Is HSBBW moving to CBBW?

I think this site is great...does it talk a lot about college ball vs. prep...of course, but that necessarily isn't a bad thing.  

TPM,

This is a pattern of behavior with you and it's not just directed at him. You're a big reason why new posters don't post or don't stick around (and that's from their mouths, not mine.) I suggest you figure out a way to be an adult.

This is the wrong place to pick this fight. Stats is not a new poster. There are other issues. Everyone who has been here for a while knows what they are.

Just to be sure there’s no mistake about what the OP said, here’s 2 quotes from it.

Not that I mind, but it sure seems this site has moved to being about 60/40 HSBB/CBB….

Again, I am not complaining! Since I have no interest in college ball, I seldom go to those threads. No harm. No foul….

I was not at all complaining, but simply making an observation. However, I will say this. As some of you know, I write a newsletter after every game I score, and in it not only do I give play by play, I try to pass on useful information to the parents and players. One way I do that is to recommend several baseball sites, one of them being here, because I only score HS games now-a-days.

During the spring and fall I only do varsity games, but during the summer I like to change pace and usually do the JV team. The “better” players/parents with dreams of playing on love it here and often talk about something they’d read here. But the players/parents during the summer have a slightly different take, as do those who really have no plans to play on.

They’ve already faced the fact that they aren’t good enough to play on the varsity team, and might never be, or won’t be worrying about baseball beyond HS. So although those of us with a lot of experience know, a Fr or So not making the varsity doesn’t mean a whole lot, almost everyone who’s playing HS ball is used to having been the star in Kiddieball or whatever travel or tournament team they played on, and aren’t used to having to deal with not being one of the best. Those people hit the HSBBW like a locust plague and try everything they read to try to alter their fortunes.

But the parents/players who are “well adjusted” and not worrying about something 3-4 years in the future, or something they don’t want to do in the future, often comment that there’s a lot of “stuff” here that just doesn’t pertain to them, and all they want to talk about is HS “stuff”. I don’t really care one way or the other because none of it pertains to me, but thought I’d make the observation.

I'm very well aware he's not a new poster. It's the fact she treats new (actually, most) posters the same way that drives them off, as I stated.

While the readership & contributors has changed a lot since I joined, the content has kept pace.  Sure, some threads can be repetitive but the perspectives can be unique if you read carefully.  You'd have to try really hard to not learn something here. 

People come here for a reason...mostly seeking opinions or advice about high school, college or even professional baseball with other people that have walked a mile or two in their shoes.  While I'm probably at a point where I wouldn't be seeking advice anymore (youngest son is high school senior looking at college ROTC), I would still value opinions of the Board related to baseball matters.  I could care less what they heck they call the website, but it is baseball 24 x7 x 365 and there is something here for everybody for the best team sport every invented.    JMO.

There's nothing else to say. I think I was clear.

Originally Posted by ClevelandDad:

…The purpose of the site is providing information so that high school players can go on and play at the next level.  That's what everyone here cares about.  I doubt anyone cares about hs fall baseball, frankly but you are free to start that topic if you like.  In the spring, we do run a high school spring thread so we are balanced in that respect.  The reason we have the college fall thread is because that is the first time, after all the years of showcasing and recruiting, a kid gets to play against ALL college players for the first time.  That is quite the achievement and it provides motivation for those kids striving to do exactly the same.  Our site is unique and I hope it stays roughly the same.    

I won’t disagree with what you’re saying because obviously you know what EVERYONE here cares about much better than I. I just thought it might benefit the site to try to include more people on the incoming side rather than concentrate on those who are among the best on the outgoing side.

It seems to me there’s a mighty big audience of HS players and parents who aren’t yet or will ever be starters on the varsity squad that are getting ignored. You blow of HS fall ball, but I can tell you that I’ve never been involved with a HS varsity fall ball program that isn’t filled with players and parents hoping to impress the coach for the spring. More than any other time, fall HS baseball is when players get pretty much equal opportunity to show off their skills and try to get on the coach’s radar to maybe beat out someone ahead of them.

I'm a frequent reader and infrequent poster on HSBBW.  This is one of the best resources of information for parents of high school baseball players with aspirations of moving on to the next level.  I completely agree with Scotty83, 2014Prospect, and Fenway.  Thanks to all that contribute.

... I can tell you that I’ve never been involved with a HS varsity fall ball program that isn’t filled with players and parents hoping to impress the coach for the spring. More than any other time, fall HS baseball is when players get pretty much equal opportunity to show off their skills and try to get on the coach’s radar to maybe beat out someone ahead of them.

This is true.  Fall ball  can be awesome.  But what has been above is true - the site is organic, and it is what the users make if it.  If you or I or anybody else wants to post about 2014 HS Fall Ball nobody is stopping us.   

But to repeat myself, it's hard to have a conversation about things that are of a burning interest to me but nobody else knows about. For example, our HS's starting SS graduated and a returning Senior starter is slated to transition from 3B to take the job.  How's that going to go?  And who's going to get the 3B job?  Our excellent C is now playing at a D2, so who gets his job?  Last year's backup?  A Junior coming up from JV?  Or does one of the returning IF's transition to C?

(I can't imagine how anybody here would know or care about the answers to those questions.  But just in case:  a) M____ is a natural SS and will do great. IMHO he should have been there last year. b) V_____ will probably get the nod at 3B, but his approach sucks - he tries to pull everything, so R___ may take it from him at some point. c)  No good options there.  S____ can't catch a strike, and B___ can't throw worth #$%^.  If I was coach I'm hoping that a stud freshman or transfer shows up the first day of practice.)

Sounds like a complaint to me. 

Have B___ do some push ups to strengthen his arm, and have S____ stand in front of a pitching machine catching the balls with his arm out and thumb up..Isn't V____ why the DH rule happened?  And great job M____ show your stuff! :-)

LOL!

+1  That was classic!

My "agreement" with Stats" position is one of complete selfishness, I admit.  As a high school coach, I like discussing matters relating to high school baseball.  So the fact is, I may very well be in a minority as of 2014.....I just don't think I WAS in the minority when I first came across the website 10 or so years ago.

Please don't misunderstand me.  I'm not suggesting anyone is "wrong" or that the website should be changed, I just think it is an interesting observation about how things have changed over the years.

I go to the Coaching board and see that very little coaching information or tips are posted.  I can't swear to this, but I really believe that 10 years ago, those boards were incredibly more active.  I think you have high school coaches leaving this board because many of the topics discussed are outside of their interest, or because (and I'm making a broad statement here) many people who post on here consider high school coaches to be idiot English teachers who are just trying to make some extra $$$ running a high school program into the ground.  I know I come to the board less often than I used to because there are less and less topics of interest to me, or less and less topics that really fit in with my areas of expertise.

And I'll say it again:  that doesn't make what this board has become now, something that is wrong.  It's just something that is different from what it was.

+1  That was classic!

Agreed, very funny.  BTW I think B___'s throwing issues are mostly between his ears, so how ironic is it that somebody resurrected a 10yo thread on the "yips" today.

There's a lot of stuff at Home Depot that's of no interest to me. But it doesn't mean I don't go there. I only go down the aisles relevant to my needs.

TCB1,

I understand what you are saying and as a summer travel coach for 15u ( I think most are going to be sophomores), I would be looking for coaching tips ie: practice routines, or how to run a specific routine, etc.

I really like following and listening to HS coaches on here. Do I think there all HS coaches (or summer coaches) are good- nope. But I think the ones on here probably are, along with a huge chunk of others. And I can learn from them how to make my players better as players and hopefully men.

I guess since next year will be my first coaching 15u that is not one of my children, I had't thought that far ahead.

I do like the new format here in that on right side is all topics no matter what category. I find I read more of them that way, than when you had to go to category first.

One of the awesome things about this site is the readers make of it what they want. Long time veterans have stayed long past when thier child was in HS or even college. Some of these "kids"are Pro's, some are just young men working in the world like us and yet thier parents keep coming here to learn and more importantly help others.

Every year (I am a veteran of a whomping 3 years-   ), a lot of the same topics keep coming up and get re answered every year for those that are new here. I appreciate those people, i hope/ plan to be  one of those people.

I will think about what I want to learn as a 15u coach and create a few topics.  Hopefully others will jump in

I lurked on this site for quite a while before I even posted. Gleaning info concerning HS baseball. As son progressed, I continued learning about colleges recruiting, scouts, advisors, scholarships, official visits, unofficial visits, Perfect Game (didn't even know what PG was before I came to this site, much less showcases, etc), academic merit aid.  This list could go on and on.

The name of the website is not indicative of all that it does but is important in that when a parent is searching for information, it normally begins while their son is in high school.

I've said it before and will say it again. This site, and people, have been a godsend to me and my family. Thank you to all who have continued to hang around and answered the redundant questions that some of us pose.