R Graham posted:
I stick by my assessment. You all make some valid points but the idea that UVA was a great team that underachieved all year and then figured it out at the end just doesn't align with the facts. The team that won the regional, Super-regional and CWS wasn't the same team that began the season - they had to completely redefine themselves a couple different times during the journey and it is great coaching that sails that ship.
Talent - yes. But leadership is what delivers talent.
You nailed it R…having written the following mostly last night I’ll still post it…apologies in advance for the repetition.
Not following UVA too carefully during the regular season there were some large blank areas to fill in. It’s been fun digging around trying to find those pieces which might shed a little more light on this somewhat puzzling yet very interesting if not inspirational team. It appears most would prefer the tidy narrative of “underdogs who over achieved” or “talented team which finally lived up to its potential” but life is usually a little bit more complicated.
Yes this 2015 UVA team is talented and I’ll agree to top 10, but not top 5. Although if I said UVA had top 10 talent to someone in the stands after they were swept by Va Tech, and then were simply dominated by Louisville, they would have called for medical assistance. Some of the Louisville games were televised and this UVA team looked like none other I’ve ever seen in the O’Connor era. They demonstrated little competitive spirit while appearing as though they didn’t belong on the same field with the Cardinals. They lost 8-1, 11-4, and 4-0 for a complete beat down both offensively and defensively.
Although they weren’t done stumbling around just yet…they went on to lose the Georgia Tech series, the NC state series, and had they not won out against NC in the final regular season series we probably wouldn’t be having this discussion. Still not satisfied they had gone far enough they dropped their last three games in the ACC tourney completing their fall into the abyss.
The regular season journey to the NCAA tournament had gone from a mostly false and unproven position of superiority into the humility of loss and despair. They were picked near the top to begin the season yet by the beginning of the NCAA tournament Collegiate Baseball doesn’t even have them in the top 30. Nonetheless they had somehow done just enough to be given a chance to redeem their regular season failures.
It might be noted in passing that if you’re a betting man the lesson to be learned from UVA’s journey is this.…. forget the IN-season polls after a few weeks into the season and definitely don’t look at them prior to the start of the NCAA tournament. Instead, pull up that Collegiate Baseball preseason poll and if your team is still around for Omaha, make your picks as though nobody has played a game. Once one understands how the play will come out the details are unimportant.
Seriously though, how can we not give O’Connor and staff plenty of credit for keeping this ship from sinking? After the Louisville series, who couldn’t help but think UVA didn’t have what it took to play with the big boys this year. Some may see underachievement at that point however a rash of injuries and misfortune were putting this team’s mental toughness to the test and things were not going to get any better soon.
In such turbulent times a master guide is essential. We know how easy it is to manage a talented team when everything is going smoothly….but it never lasts. As O’Connor has so correctly said, “you learn far more from your loses” and isn’t that exactly what this team did? Just in the nick of time for added drama I might add.
Recently graduated from the school of adversity and severe butt kicking’s, UVA’s players had survived to fight again for redemption in the big arena. Only now they were equipped with a mental toughness that polls can't measure, and proved superior to the mere physical talents of the Florida and Vandy teams they were about to face. The stage had been set and they would not be denied this time through. The hero’s journey soon to be completed.
Vandy coach Corbin understood as much when he said after the game…
“It was a very, very gutty performance by their team, their pitching staff, to allow them to get to this point and be successful,”
Luv posted:
Championships happen when talent, some luck and taking advantage of opportunity come together.
Well said. The last word to Coach O’Connor
“A good friend of mine told me a long time ago….”Omaha will happen when you least expect it,’ ”
http://www.d1baseball.com/colu...irst-national-title/