The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

https://thedailydragon.com/2018/05/22/ua...mpionship/

Hate to say it but will be a minor miracle if they are not o-fer.

(05-23-2018 08:31 AM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  Hate to say it but will be a minor miracle if they are not o-fer.

For sure

(05-23-2018 08:31 AM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  Hate to say it but will be a minor miracle if they are not o-fer.

Minor?

Harry Walker 211-171 (.522) 8 seasons
Pete Rancont 388-329-1 (.541) 11 seasons
Larry Giangrosso 176-222 (.442) 7 seasons
Brian Shoop 304-323 (.485) 11 seasons (including this season, thus far)

Not sure of the specifics but I think baseball has been at a disadvantage for quite some time due to the way that scholarships are given out & how other states have more grants, etc. for scholarships.

With that said I respect Shoop and what he brings to the university. Nothing wrong with that.

But with that said, we have a minor league ballpark that we are allowed to play in & should expect more out of the program than what we have been seeing for years.

Improvements must be made somehow, somewhere.

Likewise after Streetman left UAB, softball has totally tanked. Even with the team finishing 2nd in the league in softball this season the overall record was pathetic & you could count on us losing to teams like Jack State & Samford.

This all with an almost brand spanking new field for softball.

Somehow it just doesn't seem right for us to wish for greatness in football and basketball and live with all of the other mediocre programs without saying something.

There are some exceptions though with bowling improving, etc.

States with "Hope" type scholarships (from gaming income) are potentially at some advantage over universities like those in Alabama who are limited to dividing up only those scholarships that the NCAA allows. A Georgia university, for example, can give instate baseball recruits these state endowed benefits freeing up the regular NCAA scholarships for division among out of state recruits.

This is not allowed in basketball or football where all scholarships count on the NCAA annual limit for that sport.

(05-23-2018 11:56 AM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Not sure of the specifics but I think baseball has been at a disadvantage for quite some time due to the way that scholarships are given out & how other states have more grants, etc. for scholarships.

With that said I respect Shoop and what he brings to the university. Nothing wrong with that.

But with that said, we have a minor league ballpark that we are allowed to play in & should expect more out of the program than what we have been seeing for years.

Improvements must be made somehow, somewhere.

Likewise after Streetman left UAB, softball has totally tanked. Even with the team finishing 2nd in the league in softball this season the overall record was pathetic & you could count on us losing to teams like Jack State & Samford.

This all with an almost brand spanking new field for softball.

Somehow it just doesn't seem right for us to wish for greatness in football and basketball and live with all of the other mediocre programs without saying something.

There are some exceptions though with bowling improving, etc.

Agree with your statement on the whole. I would say for your 2nd to last paragraph that you have to have expectations in the money generating sports so that you can have that money to make the other sports better. However, it's tough to accept when the rest of the state seems so good at baseball. This is everyone's baseball RPI over the past two seasons, keep in mind it's out of ~300 teams.

UAB: 200, 189
Auburn: 12, 45
Alabama: 83, 182
Troy: 38, 108
South Alabama: 48, 31
Samford: 114, 101
JSU: 116, 110

(05-24-2018 08:41 AM)Auburn_Blazer Wrote:  

(05-23-2018 11:56 AM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Not sure of the specifics but I think baseball has been at a disadvantage for quite some time due to the way that scholarships are given out & how other states have more grants, etc. for scholarships.

With that said I respect Shoop and what he brings to the university. Nothing wrong with that.

But with that said, we have a minor league ballpark that we are allowed to play in & should expect more out of the program than what we have been seeing for years.

Improvements must be made somehow, somewhere.

Likewise after Streetman left UAB, softball has totally tanked. Even with the team finishing 2nd in the league in softball this season the overall record was pathetic & you could count on us losing to teams like Jack State & Samford.

This all with an almost brand spanking new field for softball.

Somehow it just doesn't seem right for us to wish for greatness in football and basketball and live with all of the other mediocre programs without saying something.

There are some exceptions though with bowling improving, etc.

Agree with your statement on the whole. I would say for your 2nd to last paragraph that you have to have expectations in the money generating sports so that you can have that money to make the other sports better. However, it's tough to accept when the rest of the state seems so good at baseball. This is everyone's baseball RPI over the past two seasons, keep in mind it's out of ~300 teams.

UAB: 200, 189
Auburn: 12, 45
Alabama: 83, 182
Troy: 38, 108
South Alabama: 48, 31
Samford: 114, 101
JSU: 116, 110

As I noted, states with additional "Hope type" scholarships from gaming revenue potentially have a competitive advantage in baseball (and other partial scholarship sports) over similarly ranked schools in Alabama. How did you find Alabama's universities ranked over the same period with Georgia schools of similar rank? (P5 to P5 and G5 to G5)

(05-24-2018 11:22 AM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(05-24-2018 08:41 AM)Auburn_Blazer Wrote:  

(05-23-2018 11:56 AM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Not sure of the specifics but I think baseball has been at a disadvantage for quite some time due to the way that scholarships are given out & how other states have more grants, etc. for scholarships.

With that said I respect Shoop and what he brings to the university. Nothing wrong with that.

But with that said, we have a minor league ballpark that we are allowed to play in & should expect more out of the program than what we have been seeing for years.

Improvements must be made somehow, somewhere.

Likewise after Streetman left UAB, softball has totally tanked. Even with the team finishing 2nd in the league in softball this season the overall record was pathetic & you could count on us losing to teams like Jack State & Samford.

This all with an almost brand spanking new field for softball.

Somehow it just doesn't seem right for us to wish for greatness in football and basketball and live with all of the other mediocre programs without saying something.

There are some exceptions though with bowling improving, etc.

Agree with your statement on the whole. I would say for your 2nd to last paragraph that you have to have expectations in the money generating sports so that you can have that money to make the other sports better. However, it's tough to accept when the rest of the state seems so good at baseball. This is everyone's baseball RPI over the past two seasons, keep in mind it's out of ~300 teams.

UAB: 200, 189
Auburn: 12, 45
Alabama: 83, 182
Troy: 38, 108
South Alabama: 48, 31
Samford: 114, 101
JSU: 116, 110

As I noted, states with additional "Hope type" scholarships from gaming revenue potentially have a competitive advantage in baseball (and other partial scholarship sports) over similarly ranked schools in Alabama. How did you find Alabama's universities ranked over the same period with Georgia schools of similar rank? (P5 to P5 and G5 to G5)

Also Shoop is adamant about keeping a player he signs even if they don't pan out. Hard to replace the draft eligible guys we've lost over the last 5 or so years, too.

(05-24-2018 11:22 AM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(05-24-2018 08:41 AM)Auburn_Blazer Wrote:  

(05-23-2018 11:56 AM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Not sure of the specifics but I think baseball has been at a disadvantage for quite some time due to the way that scholarships are given out & how other states have more grants, etc. for scholarships.

With that said I respect Shoop and what he brings to the university. Nothing wrong with that.

But with that said, we have a minor league ballpark that we are allowed to play in & should expect more out of the program than what we have been seeing for years.

Improvements must be made somehow, somewhere.

Likewise after Streetman left UAB, softball has totally tanked. Even with the team finishing 2nd in the league in softball this season the overall record was pathetic & you could count on us losing to teams like Jack State & Samford.

This all with an almost brand spanking new field for softball.

Somehow it just doesn't seem right for us to wish for greatness in football and basketball and live with all of the other mediocre programs without saying something.

There are some exceptions though with bowling improving, etc.

Agree with your statement on the whole. I would say for your 2nd to last paragraph that you have to have expectations in the money generating sports so that you can have that money to make the other sports better. However, it's tough to accept when the rest of the state seems so good at baseball. This is everyone's baseball RPI over the past two seasons, keep in mind it's out of ~300 teams.

UAB: 200, 189
Auburn: 12, 45
Alabama: 83, 182
Troy: 38, 108
South Alabama: 48, 31
Samford: 114, 101
JSU: 116, 110

As I noted, states with additional "Hope type" scholarships from gaming revenue potentially have a competitive advantage in baseball (and other partial scholarship sports) over similarly ranked schools in Alabama. How did you find Alabama's universities ranked over the same period with Georgia schools of similar rank? (P5 to P5 and G5 to G5)

(05-24-2018 12:15 PM)BlazerGold09 Wrote:  

(05-24-2018 11:22 AM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(05-24-2018 08:41 AM)Auburn_Blazer Wrote:  [quote='the_blazerman' pid='15310365' dateline='1527094607']
Not sure of the specifics but I think baseball has been at a disadvantage for quite some time due to the way that scholarships are given out & how other states have more grants, etc. for scholarships.

With that said I respect Shoop and what he brings to the university. Nothing wrong with that.

But with that said, we have a minor league ballpark that we are allowed to play in & should expect more out of the program than what we have been seeing for years.

Improvements must be made somehow, somewhere.

Likewise after Streetman left UAB, softball has totally tanked. Even with the team finishing 2nd in the league in softball this season the overall record was pathetic & you could count on us losing to teams like Jack State & Samford.

This all with an almost brand spanking new field for softball.

Somehow it just doesn't seem right for us to wish for greatness in football and basketball and live with all of the other mediocre programs without saying something.

There are some exceptions though with bowling improving, etc.

Agree with your statement on the whole. I would say for your 2nd to last paragraph that you have to have expectations in the money generating sports so that you can have that money to make the other sports better. However, it's tough to accept when the rest of the state seems so good at baseball. This is everyone's baseball RPI over the past two seasons, keep in mind it's out of ~300 teams.

UAB: 200, 189
Auburn: 12, 45
Alabama: 83, 182
Troy: 38, 108
South Alabama: 48, 31
Samford: 114, 101
JSU: 116, 110

As I noted, states with additional "Hope type" scholarships from gaming revenue potentially have a competitive advantage in baseball (and other partial scholarship sports) over similarly ranked schools in Alabama. How did you find Alabama's universities ranked over the same period with Georgia schools of similar rank? (P5 to P5 and G5 to G5)

I'm not overly concerned with how UAB fares against Georgia schools, I want them to be at least on par with South Alabama, Troy, etc. I did look it up, and I'm sure I'm missing schools, but it isn't what you'd think:

Georgia: 3, 85
Georgia Tech: 52, 75
Georgia State: 134, 215
Georgia Southern: 67, 86

Quote:Also Shoop is adamant about keeping a player he signs even if they don't pan out. Hard to replace the draft eligible guys we've lost over the last 5 or so years, too.

That's a tough situation. I appreciate the info.

path ended with a 2-0 loss to USM yesterday.

(05-25-2018 08:22 AM)the_blazerman Wrote:  path ended with a 2-0 loss to USM yesterday.

actually with a 2-0 loss to Charlotte.

I should have read the link.

Assumed it was a 1 & out tournament after reading that the season was over.

Nobody’s resigned or been fired yet?

MTSU and Rice both made moves and had better records than us.

(05-27-2018 03:52 PM)BlazinBham Wrote:  Nobody’s resigned or been fired yet?

MTSU and Rice both made moves and had better records than us.

Just because no one is let go does not mean the AD isn't thinking about it. He just may not have been able to draw interest yet from a replacement he wants to hire. The "anyone would be better than who we have" folks were exposed as mistaken when Callaway was replaced with McGee.

Not sure that it is strictly a coaching thing although Dunn at Samford seems to be able to succeed.

No idea what can be done but something has to change to improve.

(05-27-2018 07:00 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Not sure that it is strictly a coaching thing although Dunn at Samford seems to be able to succeed.

No idea what can be done but something has to change to improve.

A coaching change may be needed for UAB baseball, but the AD must meet agreement with a replacement to get it done. Is UAB's BB program an attractive job for rising young coaches? We on the outside looking in don't know how many "thanks, but no thanks" replies the AD has received, if any. Perhaps some "Blazer Insider" could inform us. Also, look at the number of BB coaches our state's P5 programs have gone through in the last decade of seasons (and Bama didn't even qualify for the SEC Tournament this season).

Seems like something else is going on besides just coaching. All schools in the state are held back due to scholarship rules however Jax State and Samford seem to be able to handle it.

Auburn as well & Alabama every few years.

From Harry the Hat Walker the program has continue to decline.

Rancont was ok. Giangrosso was terrible. Shoop hasn't had that many spectacular years at UAB yet seemed to get it done at Bham Southern.

(05-28-2018 02:11 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Seems like something else is going on besides just coaching. All schools in the state are held back due to scholarship rules however Jax State and Samford seem to be able to handle it.

Auburn as well & Alabama every few years.

From Harry the Hat Walker the program has continue to decline.

Rancont was ok. Giangrosso was terrible. Shoop hasn't had that many spectacular years at UAB yet seemed to get it done at Bham Southern.

Alabama schools and their programs (athletic as well as academic) are held back by the state's reluctance to fund education spending (The 2018-2019 SETF is still over $200 million less than the same budget for 2007-08). That said, coaches are essentially teachers and you hire the quality of teachers you can afford on your budget.

Just like all teachers are not Teacher of the Year quality (it is not coincidence that 3 of 4 TOY finalists every year are from the top 5 funded districts), not all coaches are Coach of the Year (but 3 of 4 COY finalists are from the wealthiest programs) quality either.