Messages

1

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: MBB Non-Conference Schedule

« on: August 13, 2024, 03:24:38 PM »

Toledo has posted their upcoming basketball schedule on their website. They are indeed coming to Youngstown on December 14. Western Michigan has not posted their current schedule, but there is no reason to believe that SAHDPanda does not have it right.

So we spent about a month cursing about nothing. It would be helpful if people triple checked information before they posted it.

2

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: preseason YSU football ranking

« on: July 26, 2024, 11:44:18 PM »

Coach sounded very positive.  Not sure if he has an alternative but it's year 5 for Phillips and there is no room for excuses as there was when he took over for Pelini.   I'm concerned about all the guys on defense that transferred and most when to a higher conference which leads to ask did the transfer portal make up for those defenders that left ?

We did pick up quite a few new defenders from the portal.  They came from P4, G5, and DII programs. I thought that our defense stunk last year, except for the home game against Southern Illinois and, ironically, the game in Columbus. Hard to see how the new guys could be much worse, and they might actually be considerably better.

I did not see the spring game, but some suggested that the hitting was good and that our defensive backs were actually guarding the receivers. What a refreshing change that would be.

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YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: preseason YSU football ranking

« on: July 24, 2024, 10:17:20 AM »

If we aren't 4-2 its likely a .500 season or worse

Agreed. The conference opener on the road at Missouri State will define our entire season.

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YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: preseason YSU football ranking

« on: July 23, 2024, 11:30:31 PM »

This is the hardest schedule in the history of the school. We will be in the top five nationally in SOS. We won't be favored in any of our six road games. If Phillips can go 7-5, it will be his best coaching to date. And 7-5 will mean three wins against ranked teams (not counting the two weak non-conference home opponents, Indiana State, and Missouri State, who might or might not be good.)

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YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: preseason YSU football ranking

« on: July 22, 2024, 11:04:22 PM »

The first 8 teams on that list are all legitimate top twenty FCS programs. It is certainly strange to see Northern Iowa ranked that low. Also South Dakota and North Dakota are way too high. Neither of those programs can win league games on the road (just like us.)

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YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: YSU Beeghly facilities upgrade

« on: July 07, 2024, 06:03:12 PM »

They barely work while school is in session why would u thk they'd be working in July?  The think tank on the 1st floor of Stambaugh is a joke! No fresh marketing ideas for the football season in years! Still using schedule magnets from the 90s to attract dismal crowds.

Talented people are always aware of their shortcomings, and they work very hard to overcome them. Mediocre people don't believe that they have shortcomings, and they assume that if they can not fix a problem then the problem must be unsolvable.  Regrettably, since the departure of Bruce Burge over four decades ago, YSU athletic marketing has been saturated with people who are mediocre....or worse.

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YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: MBB Non-Conference Schedule

« on: July 02, 2024, 10:01:38 PM »

We may get a check from Toledo and other MAC Teams for road game. Someone else may know if thats the case.   Heck I thk we paid alot of money to get Louisiana to play at Beeghly last year.  I wanna say it was like $40k.  Which to me makes no sense but everyone wants legitimate teams and for good reason at home.  Just not sure thats how things work in college athletics right now. We need to grab the money until things settle down.  I bet Oakland will be on the road for 4,5 or 6 money games this season.

Just about everybody who visits this site can understand and endorse your logic. The problem is with casual fans that we hope to entice into our renovated gym.  If we lose three out of every four games in November and December (quite possible with this schedule) the opinion on the street will be this: "Well, Calhoun is gone and the team stinks again." We desperately needed non-conference home games for Faulkner, but apparently we could not get them.

8

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: baseball coaches

« on: June 29, 2024, 10:58:40 PM »

I've heard the same about the coach hired early on in the process and from what I've heard the budget that was going to be at his disposal including his and staff salary and other budget issues was the driving force behind his backing out.

I hate hearing things like this, if you can't do it right don't do it.

I will repeat a point that I made last month. We will never be able to compete financially with the Horizon League contenders in baseball. On the men's side, baseball is our fourth priority. At Wright State and Northern Kentucky, baseball is the second priority. Our two choices, both of which are distasteful, are these: have baseball muddle along underfunded or replace baseball with the travesty of a men's sport called soccer.

9

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: baseball coaches

« on: June 28, 2024, 08:53:43 AM »

There is a media report that assistant coach Trevor Charpie will be promoted to the top job.

On the surface, I find it strange that you would elevate an assistant from such a bad program. On the other hand, Charpie was here only one season, so he is hardly to blame for the bad recruiting and high turnover in the program.  Also, he was a minor league pitcher, and boy do we need to improve that vital phase of the game.

We shall see how this works out. Perhaps this was the best Strollo could do for this less than attractive job.

10

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: baseball coaches

« on: June 22, 2024, 07:59:15 PM »

hof222,

The baseball coach has been let go. I have heard absolutely nothing about a possible replacement.

Go,

The Horizon League mandates that all schools participate in men's basketball and either baseball or men's soccer. A replacement for baseball would have to be soccer, which I would personally consider to be an atrocity. However, soccer has a smaller roster size. That sport requires virtually no equipment, and we have our own facility. Financially it probably makes sense to replace baseball with soccer, much as I despise that stupid sport.

11

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: YSU and the MAC

« on: June 19, 2024, 11:31:26 PM »

Fantasy versus Reality. Your dreams are pure fantasy unless you can explain how we are going to increase our athletic budget by 15 MILLION DOLLARS. Each and every year, 15 million additional dollars. That is impossible, and if you consider this with your intellects instead of your emotions, you would arrive at the same conclusion.

12

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: YSU and the MAC

« on: June 17, 2024, 07:28:55 PM »

Ah, the internet at its worst. A low knowledge character pontificating about a subject about which he is clueless.

Does this guy know that BEFORE NIL the YSU athletic budget had to be increased by about 15 million to reach parity with MAC schools?

Does he understand that the bottom half of the MAC stinks in football, and that nobody in that league could beat NDSU or SDSU?

Does he know that G5 leagues like the MAC will become totally irrelevant after the latest round of P5 power grabs?

Ah yes. Isn't the internet grand.

13

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: YSU Baseball

« on: May 25, 2024, 11:11:40 PM »

Cambell is the softball coach.  The baseball coach is Dan Bertolini. Since I do not know what resources YSU gives him compared to the other programs in the league, it is hard to decide on his fate. No doubt our tallent level is not up to the top teams. Also with NIL and transfer rules, if the coach does not adapt, it could be trouble. At this point the baseball program needs a change.  Need to depend on Ron Strollo since he knows the facts of the situation and I sure do not.

Here is the problem that will never go away. At Northern Kentucky and Wright State, baseball is the #2 men's sport and is undoubtedly financed accordingly. For us baseball is at best our #4 priority, behind track and field (and rightly so.) It would seem logical to assume that baseball is under-financed. In that case, perhaps we could do no better than Bertolini. But if resources are approximately equal, then the coach should go. As you note, only Strollo knows that information.

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YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: YSU Baseball

« on: May 25, 2024, 08:17:09 AM »

In conference only games we finished last in hitting and fielding and next to last in pitching. Yet this team has reached the championship round, something that Calhoun's basketball players never came close to achieving. Go figure.

What makes today an insurmountable challenge is the fact that Northern Kentucky, 2nd seeded and staying in the winner's bracket, has only played two games. We have endured five games in three days. The pitchers have given an heroic effort, but we now have very little available.

Nevertheless, at a time when college sports are again being polluted by big money, we can all be very proud of the "old college try" that these guys have performed this week.

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YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: YSU players.NIL

« on: May 22, 2024, 12:59:44 PM »

The author made two very clear points: we lead the Horizon League in NIL and we are 13th in all of DI in NIL. Perhaps his information is inaccurate, but that is the meaning that he was trying to convey.

I believe the first assertion. Keep in mind that the Horizon League largely consists of schools located in big cities. In those places, the sporting public follows the professional teams or perhaps a nearby DI power. Only alumni care about their Horizon League sports programs. Conversely our business community loves to support YSU athletics (and the tax breaks that come with their donations.) I expect that we will always lead the Horizon League in NIL.

The statement that we are 13th nationally in NIL is so odd that it can probably be dismissed. Do keep in mind however that NIL has nothing to do with our athletic budget. It is private payments and sponsorship opportunities that go directly to our athletes.