Christmas ideas - 2020 grad playing college ball next year

We now buy my son underwear and some occasional sweat pants and socks that he wears off the field. Otherwise, his college, a P5, pretty much dresses him.

School provides glove (personalized to son's design), he's a pitcher so bats and batting gloves don't come into it, but I think those are provided. When he travels, he used school provided duffel bag and backpack. They also gave him a winter coat, which I think is the only thing he has to return.

Also, just an FYI--son is discouraged from wearing high school gear or anything that shows another college logo (I think that is actually forbidden). He does wear some sweatshirts or t-shirts for pro teams he likes so those have been good gifts.

We don't buy him anything with his own school logo on it, the school provides the most cool gear and we can't compete with that.

Other D1s we met with kind of outlined what they would provide, which was not as comprehensive as he's getting at this school.

We have gone to giving him stuff like a television cable plan that allows him to stream unlimited stuff on his phone--which is nice when he travels. He did ask for a cap carrier that we found on Amazon since team has two or three different hats that go with the different uniforms they wear (when I want to poke at son, I ask which costume they're wearing that day, but that's a different thread).

Also got him MLB.com, some basic dishes for his dorm room, a bowl that lets you make real mac and cheese in a dorm refrigerator. A note on that — while son lived in a dorm with a cafeteria in it, by the time he got done with class, practice, lifting and mandatory study hours, he often got back to his dorm after it closed, so gift cards to various food spots have been much appreciated.

In the fall, they will provide very little stuff.  He will swing his bat or a team bat in the fall and use his old glove.  If he doesn't get redshirted, they will provide glove, bat, batting gloves, all practice gear and pretty much everything he needs.  This is the first Christmas that I have not bought anything baseball related.   Son's team even gives undergarments for practice and games such as warm wear.  As has been suggested, if he has to stay in dorms you could get stuff for dorm room but you need to have an idea on bed size and how much space he will have.  We bought sheets and everything then found out he has an XL bed so nothing fit.  They have a big tv in main room but he got one for his bedroom but it has to be small. 

But know that each college is different.  Some give everything and some give very little.  Being D1 does not mean they all get the same but you can have him ask a current player.  I would say all D1's give glove and bat but after that it is different.  But there are certain contracts that are in place and most have certain companies they have to use.

Your son is going to discover Christmas is the day they hand out equipment. 

Mid major D1:  gloves were only provided once....rotated through the team, like 1/3 of the players got them each year.  Son got 1, and appreciated it.  Players received large duffles with school logo for travel.  Heavier jackets worn in the dugout were not part of standard issue that son got to keep.

Always needed: sliding shorts, longer sliding "shorts" for colder weather, jock/cup, socks.  Gift cards to food places.   Cash.

uber gift cards

battery pack to recharge phone, great for trips

neck pillow

noise canceling headset

Yep. Travel sized toiletry crap and uber/lyft gift cards are great stocking stuffers. The beats pro is a big time winner. The massage gun another winner. 

2022NYC posted:

massage gun. 

Also a great gift for parents stiff from sitting on bleachers for too many years!

A hand-held recorder, digital or tape (I still use cassettes). Recording a lecture (step one) and listening to it a second time (step 2) to fill in your notes is a great study method. I did this in college and law school. Step 3 was to make an outline from the notes and by then, the material is mastered. I rarely had to study for exams because after making the outline, a little review brought it all back.  Just a thought, might not be for everyone.  

hokieone posted:

A hand-held recorder, digital or tape (I still use cassettes). Recording a lecture (step one) and listening to it a second time (step 2) to fill in your notes is a great study method. I did this in college and law school. Step 3 was to make an outline from the notes and by then, the material is mastered. I rarely had to study for exams because after making the outline, a little review brought it all back.  Just a thought, might not be for everyone.  

I still have one but my son laughed at me and said "Dad, that's what they make i-phone voice recorder for."  We are getting old.

PitchingFan posted:

hokieone posted:

A hand-held recorder, digital or tape (I still use cassettes). Recording a lecture (step one) and listening to it a second time (step 2) to fill in your notes is a great study method. I did this in college and law school. Step 3 was to make an outline from the notes and by then, the material is mastered. I rarely had to study for exams because after making the outline, a little review brought it all back.  Just a thought, might not be for everyone.  

I still have one but my son laughed at me and said "Dad, that's what they make i-phone voice recorder for."  We are getting old.

One related gift is an app called Otter. It's a voice recorder for iphone or android, but it also provides a fairly accurate transcription of your notes. It's free for up to 600 minutes a month or $10 for like 6,000 minutes.

Another gift I'm getting my kids is instant ink for their printers so they will stop calling me and asking what ink cartridges they need. Wasn't a big deal freshman year when there were college-owned printers around the dorms, but now that they are both living off campus, they have their own printers and want to print sometimes.

I ordered one of these journals for my son. We'll see if he uses it but didn't seem opposed to the idea. He's got work to do during the off-season and I figured it might help. It covers 12 weeks of daily input so, if he uses it, I'll probably pick up a few more.

https://www.catching-101.com/throwing-journal/

My son plays for a D1 in Northern California.  Their field is off campus, so, an electric scooter was a great investment.  He had a long board, and he uses it to get around campus, as they don't allow electric scooters on campus.  He was in need of a new computer, and got him a mac book.  Apple had a deal, and he got a free set of Beats headphones.  He loves the headphones when traveling.  Also, you can't go wrong with school gear...sweatshirts, polo, t-shirts.   He's covered for baseball gear by the school.

One word of caution.  Long story, but my son de-committed, right after HS graduation, from his original college he signed with.   We, as well as family, bought a bunch of school gear during Christmas, that is now, looking for a new home.  So... hopefully nothing happens and you're stuck with gear from a school he won't attend.

PitchingFan posted:

hokieone posted:

A hand-held recorder, digital or tape (I still use cassettes). Recording a lecture (step one) and listening to it a second time (step 2) to fill in your notes is a great study method. I did this in college and law school. Step 3 was to make an outline from the notes and by then, the material is mastered. I rarely had to study for exams because after making the outline, a little review brought it all back.  Just a thought, might not be for everyone.  

I still have one but my son laughed at me and said "Dad, that's what they make i-phone voice recorder for."  We are getting old.

Students really should not record a professor’s lectures without asking for permission. Given today’s technology, it is nearly impossible to enforce a recording ban (everyone has a phone that can serve as a digital recorder), but this is a matter of both courtesy and, at some institutions, school policy. Lectures are a professor’s intellectual property—they often reflect years of work.  I also know profs who have had their lectures digitally edited so as to make them appear to say things they did not. For someone teaching a potentially controversial subject (a wide ranging list these days), this can cause career problems.  

Here are two of the first links that popped up on Google about this subject:

https://blogs.findlaw.com/law_...s-or-professors.html

https://www.rev.com/blog/recording-college-lectures

if they have his mascot for his college, get him a banner of the mascot in the school colors playing baseball he can hang on his dorm wall next year!  

https://collegemascot-designs.....com/shop/tapestries

Chico Escuela posted:

PitchingFan posted:

hokieone posted:

A hand-held recorder, digital or tape (I still use cassettes). Recording a lecture (step one) and listening to it a second time (step 2) to fill in your notes is a great study method. I did this in college and law school. Step 3 was to make an outline from the notes and by then, the material is mastered. I rarely had to study for exams because after making the outline, a little review brought it all back.  Just a thought, might not be for everyone.  

I still have one but my son laughed at me and said "Dad, that's what they make i-phone voice recorder for."  We are getting old.

Students really should not record a professor’s lectures without asking for permission. Given today’s technology, it is nearly impossible to enforce a recording ban (everyone has a phone that can serve as a digital recorder), but this is a matter of both courtesy and, at some institutions, school policy. Lectures are a professor’s intellectual property—they often reflect years of work.  I also know profs who have had their lectures digitally edited so as to make them appear to say things they did not. For someone teaching a potentially controversial subject (a wide ranging list these days), this can cause career problems.  

Here are two of the first links that popped up on Google about this subject:

https://blogs.findlaw.com/law_...s-or-professors.html

https://www.rev.com/blog/recording-college-lectures

This reminds me of the scene in Real Genius (cult classic glorifying nerds like me) where the class room was filled with tape recorders (yikes dating myself) and the lecture was being played on a tape reel (yikes did it again)

Non baseball related gift idea:  One Night Ultimate Werewolf game (or any of the other versions they make such as One Night Ultimate Vampire/Alien etc.). My younger cousin introduced this to us at Thanksgiving and everyone we have played it with has loved it. I have played it with friends and family ages 12-74 and everyone has enjoyed it.