(02-20-2019 06:05 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  The more recent example of us blowing it was when we were 8 outs away from the Super Regional in 2016 @ LSU and Willy Amador collapsed.

Oh, give me a break. Willy gave us 5 exceptional innings; his longest outing of the year, and was gassed. We lost because the multiple weather delays that weekend left our pitching staff totally decimated. Myers was burned out the previous day, as was Otto. We tried going back to Fox, but he had been to the well twice already that weekend and had nothing left in his tank. Conversely, since LSU got their Game 1 in on that Friday, as scheduled, and had no other game delayed or rescheduled (which we had twice), they had a well rested staff, and was able to go back to once of their co-aces in relief, who had over 3 full days of rest.

(02-20-2019 06:21 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 06:05 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  The more recent example of us blowing it was when we were 8 outs away from the Super Regional in 2016 @ LSU and Willy Amador collapsed.

Oh, give me a break. Willy gave us 5 exceptional innings; his longest outing of the year, and was gassed. We lost because the multiple weather delays that weekend left our pitching staff totally decimated. Myers was burned out the previous day, as was Otto. We tried going back to Fox, but he had been to the well twice already that weekend and had nothing left in his tank. Conversely, since LSU got their Game 1 in on that Friday, as scheduled, and had no other game delayed or rescheduled (which we had twice), they had a well rested staff, and was able to go back to once of their co-aces in relief, who had over 3 full days of rest.

I'm not necessarily saying Willy didn't pitch well or is totally to blame but it was still a post-season collapse.

At the end of the day, we have consistently failed to make winning plays lately.

(02-20-2019 05:35 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 05:08 PM)Throwing Chade Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 04:09 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 04:03 PM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  The mental aspect has extended to all areas; inabilities to hit well in the clutch, blowups on the pitching mound (remember the ULL debacle at the UH regional four years ago where we blew a 6-2 lead in the top of the ninth because two consecutive pitchers couldn't even get the first out of the inning; our bats went down meekly in the bottom half of the inning to finish the choke job)) and piss poor fielding. For whatever reason over the past 5-7 years, there seems to be a large gap between where our players are mentally and a championship-type level of focus/mentality to block out every single mistake and start each pitch/at-bat with a fresh mindset.

My sentiments exactly. I still remember the NC State super regional...

NC State was a very good team. Those games were lost when we put in a closer who had a great year. That team was far from mentally weak and was one of the best fielding teams we have had in awhile. Not a great example.

We blew it. Badly. Lets not go down excuse alley. What next, no EZF?

Both games were extremely close and the second one went 17 innings. Not really sure how that counts as "blowing it". If we had been up by 3 or more runs in the 9th that would have been a different story but that didn't happen.

(02-20-2019 02:14 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 01:57 PM)interwebowl Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 01:51 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 01:23 PM)interwebowl Wrote:  I do think there is a pretty sizeable talent gap between us an UT/A&M/LSU right now that didn’t exist 6+ years ago. Sadly I think it might extend to TTU/Baylor/TCU/UH as well.

Exactly. That is not going to change because Rice is not going to change. Bragga can go find all the Tennessee Tech types he wants, but they are not getting into school here. Everyone loved to dump on old Wayne, and the reality is that his age may have cost him some recruits. His stature got recruits too. Now we are into year one of the Karlgaard baseball era and the reality is that like all the other men's programs that are asked to compete with the big boys, baseball remains on the decline and there are no realistic ways for Rice to get the quality of recruits that big power 5 schools do in any sport. This won't change because there is simply no way to change it short of the BOT investing 100s of millions in athletics and we all know that is not happening. The death spiral continues.......

Ready to fire Bragga after one week of the season are you? That’s a record. Even Pera got more than a week before people were calling for his firing.

That is not what I said. I think Bragga may be a really nice guy and the players I have talked to seem to like him. I am saying that Rice cannot compete with the big boys and never will again in men's sports without a complete overhaul of the bot commitment to athletics. Joe is not going to get that because his job, as he sees it, is not to win but to keep it alive. The head coaches don't matter and they have not for some time.

Disagree about baseball given the recent change in financial aid. Unless a prospective student-athlete comes from a well-off family, the financial aid policy now allows us to recruit non-scholarship players and, in essence, offer them an academic scholarship. That's how a lot of the big schools caught up to us - they started investing in their programs AND recruiting people by offering them non-athletic scholarships.

The reason baseball, over football or basketball, is a sport we can still compete in, is that there is a clear amateur route for high school students to take, that doesn't involve college. That means we can compete for students who actually value their education or players who might not immediately see a path to the pros. If we keep investing in our facilities and coaches, there is no reason we can't remain among the elite baseball universities.
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Good points

(02-21-2019 09:31 AM)Throwing Chade Wrote:  Both games were extremely close and the second one went 17 innings. Not really sure how that counts as "blowing it". If we had been up by 3 or more runs in the 9th that would have been a different story but that didn't happen.

I don't disagree with your point, but FTR we were up 4-1 in the 9th of the second game in Raleigh...

This is like the Saints/Rams game in the NFL playoffs - doesn't matter how many times its dissected or discussed, it won't change a thing.

We have had our struggles in the past but that was after years of success. The tide will turn again.

(02-21-2019 03:16 PM)RiceOwl Wrote:  This is like the Saints/Rams game in the NFL playoffs - doesn't matter how many times its dissected or discussed, it won't change a thing.

We have had our struggles in the past but that was after years of success. The tide will turn again.

It doesnt change it, but at the same time, we shouldnt try revising history here.

The choke job problem is half a decade old and it continues today. Acting like it hasnt been a problem is akin to Rams fans claiming Robey-Coleman didn't commit a foul.