Rainy Days And Mondays

Perhaps it's a result of attempting to figure out all the Big Ten tournament possibilities. Maybe it's the ongoing rain. Maybe I've got a bad case of the Mondays. In the end, it doesn't matter, I just need to vent.

PLAYING HOSTS
Most long-time readers here know that I'm in favor of a neutral site for the Big Ten Baseball Tournament. It makes sense on every level, but one. Alas, the "one" is a biggie. Baseball is a non-revenue sport. That means the Big Ten Conference office views baseball like we view a colonoscopy -- a necessary evil.

With that dazzling attitude towards the oldest sport on most campuses, the Big Ten is in no hurry to pretend like it cares about baseball. So when the subject of a neutral site arises, they dismiss it with the usual "if baseball has a neutral site tournament, then golf, tennis, soccer, curling and every other non-revenue sport is going to demand the same thing and we just cannot afford that."

Yeah, right. You can operate a television network, but you can't find enough change in the couch to borrow a quality minor league park for five days? Sorry, I ain't buyin' that line.

However, if the conference is determined to stick their head in the marketing sand and avoid a neutral site for the baseball tournament, is it asking too much to hold it in one of the venues suitable for such an event?

By suitable, I mean, acceptable for everyone involved -- players, parents, coaches, school officials, conference officials, media and fans. Here are a few requirements:

The park should have lights. It rains in the midwest on occasion. Sometimes games get postponed. Having lights helps the games to be played. It also cuts down on 9:00am starts. I love breakfast with batting practice, but the general public doesn't. Did I mention many in the potential ticket buying public have day jobs? Lights should be mandatory to host the tournament.

Ideally, there should be access to batting cages. There should also be clubhouses for the home and road teams. Excessive? In 1970, yes. In 2008, not so much. I wouldn't be a stickler for either of these items, but it is a championship event and we do have access to these at some venues in the conference. Why settle for less?

It should have a decent pressbox. The media shouldn't get soggy covering the tournament. Neither should ADs, SIDs and the various other personnel filling the box. No pressbox, no hosting.

It should have concession stands, running water and plumbing. That means bathrooms, not port-a-poddies. I can't see anything wrong with demanding basic facilities for your patrons. As further evidence, I heard an interview with legendary Louisiana State coach Skip Bertmann. Coach was asked what was one of the first things he did to Alex Box Stadium to increase attendance. He said he added diaper changing facilities.

We want people to like college baseball and come back. Help your audience take care of life's essentials. If you can't meet this requirement, you can't host.

I know, I know. Very few Big 10 parks can host the tournament under these parameters. Honestly, I'm okay with that. Would it give some schools an advantage? I suppose it would, but having a quality park gives that program an advantage regardless. Don't you think the folks who have such facilities are going to show them off to recruits, thus giving them an advantage over the other programs long before the tournament ever takes place?

Besides, there's nothing wrong with acting like the tournament is a championship event of some import. That's because it is. The winner goes onto the NCAA Tournament.

CBS' CLOSES EYE TO BASEBALL COVERAGE
Has anyone else noticed that the baseball coverage on the website formerly known as CSTV has taken a nose-dive since the CBS generals have taken over? Their baseball homepage has been almost static for weeks. The photo of the Stanford player hasn't changed in over a month. They appear to have jettisoned friend of BTH, Doug Kroll, while you have to hunt for Eric Sorenson's latest entries. If Kroll was indeed let go, and I have absolutely zero proof of that (I'm a blogger, I'm expected to engage in speculation), Big E's stay at the eye network is probably in danger, too.

Hey, CBS big-wigs. Original content, especially on college baseball, is difficult to find. Don't you want to be different? How about cool? Keep the bald-headed, rock-and-roll, Omaha-lovin' guy around. In fact, find him a couple of cohorts. I hear this Kroll guy knows something about college baseball and might be available.

VOTING IN THE DARK
Do you ever wonder how in the world anyone votes in a college baseball poll? Seriously, if I had to participate in a weekly poll, I'd be in trouble. If I head down to the ballpark, I don't get to see the games on television. If I stay home or put the games on DVR, it's not like I'm guaranteed to see the top teams in the land each weekend.

I currently receive, courtesy of my cable provider and a growing monthly bill, the aforementioned CBS College Sports plus three Fox College Stations -- Atlantic, Central and West. Between the four of them, I get a minimal amount of live college baseball each weekend. I might get one or two top level games, but the majority of games being broadcast, especially on the Fox networks, are often games not affecting the rankings or repeats from weeks ago.

There's also no one providing a quality highlight package, either. It's not a college football Saturday night where you can at least get a taste of what the elite level programs have done that day. College baseball is almost played in a media blackout, nationally speaking.

I can't see how coaches or the media can come to informed decisions about the ranking the programs each week or voting for All-Americans or the Player of the Year awards. We, and, yes, I'm including myself here, are all voting in the dark.

CSTV Previews The Big Ten

Eric Sorenson got the job of previewing the Big Ten race for CSTV. His submission can be found here. Fellow CSTVer Doug Kroll provides us with a post on Michigan's upcoming season. Finally, Wolverines' P/DH Zach Putnam is ninth in CSTV's preseason Player of the Year voting.

Winter Links

A day after our first significant snowfall of the winter, I'm providing a few baseball links to help keep our minds on warmer thoughts. I toss in a ongoing rant to help melt the ice, as well.

First, there's Rivals.com top Midwest programs. The Big Ten manages to land three of the top five places. (Yes, I'm going to make you click on the link to see which three and in what order. Sorry.)

Rivals also mentions the Michigan/Ohio State baseball rivalry.

Michigan's Jason Christian is "On The Radar" of Doug Kroll's list of top returning shortstops.

I can't recall if I posted this one before, but Rivals Baseball Editor Kendall Rogers also offered up this piece on Michigan's success.

MORE WALLACE AWARD RANTING
In keeping with BTH unwritten policy, here is the link to CSTV's Kroll's blog about the Wallace Award Watchlist. (The unwritten BTH policy states that if you mention this blog, and I know about it, you get a link here. Oh, and it helps if you say something positive. Negative comments are generally just emailed to me.) As Doug points out, a number of lesser known baseball programs landed multiple award nominees.

Here, again, is my problem. No, not being obsessive-compulsive. That's a different problem. The issue I'm typing of is one where Southern Illinois lands three Wallace Award nominations and Michigan gets only two. Ohio State has only one. So, SIU has three players as good as Nate Recknagel, Jason Christian, J.B. Shuck and Jake Hale, all of whom got overlooked. It's lunacy.

Not only do noted baseball programs like Brown and Delaware land two players -- just as many as the Wolverines and one more than Ohio State, "my" Oakland University can't get a single nod? Seriously, are any of the three, yes, three Appalachian State players selected mathematically more likely to win the Wallace Award than Golden Grizzlies Andrew Stafford or Justin Wilson? The simple answer is no. So why not honor the kids and help the program by including them?

Don't get me wrong, I say let the Salukis have three nominees. Give Brown and Delaware as many spots as seem deserving, but don't leave out the other players that warrant a pre-season nomination. If you are worried about the list being too big, then, perhaps, you pass out the honor a bit too loosely. As it stands now, over 200 names make the watchlist. What's a few more going to hurt? Your reputation?

The College Baseball Foundation -- overseers of the Wallace Award -- either needs to modify their standards to keep the list smaller or expand the list to include everyone worthy of the recognition.

CSTV Links And Shameless Self Promotion

In addition to his football beat, CSTV's Eric Sorenson has been cranking out monthly baseball columns this off-season. In October, Eric mentioned yours truly and this little piece of cyberspace while discussing the stadium projects underway around the conference.

Now, saying nice things about BTH doesn't get you a link in return. Well, come to think of it, yeah, it does get you a link. However, it doesn't necessarily get you a timely one. (Sorry, E. I've been watching a little basketball and enjoying the off-season.)

This month, Eric reviews his 2008 Omaha predictions and stops to ponder a certain Big Ten program.

While I'm plugging CSTV employees, Doug Kroll has his list of top returning firstbasemen and Michigan's Nate Recknagel gets an "On The Radar" mention. That places Recknagel in the top ten returning firstbasemen. At a position that's traditionally loaded, that's high praise.

Kroll's Top 25 - Fall Edition

Deep breath in.

Exhale.

Another deep breath in.

Exhale.

Forgive me. I'm trying to calm down. I was doing rather well until I came across CSTV's Doug Kroll's fall Top 25. Kroll does admirable work and I figured this off-season list would give me an idea where the national media perceived Michigan stood a few months removed from a Super Regional appearance.

I started to look for where Kroll had Michigan ranked. I zipped past the top five. Then, the top ten. Fifteen came and went and still no sight of a team that beat number one overall seed Vanderbilt to capture a regional title.

The top twenty disappeared before I finally stumbled upon Rich Maloney's troops at number twenty-two. Twenty-two? Twenty-freakin'-two?!?!?!? A team that returns nearly all of its players from a regular season conference title, a regional tournament crown and a super regional appearance can't get a ranking above twenty-two?

Now, this alone might have me cranky. However, the topper for me was Kroll's summary of the Wolverines:

22. Michigan (42-19, Lost In Corvallis Super Regional)
Winning the Big Ten is always the goal for the Wolverines, so knocking off No. 1 seeded Vanderbilt in the Regionals last season was icing on the cake. Two-way star Zach Putnam is back for his junior season to lead Big Blue.

Breath, Brian, breath.

Yes, winning the conference is a goal for Michigan. It's also a goal for Ohio State, Minnesota, Illinois, Penn State and the other five teams in the Big Ten. Of course, I'm thinking that winning their conference crown is also a goal for Texas, Louisiana State, Stanford, USC, North Carolina, Oregon State and any other elite baseball program in the land.

Suggesting that Michigan or any other Big Ten program only has eyes on a conference title sounds more like football talk from the Seventies than current baseball thinking around the Big Ten. (The conference office notwithstanding.) This just in: This ain't football, Bo and Woody aren't coaching anymore and the Seventies are thirty years in the rear view mirror.

I'm not sure how many times I've heard Coach Maloney speak, but he rarely goes on for very long without mentioning Omaha. The college baseball media may believe it's folly, but the goal for Michigan is to play in the College World Series. That's not just the prevailing thought in Ann Arbor, either.

Does anyone think that Ohio State and Penn State have spent all that money building state-of-the-art ballparks just to host a Big Ten conference tournament? I've talked to people at both programs and they can't wait for the chance to host a regional. (In the Buckeyes case, another regional.) Does that sound like anybody's ultimate goal is the conference crown?

What of the other programs? Well, let's see, Michigan State, Purdue and Indiana are either renovating, building new or have plans to build new parks. Illinois is currently remodeling and hoping to lure a Frontier League team to partner with them, so they can upgrade even more. Minnesota, a program with plenty of CWS history, recently announced the outline for a new Siebert Field, as well. This increased financial commitment to facilities speaks to a goal that exceeds just a Big Ten banner.

It's not only shortsighted to believe that Big Ten programs have smaller goals than the schools in college baseball's power conferences, but it was unfair to the Michigan players and coaches to dismiss their regional victories over Vanderbilt as "icing on the cake". One would have hoped that Michigan would have garnered some respect after dispelling all the media's preconceived notions prior to the Nashville Regional.

By placing a veteran Michigan team so low in the Top 25, it only affirms that most of the college baseball media still view the Wolverines regional triumph as little more than a fluke. Never mind those regular season wins over programs like Mississippi State and Oklahoma. Forget the one-hit, one-run loss in the Super Regional opener at Corvallis against defending national champion Oregon State. (As if anyone played OSU better, let alone in their building.) No, that Nashville performance had to be luck.

I'm probably more upset about this than normal because Kroll is usually more balanced in his assessment about northern programs than most of his media brethren. (Sans fellow CSTVer Eric Sorenson, of course.) To see his general underwhelming preview makes me pessimistic about what the rest of the college baseball media is going to say about the Big Ten and Michigan heading into 2008.

Still No Badgers

On the heels of Oregon's return to the college diamond, CSTV's Doug Kroll wonders about the remaining BCS programs not fielding a baseball team. His column includes a few comments from Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez. Suffice to say, the return of Badgers baseball isn't on the horizon.