Is it time for a change?

[cajun2bag]

_ Another losing season? This was the first losing season in around 12 years! Also, where was Fresno State ranked last year to start the season? Thats right, around the same area as the Cajuns. They got hot late and won the title.

Baseball cant be evaluated like the rest of the sports for many reasons, one being those hefty 11.7 scholarships for a 35 man roster. Look at the records of teams in college baseball. You have the top notch who win 40+, then you have the next level who win 30+, then you have the others who win less then 30. Robe has consistently been in that second level and had a couple teams in the top notch during his career. Were these last 2 years a dissapointment? Yes. But also remember that they are teaching a new hitting philosophy with the addition of Trahan, which came around in spurts this year. The guys werent trying to hit the sign in left anymore, they were trying to drive the ball from center to the opposite gap. Everything will be fine, plenty of returning talent and a wealth of experience gained this year by the freshmen.

Rant complete! Have a nice day. I need a drink lol


igeaux.mobi _

Hitting philosophy had nothing to do with how bad we sucked this year. You can either hit or you can't. When you get into the box at least when I got into the box I looked for 1 pitch, and when I got that pitch I didn't miss it to many times. The problem with the guys that we have is they are not jumping on pitches early in the count. Some looked overmatched by fastballs, there is no excuse for that!

[Turbine]

Hitting philosophy had nothing to do with how bad we sucked this year. You can either hit or you can't. When you get into the box at least when I got into the box I looked for 1 pitch, and when I got that pitch I didn't miss it to many times. The problem with the guys that we have is they are not jumping on pitches early in the count. Some looked overmatched by fastballs, there is no excuse for that!

What is the top arm speed and machine speed a batter sees in batting practice?
igeaux.mobi

[cajun2bag]

_ What is the top arm speed and machine speed a batter sees in batting practice?
igeaux.mobi _

Maybe next year we can get someone throwing 100 during BP and they will hit a fastball. If you can't catch up to a 90 mph fastball you can't play at this level.

[CajunAmos]

Nothing you have said is untrue. The point is made again. We were simply stating that he is given a "pass" or more leniency towards these failures because of past success but the bar has been raised. The program is or should be in a state of consistent production. It's one thing to falter on the national scene but we haven't competed in our own conference and when you throw the expectations of 2008 in there and consider the "talent" we had, that team fell flat on its face. What we're saying is if this was basketball or football, the uproar would be greater.

While the sports are different, why should the scholarship issue be an issue? It's the same everywhere. That could be seen as a copout. The lack of a proper athletic budget also affects football much more than it does baseball. There is a different path that many choose to evaluate performances of baseball vs. other sports here pure and simple.

I remember Robe speaking about the preseason ranking in 2008 saying it was nice but doesn't get you any wins. In my opinion, the ranking was totally based on the returning pitching expectations. Based on those expectations, our team ERA went from 3.78 in 2007 to 5.0 in 2008. The only pitcher to match his previous year performance was Hunter Moody. All of the other pitchers had their ERA's go up by at least 2 runs per game. We also lost Matt Pilgreen and Andrew Laughter, who both pitched great out of the bullpen.

Most people forget the offense we lost on the regional team of 2077. Our offense in 2007 was much better than 2008. We had a team batting average of .310 (versus .248 in 2008) and we lost the top two hitters from the team (Lucroy & Tatford). In addition, Gisclair, Logan & Hawkins had their best hitting years. The lineup did a great job of protecting hitters so opposing pitchers didn't get a rest throughout the lineup. We batted Devon Bourque near the end of the order, and he only hit .257 but had an on base percentage of .402 and drove pitchers crazy. Without the consistancy and leadership we lost in the lineup, the returners didn't have the best followup year. In 2008, the three returning players (Hawkins, Gisclair, Logan) went down an average of .050, with only one being over .300. Losing Kolin Hatfield to injury for the season also removed a returning player that could have helped.

I'm not making excuses, because the players on your roster have to step up when you go from year to year, but we did lose some special players that 2007 year. I think an attitude by a few players can drive a team attitude, and I think we lost our attitude after the 2007 season, and still haven't found a new one yet.

[zephyr]

_ I remember Robe speaking about the preseason ranking in 2008 saying it was nice but doesn't get you any wins. In my opinion, the ranking was totally based on the returning pitching expectations. Based on those expectations, our team ERA went from 3.78 in 2007 to 5.0 in 2008. The only pitcher to match his previous year performance was Hunter Moody. All of the other pitchers had their ERA's go up by at least 2 runs per game. We also lost Matt Pilgreen and Andrew Laughter, who both pitched great out of the bullpen.

Most people forget the offense we lost on the regional team of 2077. Our offense in 2007 was much better than 2008. We had a team batting average of .310 (versus .248 in 2008) and we lost the top two hitters from the team (Lucroy & Tatford). In addition, Gisclair, Logan & Hawkins had their best hitting years. The lineup did a great job of protecting hitters so opposing pitchers didn't get a rest throughout the lineup. We batted Devon Bourque near the end of the order, and he only hit .257 but had an on base percentage of .402 and drove pitchers crazy. Without the consistancy and leadership we lost in the lineup, the returners didn't have the best followup year. In 2008, the three returning players (Hawkins, Gisclair, Logan) went down an average of .050, with only one being over .300. Losing Kolin Hatfield to injury for the season also removed a returning player that could have helped.

I'm not making excuses, because the players on your roster have to step up when you go from year to year, but we did lose some special players that 2007 year. I think an attitude by a few players can drive a team attitude, and I think we lost our attitude after the 2007 season, and still haven't found a new one yet. _

And you also mentioned a lot of players who carried over from that 2007 team to 2008 who didn't have as good of years. Some here would say that goes to coaching. I believe that people can have off years but I'm simply trying to parallel the sports the best I can. Also, I'm glad you mentioned the expectations for the 2008 team. I do not doubt that maybe those expectations were possibly a bit exaggerated. However, in defense of my argument, compare the expectations of football for last year and that 2008 baseball team. Football was picked to finish 4th in its own conference by most and that was with Fenroy and Des coming back. They ended up 2nd in conference, had 2 more wins than most predicted and their play for 8 weeks last year excluding the injury pileup was the best I've seen in YEARS. Take all that and search the posts here after the season and snub by the bowls and you have nothing but blame pitched at T-Joe all the way to Bustle. People were angry saying that he's had enough time here to right the ship and get things to a winning level. Baseball fell flat on its face that year and barely made the conference tourney. Not much in way of criticizing Robe was mentioned here and those who did were criticized themselves. You take into consideration that Bustle has increased attendance to where we now lead the league in this category ahead of the frontrunners such as Troy and FAU and he's improved the facilities and program in spite of a miserable athletic budget. While he's no Joe Paterno, he's certainly done more with less in my book but every year fights off much more criticism than some of his colleagues.

Good post though.

[CajunAmos]

And you also mentioned a lot of players who carried over from that 2007 team to 2008 who didn't have as good of years. Some here would say that goes to coaching. I believe that people can have off years but I'm simply trying to parallel the sports the best I can. Also, I'm glad you mentioned the expectations for the 2008 team. I do not doubt that maybe those expectations were possibly a bit exaggerated. However, in defense of my argument, compare the expectations of football for last year and that 2008 baseball team. Football was picked to finish 4th in its own conference by most and that was with Fenroy and Des coming back. They ended up 2nd in conference, had 2 more wins than most predicted and their play for 8 weeks last year excluding the injury pileup was the best I've seen in YEARS. Take all that and search the posts here after the season and snub by the bowls and you have nothing but blame pitched at T-Joe all the way to Bustle. People were angry saying that he's had enough time here to right the ship and get things to a winning level. Baseball fell flat on its face that year and barely made the conference tourney. Not much in way of criticizing Robe was mentioned here and those who did were criticized themselves. You take into consideration that Bustle has increased attendance to where we now lead the league in this category ahead of the frontrunners such as Troy and FAU and he's improved the facilities and program in spite of a miserable athletic budget. While he's no Joe Paterno, he's certainly done more with less in my book but every year fights off much more criticism than some of his colleagues.

Good post though.

Last point. I may be misinformed, but Baseball, from my understanding, has no budget except salaries for coaches and some travel. Recruiting budgets and most of the recent facility improvements were donated. Our park is probably now in the bottom two or three in the conference.

Despite that, we have the best atmosphere in the country (IMO) and are in the top 25 yearly in attendance. I attribute the majority of that situation to the coach.

[Ballfan]

_ Maybe next year we can get someone throwing 100 during BP and they will hit a fastball. If you can't catch up to a 90 mph fastball you can't play at this level. _

our team rarely face pitcher's that throw 90+.. Our conference is not that strong..The SEC,Big 12 and the ACC is a different story..Our opposing pitchers are usually in the 86-88 range

[cajun2bag]

_ our team rarely face pitcher's that throw 90+.. Our conference is not that strong..The SEC,Big 12 and the ACC is a different story..Our opposing pitchers are usually in the 86-88 range _

Even worse!

[zephyr]

_ Last point. I may be misinformed, but Baseball, from my understanding, has no budget except salaries for coaches and some travel. Recruiting budgets and most of the recent facility improvements were donated. Our park is probably now in the bottom two or three in the conference.

Despite that, we have the best atmosphere in the country (IMO) and are in the top 25 yearly in attendance. I attribute the majority of that situation to the coach. _

Bad facilities, good atmosphere, bad play= Good Coach? Again, I'm not saying he should be fired but the last couple of years should bring questions to the table. MANY other baseball programs in the country are in the same position as ours as the athletic budget usually benefits the major sports like basketball and football. Very few baseball players are on scholarship and many small schools are very successful in baseball so I don't necesarily buy the argument.

[IHateLaState]

_ Bad facilities, good atmosphere, bad play= Good Coach?

I think that it does.... Our facilities, as much as I love the game day atmosphere, are indeed woeful... I met a So Miss parent two year ago when they were here.. From Carencro I think... Said that So Miss offered so much more so they decided to take that offer instead... Dougas from Teurlings now at Bama... Parents were very interested in him playing at UL... easier to see him play... a quality program... but when Bama showed up the differences were too stark to pass up... they were not looking for us to match.. just get comparable... you know what they told me was the deciding point? A $500 lap top.... The Bama players get one and travel with it... Assignments are emailed and they are required to study on the road...Robe could only offer the 1980's solution... our players team up with another non-athlete student and get their notes and the assignments

So yes Robe is playing with a deck stacked against him... His quote in today's Daily Aggrevation said it all... He will coach his son somewhere in 2011... but not necessarily here.. yu may get your wish.................

[LifeTimeCajun]

man a 500 buck laptop being the desciding factor? wow You know I think that coach robe has taken a VERY proactive role in ensuring incomming recruits and players that he is serious about academics and graduating his student athletes. He is committed to academics and does a very very good job at it. Coach Doe is a volunteer that does a fabulous job at staying on top of grades, study hall etc etc. Dont remember the last time that baseball had a student athlete no eligable to play. I think that it was Beck, but that was a different situation....he wanted to play pro ball

[Cajun Express]

_ Coach Robichaux has been there for at least 15 years. Has he worn out his welcome? _

Robe has hardly worn out his welcome. No doubt there are many reasons why we are struggling. More competition from more programs with more money. Missed calls on players, missed calls on coaches maybe, but all are within the ability of this coach to get our program back to a very high level.

If you want to get back to the CWS we need to improve the entire athletic department. RCAF is started lets back them, and individual programs.