There’s no reason why we can’t compete for conference championships in all sports. The Sun Belt was a *football* upgrade.

(11-20-2022 08:02 PM)Dukes94 Wrote:  There’s no reason why we can’t compete for conference championships in all sports. The Sun Belt was a *football* upgrade.

Agreed but we do have a pretty nice softball and men’s soccer conference though!

(11-20-2022 08:02 PM)Dukes94 Wrote:  There’s no reason why we can’t compete for conference championships in all sports. The Sun Belt was a *football* upgrade.

There's a lot of reasons we won't compete in baseball, but outside of that, agreed.

So happy to see we won, wish I could've watched it. Any championships this year are especially awesome to see knowing that a lot of those athletes were around last year when they didn't get to compete for a championship. Missed out on a year of that for the overall good of the school and athletics so especially sweet to see them rewarded.

(11-20-2022 09:34 PM)KickItToScotty Wrote:  Any championships this year are especially awesome to see knowing that a lot of those athletes were around last year when they didn't get to compete for a championship. Missed out on a year of that for the overall good of the school and athletics so especially sweet to see them rewarded.

^

This.

Both basketball teams and softball should have competitive shots at winning SBC championships this year. Baseball…eh, I’m just hoping the Dukes don’t finish in last place.

(11-20-2022 08:37 PM)JMU08 Wrote:  

(11-20-2022 08:02 PM)Dukes94 Wrote:  There’s no reason why we can’t compete for conference championships in all sports. The Sun Belt was a *football* upgrade.

There's a lot of reasons we won't compete in baseball, but outside of that, agreed.

Yeah, but hell, we used to be really good in baseball. What do the other SBC schools have that we don’t, which would prevent us from improving? Genuinely curious. Baseball is my least favorite sport. Not sure how our coaches or facilities stack up because I don’t pay attention.

(11-21-2022 05:59 PM)Dukes94 Wrote:  

(11-20-2022 08:37 PM)JMU08 Wrote:  

(11-20-2022 08:02 PM)Dukes94 Wrote:  There’s no reason why we can’t compete for conference championships in all sports. The Sun Belt was a *football* upgrade.

There's a lot of reasons we won't compete in baseball, but outside of that, agreed.

Yeah, but hell, we used to be really good in baseball. What do the other SBC schools have that we don’t, which would prevent us from improving? Genuinely curious. Baseball is my least favorite sport. Not sure how our coaches or facilities stack up because I don’t pay attention.

SBC schools take baseball pretty seriously. For some of them it's a bigger deal than basketball, and they get good crowds/attendance. Haven't researched, but they have some nice looking facilities, and I'd imagine their overall baseball budgets and coaching spends make ours look meager.

Different priorities likely. We spend on basketball, many of the other schools spend on baseball.

(11-21-2022 06:38 PM)JMURocks Wrote:  

(11-21-2022 05:59 PM)Dukes94 Wrote:  

(11-20-2022 08:37 PM)JMU08 Wrote:  

(11-20-2022 08:02 PM)Dukes94 Wrote:  There’s no reason why we can’t compete for conference championships in all sports. The Sun Belt was a *football* upgrade.

There's a lot of reasons we won't compete in baseball, but outside of that, agreed.

Yeah, but hell, we used to be really good in baseball. What do the other SBC schools have that we don’t, which would prevent us from improving? Genuinely curious. Baseball is my least favorite sport. Not sure how our coaches or facilities stack up because I don’t pay attention.

SBC schools take baseball pretty seriously. For some of them it's a bigger deal than basketball, and they get good crowds/attendance. Haven't researched, but they have some nice looking facilities, and I'd imagine their overall baseball budgets and coaching spends make ours look meager.

Different priorities likely. We spend on basketball, many of the other schools spend on baseball.

Besides Title IX, one of the reasons JMU only offers 17 sports and just six for men is a desire to support each sport to the fullest amount possible…so I’ve heard. If a William and Mary can half-assedly support 21 sports with one-third of our enrollment, I’d think we could field a respectable baseball team. I dunno.

I don't think the problems with baseball are Title IX related...

(11-21-2022 08:07 PM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  I don't think the problems with baseball are Title IX related...

Exactly.

The immediate problems with JMU baseball begin and end with JMU’s HC.

The deeper problems involve lack of our administration’s vision and investment in the baseball program. While JMU’s facilities are “okay” they are more equivalent to a DII (maybe even DIII) level program. In essence, JMU went small and old school on the new park, without any bells and whistles, and we got what we paid for.

Starting with a new HC and stepping up to the plate to improve the salary pool for the HC and staff would be the first step to start turning the corner in awaking what (IMO) is a sleeping giant.

(11-21-2022 08:26 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(11-21-2022 08:07 PM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  I don't think the problems with baseball are Title IX related...

Exactly.

The immediate problems with JMU baseball begin and end with JMU’s HC.

The deeper problems involve lack of our administration’s vision and investment in the baseball program. While JMU’s facilities are “okay” they are more equivalent to a DII (maybe even DIII) level program. In essence, JMU went small and old school on the new park, without any bells and whistles, and we got what we paid for.

Starting with a new HC and stepping up to the plate to improve the salary pool for the HC and staff would be the first step to start turning the corner in awaking what (IMO) is a sleeping giant.

Thanks. That gets to my point about JMU funding each sport at a high level, and competing for conference championships in each sport. I guess they ain't doing that for baseball.

(11-22-2022 11:26 AM)Dukes94 Wrote:  

(11-21-2022 08:26 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(11-21-2022 08:07 PM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  I don't think the problems with baseball are Title IX related...

Exactly.

The immediate problems with JMU baseball begin and end with JMU’s HC.

The deeper problems involve lack of our administration’s vision and investment in the baseball program. While JMU’s facilities are “okay” they are more equivalent to a DII (maybe even DIII) level program. In essence, JMU went small and old school on the new park, without any bells and whistles, and we got what we paid for.

Starting with a new HC and stepping up to the plate to improve the salary pool for the HC and staff would be the first step to start turning the corner in awaking what (IMO) is a sleeping giant.

Thanks. That gets to my point about JMU funding each sport at a high level, and competing for conference championships in each sport. I guess they ain't doing that for baseball.

JMU baseball has been an odd duck. Many of the problems have been self-inflicted, and are tied to a lack of vision and leadership that’s defined the program for more than a decade.

For comparison, when Mickey came in as the new HC for softball (from Radford) he immediately began to make requests that were needed to improve the softball facilities and energize the program. Mickey also brought with him a solid staff from Radford, and together they improved recruiting and the administration approved the facility upgrades. The team started to win big, all of which helped build the forward momentum that defines today’s program.

The point being the right HC can make a huge difference in program success, and JMU baseball has languished for a full decade (last 3 years under Spanky McFarland and 7 under Ike) in mediocrity. Nothing will change until the AD and administration decide to get serious about making a change in JMU’s baseball leadership.

Play Friday against BYU. We were RPI 22 this season. Game in Pittsburgh.

4pm start

Mighty Dukes currently up on BYU, 14-12.

Looks to be a competitive match, neither of these squads are gonna be walk overs.

LFG!!!

BYU game pt. Set 1. Dukes at 20 pts.

Hanging in there pretty well. BYU ranked at #6 I think. Game on in background, not looking...

(11-21-2022 08:07 PM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  I don't think the problems with baseball are Title IX related...

No, they are not related to Title IX.

The problems with baseball are self-inflicted.

This year SoMiss expects to SELL almost 3,000 season tickets to their baseball games. Compare that to JMU, where we’re lucky to get 500 people in the stands for baseball…and admission is free.

It’s not that JMU’s athletic budget is so tight or football or basketball centric that funds are not available to improve baseball. It’s a matter of institutional will and vision.

Getting smoked in Set 2.

Started 10-1 I think I heard, now down 16-7.

Need some rally time after this set. Likely be 0-2, best of 5.

It looks like our passes have been a tiny bit off. So our kills dont have quite as much behind them as they could.

Also, byu has gone to the same play pretty much every time, and we havent been able to stop it