(02-29-2020 07:57 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(02-29-2020 07:29 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(02-29-2020 07:23 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  No point in throwing anybody under the bus. The problem is simple. We simply don't have the talent we once had.
If a team of Lance Berkmans or Matt Andersons or Phil Humbers or Jeff Niemanns or Wade Townsends or Joe Saverys or Anthony Rendons was playing like this, it would be past time to throw somebody under the bus. But this isn't a team of those people. When the people you are recruiting against can promise a $20,000 lower sticker price, they're going to get the best players and you aren't. Wayne's best coaching jobs were probably near the end, when he held things together without the talent we once had.
It's going to be a long road back. The Rice Endowment should help reduce or eliminate the difference in sticker price. Then it comes down to recruiting and player development. Sitting on the talent gold mine that is Houston baseball, we should be able to get killer recruiting classes again, if Bragga can mend fences with the THSBCA. If not, then we are in deep kimchee.

It was a joke, man.

I know. Mine wasn't. We're just not going to be very good for a couple more years. Get used to it.

Unfortunately, I am used to it. I do not expect very much from Rice baseball, and they still fail to meet my low bar. Hope you are right about a couple of years.

Now in my sixth decade of Rice fandom, my optimism is beginning to fade. But I am, and always will be, a fan of Rice University.