Another Baseball Defection

[Dad04]

_ Robe's midnight practices followed by 6am practice after midweek games this year ____ed alot of players off. That is the only thing that accomplishes besides wearing the team down during 5 game weeks. igeaux.mobi _

I think Benzel got a concussion at a midnite practice after a roady. He is batting .292 in a strong woodbat league this summer. Thad Griffen is a teammate batting .267.

[SlappyCajun]

_ Omaha was 9 years ago we really need to move on...we should be the class of the Sunbelt in baseball but we are far from it, since 2001 only three regional’s and we lost all three. Losing in regional’s every third year isn't good enough. _

I'm not picking on you, but I see this argument all the time....

But someone tell me why we should be the class of the Sunbelt in baseball?...

[HOUCajun]

_ man you guys bashing on robe again. just because 4 guys leave the program ur gonna blame the coach? those guys were decent players but that doesnt mean we wont be better off without them. most of those guys wanna transfer out to play pro ball? 3 of them will probably never sniff that dream but if they want out, let them go!!!! well move on and be better without them. this still befuddles me the way everyone is wanting robe out. UL needs t robe WAAYY more than he needs the school. best coach weve ever had or will have in the future. and for all of you softhearted people out there who think its absurd that for the coach to call his team SOFT is ridiculous. if a 19 to 21 year old man cant handle that criticism then get out of town my man. your not good enough or strong enough to handle playing on this level. again, none of you probably know what its like to compete on this level or play for a great coach like robe an know the work he and the players put into this program. so next time someone has an uneducated opinion please keep it to yourself.

P.s. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR! _

You are painting with a pretty broad brush. There are way more Robe supporters on this site than bashers. They are a pretty vocal minority however.
Not to thread jack, but Check out this rant by a former UH Coog baseball player's Daddy.
It may take the better part of a Day to read but it is classic!
http://deadspin.com/5288661/
It was originally on a website a Dad started but has since been taken down. www.houstoncougarbaseball.com

[Dad04]

_ You are painting with a pretty broad brush. There are way more Robe supporters on this site than bashers. They are a pretty vocal minority however.
Not to thread jack, but Check out this rant by a former UH Coog baseball player's Daddy.
It may take the better part of a Day to read but it is classic!
http://deadspin.com/5288661/
It was originally on a website a Dad started but has since been taken down. www.houstoncougarbaseball.com _

Vinny Raviel's rant was an epic parental meltdown. I read the entire 16,000 word tome before it was taken down. Bottom line he was complaining about Coach Noble's use of his kid who has a career 7.00 ERA. I felt sorry for his son, who was probably lucky to be on the team at all.

[HOUCajun]

_ Vinny Raviel's rant was an epic parental meltdown. I read the entire 16,000 word tome before it was taken down. Bottom line he was complaining about Coach Noble's use of his kid who has a career 7.00 ERA. I felt sorry for his son, who was probably lucky to be on the team at all. _

I read the whole thing also. I especially appreciate the breakdown of Jimmy's 12 year old all star exploits! Obviously Dad had put his heart and soul in to his boy's career. It was equal parts sad and funny.

[Dad04]

_ I read the whole thing also. I especially appreciate the breakdown of Jimmy's 12 year old all star exploits! Obviously Dad had put his heart and soul in to his boy's career. It was equal parts sad and funny. _

After I read Jimmy's Coog stats I concluded Pop was 100% delusional and might need medical attention. Some sort of baseball intervention seems appropriate. All parents simply need to let go. The career belongs to the player.

[bballholic]

_ man you guys bashing on robe again. just because 4 guys leave the program ur gonna blame the coach? those guys were decent players but that doesnt mean we wont be better off without them. most of those guys wanna transfer out to play pro ball? 3 of them will probably never sniff that dream but if they want out, let them go!!!! well move on and be better without them. this still befuddles me the way everyone is wanting robe out. UL needs t robe WAAYY more than he needs the school. best coach weve ever had or will have in the future. and for all of you softhearted people out there who think its absurd that for the coach to call his team SOFT is ridiculous. if a 19 to 21 year old man cant handle that criticism then get out of town my man. your not good enough or strong enough to handle playing on this level. again, none of you probably know what its like to compete on this level or play for a great coach like robe an know the work he and the players put into this program. so next time someone has an uneducated opinion please keep it to yourself.

P.s. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR! _

I'd ventrue to say that the heavy MAJORITY of this board wants Robe to stay in Lafayette. Having said that, should he be shielded from constructive criticism? College athletics is all about "What have you done for me lately?". At what point do you start to get nervous about the direction of the program? What will you say if UL misses the post-season for 3-4 consecutive seasons? He's obviously a very good coach and he's done a lot for the University but this shouldn't make him "untouchable" by any means.

[zephyr]

_ I'd ventrue to say that the heavy MAJORITY of this board wants Robe to stay in Lafayette. Having said that, should he be shielded from constructive criticism? College athletics is all about "What have you done for me lately?". At what point do you start to get nervous about the direction of the program? What will you say if UL misses the post-season for 3-4 consecutive seasons? He's obviously a very good coach and he's done a lot for the University but this shouldn't make him "untouchable" by any means. _

WOW, we have a winner!

[zephyr]

_ Very well said!!!!..Most great companies have employees that work hard not only for themselves but for their boss..If you are running a company/or a baseball team you want your employees/players to want to jump off a building for you if needed..What you DON'T want is for your employees/players to want to PUSH you off the building..Their is a BIG difference..One of the greatest communicators/motivators of all time is Augie at UT..If anyone saw the UT-Arizona State game at Omaha when UT fell behind 6-0 after 4 innings facing Leakes(one of the best pitcher's in the country)Augie gathered his team in the dugout and told them that he was not going to sugar-coat it that they have been playing a bad game to that point but when they come back and win this game can you imagine how many of our highlights will be on Sportcenter tonight!!! That is a MASTER communicator/Motivator at work..I do not think Robe has that in his game _

I see the point that is trying to be made here and in this situation I agree but however, I don't think a baseball program and a company can really be compared here. Without going into a thesis here, I know that I could not treat and interact with my employees in the same way you do so with athletes and its especially true for motivating them. However, I'd definitely see the concern in seeing so many defections recently as there is obviously something wrong.

[rgncjn12]

_ I read the whole thing also. I especially appreciate the breakdown of Jimmy's 12 year old all star exploits! Obviously Dad had put his heart and soul in to his boy's career. It was equal parts sad and funny. _

Does anyone have a link to where I could read the entire rant ya'll are speaking of?

Thanks.

[CajunT]

_ Dat's funny stuff right chair.

I'm disappointed in the defections. I'm even more disappointed in the lack of tabloid crazy talk from some of you. This has got to be one of the juiciest pieces of anti-Robe opportunity propoganda in months. There has got to be better flames than "did you notice nobody smiles". Come on... sniff, sniff... I'm quittin... the coach don't smile at me and he never talks to me... sniff, sniff. BWAAAAAAAA... I want my mommy!!!!! _

Classic! Now that there is funny stuff!LOL!!!

[CajunT]

_ I'd ventrue to say that the heavy MAJORITY of this board wants Robe to stay in Lafayette. Having said that, should he be shielded from constructive criticism? College athletics is all about "What have you done for me lately?". At what point do you start to get nervous about the direction of the program? What will you say if UL misses the post-season for 3-4 consecutive seasons? He's obviously a very good coach and he's done a lot for the University but this shouldn't make him "untouchable" by any means. _

I think people have a right to their opinions and Coach Robe is a big boy he can take criticism. But let’s look at what is being alleged here concerning Coach Robichaux, that athletes are leaving the program because of his unwillingness to communicate with his players. One person making this allegation has mentioned the exodus began with Xavier Alexander. Now as a person that has followed Cajun Baseball for over 22 years, I can assure to you athletes have left this program almost every year. During Robichaux’s tenure, including the year of the College World Series team athletes have left this program. In fact, I don’t remember a year since 2000 that several athletes have not left the baseball program. Now the one consistent name in his allegation has been Xavier Alexander, and that is the beginning according to him. Clearly he has a problem with the way Alexander’s departure was handled, that has nothing to do with constructive criticism. That is a person with a personal axe to grind about his friend, family member or former teammate. I think we have all been around long enough in life to know the difference between a reasonable or constructive criticism and someone with a personal axe to grind.