Losing a series to Carolina doesn't upset me, because they are a great team. It's losing the series' to BAMA and Auburn (AT HOME) that makes me mad. If we win those 2 series, this one isn't that big of a deal. IMO Smoke is not a bad coach, but he lacks that "X" Factor that Skip had. That no matter how bad the situation was, you could look at Skip and see that he had the other team right where he wanted them. Smoke lets teams back in games they shouldn't be in, and we they do fall behind, we're screwed. I don't know what this team needs to do, but whatever their problem is, they need to find it and fix it, in a hurry. This is embarassing, and there's no other way to put it. Losing 3 SEC series in a row is a freaking joke, and it's humiliating.
Well all I can say is that there is still a lot of baseball left, but for all the talk before the season about a senior laden team and how you could flip the batting order upside down and not notice a difference makes me ROFL. At least Smoke listened to me and FINALLY took Hebert out of the lineup and put Q in. The Harris brothers have been disappointing to say the least. Big whiffers. I agree with everyone on the leadoff man deal. The biggest reason for this teams struggle is there is no freakin leadership on the team. No one looks excited, and no one is voicing opinion. Zeringue and Holt had their hands full last year keeping this team together with players meetings and such. We don't have a Barbier, Cresse. Pontiff, or anyone else that is taking a leadership position. Someone needs to step up. You can't win it every year guys. But remember there is still a lot of baseball left. The lame argument about the reason for all the errors and the comparison to Skip's team pisses me off. Yeah, the errors don't matter when it's gorilla ball and your scoring 10+ runs easily. Plus out pitching then was more dominant. Can't afford errors anymore.
Well, there's our difference. I really am surprised at how poorly this team is playing. I'm with LSUhotdog, with all the seniors on this team, I thought atleast one of them would step up and be a leader, but it appears that no one has.
Harris Brothers disappointing ?... umm Will yes.... Clay is the 2nd or 3rd best hitter and fielder on the team... If we bat Hollander, Gill, Patterson, C. Harris, Stav, Liuzza, Weaver(Mayer), W. Harris, Sprowl and play - 1B W. Harris (Mayer), 2B C. Harris, 3B Gill (Padron), SS Hollander, Patterson/Sprowl/Stav - Liuzza (Weaver) I have been told that rushing to play Gill at 3rd before his shoulder was all the way healed has caused him alot of pain, which is why he hasnt been on 3rd for the last 4 or so games.
Lastly, and an unsubstanitated but trustworthy person i know that lives in Tigerland near Gill, Liuzza, Meier - has told me that the players do not have a curfew on the weekends for home games. Smoke does not control the boys as well as Skip did... She also told me, the team really enacted a curfew for road games... last 3 years they havent had one and this is why she thinks we have sucked in Omaha... but draw your own conclusions
You're right K Team. A family friend, who works at LSU and is very close to many people in the Athletic Department has told us that Smoke doesn't control the team at all. They have no curfew, they party a little to hard on game weekends, things Skip never would have let go. That very well could play a big part on why this team continues to underachieve.
I would have to disagree with saying Smoke is getting the best talent. I personally believe Smoke takes in too much JUCO players and not getting the best high school players. I know we always lose alot of commitments to the draft, but Skip would always get one or 2 of is top guys. Guys like Aaron Hill, John Z, and Mike Fontenot. Smoke seems to wiff on all his top guys, so he has to rely on alot of JUCO.
I don't know about that. There were many friday evenings during baseball season where I got pretty drunk with Kevin Shipp and jeff Lamonte. This is the first time since 1995 that we have dropped three straight, 3 singles for the entire game, that is just not cutting it in the SEC. Great game against rice wed. night, but the inconsistent play has plagued this team all year. It will be almost impossible to host a super reginonal unless we make a win the SECt.
