LOUISIANA BASEBALL RANKINGS

[Duggie35]

Let's not get crazy here! Before anyone starts to panic at the demise of Cajun Baseball, let's wait to see what happens after the renovations to Tigue Moore Field are made. Since UL advanced to the College World Series in 2000, almost every school in the Sun Belt Conference, and the other top level programs in this state (LSU & Tulane) have spent BIG money and made major improvements to their facilities! Coach Robe continues to make the most our of the mediocre hand he has to play. As has been stated many times, winning at a high level includes much more than just coaching, it requires a committment and sufficiant funding from the administration.

With a new administration coming into place, I will reserve judgement for about another 12 to 18 months!

[zephyr]

_ Please come back to planet Earth! This program has not been a disgrace since 2000. It has had two bad teams(2001, 2008) a couple of good teams and two very good teams. The 2007 team was extremely good. Remember we were one of the 20 best teams in the counrty that year. This hardly sounds mediocre.
Last year was bad. They were weak in all phases of the game. If that is the case again this year alarm bells will need to be sounded. Lets get some perspective here. _

Hold on big boy! Don't start spinning what I said! I did not say the program was a disgrace. To the contrary, I said that this program is the best this university has and has been strong for years which was my comment about Robe not being better than his predecessor. I figured my comments would ruffle some of the sensitive feathers of some baseball diehards here. However, you are proving my point. Preseason rankings had us at 16 last year and all the experts had us as having one of the best pitching staffs in the country! You go .500 in a conference that's not great by any means and barely make your own conference tourney at your home field and lose out with this top 20 talent is a major letdown. We hear Bustle and Lee get a lot of grief (much of it deserved) for their records and lack of accomplishments but Bustle has improved this program from the depths of which he inherited it in the sport that relies the heaviest on athletic budget financing for which we have none. Coach Lee took a good basketball team several years ago and won 20+ games and nearly won a tourney game against Louisville but both are crucified on these same boards. Coach Robe has had success and has also been able to bring in some nice talent to his program. With this increase in talent, you should be able to have better success than what occurred last year don't you think. However, he is rarely talked about in the same manner as Bustle and Lee. Last year was as mediocre is they come and recent years have been similar. So why if everybody is screaming about not accepting mediocrity in other sports are they willing to overlook baseball which should be excelling just about every year? Seems a little hypocritical to me.

[zephyr]

_ Didn't you hear, we are going to fire all the coaching staffs and start from scratch CajunRage! We've all gotten together on the Ragin Pagin and raised 1.5 mil to hire better staffs.LOL!!! _

Again, never in my comments did I speak of firing coach Robe. I think that would be foolish. However, why does he seem to get a pass on the criticism that seems to go rampant through the other sport programs?

[CajunAmos]

And with some of these successes breeds more expectations. He is also putting a much more talented group on the field every spring when compared to the other sports. This team has been ranked numerous times only to fall flat on their face. Is he truly better than his predecessor? He did get to a world series but since then, he's done nothing and last year was supposed to be one of his most talented teams, especially pitching. That is a disgrace. People always complain about accepting mediocrity but we've gotten that from the baseball team when we certainly aren't supposed to.

Actually, pitching wasn't our downfall last year. Our inconsistant hitting was our issue all year. We were lead by a freshman, when our experienced upperclassmen didn't show up at the plate.

[zephyr]

_ Actually, pitching wasn't our downfall last year. Our inconsistant hitting was our issue all year. We were lead by a freshman, when our experienced upperclassmen didn't show up at the plate. _

While you are correct that we were a horrible hitting team, our pitching staff didn't fare much better especially with the depth and rotation we had.

[CajunAmos]

Hold on big boy! Don't start spinning what I said! I did not say the program was a disgrace. To the contrary, I said that this program is the best this university has and has been strong for years which was my comment about Robe not being better than his predecessor. I figured my comments would ruffle some of the sensitive feathers of some baseball diehards here. However, you are proving my point. Preseason rankings had us at 16 last year and all the experts had us as having one of the best pitching staffs in the country! You go .500 in a conference that's not great by any means and barely make your own conference tourney at your home field and lose out with this top 20 talent is a major letdown. We hear Bustle and Lee get a lot of grief (much of it deserved) for their records and lack of accomplishments but Bustle has improved this program from the depths of which he inherited it in the sport that relies the heaviest on athletic budget financing for which we have none. Coach Lee took a good basketball team several years ago and won 20+ games and nearly won a tourney game against Louisville but both are crucified on these same boards. Coach Robe has had success and has also been able to bring in some nice talent to his program. With this increase in talent, you should be able to have better success than what occurred last year don't you think. However, he is rarely talked about in the same manner as Bustle and Lee. Last year was as mediocre is they come and recent years have been similar. So why if everybody is screaming about not accepting mediocrity in other sports are they willing to overlook baseball which should be excelling just about every year? Seems a little hypocritical to me.

I know you were making a point about the treatment of other coaches, but on one item I'll comment. I'll beg to disagree that we've ever had top 20 talent, unless they were coached to be top 20 performers. We typically (with a very few exceptions) offer the players that the top baseball programs don't sign. We have a field that's in horrible shape, and facilities that aren't much better. Our facilities don't even qualify to host a regional if we happen to earn it on the field. Needless to say, this is not a major recruiting tool. Virtually every team in our conference (except possibly ULM) has facilities that are superior to ours.

Additionally, with virtually no funding from the university (salaries excepted), I think it's our only sport that works in the black. Despite all the negatives, the program consistantly has an attendance ranking near the top 20 in the country year after year, and a large portion of that I attribute to Coach Robe. For those who don't follow college baseball (and perhaps attend Diamond Club meeting to get the updated scoop), there are a number of changes going on in college baseball that will change the "playing field" in the future as well (roster limits, no "redshirt" players, JUCO restrictions), and I'm happy with the leadership of this program to keep us in the game. I sound like i'm preaching, but I think there are a lot of things that go into a program, and if anyone at the university deserves a "pass" (Lotiefs excepted), it's Coach Robe.

[Frenchie35]

_ He did get to a world series but since then, he's done nothing and last year was supposed to be one of his most talented teams, especially pitching. That is a disgrace. _

Well, exactly what did you say?

[zephyr]

_ Well, exactly what did you say? _

I said that with the expectations put on this team last year with the rankings and great pitching staff that is supposed to be an elite staff, last year's performance and .500 season were a disgrace...Not the program itself. Remember, success breeds higher levels of accountability and expectations. I am included in the group of fans that screams and hopes that we can get away from accepting mediocrity in our athletic programs and take a pro-active stance to change that. Baseball is in a position almost yearly to be successful and our fans should hold a coach just as accountable as the other coaches when that team fails to live up to expectations.

[MetryCajun]

_ Hold on big boy! Don't start spinning what I said! I did not say the program was a disgrace. To the contrary, I said that this program is the best this university has and has been strong for years which was my comment about Robe not being better than his predecessor. I figured my comments would ruffle some of the sensitive feathers of some baseball diehards here. However, you are proving my point. Preseason rankings had us at 16 last year and all the experts had us as having one of the best pitching staffs in the country! You go .500 in a conference that's not great by any means and barely make your own conference tourney at your home field and lose out with this top 20 talent is a major letdown. We hear Bustle and Lee get a lot of grief (much of it deserved) for their records and lack of accomplishments but Bustle has improved this program from the depths of which he inherited it in the sport that relies the heaviest on athletic budget financing for which we have none. Coach Lee took a good basketball team several years ago and won 20+ games and nearly won a tourney game against Louisville but both are crucified on these same boards. Coach Robe has had success and has also been able to bring in some nice talent to his program. With this increase in talent, you should be able to have better success than what occurred last year don't you think. However, he is rarely talked about in the same manner as Bustle and Lee. Last year was as mediocre is they come and recent years have been similar. So why if everybody is screaming about not accepting mediocrity in other sports are they willing to overlook baseball which should be excelling just about every year? Seems a little hypocritical to me. _

Should we compare records of the 3 coaches? Which one would finish on top by a wide margin? For the record I am only on the Fire Lee bandwagon. He is in over his head, the other two are not.
Last year in baseball was a strange year. The year before we finished in the top25 (hardly mediocre). We returned our pitching staff and most everyone in the field(except for our 2 best hitters and our middle infileders). As you know preseason ranking are based largely on what you did the previous year. It was no surprise to me that we were ranked. As for the team, I saw an awful hitting team and an even worse defensive team. This last point gets overlooked. When you cannot make the routine play and never make the spectacular play, this wears on your pitching staff. Robe makes his pitchers throw srtikes. Since we do not recruit stikeout pitchers, we need a solid defense. Last year that defense really let the pitchers down.
This year I want to see improvement in the defense and hitting. My feeling is if this happens, the pitching will take care of itself and we will have an enjoyable year.

[zephyr]

_ Should be compare records of the 3 coaches? Which one would finish on top by a wide margin? For the record I am only on the Fire Lee bandwagon. He is in over his head, the other two are not.
Last year in baseball was a strange year. The year before we finished in the top25 (hardly mediocre). We returned our pitching staff and most everyone in the field(except for our 2 best hitters and our middle infileders). As you know preseason ranking are based largely on what you did the previous year. It was no surprise to me that we were ranked. As for the team, I saw an awful hitting team and an even worse defensive team. This last point gets overlooked. When you cannot make the routine play and never make the spectacular play, this wears on your pitching staff. Robe makes his pitchers throw srtikes. Since we do not recruit stikeout pitchers, we need a solid defense. Last year that defense really let the pitchers down.
This year I want to see improvement in the defense and hitting. My feeling is if this happens, the pitching will take care of itself and we will have an enjoyable year. _

What you said is correct, especially about the defensive play of this team. Of the past years, how many times have we won conference outright and won the conference tourney? I'm simply asking because truthfully, I don't remember. To me, this program should be amongst the top of league contenders every year. Do you disagree? Why, when we can't get it done is Robe not criticized? That is all I'm saying. I never once came out and demanded him fired or even publicly criticized him until I had to hear the fire Bustle people after this past season especially when they didn't get into the bowl game. Everybody wanted Bustle and the entire administration's head because we didn't get in. The football team was picked to come out 4th in conference and not many thought we'd have more than 4 wins. I think this team exceeded peoples expectations and their play through much of the year did the same. However, when the dust settled, people still wanted Bustle gone because he hasn't produced. Here, we have a coach who has produced at times but a team takes a nose dive and that is overlooked? That doesn't make sense to me.

[MetryCajun]

I think you would be surprised at the amount of heat Robe took last year. This message board was full of negative remarks. In the end he got a pass because of previous accomplishments. But make no mistake, if he serves up another crappy team like he did last year the drumbeat will get louder.
I will say this, history says we will not have back-to-back disappointing years.

I do not know the answer to the SBC stuff, but I do know he has gotten us into the NCAA tourny 3or4 times since 2000.

[CajunAmos]

I think you would be surprised at the amount of heat Robe took last year. This message board was full of negative remarks. In the end he got a pass because of previous accomplishments. But make no mistake, if he serves up another crappy team like he did last year the drumbeat will get louder.
I will say this, history says we will not have back-to-back disappointing years.

I do not know the answer to the SBC stuff, but I do know he has gotten us into the NCAA tourny 3or4 times since 2000.

Since his arrival in 1995, we've made the NCAA tournament seven times (97, 98, 99, 2000, 02, 05, 07), with two super regional and one WCWS appearance.