Howard College

Yes, very impressive. I hope they make it farther in the playoffs than they did last year, as their performance in the post-season last year was not representative of the skill level they displayed during their superb 2008 regular season.

I received a less-than-kind note through my website in response to my post above. Unfortunately, this person claimed to be John Smith, at jsmith@aol.com. This is the response I wrote him. That email bounced, so "John," I hope you read this...

John,

I take it you have a son or friend who plays at Howard. I can see where my post looked like it is a criticism of the players. It wasn't meant to be that, so I changed the post to hopefully more accurately express what I was trying to say.

So I am sorry.

I do think HC-2008 choked in the post-season. To me, choking simply means playing below potential, which is obviously extremely common. That word
has a very negative connotation, but to me, choking is normal (degree obviously varies) and playing your best, especially in 'clutch' situations, is uncommon. While everyone is always responsible for his own behavior, I believe that when an entire team chokes, it is usually the head coach's fault. After speaking to some Howard players after last season, I believe this to be the case for the 2008 HC team. I do hope that this doesn't happen this year.

As for you not knowing if I help kids, I would refer you to kids that I've actually met. I'm sure I haven't helped them all, but I do know that I
help many of them, and will continue to do so.

Again, I'm sorry that my post was less thoughtful than it should have been.

-Aaron

50-0!!

How's that possible?!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Old Pitcher:
50-0!!

How's that possible?!!!

Combination... Good team, weak schedule.

quote:

Originally posted by NTXFan:

quote:

Originally posted by Old Pitcher:
50-0!!

How's that possible?!!!

Combination... Good team, weak schedule.

The WJCAC is not a weak conference and to go 50-0 in baseball means you have a great team, not a good team, good teams go 30-20.

Great thing about it, is that we won't have to wait long to find out.

My son plays on this team and I have seen many of the games this season. The games I've seen have had pitchers 90+ and some 85+, typical of many college teams, not just weak teams. They don't have a weak link offensively in their lineup, they all hit well 1-9. Even when one has been out for illness or injury, their replacements hit very well. They have a real strong, deep pitching staff who have been able to keep some great hitters off balance. NTXFan, I'm not sure how many of their games you have seen but they have some really good teams in their schedule along with some average teams, just like other JUCO's schedules. How far will they go? Who knows? But to say that they are 52-0 because they have a weak schedule and their just a good team is not giving credit where credit is due.

I don't care if their competition is little league level...

50-0 is unbelievable.

50 straight W's is still 50 straight W's...tough feat at any level.

Congrats to HJC and Coach Smith......

I am not sure of a JUCO in Texas that plays a weak schedule.. if anyone believes some team, any team, has played a weak schedule to date, please post on here so we can see... NTXfan???

Traub... didn't you work with Houston Miracles last year? Didn't they choke big time in Farmington... heard they played awful... just curious...

I did work with the Miracles last summer. Mike Harris and David Clyde did a great job with these players. They played fantastic in Ft. Worth, where I worked with them just very briefly at the start of the tourney, to get to Farmington. They did not continue playing quite so well out there, although the competition was stiff. I wasn't there, so I don't know if they played poorly or not.

And thanks for the credit, but the reality is that they didn't get there because of me or play poorly there (if they did) because of me. I share ideas with players about how to play up to their potential. These ideas are proven to work by the greatest athletes in the world. However, if my clients take these ideas and put them into action, they deserve all the credit.

Again, I think HC's regular season is tremendous and agree that what they've done is quite remarkable. They play some good teams and some weaker ones, like everyone. The point is, they've beaten them all. They deserve to be #1 in the country, without any doubt. The great thing about baseball is that rankings are pretty unimportant, and we'll get to find out if they're a national championship caliber team in the post-season. Best wishes to them.

quote:

Originally posted by 643_DP:
50 straight W's is still 50 straight W's...tough feat at any level.

RF=582 RA=163. That is incredible. GED10DaD

quote:

They played fantastic in Ft. Worth, where I worked with them just very briefly at the start of the tourney, to get to Farmington.

How well you put that... attach yourself when good things happen and disconnect when they don't...

Bet Coach Smith didn't disconnect from his players after losing out last year...

We all know only one team in the country will finish with a win this year... doesn't mean any of the other teams choked, no matter how good their regular season was... it's called baseball...

yeah, yeah, we all get it... "how the player talks to himself determines how he thinks. And how he thinks dtermines how he plays. And the mental message will dictate the physical action and help determine its quality."
I remember that from PSYCH 101 too

Here was my favorite though:
"...judgment should therefore be focused on the player's/team's own specific approaches and actions, NOT on statistical results or victories or losses."
-Harvey A. Dorfman

And, no, I do not have a kid out there in Big Spring

Know your job.

Thanks for quoting Harvey. He's the best! I was fortunate to coach at Brevard (NC - JuCo at the time), and he happens to live in Brevard. I had already met him with the Marlins, so when I asked, he came and spoke to our team each year. Then he came and spoke to my teams at UVa and Emory, too. He became my mentor, and has been so kind to help me become the coach I am by always being available, blunt, and... correct. The guy gets results. For those interested, look up his four books on the mental game under H. A. Dorfman. There are none better (including mine, although I did try).

So...you are correct, Diablo, it's easy for me to point out times when I've helped and other times when I wasn't there that teams didn't play well. This doesn't change anytying: I provide useful information about what works and what doesn't and athletes that take this information and turn it into action benefit from it. Much of it is basics, such as you learned in PSYC 101 or the game of life (maturity is something teenagers are obviously still figuring out): stay positive, hold yourself accountable, try not to worry about stuff outside of your control, learn continuously about what's working so you can repeat it and what's not so you can change it. If the athlete is interested, we can go into more depth about how he/she can create energy, motivation, change state and attitude in an instant, control arousal, focus attention singularly on the task-at-hand, or whatever else is needed to give a best effort performance.

If anyone's interested, I post lots of free information related to this mental game stuff on my website: www.CoachTraub.com and send out even more in my free newsletter. So am I using hsbaseballweb for free advertising? Sure. (I also keep trying to buy advertising, but that's another story.) I advertise this free stuff and offer it free because I really do want to help as many people as possible, and I also happen to believe that the more people my writing helps, the more my business will eventually benefit.

Finally, I don't disconnect from any former clients, even if they just came to one of my camps. They are welcome to email me or call me anytime for any reason. Whether I am with a team or not at any time is always up to the head coach.

anybody have an updated recored for HC. week schedule or not it is extremely hard to go undefeated. especially 50-0

They are 54-0 after winning 4 on the weekend.

Howard is scheduled to play North Central Texas College in the opening round of the NJCAA Region V tournament Sunday, 5 p.m., at LaGrave Field in Fort Worth.

The date and time came from Hawkson, who is playing in the game and who almost certainly got the info from Coach Harp, so I'll assume it's accurate. Yeah, I know all about assume. . .

My source, a long time coach and area scout, says HC is a VERY good team. They have speed, hitting, power, pitching and defense. Will be fun to watch.

Question: Has any team ever gone undefeated?

quote:

Originally posted by Outsider:
My source, a long time coach and area scout, says HC is a VERY good team. They have speed, hitting, power, pitching and defense. Will be fun to watch.

Question: Has any team ever gone undefeated?

A Division 3 team went undefeated for the regular season than lost one game in the play offs but still won it all, can't think of the name of the school.

New time for the Howard/North Central Texas first-round regional game Sunday (May 10): 1 p.m. at LaGrave.

Any website that will have the schedules with what appears to be the start of reschedules?

You would hope, but I haven't found it yet. Maybe as the tournament draws closer, and the first round games are confirmed, one will be posted.

Thanks, Hawkman.

Doesn't scotty25 have one?

I have seen six of the eight teams in the tournament (not Clarendon or Odessa) and Howard is the best of the bunch. However, in my opinion, Temple, who is the #1 seed from the NTJCAA has the best pitcher I saw all year, a LHP named Colon. He is capable of holding down the Howard hitters and Temple can hit.

For those parents of HS aged players who turn their noses up at JUCO baseball, I would suggest you go to LaGrave and take in a couple of games. Your perspective may change.

I am currently a JUCO coach and been one for quite a while and can tell you this.....we could play the WORST team on our schedule 54 times and not beat them EVERY time!! This is an incredible feat and one worthy of the attention it gets. To be #1 in the nation AND have to walk into EVERY game with a big GOOSE EGG in the loss column is daunting to say the least and they have handled it well. Kudos to them and just wish I could see them play in the regional tournament.

Here is region 14. That is all I can find.

Texas-New Mexico Junior College Baseball Coaches Association
Region V Tournament
May 10-14
LaGrave Field, Fort Worth

SUNDAY, MAY 10
GAME 1: Midland (West 3rd) vs. Cisco (North 2nd) - 10 a.m.
GAME 2: North Central Texas College (North 4th) vs. Howard (West 1st) – 1 p.m.
GAME 3: McLennan (North 3rd) vs. Clarendon (West 2nd) – 5 p.m.
GAME 4: Odessa (West 4th) vs. Temple (North 1st)

MONDAY, MAY 11
GAME 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 – 10 a.m.
GAME 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 – 1 p.m.
GAME 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 – 5 p.m.
GAME 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 – 8 p.m.

TUESDAY, MAY 12
GAME 9: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7 – 10 a.m.
GAME 10: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8 – 1 p.m.
GAME 11: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 – 5 p.m.
GAME 12: Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 9 – 8 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13
GAME 13: Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 11 – 1 p.m.
GAME 14: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 13 – 5 p.m.

THURSDAY
GAME 15: Winner Game 14 vs. Loser Game 14 (if necessary) - Noon

quote:

Originally posted by Uncle Ethan:
I have seen six of the eight teams in the tournament (not Clarendon or Odessa) and Howard is the best of the bunch. However, in my opinion, Temple, who is the #1 seed from the NTJCAA has the best pitcher I saw all year, a LHP named Colon. He is capable of holding down the Howard hitters and Temple can hit.

For those parents of HS aged players who turn their noses up at JUCO baseball, I would suggest you go to LaGrave and take in a couple of games. Your perspective may change.

According to the scores, Odessa played Howard the toughest of anybody, a one run game and a few 3 run games.

It's tournament baseball now, everyone is 0-0!!

55-0 is the all-time record for any level of college baseball acoording to the HC website. HC was on track to tie that record but had to cancel a non-conference game last week against ACU due to rain. Congratulations on an amazing feat! I will have my boys in the stands on Sunday to watch these young men play ball.

Here's the link to the schedule:

Region V Tournament Bracket

quote:

Here's the link to the schedule:

Region V Tournament Bracket

Incredibly difficult to read. Makes AABC published tourney schedules look simple.

Dallas Morning News article.

http://www.dallasnews.com/shar...gtoncol.3f21668.html

56-0 and counting................

quote:

Originally posted by Aloysius:
56-0 and counting................

To remain undefeated after 56 games is really amazing. North Central Texas College twice had leads Sunday, but couldn't close the deal. Howard was flawless in that game. NCTC was nearly flawless. It was a fun game to watch.

I was able to go see the North Central - Howard game and was a really good game. Both teams played well and Howard found a way to get it done and that is a credit to them, for sure. I will admit that the chanting and such everytime they bat is a little "softball-ish" ( in my opinion ) and has no place on a baseball field. Just a side-note not a rant or anything.

Hey there 56-0. Whatever works. Looks like they are having fun to me. You might see more teams chanting next year.

Beast, I respect your post but if you gotta resort to that to win 56, I gotta question your respect for the game....bad enough we have baggy pants and bell bottoms on them, war painted faces and players and bats juiced to the max and now we have softballer chants. Sorry but "fun" doesn't excuse everything. A little decor please and respect.

At 56 - 0 they deserve your respect; seems sour grapes to me.

Note - I have not seen Howard play one game ever...

But Slick's point does have merit.

Just because you win doesn't excuse any team or any player from doing things the right way. Respect for the game is important.