I remember years ago (many years ago) where there was a Jacksonville that was in the old SunBelt Conf (maybe??) and where pretty good. I seem to remember they had a older but firey coach at the time. Is this the same Jacksonville that's now in this league?
Yup it sure is. And believe it or not it is also the same Jacksonville that went to the 1970 NCAA national championship game. I think they lost to UCLA in the championship by 15 or so points. Hard to believe isn't it?
Yeah and Holy Cross and Sewanee dont play in football national championships anymore.
When did Holy Cross and Sewanee play for national titles?
Bowl games I can see. National Titles- I need to see it.
once again too with a potential All-American hurler in Matt Dobbins. How many All-Americans at ETSU this year?
King of Stetson "It's time for baseball!"
Rhys Davies and Gareth Shaw on our NATIONALLY RANKED men's golf team...
James Rainer and Anna Marie Riccardi on our track team.
Glad it's baseball time, we'll probably still be talking about our basketball team and how soon we'll be leaving this hellhole conference.
Again, see television ratings and national attendance figures for college and professional baseball the last 10 years. There's a reason nobody wants to invest alot in a TV deal for a sport that only gets brought up when the discussions of performance enhancing drugs, Mcgwire's lies and the now ever feared "gyro ball."
You'll never win the argument calling baseball a major sport, most midmajors who tier their athletic teams have baseball down on the totem pole, but for schools like Stetson who literally CANNOT COMPETE in anything else and is located in Florida, baseball is a perfect sport to fund and say "look at us!" While you guys are wondering why you're not in the CWS the rest of the athletic world is actually enjoying summer.
Be realistic.
media who do classify it as such. And by the way, there were several comments on ESPN following the Gators national championship in football wondering if the baseball team could make it a "clean sweep" of the major team sports.
With regard to television coverage, ESPN didn't even carry all the CWS games ten years ago. Now all the CWS games AND all the Super Regionals are covered, AND even some of the Regional games are telecast nationally. So, the sport (college baseball) has exploded in terms of television coverage in the past decade. In addition, an increasingly higher number of high-round draft pics continue to come out of the college ranks and are the direct cause of the shrinkage in the number of minor league teams in recent years.
KOS
P.S. Stick to your opinions. In all honesty, I'm thrilled for you to be leaving the league and I hope you enjoy your 1-AA football when it returns to ETSU.
That's why pro ball has so many players from Latin decent... They were in the American college system. I know ETSU is just loaded with minority players this season.... lmfao
And again as for TV coverage, the same can be said for college soccer, golf, volleyball, softball, lacrosse and I think even the national finals of intercollegiate bowling. ESPN has picked everything up, that doesn't mean people are actually watching the games on television, except for people who literally have NOTHING else to do.
The funny thing is you guys won't play big picture sports, Stetson could be EASILY marketed as a school. A unique nickname, nice area, and def. not a shortage of athletes in Florida, yet the Hatters still are floundering around, with no ambition to try to build and move forward.
Do you honestly think baseball is classified in the same company as bowling, golf, and volleyball? Every single postseason baseball game is televised. Plenty of regular season games are on as well, more every year. Go make this speech at Cal State Fullerton, Miami, LSU or Texas and see what happens. You don't have to like baseball, but don't try to belittle what Stetson has accomplished on the diamond. I hope Mercer keeps up the same level of competition.
All-Americans than any other school in the league over the last decade. As for ESPN covering games and no one actually watching them, they are hardly a non-profit institution providing footage for the sake of humanity. Like any network, their audience literally dictates what programming is covered.
With regard to your recommended course of action for Stetson athletics...If Stetson could realistically improve in basketball, I'd be all for it. but with our available resources I seriously doubt that is possible, and that is the position of the university at this time. The only reason we've accomplished on a shoe-string budget what we've been able to on the diamond is due to two extraordinarily talented people: Coach Pete Dunn and AD Jeff Altier.
Three schools that have football national titles in the last 10 years and you guys think that baseball is their bread and butter? Baseball just isn't a ratings grabber, ESPN I guarantee you gets all that cheap, and they can package it all up and sell it together, hence the promos for thhe NCAA "winter championships," or the "spring" champsionships.
If you guys think that college baseball is going to get you the same exposure as football or basketball... I mean seriously, how many people know that you guys were in the NCAA regionals last year?
Wow, I didn't.
Maybe it's because the best players go pro out of high school, there's no other college sports on that time of year, whatever, but for some reason, baseball is a distant third in interest when it comes to college athletics. It's about getting your money's worth, and you can put a lot of money into baseball and have very little to show for it.
out we're in the top 40 in D1 attendance and the revenue generated from repeated trips to the NCAA tourney makes the program very profitable. As for little to show for it, that's absolutely ridiculous. We have 14 NCAA Regional appearances in 27 years, including six out of the last seven. We've produced 15 All-Americans in the last ten years (four first-teamers), two million-dollar plus first round draft pics, and sent over 75 players to the minor leagues during the 27 seasons of Coach Dunn's tenure. We have had several nationally-ranked teams and were ranked as high as #7 in the country in 2001 (the Hatters led the nation in home runs for most of the season despite the enormous confines of Melching Field).
As far as the top players coming out of the high school ranks, that has changed dramatically in the last decade with the majority of the players selected in the first two rounds now coming from the college ranks.
Mind you, this is from a school with miniscule resources (an attendance of 2400 and quite possibly the smallest athletic budget in D1).
Could you give me some statistical backing on that?
The reason why I'm skeptical is I know as a Pittsburgh Pirates fan, often times they look to high school players to draft early because often times they can be had cheaper than a college player.
America and the Sporting News about the rise of college baseball vs. the minor leagues. Michael Lewis's 2003 bestseller Money Ball specifically noted this trend as well. For someone who follows major league baseball I'm absolutely dumbfounded that you are unaware of this trend.
By the way, want to see some pro scouts at some Atlantic sun games? Come to Melching Field....you pick the game...they'll be there.
KOS
But I'm not sure it's true-
I have in my hands the 2006 Chicago White Sox media guide. I go back the last 10 years (11 picks- 1996-2005) of first round picks-
Three are high school kids.
Now, I am looking at the previous 10 years- (1995-86).
ONE high school kid.
Okay, that's one team.
Now I have the 2005 Pirates media guide.
And sadly, they don't list the school from where their first round picks are from.
But a little research shows that of the Bucs' six first round picks from 1998-2004, three were from high school.
Link or reference the article in BA or Sporting News. Or give me a reference. Or a statistical breakdown.
I actually have followed the baseball draft over the years and while more college players are picked in the high rounds, I'm not sure it's become any sort of a trend from the last few years.
but check out Money Ball sometime...Incidentally, the trend I was discussing was over the past decade...not the last few years...if you go back into the early 90s and before you will see hardly any first and second rounders coming out of college...remember all the furor when Atlanta took bob horner right out of college in the first round...('78 or so)...No one could believe a college player was drafted that high...now it's common place...
KOS
On another subject...how r u feeling about your basketball team's stellar performance this season?
If the White Sox trends are any indication, it would be the past TWO decades.
Look, you won't see me knock college baseball. One of the things I did was cover Pitt baseball for rivals.com when I was there and it was very well received.
It literally is breaking my heart the old baseball field here at ETSU has been razed for a soccer field.
However, I do think the baseball draft is a poor example. In addition to the fact the smaller market teams are drafting high school players (remember- the A's are Moneyball. The Pirates are Thriftyball- as are a lot of teams. There is a difference) in more numbers- as my Pirates illustration shows- I think in the future the shape of the draft will change.
That said, I think the future of college baseball is bright.
And you're right with regard to the preferences of each organization. The Dodgers, for example, consistently prefer high schoolers, but that's largely do to placing a greater emphasis on it safarm system.
Funny thing, on the Stetson basketball game last night, the special guest was Pete Dunn, who spoke about how college baseball has "really come of age" with the proliferation of talent and the resulting heightened level of parity throughout the nation's top 50 programs.
That's impressive that you used to have the rivals gig...
King of Stetson
http://www.glennswift.com
Don't get me wrong. I like the game, I like college baseball ALOT better than the pro game, it's faster, there's more offense typically and hot dogs don't cost 5 bucks, but to compare it to the level of college basketball and college football is crazy. It's just not there, and it never will be. Not in the ratings, not in overrall attendance, exposure, or anything. It just won't do that.
And since ya'll are in the looking up mood, look up how many Latin American players have been drafted into the minors over the last decade, versus other minorities in the country. I wonder if that has alot to do with more U.S. ball players at the high school level leaning more towards the collegiate route simply because the MLB organizations are drafting more from South American countries...
That's what is screwed up in the MLB compared to the NFL. I like pro baseball as well, but some teams just simply do not compete (and don't want to compete). If the Pirates are thriftyball, then what are the Tampa Rays!?!?
major sports, but I was not saying (or attempting to imply) that they are on the same level as basketball and football.
That would be lunacy!!!LOL
Go Bears tonight against Miami!
KOS
I have come to despise the pro game and couldn't agree with you more about the college game and for the exact same reasons you stated.
VolLover- Latin players can't get drafted.
They can sign as free agents. They don't get drafted.