Messages

1411

Non YSU Sports / Re: Fairless High QB Hunter Wells (2014) commits to YSU

« on: June 24, 2013, 06:13:31 PM »

I like his height and the fact that he will have played for four seasons.  He does perform against weak competition, but that is beyond his control.  Wofford and Montgomery must really like him if they offered him this early. 

We should have quite a competition for the job once Hess graduates.  Good.  Survival of the fittest.  Last man standing.  That should toughen up the winner before he takes his first meaningful varsity snap. (Wargo will get some garbage time this season in three of our four first games....we better have the starters out by the third quarter.)

1412

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Women's hoops recruit released from NLI and signs with Ohio U

« on: June 14, 2013, 02:45:43 PM »

IP, thanks, as usual, for the inside scoop.  Even before Boldon left, I figured there was a 50% possibility that he was a really good coach and a 50% possibility that the resurgence in our women's program had little to do with him and much to do with Brandi Brown.  Hopefully, the second possibility is valid and this guy fails.  After this major breach in professional conduct, I join the voices that wish Boldon nothing but the worst.

1413

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Women's hoops recruit released from NLI and signs with Ohio U

« on: June 13, 2013, 07:52:33 PM »

Did we not read at the time that Boldon left that he had agreed not to recruit players at Ohio University that he was already recruiting for us?  Was that not part of the negotiations as he broke his contract?  I guess that applied only to high school prospects and not individuals who had already signed.  On the surface, Strollo's decision here sets a very bad precedent.  Of course, there is the possibility that the new coach does not really want this player and has a better use for the scholarship.

1414

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: YSU Sports: The Year in Review

« on: May 31, 2013, 11:10:18 PM »

Just a few more comments.  IAA Fan, I agree softball was disappointing until the tournament run.  But Campbell just finished his fifth season, so he is not new.  It really bothers me that he has recruited only one true DI pitcher during his tenure.  Perhaps the new state-of-the-art stadium will enhance his recruitment.

Loyola burst on the scene and dominated track this year, but I learned from one of our coaches that they pumped big bucks into their program.  Leads one to think that they knew that MVC invite was coming well in advance. 

We are always rather weak in men's distance running.  But Loyola and Butler were so dominant, that it made little sense for Gorby to divert too many resources there.  With both schools now gone, it will be interesting to see if he rethinks his strategy.

I agree that the tennis coach turned in the best job while handling both teams.  Euros dominate tennis today so his hiring and his recruits make perfect sense.

I would also give credit to the new volleyball coach.  6th out of 8 seems bad until you understand what a terrible program he inherited.  For the first time in many years, we were competitive against league opponents and most players return.  Looks like the right hire.

Finally, does anybody know why we are not competitive in swimming?  Seems like the program is old enough now to show results.  I assume our pool is satisfactory.  No local talent base?  Coaching?  I have no clue.

1415

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: LB David Perkins

« on: May 31, 2013, 10:42:44 PM »

Wofford has been burned by so many FBS transfers in his three years that he is rightfully disenchanted with them.  He said publicly something to the effect that good players always stick around with the program that recruited them.  But you never know.

1416

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: YSU Sports: The Year in Review

« on: May 29, 2013, 01:05:45 PM »

guins4,

Sorry.  I checked my posts and they do not go back that far.  I do remember that we were in the bottom half in just about all sports except for women's track and golf.  In five or six sports, we were dead last, led by the women's basketball team that was something like 0-31.  What is remarkable now is that, although we failed to win a single league championship, we finished 2nd or 3rd in nine of the eighteen sports.  I am hardly an apologist for this athletic department, and none of us will be happy until the football team is fixed.  But real progress has occurred, and I am trying to be fair.

1417

YSU Penguin Athletics / YSU Sports: The Year in Review

« on: May 28, 2013, 01:14:35 PM »

Three years ago, I posted the collective results of all of our teams in league play.  It was a sad picture that supported the argument that we operated one of the worst DI programs in the country.  Today I will do the same thing.  The continuing failure in football and the lingering mediocrity in men's basketball sort of disguise the fact that we have made dramatic improvements in some areas, especially on the women's side.  Here are the records for all 18 sports.  I used our finish in the regular season for those sports that played full schedules; post-season tournaments or meets for the others.  Only the softball team performed better in the post-season than the regular season.  I will comment on this in a day or two, but I am most interested in your reactions to our collective performance in the 2012-2013 academic year.

Men's sports

6th out of 10   football
7th out of 8     cross-country
5th out of 9     basketball
3rd out of 6     indoor track
3rd out of 7     tennis
6th out of 7     golf
3rd out of 6     outdoor track
5th out of 5     baseball

women's sports

4th out of 8     soccer
6th out of 8     volleyball
3rd out of 9     cross-country
2nd out of 9    basketball
6th out of 7     swimming
3rd out of 7     indoor track
2nd out of 8    tennis
2nd out of 7    golf
2nd out of 7    outdoor track
6th out of 8     softball (runner-up in tournament)

1418

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: YSU to host HL tournament at Eastwood Field

« on: May 23, 2013, 10:38:51 AM »

When I saw Stanford on STO in April early in the major league baseball season, my reaction was "oh, I thought YSU had a game today.  I must be wrong."  Nope.  He works for the Indians for every game, home and away.  Turns out his hiring at YSU was little more than a publicity stunt.  So we have a pitching coach that never actually attends our games.  That must be a first for college athletics.  And, as you noted, it certainly contributed to the disintegration of the pitching as the season ran its course.  Why do we continue to do stupid, obvious things that make it even more difficult to succeed with our limited resources?

1419

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: YSU to host HL tournament at Eastwood Field

« on: May 22, 2013, 09:42:05 PM »

I agree with IP.  Halfway through the league season, we were competitive and I was pleased with the progress from the new coach.  But the second half was just brutal.  We must, however, be fair.  This guy inherited one of the worst DI teams in the country.  Not only is the talent sparse, but the fundamentals are terrible, as IP just demonstrated for us.  This will take at least three recruiting classes before we are even competitive. 

1420

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Horizon League softball tournament

« on: May 10, 2013, 06:03:18 PM »

Wonderful.  Totally unexpected but marvelous.  What a great time for Crozier to put it all together.  The potential was always there.  To answer your question Indy, Campbell is usually very conservative in those situations, often to my consternation.  That was out of character.  He was obviously more frustrated than those of us that were watching.  Root for Wright State tonight.  That offense is weak, and they only have one formidable pitcher.  Assuming she goes back to the mound tonight, she would have to pitch four games in about 26 hours in order to stop us.  I'll take our chances with that.  Conversely, Valpo has two good pitchers.

1421

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Horizon League softball tournament

« on: May 09, 2013, 05:38:08 PM »

Tomorrow brought more "Hyde" and less "Jekyll."  We deposited #2 seed Loyola into the loser's bracket and Wright State did the same to top-seeded and host UIC.  Awesome.  This is starting to parallel the events of 2006 when we underachieved during the regular season but still went into the tournament with at least one win over every team in the conference.  We then rode the arm of our star pitcher right into the NCAAs. We are still not the favorite, but we have a fighting chance....a good fighting chance.

1422

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: NCAA report shows athletic expenses rising again

« on: May 08, 2013, 11:02:05 PM »

Thanks for that link, Noles.  What really struck me is the size of the internal subsidy that Akron (19.3 million) and Kent (17.3 million) provide for athletics.  We stand at 8.5 million.  So the question remains unchanged for those that aspire to play "make-believe" big time football.  Where will the money come from?

1423

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Horizon League softball tournament

« on: May 08, 2013, 10:53:42 PM »

A very satisfying result.  I would call this team the ultimate "Jekyll and Hyde" outfit, but Robert Louis Stevenson could never have envisioned that much contrast between very good and terrible.  Let us see what tomorrow brings.

1424

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: NCAA report shows athletic expenses rising again

« on: May 06, 2013, 02:09:45 PM »

IAA Fan,

Please keep these well-documented facts off of your message board!  Don't you realize that you might disturb the fantasies of some of your more delusional posters.

1425

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: big ten shuts the door

« on: May 01, 2013, 01:44:13 PM »

Everybody please read and then memorize Indy's post.  It is just astonishing that some have no grasp of financial reality.  We would have a very hard time raising the athletic budget by just one million, let alone the multi-millions that would be required to play "pretend" big time football.

There is a way to recover some of this lost "blood game" revenue.  Just get real good again.  Raise attendance by about 4,000 per game by playing winning, dominant football.

IAA Fan, I doubt that the NCAA added the 12th football game just to provide a pay day to FCS schools.  However, by counting one victory over an FCS school toward bowl eligibility, they encouraged big time schools to share the wealth.  The NCAA hoped that, by providing that financial opportunity to FCS, the exodus of schools seeking "big time" status would stop.  The Big Ten surely just thumbed their collective nose at the NCAA with this decision.

If the blood games go (for everybody in our division,) we actually have the opportunity to enhance our schedule.  Schedule two successful, highly visible FCS opponents to home and away contracts.  Schools like Delaware, Villanova, and James Madison.  That gives us six home games each season: four league games, one home game against a worthy FCS foe, and then the no scholarship/limited scholarship tuneup.