AAC Tournament Thread

[SHOCKvalue]

I could not say one way or the other since I don't have anywhere access to anywhere near to all the facts nor do I have any kind of personal contact with ADDB

However, just the fact that Mike Kennedy even mentioned it in the manner he to did is telling to me.

Maybe I am reading too much into that.

You might be. Just being honest. I like MK, but often times he is selling rather than informing.

Has he ever said anything negative about Butler?

[BostonWu]

I don't think he has a choice. Apathy has taken over. No one is going to the games anymore and that will never change under butler. He either has to be extended or fired with one year remaining. The only decision is who's the next skipper.

[C0|dB|00ded]

Is this something new for ADDB or was he committed to having a successful baseball program before now? If so, this may not mean much. Most people thought a change should have been made last year, if not before that?

Bootlick was committed to having a throwaway year reassuring players' fathers that rumor rumor rumor rumor rumor rumor...

I will say this, if who I am hearing as the next head coach is officially hired, B-Wrong will instantly become B-Better to me.

It's a great day to be a Shocker!


T


...:cool:

[1972Shocker]

He is talking about Eric Wedge.

[WstateU]

Pitching, Gap or Sand Wedge!? That would be a ‘Penny’ type hire and reignite the program...

[C0|dB|00ded]

Hopefully not the flop wedge.

Penny type? Errrrrrrrrrm. No comment.


T


...:cool:

[shockfan89_]

If that is true, it might have been worth suffering through the past few seasons with fHCTB...

[WichitaStateGuy]

Wedge me, please.

[ShockerFever]

I personally was on the Hooper bandwagon, but Wedge would be a good option too.

I wonder who Wedge would bring in under him and how well he could do on the recruiting trail.

[1972Shocker]

I personally was on the Hooper bandwagon, but Wedge would be a good option too.

I wonder who Wedge would bring in under him and how well he could do on the recruiting trail.

Whether it is Wedge or Hooper or Standiford or anyone else hiring assistants who can be an effective recruiters will be one of the more important early decisions of the person hired.

[WuDrWu]

Looks like Cold & Fev have it all figured out. Should be back in Omaha in the next year or so.

[shockerfanmas]

With the right coach, it could happen. But Butler isn't the answer and never was

[ShockerFever]

Looks like Cold & Fev have it all figured out. Should be back in Omaha in the next year or so.

As opposed to your plan of letting a nice guy with nice kids continue to suck it up for another year and bury a once proud program facefirst into the ground?

Man, you really do hate Gene.

[Wuzee]

Nm

[Aargh]

If it's Wedge, then Pelfrey might be able to stick around. They're both Kemnitz guys. When catchers call the pitches, they have to understand pitching philosophies and pitchers, so I imagine Kemnitz worked fairly close with them.

[DJShocker10]

Today should be a good day, folks! If my source is correct, keep your eyes and ears peeled this afternoon.

[1972Shocker]

It’s finally over!

What is finally over? If you are referring to this season, then yes it is over. If you are referring to Todd Butler's tenure I have not seen or heard any official pronouncements although, like most other Shocker baseball fans, I agree that needs to happen and there is not reason to delay that decision very long. That would be in the best interest of everyone involved in my opinion, including Todd Butler and his family. If you are referring to the apathy of the program hopefully that will be at least somewhat remedied with the right hire. Whether that renewed excitement it sustained over the longer term depends on if the new hire can be successful. How successful they need to be is hard to say. What are the expectations of Shocker fans?

Even if the Shocks make a legacy hire that ignites the interest of the fans again that is only sustainable if that head coach meets or exceeds the hopes and expectations of the fans. There are not guaranties in life. There are no guarantees that the new head coach will be able to meet those new expectations whoever it is. Wichita State doesn't have much history in making legacy hires and the ones we have made that I can recall weren't all that great. Gary Thompson and Randy Smithson come to mind. Gary was okay but stumbled one he cycled through Ralph's players and Randy probably never had a snowball's chance.

If the new coach is a legacy hire as most expect with will he be treated the in the same fashion as Todd Butler if he is not successful? Having a history as a Shocker and not being the guy to follow a legend I doubt he will be treated quite as harshly. But if he is not successful WSU can't just throw in the towel and give up. They need to keep trying to find the right person just as we did in men's basketball post-Gene Smithson over (Fogler) and over (Cohen) and over (S. Thompson) and over (R. Smithson) until we do it right. Hopefully, the Shockers do not have to endure another period like that. But again no guarantees in life. Whoever the Shockers hire will deserve an adequate opportunity and I will be wishing them the greatest of success. But wishing and hoping they will be the programs messiah won't guarantee it. So whoever WSU hires should be given a contract that is fair for both sides and gives WSU some reasonable flexibility to make changes after say 4 years if things don't work out. Once a coach has proven their worth over time such as Gene did and as 3G and Lambo have done than the sweetheart deals can be granted.

As far as who that legacy hire should be my number 1 choice would be Kevin Hooper but I could live Eric Wedge, Mark Standiford or P.J. Forbes as well. If Hooper, Wedge or Forbes are hired I could see Mark Standiford as a candidate to be the top assistant although I don't know if that would interest Mark or not.

As far as my own expectations are concerned I do not expect a return to the level of success in the 80's or 90's. It would be nice if we don't have to wait another 23 years to return to the CWS. At this point I think becoming consistently successful in the AAC which to me means finishing in the top 4 of the league annually would be a reasonable goal and should provide enough post-season opportunities to be successful. Anything equal to or exceeding those expectations would be icing on the cake.

Bottom line though is that I am looking forward to a new start for Shocker baseball which hopefully be the only one we need for long time.

[ShockTalk]

Wedge will most likely command a greater "commitment" of resources than the others you mentioned. His hiring would excite fans, but I believe that those amount of resources, along with his status will also bring higher and sooner expectations by fans. I think this is somewhat unfair to Eric as he has glaring weaknesses for being a high level D-I head coach just like the others.

Hooper may have the longest rope of this group. Maybe because is he the youngest. Not sure if any of the other 3 mentioned would assist Hooper except maybe Forbes.

The other 3 are all from the same era, 1985-90, and played at least some with each other. Including Hooper, I would think that any would coach along side of Wedge with Mark maybe an exception (only because of his head coaching experience and taking second fiddle).

Another pitching coach to consider, if interested, might be Tommy Hottovy.

[Veritas]

Looks like Cold & Fev have it all figured out. Should be back in Omaha in the next year or so.

The duc feeling a little bitter? All that quackin’ the past six years for the Butler must be hard to spin.

[ShockTalk]

I'm still waiting for you and Fev to come up with all these "Butler Supporting" posts made by a group of SN posters. Not player or team support, Butler in specific support. You indicate there are good number of these posts. Otherwise, you're just blowing smoke and still p o'd about Gene's dismissal after he has already moved on from it and back in the Shocker fold. If you cannot, please move on to the future or a different angle as this one is old. I gave Butler 3 years to show solid progress which I believe is a necessary minimum for any new coach. I'm looking for a change and on to the future. I miss going to games, but I couldn't bring myself to support the program in person or financially.

[ShockerFever]

Seriously?

Doc’s previous post is a say of being pro-Butler more than anything. He comes off extremely mad and bitter in a subtle manner when he made the comment about me and Cold. He’s close to Todd, which has clouded his judgment, much like DSB.

We aren’t “winning enough” doesn’t seem to say anything other than we are close. He doesn’t seem like we can do better than the current situation we’re in.

If you can’t gather these subtle blasts ST, especially DSB, who quite adamantly doesn’t think this should be it, then I dunno how else you can get it.

[1972Shocker]

Back to the topic of the thread for some diversion.

2 seed Cincy beat 6 seeded UCF 10-6 yesterday to avoid a second game and move in to today's Championship game with #4 seed UConn. Both teams went 3-0 in their pods.

I guess I am going to have to pull for Cincy which would probably insure the AAC gets 3 teams into the NCAA Championship. Cincy's RPI is only at 100 so if they lose they are probably done. Plus Cincy would break the Houston, ECU, UConn, Houston, ECU trend in the AAC Tournament.

Houston with an RPI rank of 41 might be on the bubble.