advantage in many cases. Yet, with budget cuts and states running out of money, school districts are unwisely thinking about cutting sports programs and that is wrong. Sports can and has provided a stepping stone to a college eductation and this needs to be nurtured in schools, not diminished.

There are specific steps and strategies that must be taken to achieve the consistency and greatness needed to play at the next level. And that strategy goes beyond the high school season. For instance, after the collegiate season is over, college baseball players are assigned to summer collegiate leagues from Alaska to the Cape Cod League.

The same should be the standard for high school sports. For the true, talented student athlete, the sport doesn't end with the high school season. Each coach should be tuned into to the many elite travel teams and leagues to further develop that athlete and compete against a stronger and more competitive schedule. Many of these off-season leagues are intended to help that athlete gain exposure to college scouts and recruiters as well.

Many recruiters can't see athletes during the prospects high school season because the high school and college season coincide with each other. They are drawn to off-season showcases to view the plethora of talent available to them at one big event. It's an economy of scale that is the norm in collegiate sports today due to tighter budget restraints. Gone are the days when the coach would show up at the door of a recruit and have a talk with the family at the dining room table.

A coach at any sport in high school should be an expert at the recruiting game. They should understand the talents and the level that each of his athletes is capable of. Not every student athlete is qualified to play at the next level, just as every student is not qualified to get accepted into an Ivy League school...but the benefits of running a program that is designed to mirror a collegiate program benefits everyone.

Summer college baseball league hopes expansion to the Hamptons will attract scouts, and bring higher profile

By: Matthew Stanmyre/The Star-Ledger

Brandon Boykin knew plenty about the Hamptons on Long Island -- he had heard about the extravagant houses, the pristine beaches, the socialites from Manhattan who flocked there to party away the summer.

But Boykin, a rising junior at Rutgers, had never thought about playing baseball there -- until recently.

The Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League, with two franchises in New Jersey, added four Hamptons-based teams this summer in an ambitious attempt to mirror the Cape Cod Baseball League, considered the finest college summer league in the country.

Because of the ACBL's location, elite players from New Jersey like Boykin -- a Teaneck native who attended Don Bosco Prep -- are trickling to the league in greater numbers. Overall, 13 players with local ties are on the Hamptons rosters.

The expansion also means more eyes than ever -- league officials hope -- will be on the wood-bat ACBL because of what it offers: A picturesque baseball setting that trumps many other college leagues based in rural outposts.

"We have an opportunity to become credible very quickly," said Rusty Leaver, an entrepreneur who helped expand the ACBL to the Hamptons. "We're in a position to carve out a unique category in the country."

The ACBL already had the backing; it's sanctioned by the NCAA, partially funded by Major League Baseball and is one of only nine summer leagues approved by the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball.

And now, it has the setting. When Boykin, who plays for the Sag Harbor Whalers, arrived at his host family's home before the season, he was greeted by a pool in the backyard with a lake in the background. The home included a Jacuzzi, a pool table and flat-screen televisions.

"They got everything here," Boykin said. "It was great."

Boykin's reaction was the kind Leaver anticipated when he first broached an idea many thought would never work.

A PROUD HISTORY

Roughly 25 years ago, the ACBL was one of the top college summer leagues in the country, close in competition with the Cape. The two leagues even squared off in an annual all-star game from 1970 to 1987, with their games held at venues such as Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium.

Leaver, who owns and operates the country's oldest ranch in Montauk, N.Y., saw a untouched niche in the Hamptons. Despite the wealth and nightlife the area offers, there was a void for wholesome evening activities, he said.

Leaver, whose son pitches for the University of Rhode Island, began tapping into his entertainment roots, a background that included bringing the popular Paul Simon-hosted concert "Back at the Ranch" to the Hamptons.

Leaver studied the Cape Cod League. He talked to owners from its franchises. He examined his surroundings in the Hamptons.

He knew he was on to something.

"In terms of demographics and geography, I thought, 'Gee, this should be a good fit,'" Leaver said. "A lot of young coaches and young scouts should want to come out here."

With partial financial backing from Hamptons socialites like comedian Jerry Seinfeld and J.Crew chief executive officer Mickey Drexler, Leaver and the ACBL experimented last season with one franchise, the Hampton (now Sag Harbor) Whalers. After positive results that included burgeoning fan attendance and a team that made it to the league championship series, Leaver decided to take another step.

Because of the logistical nightmare having a team in the Hamptons presented -- travel time between there and some of the teams in New Jersey and Pennsylvania was treacherous -- Leaver broached the idea of bringing in more Hamptons teams and then splitting the league in half.

The league approved the idea, adding the North Fork Ospreys, the Riverhead Tomcats, the Southampton Breakers and the Westhampton Aviators. This season, the Hamptons teams, who play in the six-team Kaiser Division along with the Long Island Mustangs out of Old Westbury, will not face the New Jersey/Pennsylvania teams, broken off into the Wolff Division, until the championship series.

"It was crazy ambitious, but we're doing it," Leaver said.

The process included putting the teams together, which became a round-the-clock endeavor. Leaver contacted college coaches from across the country and took out advertisements in Baseball America, eventually cultivating 123 interested players who had been rated by position. From there, the five Hamptons teams drafted the players one by one.

The players live with host families and work part-time jobs that Leaver and others have found for them. They are coached by managers from college programs from Brown University to Santa Clara University. They play in a wood-bat league that many scouts hope to cover because of the setting -- factors that, combined, Leaver and others believe with help the league flourish.

"We wanted to have players from all over the country," ACBL president Tom Bonekemper said. "We needed to have an area to attract kids, some place with land and jobs. This gave us a chance to attract those college players from across the nation."

It also helped propel the ACBL back into the national spotlight.

ONCE AGAIN A RIVAL FOR CAPE COD

Doug Cinnella, back in the 1980s, played for teams in both the Cape and the ACBL. Back then, the two leagues were not far apart in talent, Cinnella said.

That changed over the next two decades for various reasons, but Cinnella believes the ACBL can again become a dominant entity -- which is why the former major-league prospect helped further expand the league this year with the addition of the Northern New Jersey Eagles, who will play their games at Ramapo College and Seton Hall University.

Cinnella believes the atmosphere in the Hamptons rivals that of Cape Cod. Now, it's just a matter of spreading the word about the new ACBL, one that Cinnella himself is helping further establish.

"On paper, yeah, it should," Cinnella said of the ACBL's ability to rival the Cape in the years to come. "But you need the horses. You've got to have the kids that can run and hit and throw. You've got to have the kids that get drafted."

Boykin said the league's profile has already grown -- because of the level of play, and now because of where some players can live for the summer.

"There's a lot of money out here," Boykin said. "I was just looking forward to going to a real nice place and playing. It's a good situation."

Players from New Jersey colleges and high schools are scattered throughout the four Hamptons expansion teams, including players from Rutgers, Seton Hall, Princeton and Fairleigh Dickinson. Cinnella's club, meanwhile, has about half of its roster comprised of local players.

But for the players on the Hamptons teams, playing in a top-notch league was the main draw; living in one of the country's most coveted summer playgrounds was an added bonus.

"That's the appeal, to go out there and be in a resort town," Bonekemper said. "The Hamptons has a very good reputation. It's a very exclusive area and the kids want to be out there. There's something magic about being in the Hamptons for the summer."

Parents Need To Step Back

I just got back from a long weekend of watching summer collegiate baseball. Let me tell you folks, like the college game itself, there's some great baseball being played in these summer leagues. You need to scout out some of these teams and see for yourself.

But, that's not what this post is about. On our way back home, I saw a sign on the back of a mini-van that said "Baby on Board". Now, I thought that those signs were long gone from store shelves and had gone the way of those Garfield dolls. You remember those too don't you? Those were the stuffed toys that odd people used to suction cup on their car windows, thinking that it was a shout out to everyone on the road that they had a sense of humor. I heard that they are a part of the reason why are landfills are overburdened...but I digress.

The Baby on Board stickers are a sign of the times really...at least the sign of the late 80's and early 90's when they were more prevalent. They now represent the plethora of the same over protective, parents that are ruining sports today.

Most of those child "victims" of their parents advertisement of their presence in a vehicle are grown up and in high school now. Except that instead of being paranoid that every vehicle on the road was out to purposely ram their car, parents are hovering over coaches and administrators making sure that their "baby" is treated with kid gloves on a sports field.

Too many parents are just plain too over-protective when it comes to their child's treatment by a coach. They don't want a coach that yells too much. They don't want their child to sit the bench. They have this perception that right field is a bad position or that seniors should automatically play on senior day in the middle of a conference race and so on. It is getting way, way out of hand and it needs to stop.

We have heard more than a dozen times of how coaches were fired because a group of parents didn't like the way a coach was tough on their kid. And, ironically, it's usually the parents of bench-sitters that complain the most. Here's a news flash parents. Your son is sitting the bench because he isn't good enough to play...period.

Of course, not all coaches have a clue. Some ARE bad, but the majority of coaches that we know that were either fired, quit or retired in the past few years, were great coaches. They all left the game because administrators of schools are caving in to clueless parents that know zero about the world of competitive sports.

Parents today, want high school sports to be an extension of T-Ball. Everyone plays and everyone gets a participation trophy at the end of the year.

What are these parents going to do once their son actually gets to college and then enters the real world? Are they going to call the CEO of a large company and yell at them for not hiring their son? If that kid is lucky enough to find a job, are they going to write a letter to the company saying that their son's self esteem is ruined because he was given a cubicle instead of a corner office?

You know what this country needs? It needs more hard nosed coaches like Pat Murphy of Arizona State or Augie Garrido of Texas. Those guys will melt the skin off of a players face with their steely eyed stares and off colored remarks about a players ability. They know how to toughen-up today's soft kids. They know that the world is not a nice place and therefore they can be real mean at times...just like the real world. The guys that succeed in those programs will have a future in life...whether in be in baseball or in business, because they know what it takes to succeed.

These great players know that life isn't an entitlement. It's hard work and a ton of blood, sweat and tears at times. Did you ever wonder why Texas and Arizona State always seem to be in Omaha? It's because this method of coaching works. It may be painful for some of us to watch, but aren't any of us old enough to remember our coaches when they used to say..."no pain, no gain"?

Politically correct isn't always correct. There are times when our children need a good old fashioned kick in the pants. But, don't get us wrong...We encourage parents to get involved in their sons sports...just don't get too involved and try to control the outcome. Only your son and his true ability can do that.

When Should You Verbal?

It's the July 4th weekend and Collegiate Development Programs and other elite baseball clubs are participating in top, scout filled tournaments like the 18 and under WWBA in East Cobb. Many incoming seniors and even some incoming juniors will be asked to verbally commit to their college of their choice and verbal. Is this the time of year to verbal? Some schools will want you to verbal now. Should you do it? This is a question that we have wrestled with for years as we put our son's through the recruiting conundrum. There are several answers that relate to various scenarios. Let's start with age...

UNCOMMITTED SENIORS.
If a senior has been getting several offers and hasn't made all of the official visits yet and thinks that a banner summer showcase season could improve his chances for a better offer, then waiting for the school he really wants to go to should be the choice. Enjoy July 1st (the first official day that an incoming senior can recieve phone calls from college coaches) and the phone calls you will get and then, after a heart to heart with your coaches, parents and yourself...make the RIGHT decision. The signing period isn't until November 11, 2009, so the only timeline is making the decision before the availability of offers goes dry. Remember, a student should always pick the school first, then baseball.

Hopefully, he has already applied to those schools already and is just waiting for a baseball offer. We have made this comment several times. Don't verbal if it's not a school that interests him just to play baseball. If baseball doesn't work out, then he's stuck with a school he doesn't like. We have seen the scenario where an student/athlete turned full time student, has to start the application process all over again to attend another school that fits him and his major. That's a big pain.

JUNIORS
There are some that would disagree, but now through spring of his junior year is still too early to verbal if a player had some type of correspondence with a college coach and he has told the player that he wants him to be a part of his team. It's flattering, but if that player is good, he will get interest from other schools as well. Don't say yes to the first college that shows interest. Play your high school season. Step it up this summer on a great College Development Program. The recruiting process can be a lot of fun if you follow this timeline.

However...there's always a however...IF and only IF, a player receives a solid "offer" (it's really just solid interest at this point due to NCAA restrictions) from a school that has been on the top of his list and there will be no post decision dissonance that could ever give him regrets, then maybe it will be OK to verbal.

This early verbal is usually reserved for the coveted athletes that a school wants to tie up now so that they can concentrate on other needs. It also can be a relief for the top athlete to finally concentrate on playing ball. Many elite athletes get bombarded with mountains of e-mails and regular mail everyday and it gets old after a while. Verbally announcing his decision usually stops the activity. Now, verbals are non-binding for both the player and the school at this stage...but, that doesn't mean that a player can or should change his mind. Barring any injuries to a player, a school should not back down on it's offer either. They both can legally, but it's not really acceptable, unless there has been a change in the coaching staff or other outside influences that change the ground rules a bit. Bottom line, a player must be absolutley sure that this is his number one choice. If so, then make the announcement.

SOPHOMORES
First of all, the majority of sophomores will not get "offers" or solid interest yet...Yes, you will get letters and e-mails...that doesn't necessarily imply solid interest.. So, sophomores players and parents...don't even think about it! That said, we do know literally a handful of sophomores that have verballed. (Literally, less than 5 exceptionally talented players that we know of.) And, unless a player is one of those handful of super-studs that comes around every once in a while, there is absolutely no reason a sophomore should be thinking that he is missing out on something at this age. Physically, mentally, and practically, there is so much baseball ahead. A player should just use this time to play exceptional ball. This is the time to make the high school varsity team if he can. That should be priority number one. Make a top rated travel team. That is priority number two. Get seen at showcases and major tourney's. That's priority number three. Sophomore year is a time when a player should be scaling up his game to a higher level. He may have dominated at a younger age, but how does that scale to playing against other players two to three years his senior? It can be a wake-up call and all the more reason to relax and just play the game, work-out, get stronger, smarter and better.

We hope this helps. Any personal experiences that players, parents or coaches want to add? Use the comment section below. Don't worry. You can reply as anonymous.

RT Staff

Failure is Part of the Game

Baseball endures because its myth and statistics endure. It is constant. Winning 20 games as a pitcher or batting .300 is still the same measure of excellence today as it was before my grandfather was born.

Someone much wiser than I once wrote that whoever wants to know the heart, soul and mind of America had better learn baseball. How true. I doubt that many football fans can say how many touchdown passes Joe Montana threw, or the number of goals Michael Jordan scored. But all real baseball fans know that Ted Williams hit .400, Hank Aaron ended up with 755 home runs and broke Babe Ruth's record of 714 (sorry Barry, 762 hasn't quite sunk in yet) and Joltin Joe had a 56 game hitting streak.

In many ways, baseball is a simple game that anyone can follow and enjoy. It is also a complex game. I once read that somebody computed 18,000 different situations that players have to react to without having the time to think about it.

But like America and it's roller coaster history of stops and starts and ups and downs, failure is an acceptable norm. My former coach used to quote Confucius and state, "A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it is committing another mistake."

Babe Ruth struck out twice in one inning 32 times. Hank Aaron ground into more double plays than any other player. Nolan Ryan lost more games than all but 7 pitchers in major league history. Yet, they are all in the Hall of Fame.

That's the essence of baseball, of life and how you deal with failure. If any of you young men out there are having an off day or summer, learn from it and know that even the greats of this game had much, much worse games than you. They just worked harder and made the adjustments. The harder you work, the easier it can get. Work hard this summer boys and above all, have fun. It's a game, after all.

2009 College World Series sets more television/media records

RT Staff Note: We were so excited about this news, we had to reprint it. This story is from Kendall Rogers at Rivals Baseball. The Rivals site is just as responsible for the increase in fan participation and awareness as ESPN is in our opinion.

By Kendall Rogers
The NCAA and fans of college baseball have even more reasons to be pleased with the sport's growth the past few seasons.

The NCAA and ESPN released television figures for the '09 College World Series on Monday, and the figures present good news.

Overall, ESPN averaged 1.45 million households and 1.928 million viewers. The entire CWS received a 1.5 rating. The figures for '09 was an increase of 33 percent over last season in households, 37 percent in viewers and 36 percent in television rating. In '08, 1.091 million households and 1.408 million viewers tuned in for the CWS for a rating of 1.1

Ratings also vastly improved for the CWS Finals between LSU and Texas.

The CWS Finals reached an average 2.059 million households, 2.762 million viewers and had a 2.1 rating to become the highest rated CWS Finals ever. It was a marked increase over last year's figures of 1.664 million households, 2.193 million viewers and a 1.7 rating. That means percentage increases of 24 percent, 26 percent and 24 percent.

Also worth noting, the three CWS Finals games were three of the top four highest rated CWS games in ESPN history. Game 3 between LSU and Texas was the most viewed game ever for the CWS and the second highest-rated game ever.

Game 3 averaged 2.303 million households, 3.160 million viewers and had a 2.3 rating.

Game 2 averaged 1.964 million households, 2.62 million viewers and had a 2.0 rating.

Game 1 averaged 1.905 million households, 2.50 million viewers and had a 1.9 rating.

ESPN2 showed a 6 percent increase for viewers and households during the CWS.

As for internet media, our college baseball site here at Yahoo! Sports experienced a growth of approximately 40 percent in views from last season to this season.

Prep baseball players endure heat for shot at college ball

It's hot. Almost too hot to do anything.

With the sun blaring down on a baseball field, even at 5:30 in the late afternoon, Clarksville High's field is almost unbearable.

The trees that line up just behind the first base dugout block out the late afternoon sun, but it can't decrease the heat.

It's 95 degrees and the Clarksville Orioles' 18-and-under travel team is in the midst of its first game of a doubleheader against the Brentwood Bulldogs.

"This is what we do every day," Orioles outfielder Will Thomas said. "If you can't take it you shouldn't be out here."

This is life for high school seniors on their way to college baseball. For those who have yet to ink their names on the dotted scholarship line, the summer heat and ball is a chance to get noticed.

Summer baseball teams are the norm around the country. It's what gets you noticed by the bid dogs. It's the parade in front of college and sometimes pro scouts.

In basketball, they call it AAU.

In baseball, they could call it a heatstroke.

"It takes commitment," Orioles coach Jared Hill said. "You have to want to play. You have to have the passion for it or else you're not going to last. It's too grueling for someone who's just kind of into it."

Travel teams dot the landscape these days and it's growing in the midstate. The Orioles used to travel to Memphis, Knoxville or Chattanooga to find opponents. Now they stay within reach of Clarksville, often traveling to Gallatin, Hendersonville and Nashville.

"We'll go there, play a couple of games and we're able to get back in a decent time," Hill said. "It's much better now. There's no more two-night stays in a hotel."

Hill has been coaching the Orioles for the past two years. The organization was reformed in 2007 after a three-year hiatus and it includes a 13U team coached by new Clarksville High baseball coach Brian Hetland.

Since the Orioles' return, games have been plentiful for the team. They play a 39-game schedule and play doubleheaders in 15 of those games.

"It's a lot of games," Thomas said. "Your legs get weary when you have to play three or four straight days of doubleheaders. By that fourth day in the second game of that day, you're pretty beat, but you have to dig deep because you never know who's out there watching."

Nine of the Orioles' 17-man roster will either play or attempt to play college ball next year. Thomas, who played for CHS, has already signed with Tennessee Tech. Motlow picked up Wildcats' catcher Tyler Wilson and Northeast star Johnny Newsom while Austin Peay will be getting CHS shortstop Reed Harper. This spring's District 10-AAA MVP, Cole McWhirter, will join Jackson State Community College this fall after pitching for district champs Clarksville High and teammate (third baseman) Paul Mittura is expected to walk-on at Middle Tennessee State.

But Thursday, the Orioles were upended by the Bulldogs, 2-1, in seven innings. A pair of singles led to a run in the top of the seventh, breaking a 1-1 tie for the Bulldogs and spoiling Justin Dailey's strong pitching performance.

The Orioles had six hits and tied the game 1-1 after two walks led to McWhirter's run-scoring single in the bottom of the fifth. But Brentwood crossed the plate in the seventh and held the Orioles' bats in check in the bottom of the final frame.

The game, however, won't diminish the team's desire to play again. They're scheduled to face the EWA Knights at noon and 2 p.m. Monday at Clarksville High.

Hill and his coaching staff, as well as team, relies on parents to often carry the financial load of this travel team. It's an expensive venture with a budget of $12,000 a year. Hill said the team spends every bit of it for a summer's worth of games.

"We're not looking to make a profit," he said. "We're looking to break straight even. It costs a lot. Some of these tournaments we go to cost $1,100 or $1,000. Some cost around $500, so it's not cheap by no means."

Yet the valuable tools gained from travel ball give players like Thomas an advantage.

"Maybe I don't get a chance to go to Tech if I'm not out here in the summer time," he said. "Yeah, it's hot out here, but a little sweat is worth it."

George Robinson is the prep writer for The Leaf-Chronicle. He can be reached by telephone at 245-0747 or by e-mail at georgerobinson@theleafchronicle.com

Harper looking for a challenge

CARY, N.C. -- Bryce Harper recently announced he will take his GED, leave high school after two years and enroll at the College of Southern Nevada this fall. This should make the Las Vegas High School catcher eligible for the 2010 Rule 4 draft, when he'd be the overwhelming favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick.

This move -- expected among major league scouts and team executives since last summer -- has raised all manner of questions and stirred up controversy over who is making the decisions for Harper and whether he is making the right move.

Playing on Tuesday at the Tournament of Stars event held at USA Baseball's stunning complex, Harper is the nation's best high school player right now. The same was true a year ago, when he exploded onto the scene at the Area Code Games as a rising freshman, a 15-year-old facing and dominating competitors who were mostly 17 and 18. He's been hitting against older competitors for years; Harper has earned invitations to play on travel teams of older players since he was 10 years old.

He's played in prestigious events, including the Area Code Games -- which he called the biggest baseball challenge he's faced and a "phenomenal experience" -- and on the national team in the age 16 and under division. He's a potential five-tool talent who plays the most difficult position on the field. He puts on a display in batting practice, launching balls out to right field with a sound so loud it leaves bystanders looking for the shattered-bat remnants.

One problem extremely talented prep players like Harper can face is the lack of a challenge. Harper has had no trouble hitting against high school pitchers in Nevada or in summer ball, and in high school he finds himself pitched around frequently.

"High school was a great experience for two years, I loved it," Harper said Tuesday. "I just want to get out of there where I'm getting walked 40, 50 times a year."

His father, Ron, put it more bluntly: "I think his overall average was around .630 with the playoffs, and [he] didn't really get pitched to; that's not a lot of fun for him. There's a lot of frustration there."

Budget cuts in Nevada have made matters worse, according to Ron Harper, reducing the regular season for Las Vegas High to 18 games. At the College of Southern Nevada, Harper will be able to play 60 games, and will do it in a more challenging environment.

"College is going to push him academically, and also on the field it's going to push him," Ron Harper said. "He's going to play a lot of older guys, bigger guys, stronger guys, for 60 games."

At CSN, Harper will play in one of the top junior college baseball programs in the country. The 2009 nonconference schedule included games against most of the major two-year programs, including Central Arizona, San Jacinto (Texas), Miami-Dade and Chipola (Fla.). The school also uses wood bats, which should ease the transition into pro ball. Harper prefers wood bats -- "I've always wanted to swing the wood. If I could have swung the wood in high school, I would have" -- but couldn't use them in high school games.

Harper's readiness on the baseball field, at least for the jump to junior college, isn't really in question. His readiness for the emotional or mental challenges to come is more difficult to ascertain, although to his credit he recognizes that at some point he's going to fail.

"There's always going to be failure; baseball's a game of failure," he said. "If you K, you can't go back on that game and say, 'Oh, crap, I went 0-for-4.' There's a million more games to play. You've got to get better, you've got to progress. You can't say, 'Well, I K'd that game so I'll just quit.' It's a team game; as long as your guys won, that's what matters."

As for the increasing pressure as he moves up the baseball ladder, Harper isn't concerned.

"I love pressure," he says. "If there is any pressure on me, I thrive on it. Two outs, bottom of the ninth, I want to be that guy. We played Cuba last year, in the 16U [age 16 and under] championships. I came in the last inning. I pitched. It was the biggest pressure of my life -- don't lose the game for the USA -- but it was awesome, a great experience. I've had pressure on me since I was 8 years old."

Ron Harper has come under fire for what some members of the media argue is a dereliction of his parental duty. Bryce is still a minor, and Ron has ultimate responsibility for his son. Ron says he's happy to take the criticism if it allows Bryce to concentrate on playing, and for his part, argues that this was a family decision.

"I said, 'Are you sure you want to do all this? It's OK -- you can always go back to high school'," Ron said. "But he said, 'No, Dad, I want to do it. I want to do it.' And people say, well, you're the adult, you need to make that decision for him, but he's a pretty mature kid, and he's a good kid, and the level of baseball that he's been playing at, and the level of school he's been at, he needs to be pushed. And I believe that, and my wife and the coaches and the whole staff from the HS believe it too."

If Bryce wants to take this step, and all indications are that he is ready to do so, why would his father stand in his son's way?

In fact, much of the hue and cry over Harper's plan to leave high school two years early is rubbish. If Harper is eligible for the 2010 draft after his first year of junior college -- and he should be, although Ron indicated he has yet to receive a "100 percent answer" on that question from MLB -- he'll be 17 years and almost eight months old on draft day.

That would make him just two months younger than Mike Trout and Randal Grichuk were June 9, when they were selected in the first round of the 2009 draft. The Marlins' third-round pick, Da'Shon Cooper, is one year to the day older than Harper. None of their fathers were criticized for allowing their sons to enter pro ball at such a young age.

Inevitably, there's also a backlash in the scouting community, among the same scouts who dropped what they were doing at the 2008 Area Code Games to watch every one of Harper's at-bats. On Tuesday, when one scout learned I was writing a piece about Harper, he said "Don't feed the machine," referring to the tremendous hype that already surrounds the player.

It's perfectly natural for a talented player like Bryce Harper to want to be challenged further when he has already shown he has mastered his current level. It's not the place for anyone, including MLB or the media, to deny him the chance to succeed or fail at a higher level of play. The smart money is on him succeeding.

Keith Law, formerly the special assistant to the general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, is the senior baseball analyst for Scouts Inc.

Championship special for Mainieri, father

Pat Borzi
New York Times News Service

OMAHA, Neb. — With a gold streamer from the victory celebration dragging behind his left foot, LSU coach Paul Mainieri yelled for his players to gather for the College World Series championship trophy presentation. Then he started looking around.

“Where’s my dad?” he said.

Demie Mainieri stood about 15 feet away in a CWS championship cap, but Paul could not find him in the crowd. In the aftermath of LSU’s 11-4 victory against Texas in Game 3 of the championship final, Demie Mainieri — the longtime coach at Miami-Dade North Community College who won a national junior college title in 1964 — beamed as he watched his son and the Tigers players celebrate.

“This is really something, isn’t it?” Demie Mainieri said. “This was his dream, and I’m so happy for him. It wasn’t something that was easy for him.”

Especially Wednesday night.

The Tigers led by 4-0 after two innings, with the tournament’s most outstanding player, Jared Mitchell, pulling a three-run homer inside the right-field foul pole in the first.

But Texas, which rode a streak of improbable victories and late magic through the NCAA tournament, rallied against the LSU sophomore right-hander Anthony Ranaudo. Kevin Keyes, who slammed his bat in the first after striking out with the bases loaded, tied the game with a two-run homer in the fifth.

The Longhorns (50-16-1) discombobulated in a sloppy five-run sixth inning. A throwing error, a passed ball and two hit batsmen led to four unearned runs as LSU won its sixth national championship since 1991 and its first under Mainieri.

Reliever Brandon Workman, after three scoreless innings, walked Mitchell, a No. 1 pick of the Chicago White Sox, leading off the sixth. Catcher Cameron Rupp mishandled a high fastball for a passed ball. Mikie Mahtook, who at first tried to sacrifice, doubled in the go-ahead run.

A throwing error by Austin Dicharry, who relieved Workman, on a Micah Gibbs bunt kept the rally going. Derek Helenihi drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and LSU (56-17) tacked on three more with two outs against the Longhorns’ closer, Austin Wood. Wood hit consecutive batters to force in a run before Sean Ochinko’s two-run single made it 9-4.

“I knew, once they tied the score, we’d be OK if we could go out and get a run or two,” Gibbs said. “To go out and put up a five-spot was incredible.”

Chad Jones, an outfielder who lost his job after leaving for spring football but returned as a situational left-handed reliever, retired five of the six batters he faced after replacing Ranaudo with one out in the sixth. Louis Coleman, who started Game 1, worked the final two innings. After striking out the side in the ninth to finish off the game, Coleman threw his glove so high that Gibbs grabbed him before it landed.

Wednesday’s loss denied Texas coach Augie Garrido his sixth national title. The Longhorns have lost twice in the final since the CWS switched to a best-of-three format in 2003, and won in 2005. But it enabled Paul Mainieri to match his father’s national championship with his own, 45 years later.

“In the ninth inning, all I could thing about was he and my mom, said Mainieri, who embraced his father and his mother, Rosetta, on the field shortly after the trophy ceremony. “This afternoon, I thought about how disappointed it would be for my mom and dad not to see us win a national championship.”

Nevada prep baseball phenom: 'I'm not LeBron yet'

This article was found in USA Today.

CARY, N.C. (AP) — Bryce Harper didn't flinch with television cameras focused on him, even though his upper body was tangled in microphone wires.

"Part of life, I guess," the 16-year-old quipped Tuesday.

And it has been since the baseball phenom announced plans earlier this month to skip his final two years of high school, take an equivalency test and play next season at a Nevada community college — a move that could accelerate the catcher's professional career.

Harper, who recently appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated as baseball's Next Big Thing, has embraced the hype and attention.

"I'm not LeBron yet," Harper said, referring to NBA star LeBron James, who also appeared on the SI cover as a teenager. "He's doing bigger and better things. He's in the pros. He's doing all his stuff and has endorsements, and all that good stuff. I can't say I'm LeBron yet. I'm Bryce Harper. That's what I am.

"You can't really just rely on that" hype, Harper said. "I love the target on my back, and I love how scouts come out and watch, just all that stuff. I've just got to keep getting better."

Harper's hope is that the improvement comes quicker at the College of Southern Nevada next spring than it did at Las Vegas High School.

Saying he modeled his game after Mickey Mantle and Pete Rose, Harper hit .626 with 14 home runs and 55 RBI as a sophomore this year. That, despite what he said was a lack of strikes thrown by pitchers determined to work around the slugger who hit the longest home run in the 12-year history of the Tampa Bay Rays' stadium, a 502-foot drive that came in a home run derby and off a metal bat.

"High school, you know, it was a great experience for two years, but I just wanted to get out of there (after) getting walked 42 times a year," said Harper, who is in the Raleigh suburb of Cary to play a week-long tournament with his American Legion team at USA Baseball's training center. "I really wanted to swing the wood bat — if I could have swung the wood in high school, I would've.

"I'm not really skipping anything. I still get to go to the prom, still get to go to homecoming, still get to go do all that fun stuff. I get all the good things and just don't have to ... deal with the high school stuff, all that drama and everything. It was time to get out."

Harper's father, Ron, insisted the decision had nothing to do with giving his son a premature push into the 2010 baseball draft because "I haven't even gotten a 100% answer whether he is going to be eligible." Players may enter the draft at age 16 if they have completed high school.

"A lot of people say, 'You're the adult, you need to make that decision for him,"' Ron Harper said. "He is a pretty mature kid, and he's a good kid, and the level of baseball that he's been playing at, he needs to be pushed. I believe that, and he believes that."

He also brushed aside the criticism that his son has shortchanged his education, and said Bryce's backup plan is to become a fireman.

"We've taken every step to go in that direction (toward the draft) — if that works out, then so be it. If it doesn't, then Bryce will be playing again in junior college, which is fine with us," Ron Harper said. "We're planning for four years of college. ... It's just that now, he's moving on just a little sooner than everybody else."

Ron Harper also dismisses any notion that leaving school early is a bad idea.

"They're thinking, 'Here he is, setting his kid up for failure,"' he said. "When I put him on the baseball field when he was 3 years old, I set him up for failure, because it's a game built on failure."

Bryce Harper isn't worrying about failing.

He's well aware of how many can't-miss phenoms in baseball managed to do exactly that, and he doesn't want to be another one.

"I want to be the best guy ever, the best player who ever played the game," Harper said. "I'm not going to sit back on everything, say, 'I'm on the cover of SI, I'm doing this, I'm doing that.' ... I'm not where I want to be yet. This is a stepping stone. I just want to get better, play the game and hopefully be in the big leagues one day."

It's Down To One Last Game

Anybody that doesn't think that the NCAA College World Series is the greatest college sporting event in amateur sports isn't a sports fan.

This entire series has been one dramatic moment after another. The Championship Series showcases two titans of collegiate sports. The Tigers of LSU are 5 time CWS champions and the Longhorns have netted 6 championship trophies.

ESPN couldn't not be any happier with this series from a ratings standpoint either. Both teams have rabid fans across the country. Rosenblatt has been loud, rowdy and at fever pitch through the first two games. At the turnstiles, LSU is the king of college baseball. The Box packs in an average of 9,600 fans a game and over 400,000 for the season.

Take note NCAA...that's way more total fans than the Tigers Basketball team. In fact, that 400,000 total is more than most Big Conference programs draw for football in a season. Any chance that we can take this information and use it to increase college scholarships?

The Longhorns don't do too bad at the gate either. In a a newly refurbished UFCU Disch-Falk Field, Texas drew over 6,000 fans per game this year and it seems that they brought that entire nation of fans to Rosenblatt. More than half of the faithful in Omaha are dressed in Texas Orange.

Despite the weather issues, and the economy, Rosenblatt has never looked better. The CWS attendance total of 316,090 is the second-highest total in the CWS trailing only last year’s total of 330,099. According to one of our colleagues, there is a different kind of electricity in the air this year due to the high stakes nature of the two universities that are competing.

As much as America was charmed by Fresno State and Oregon States improbable wins, I like this match-up of two of the top sports programs in America. Texas and LSU are no strangers to championship games. Longhorn Division I programs in both men's and women's sports have won 47 national championships. LSU has won 43 national titles.

Now, the season is down to its last game. For many fans of this great game, it will be a bittersweet ending to the season. But, based on the drama that has been a hallmark of this series, it should be a perfect ending to an exciting season.

L.S.U.’s Coach Follows Father in Quest for Title

By PAT BORZI
Published: June 21, 2009
OMAHA — While Louisiana State Coach Paul Mainieri supervised his team’s last workout before the College World Series finals, his father, Demie, handled another challenging task: organizing lunch for the extended family on Sunday at an Italian restaurant in the city’s Old Market district.

Three generations of Mainieris are here to watch the Tigers, the nation’s top-ranked team, play Texas in the best-of-three N.C.A.A. championship series at Rosenblatt Stadium. Demie, known as Doc, knows about title aspirations. He guided Miami-Dade Community College North to a national junior-college championship and later became the first junior-college coach to reach 1,000 victories.

“There’s no greater feeling than watching them and seeing him do so well,” he said, referring to his son in a telephone interview. “It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy, to be honest with you. He has a great feel for people.”

Paul Mainieri said: “Having my dad here means everything to me. Growing up, all I wanted to be was a college baseball coach. My dad won a national championship in 1964, and I’d love for him to witness his son doing it.”

But never in Demie’s 30 seasons at Miami-Dade, coaching the future major leaguers Steve Carlton, Mickey Rivers, Mike Piazza and Bucky Dent, did he face the expectations of fans and boosters the way Paul does at L.S.U.

The Tigers won the last of their five national titles under Coach Skip Bertman in 2000, when a single game decided the championship. L.S.U. fans have been waiting impatiently for No. 6 ever since.

Bertman’s chosen successor, Smoke Laval, failed to deliver in five seasons and resigned in 2006 after the Tigers missed the N.C.A.A. tournament for the first time since 1988. L.S.U. has led Division I in attendance the last 14 seasons, and many Tigers fans book trips to Omaha well in advance, presuming the team will qualify — and win.

“At L.S.U., it’s Omaha or bust,” catcher Micah Gibbs said. “If you come here, and you don’t come back with a trophy, it’s hard to show your face.”

Into that pressure stepped Paul Mainieri, who left Notre Dame after 12 seasons. L.S.U. made it to Omaha last year in Mainieri’s second season, winning one game before being eliminated.

“When I was coaching,” Demie Mainieri said, “I was also the athletic director, so nobody was going to fire me. We had expectations, but nothing like this. They get 10,000 people a game.”

Of his son, Demie Mainieri said: “He was very secure at Notre Dame, but he said he always had an urge to coach at one of the best baseball programs in the country. He talked to Oklahoma, Mississippi State and Kentucky, but he said, ‘I want the best one.’ Then Skip hired him. He knew what he was getting into. He knows the expectations are there, and he’s not afraid of them.”

This year, L.S.U. took off after a bold move by Mainieri to improve the infield defense 40 games into the season. He inserted the freshman Austin Nola at shortstop, bumped D J LeMahieu to second and rearranged his outfielders.

Though L.S.U. has hit nine home runs and played errorless ball to win its three Series games handily, the Tigers (54-16) hardly expect it to be a breeze in the finals. Top-seeded Texas scrapped its way to Omaha for the first time since winning its sixth national title in 2005.

In the Austin Regional, the Longhorns (49-14-1) needed 25 innings to beat Boston College, 3-2, in the longest game in N.C.A.A. history. The next night, Texas trailed Army by four runs in the ninth before scoring eight times to win, 14-10, on Preston Clark’s game-ending grand slam.

At the College World Series, Texas defeated Southern Mississippi with a bases-loaded walk in the ninth, came from six runs down to beat Arizona State and eliminated the Sun Devils on Friday with ninth-inning homers by Cameron Rupp and Connor Rowe.

“The way we’ve been winning the last nine games, we’ve added a new assistant coach, David Copperfield,” said Texas Coach Augie Garrido, a reference to the illusionist. “Somebody asked me if we were going to practice. Practice? How do you practice the way we’ve been winning?”

Garrido, seeking his sixth national title and third with the Longhorns, will pitch Chance Ruffin (10-2, 3.27 earned run average) against L.S.U.’s ace, Louis Coleman (14-2, 2.68 E.R.A.) in Game 1 on Monday night. Garrido, like Mainieri, knows his team’s vociferous fans will be satisfied with only one result.

“In Texas, second place doesn’t get it,” he said. “Finishing second would be a disaster in a long line of disasters.”