Just to make sure everyone knows, the Lamar game for tonight (3/10) has been postponed.

The first pitch for tomorrow's (3/11) Texas State game has been changed to 6:00 p.m. (from 6:30 p.m.).

No changes for this weekend's series with La. Tech.

This is kinda lame. The rain stopped hours ago.

And I thought the new field drains wonderfully. Maybe they're just jealous that everyone else in the country is canceling and postponing games left and right, and we get to miss out on all the fun. I also wonder if Lamar has some things going on with the program right now - they seem to be in a bit of a funk.

Any chance this is an RPI-saving deal between the OG and Lamar, pushing the game to 2016 when Lamar will presumably be better? Didn't we cut a deal like that a few years ago--or maybe two years ago--to postpone a game with a low-RPI team to help preserve our hosting chances?

(03-10-2015 05:12 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  And I thought the new field drains wonderfully. Maybe they're just jealous that everyone else in the country is canceling and postponing games left and right, and we get to miss out on all the fun. I also wonder if Lamar has some things going on with the program right now - they seem to be in a bit of a funk.

My first thought was that perhaps the area around Reckling (especially the construction zone, also perhaps the path to the new tennis courts parking area) may be overly muddy. I agree that the field itself should have drained properly.

(03-10-2015 05:22 PM)rice-76-03-06 Wrote:  

(03-10-2015 05:12 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  And I thought the new field drains wonderfully. Maybe they're just jealous that everyone else in the country is canceling and postponing games left and right, and we get to miss out on all the fun. I also wonder if Lamar has some things going on with the program right now - they seem to be in a bit of a funk.

My first thought was that perhaps the area around Reckling (especially the construction zone, also perhaps the path to the new tennis courts parking area) may be overly muddy. I agree that the field itself should have drained properly.

Game postponed to keep fans feet from getting muddy?

(03-10-2015 05:20 PM)smackdaddy Wrote:  Any chance this is an RPI-saving deal between the OG and Lamar, pushing the game to 2016 when Lamar will presumably be better? Didn't we cut a deal like that a few years ago--or maybe two years ago--to postpone a game with a low-RPI team to help preserve our hosting chances?

My guess would be no.

I thought we normally play Lamar home and home, and this has gone on for awhile, IIRC. So all you would be doing is moving from 2 games in 2015 and 2016, to 1 this year and 3 the next?

And yes, a quick check of the schedule shows a trip to Beaumont at the end of the month.

Nice picture of Coach Graham with Coach Gilliland on Riceowls.com.
I'm guessing the two coaches like and respect one another, based on history. Under those circumstances, I would think RPI gamesmanship seems very unlikely.

(03-10-2015 05:22 PM)rice-76-03-06 Wrote:  

(03-10-2015 05:12 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  And I thought the new field drains wonderfully. Maybe they're just jealous that everyone else in the country is canceling and postponing games left and right, and we get to miss out on all the fun. I also wonder if Lamar has some things going on with the program right now - they seem to be in a bit of a funk.

My first thought was that perhaps the area around Reckling (especially the construction zone, also perhaps the path to the new tennis courts parking area) may be overly muddy. I agree that the field itself should have drained properly.

Just got back from Rice. Biked there and back from the Greenway plaza area and while there are puddles here and there, the sidewalks and roads are pretty much dry.

Sounds like a field issue, otherwise why delay the Texas State game also? As for RPI gaming, the articles I saw seemed to indicate the game would be rescheduled, not pushed into 2016.

Texas State was pushed up due to weather predictions. Lamar was postponed due to base paths/mound conditions. Team was away this weekend and unable to monitor weather conditions in Houston vs Charlotte.....meaning unable to have players/baseball personnel cover infield with tarp.

and Rich Gerlach/Antarius, thanks for the benefit of the doubt.

(03-10-2015 09:02 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(03-10-2015 05:22 PM)rice-76-03-06 Wrote:  

(03-10-2015 05:12 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  And I thought the new field drains wonderfully. Maybe they're just jealous that everyone else in the country is canceling and postponing games left and right, and we get to miss out on all the fun. I also wonder if Lamar has some things going on with the program right now - they seem to be in a bit of a funk.

My first thought was that perhaps the area around Reckling (especially the construction zone, also perhaps the path to the new tennis courts parking area) may be overly muddy. I agree that the field itself should have drained properly.

Just got back from Rice. Biked there and back from the Greenway plaza area and while there are puddles here and there, the sidewalks and roads are pretty much dry.

Sounds like a field issue, otherwise why delay the Texas State game also? As for RPI gaming, the articles I saw seemed to indicate the game would be rescheduled, not pushed into 2016.

(03-10-2015 05:12 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  And I thought the new field drains wonderfully. Maybe they're just jealous that everyone else in the country is canceling and postponing games left and right, and we get to miss out on all the fun. I also wonder if Lamar has some things going on with the program right now - they seem to be in a bit of a funk.

The field does drain wonderfully. The team was out of town this weekend and there was no one available to tarp the infield. The team has been working on the base paths and the mound since Sunday night, but it still is/was a mess. I think the grass areas were in game shape, but the dirt areas were not up to snuff. In my opinion there is/was no reason to get someone hurt when the game could be made up later.

(03-10-2015 09:08 PM)pueo99 Wrote:  Texas State was pushed up due to weather predictions. Lamar was postponed due to base paths/mound conditions. Team was away this weekend and unable to monitor weather conditions in Houston vs Charlotte.....meaning unable to have players cover infield with tarp.

and Antarius, thanks for the benefit of the doubt.

(03-10-2015 09:02 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(03-10-2015 05:22 PM)rice-76-03-06 Wrote:  

(03-10-2015 05:12 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  And I thought the new field drains wonderfully. Maybe they're just jealous that everyone else in the country is canceling and postponing games left and right, and we get to miss out on all the fun. I also wonder if Lamar has some things going on with the program right now - they seem to be in a bit of a funk.

My first thought was that perhaps the area around Reckling (especially the construction zone, also perhaps the path to the new tennis courts parking area) may be overly muddy. I agree that the field itself should have drained properly.

Just got back from Rice. Biked there and back from the Greenway plaza area and while there are puddles here and there, the sidewalks and roads are pretty much dry.

Sounds like a field issue, otherwise why delay the Texas State game also? As for RPI gaming, the articles I saw seemed to indicate the game would be rescheduled, not pushed into 2016.

You beat me to it.

finally remembered my password! thanks for the back up!

and for future reference...the infield does not drain...it must be covered.

(03-10-2015 09:14 PM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(03-10-2015 09:08 PM)pueo99 Wrote:  Texas State was pushed up due to weather predictions. Lamar was postponed due to base paths/mound conditions. Team was away this weekend and unable to monitor weather conditions in Houston vs Charlotte.....meaning unable to have players cover infield with tarp.

and Antarius, thanks for the benefit of the doubt.

(03-10-2015 09:02 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(03-10-2015 05:22 PM)rice-76-03-06 Wrote:  

(03-10-2015 05:12 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  And I thought the new field drains wonderfully. Maybe they're just jealous that everyone else in the country is canceling and postponing games left and right, and we get to miss out on all the fun. I also wonder if Lamar has some things going on with the program right now - they seem to be in a bit of a funk.

My first thought was that perhaps the area around Reckling (especially the construction zone, also perhaps the path to the new tennis courts parking area) may be overly muddy. I agree that the field itself should have drained properly.

Just got back from Rice. Biked there and back from the Greenway plaza area and while there are puddles here and there, the sidewalks and roads are pretty much dry.

Sounds like a field issue, otherwise why delay the Texas State game also? As for RPI gaming, the articles I saw seemed to indicate the game would be rescheduled, not pushed into 2016.

You beat me to it.

(03-10-2015 09:16 PM)pueo99 Wrote:  finally remembered my password! thanks for the back up!

and for future reference...the infield does not drain...it must be covered.

(03-10-2015 09:14 PM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(03-10-2015 09:08 PM)pueo99 Wrote:  Texas State was pushed up due to weather predictions. Lamar was postponed due to base paths/mound conditions. Team was away this weekend and unable to monitor weather conditions in Houston vs Charlotte.....meaning unable to have players cover infield with tarp.

and Antarius, thanks for the benefit of the doubt.

(03-10-2015 09:02 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(03-10-2015 05:22 PM)rice-76-03-06 Wrote:  My first thought was that perhaps the area around Reckling (especially the construction zone, also perhaps the path to the new tennis courts parking area) may be overly muddy. I agree that the field itself should have drained properly.

Just got back from Rice. Biked there and back from the Greenway plaza area and while there are puddles here and there, the sidewalks and roads are pretty much dry.

Sounds like a field issue, otherwise why delay the Texas State game also? As for RPI gaming, the articles I saw seemed to indicate the game would be rescheduled, not pushed into 2016.

You beat me to it.

You bring up a great fact, that obviously you're well aware of, as are others close to the program, like 13th, and that is that the players are really a key part of the groundskeeping crew.

I was out at my son's rec league field on Saturday, where I coach, for Park Maintenance Day, and one of the other parent there was a walk-on who played at Rice around 2000-2002 time frame (I'm ashamed to say I can't recall his name right now, but he was a GeoPhysics major and ended up devoting full time to his academics - - seemed like a great guy though). He was telling me that he had gotten a lot of practical experience at field maintenance while at Rice, as the players play a big role in keeping the field in shape.

He mentioned getting phone calls from the staff late at night, with the players driving over to the park to roll out the tarp to beat the arrival of newly developed storm fronts.

I've seen Coach Evans from Waltrip (Zech Lemond's HS) helping out with groundskeeping at our field too, and it just hit me that as a former college player (not at Rice) and minor leaguer, he probably learned Groundskeeping 101, 102, 201 and 202 the same way our players do. I imagine that the camaraderie that would tend to build is one of the many reasons college ball is so much better than minor league baseball.

The Tx State game needs to be moved up to noon to get it in if the weather forecast is right.

(03-10-2015 10:37 PM)Rick Gerlach Wrote:  You bring up a great fact, that obviously you're well aware of, as are others close to the program, like 13th, and that is that the players are really a key part of the groundskeeping crew.

I was out at my son's rec league field on Saturday, where I coach, for Park Maintenance Day, and one of the other parent there was a walk-on who played at Rice around 2000-2002 time frame (I'm ashamed to say I can't recall his name right now, but he was a GeoPhysics major and ended up devoting full time to his academics - - seemed like a great guy though). He was telling me that he had gotten a lot of practical experience at field maintenance while at Rice, as the players play a big role in keeping the field in shape.

He mentioned getting phone calls from the staff late at night, with the players driving over to the park to roll out the tarp to beat the arrival of newly developed storm fronts.

I've seen Coach Evans from Waltrip (Zech Lemond's HS) helping out with groundskeeping at our field too, and it just hit me that as a former college player (not at Rice) and minor leaguer, he probably learned Groundskeeping 101, 102, 201 and 202 the same way our players do. I imagine that the camaraderie that would tend to build is one of the many reasons college ball is so much better than minor league baseball.

Ahhh, memories! If it started raining and you were a walk-on (or a scholarship guy way down the depth chart), you never wanted to get that call at some odd hour. Actually, it was kind of fun.

seems to me like somebody in the AD's office could be responsible for this when the team is out of town.

(03-11-2015 07:08 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  seems to me like somebody in the AD's office could be responsible for this when the team is out of town.

I was thinking the exact same thing. It is understandable, and even beneficial for the reasons cited in posts above, for the players to help out on the field maintenance/grounds crew when they are in town. But the fact that there is no contingency backup to do things like tarp the field and mound when inclement weather situations arise at Reckling when the team is out of town and not taking care of it can impact the team and its future home schedule is hard to understand at a Top 25 Div I baseball program with the history and tradition in baseball like Rice.

Maybe that's just the way it has to be, but it does seem weird.

Any chance some of you in Houston closer to the baseball program could inquire to the Athletic dept about addressing this shortcoming for the future?

(03-11-2015 07:08 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  seems to me like somebody in the AD's office could be responsible for this when the team is out of town.

Of course Rice has tried the cheapest alternative in the past, just put the tarp on the infield before the team departs for the away series. If you have ever wondered why the infield would look yellow with all the sun we get in Houston, well, now you know.

(03-11-2015 08:45 AM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(03-11-2015 07:08 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  seems to me like somebody in the AD's office could be responsible for this when the team is out of town.

Of course Rice has tried the cheapest alternative in the past, just put the tarp on the infield before the team departs for the away series. If you have ever wondered why the infield would look yellow with all the sun we get in Houston, well, now you know.

If I am out of town, I arrange for somebody to feed my cat. Seems that somebody in the athletic department could look out the window and say it looks like rain, let's get some people to pull the tarp over the field.

Or to put it another way, how do LSU and UT handle this?

(03-11-2015 09:19 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(03-11-2015 08:45 AM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(03-11-2015 07:08 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  seems to me like somebody in the AD's office could be responsible for this when the team is out of town.

Of course Rice has tried the cheapest alternative in the past, just put the tarp on the infield before the team departs for the away series. If you have ever wondered why the infield would look yellow with all the sun we get in Houston, well, now you know.

If I am out of town, I arrange for somebody to feed my cat. Seems that somebody in the athletic department could look out the window and say it looks like rain, let's get some people to pull the tarp over the field.

Or to put it another way, how do LSU and UT handle this?

Or UH?