justbaseball:
I obviously totally agree with your words on Blacksburg. I would live there forever if I could.
Compare Blacksburg with Asheville NC.
Never been to Ashville, but I love the Great Smokie Mountains, so I am sure it is fabulous, although without Virginia Tech football, which is tough to beat.
Congratulations to Coach Aoki. He is a great guy. My son attended his camp at BC and afterward Coach came up to him and said, although he was not interested in him he would be happy to be a reference for him and help him in any way he could. As a result my son received many inquiries. I wish more coaches were like him. Good luck at ND.
Wow! I'm certainly no expert on college stadiums but I was at ND for a summer showcase tourney and again for the Fall Prospect camp with Mood Kid and I thought the stadium was beautiful. Field was in great shape even in early October and there is a nice indoor hitting building right there. I'm sure the indoor facilities are top notch as well given the football influence.
The coaching staff seemed great and kept the camp running smoothly. Mood Kid got a nice response from Coach Ristano when he inquired about his performance at camp.
I did get the impression though that a large portion of the kids attending the camp were using baseball to get into elite schools and not so much to get to Omaha.
The coaching staff seemed great and kept the camp running smoothly. Mood Kid got a nice response from Coach Ristano when he inquired about his performance at camp.
I did get the impression though that a large portion of the kids attending the camp were using baseball to get into elite schools and not so much to get to Omaha.
If you do not like cold weather, snow, rain going sideways and a small, college with tradition for mostly football, stresses academics in a blue collar type town, don't go to any college in the midwest then! LOL
A great friend of mine got the short end of the stick at this school and you wouldn't find a harder working coach than who was there and succeeded Paul. Paul did well there with the help of current UVA HC O'Connor when he was RC and PC and the coaches who were on Dave's staff I don't feel were in it to assist Dave if you know what I mean.
Mik will do a great job there and there are a lot of holdover players, some who play two sports at ND. It's not cheap to go to school there but you won't get a better education and the atmosphere will make you a tougher person if you have been baby'd by nice weather and no snow most of your life, LOL!
I would recommend ND to anyone that is looking for an opportunity for a great education and playing experience, and again if it comes down to weather and living in a great big city to do lots of things, look elsewhere and good luck finding that type of place because 99% of the flashy recruits are probably already lining themselves up there as well, but only 9 players can be on the field at a time folks!
Best of luck!
X
A great friend of mine got the short end of the stick at this school and you wouldn't find a harder working coach than who was there and succeeded Paul. Paul did well there with the help of current UVA HC O'Connor when he was RC and PC and the coaches who were on Dave's staff I don't feel were in it to assist Dave if you know what I mean.
Mik will do a great job there and there are a lot of holdover players, some who play two sports at ND. It's not cheap to go to school there but you won't get a better education and the atmosphere will make you a tougher person if you have been baby'd by nice weather and no snow most of your life, LOL!
I would recommend ND to anyone that is looking for an opportunity for a great education and playing experience, and again if it comes down to weather and living in a great big city to do lots of things, look elsewhere and good luck finding that type of place because 99% of the flashy recruits are probably already lining themselves up there as well, but only 9 players can be on the field at a time folks!
Best of luck!
X
If Notre Dame could just get the Catholic kids that attend Catholic schools they would have a top 25 program most every season. The problem with Notre Dame is that the academics while great are difficult and some kids have never worked very hard in the classroom, the weather in the Spring is not the best and it is a tough type of town. For kids that want a great education, wish to have religion around them every day, play baseball at a high level and don't mind making sacrafices it's a great place. Let's be honest and say that to win at Notre Dame you must recruit the overacheiver type of kid and throw in one or two really good kids.
Great college! Became a national power type program a few years back. There coach went to LSU along with some of the assistants and they became National Champs, their recruiting coordinator became the head coach at UVA and they became a national power.
Dave Schrage is a very close friend and to be honest he became devastated when his wife passed away (cancer). He is one great human being and was one of my favorite college coaches.
Not sure what is meant by the accusation... coaches on his staff weren't in it to assist Dave. We certainly never noticed anything like that.
The new Notre Dame staff is working very hard, we see them all over the place. I believe they will get the job done there.
Dave Schrage is a very close friend and to be honest he became devastated when his wife passed away (cancer). He is one great human being and was one of my favorite college coaches.
Not sure what is meant by the accusation... coaches on his staff weren't in it to assist Dave. We certainly never noticed anything like that.
The new Notre Dame staff is working very hard, we see them all over the place. I believe they will get the job done there.
quote:Originally posted by cbg:
If Notre Dame could just get the Catholic kids that attend Catholic schools they would have a top 25 program most every season. The problem with Notre Dame is that the academics while great are difficult and some kids have never worked very hard in the classroom, the weather in the Spring is not the best and it is a tough type of town. For kids that want a great education, wish to have religion around them every day, play baseball at a high level and don't mind making sacrafices it's a great place. Let's be honest and say that to win at Notre Dame you must recruit the overacheiver type of kid and throw in one or two really good kids.
@cbg..I agree with your thought process. You are right that student-athletes who got a predominantly Catholic way of life/education are more apt to succeed in this type of program because they are used to the lifestyle. Now, you also need to be a special student-athlete to enter the Irish world.
One of RR23JR's former teammate will be a RHP there this year. 2 sport athlete, leader, great in classroom and community....
@PG Staff..I am so sorry to hear about Coach Shrage's wife. RR23JR got an email from him last year. Where is he coaching now? I know Coach Aoki will stabilize the program. Saw some coaching staff in the AZ Senior/Junior Fall Classics.
RR23
Dave has been a friend of mine since we competed against each other from '80 to now. He's a class act and a hard worker.quote:Originally posted by PGStaff:
Dave Schrage is a very close friend and to be honest he became devastated when his wife passed away (cancer). He is one great human being and was one of my favorite college coaches.
Not sure what is meant by the accusation... coaches on his staff weren't in it to assist Dave. We certainly never noticed anything like that.
I was very sad to learn and shocked when Jody passed away. She was a great gal, mother, wife and coach, especially friend, to Dave, their two daughters and a credit for battling on and off the field as she did. I had just spoken to her maybe 2 weeks before she passed away after learning she had "C" and having had a father who passed away from it and only being diagnosed with it less than 7 months before he passed, an Aunt that lived with it for 17 years after being given day to day to live by her doctor, it really hit me hard, knowing her and her hubby as long as I did and what they have gone through in raising their girls, moving from town to town, even a country when Dave first started coaching when he was in Australia one year. I really miss her and will always remember how great she was because her friendship still impacts us today.
When I said that the assistants didn't assist, you will have to read between the lines. When he was at UNI, Waldorf, N Ill, Evans, he always had support and he brought some of that support with him or some of them became HC themselves. However a couple of the last two he had didn't help him build the program. I am a firm believer a HC at a D1 level can not do everything themselves. They need to be experts at teaching every facet of the game of baseball and they have to have coaches that believe in their philosophy and stand behind that philosophy, when you an individual who thinks they are better, that can create a how do you say it? power struggle if you will, you get finger pointing and you get players saying things and eventually a program can erode. Been there, seen it, have had it done to me as well and it's not pretty, but truth being told, you won't find a better person and teacher of the game than Dave and I do hope in 2011 he gets another opp to build a program like he did with the others he was at before Notre Dame.
I like what ND is doing now and as one person stated, they are out there working the trail and making contacts. It's great to recruit, but it's also great to deliver what you told the kids you would do, and that's help them improve their skills, get a great education, and perhaps a shot at pro ball if things work out.
Sobkowiak is one player I think would back Dave up and I'm sure there are others, even Pollock.
I wish ND a lot of luck this coming year and one thing I had told a few co-hearts of mine was, watch ND win the Big East in 2011. IT might be a reach or a "way out there" statement, but let's see what transposes next spring!
X
I have read the posts in this string and am wondering if anyone has any information about changes in the program since Coach Aoki took over. It appears from their current season that things have improved and that the program is headed in the right direction. My son has been speaking to them and we are looking at visiting the campus in the next month or so. We will be able to check the facilities, etc. but if anyone has any first-hand info about the program I would appreciate the feedback.
