Salukis vs Redbirds

Im hearing that former Notre Dame Don --Dean Cadematori-- outfielder for SIU is going to be draft pick this year. Having a solid career at SIU.

Sull, you are right, Cadematori is a solid prospect.

Pitching is going to win this weekend...it is going to go down to the bullpens...both of these teams can hit with anyone...look at the amount of runs scored...should be a fun series. good luck to both coaches...great programs and both have recruitted and promoted IL kids to the max...i'm partial to the redbirds...go birds....yeah im a little bias

Sweaty,

Good luck to you and your son. Should be a lot of fun.

all i can say is wow that was not a good start to MVC play for the birds....SIU just outpitched the birds and geez the catcher , mark kelly sure had a weekend, as well as anetsberger for the birds, that boy can flat out hit the ball....as for my boy, i guess his hand is really hurting him, can't compete at the plate when not at full strength. he'll be fine and the birds will come back and make some noise in the Valley.

quote:

Originally posted by sweaty:
all i can say is wow that was not a good start to MVC play for the birds....SIU just outpitched the birds and geez the catcher , mark kelly sure had a weekend, as well as anetsberger for the birds, that boy can flat out hit the ball....as for my boy, i guess his hand is really hurting him, can't compete at the plate when not at full strength. he'll be fine and the birds will come back and make some noise in the Valley.

Hey Sweaty---heard the umpiring down in Carbondale was brutal... not that it made much difference but missing a Home Run>>> heard they had rabbit ears too.... first time in 10 years that siu swept ISU
Long way to go though and i am sure the Redbirds will bounce back..Heard siu was pretty good this year

The umping in the Missouri Valley Conference is always HORRIBLE!!!! But horrible for both teams.

I couldn't tell if Antsbergers HR was a HR, I lost the ball....Should've given it to him....but didn't make a difference in the outcome of the game thank goodness.

Kelly is on a 21 game hitting streak! It was great to see some old (?) faces out there.

Someone posted that both of these are great programs...could you just tell me why they are great?...and if they are great then what are other teams that go to regionals on regular basis? Just kind of wondering the lasttime these places made NCAA tourney in consecutive years?

BB39 you sound as cynical as I do about the Big 10 in baseabll...i said in my statement that they have both done a great job in promoting players from illinois..great programs, i'll eat my words..there no ASU or Cal St but they are coming closer to Miami and a few others...look at some records this year..scary how many teams have double digit losses this year already and some pretty big named ones at that, and since you know more than I, you figure out which ones I mean..SIU and ISU keep promoting these kids from Ill...I know as a father of one I appreciate all the hard work Cal and Brownlee are doing...and I hope it will pay off very shortly and they will be contenders..I know they don't want to be mediocre, they want to make the BIG jump...yeah big jump..all it takes is a little pitching and a little luck each game..that is my take and I'll stick by my words of great programs in this sense

Ok, point understood, obviously there is a big diff between about 4-5 conferences and all the rest like big10 and mo val, then the dropoff gets even bigger.
A program recruiting from its own state doesnt make it a great program and if you are classifying in that way then thats fine. Part of a season by the way doesnt make a program, a good team could be accurate for a short time period. Just want to clarify what makes a great "program" vs someone having a good or bad team for a given year or short time frame. Not wanting to lose is one thing, doing the things to keep from losing is another.

NOW there is a comment for the ages...I absolutely concur...see boomer i do have a soft side...

Although I am an ex Redbird Dad I think they fall far short of a "great program".

Now before you guy's start sniping, lets be real:

The Missouri Valley Conference is top notch...#9 RPI out of 31 conferences.

Wichita State has had a long and illustrious run that no Big 10 team can sniff. The "Valley" has performed signifigantly better than the Big 10 for a long time. Creighton was on fire in the early and mid 90's under Henry, then Dom dropped the ball big time.

Minnesota and OSU have been consistently good (not great) while the rest of the conference has pretty much stunk it up (Michigan always seems to be on the verge...then THUD!)

Truly great programs are few and far between in the land of D1 where no less than 293 teams reside.

Although neither a Redbird or Saluki fan (my son pitches at Bradley), I concur with those above who talk about the fine programs at ISU and SIU. Those schools are constantly recruiting the best talent in Illinois. Being in the MVC, they play very competitively against most other conferences (except maybe the SEC, Big 12, ACC and a couple of the other "power" conferences. However, Wichita State (which is Bradley's conference openner in Peoria this weekend) is always mentioned in the same breath as many other national powers. ISU and SIU will battle Wichita, Evansville, Mo. State, Creighton and all other MVC teams tooth and nail.

Obviously, everyone can have their own definition of a "great" program. While neither ISU nor SIU have been a contender for national champion, they do compete on the field and, from what I know of the coaches at both schools, they produce fine young men...that's a great program in my opinion.

If you want to measure "great programs" strictly by the numbers, you may want to check out Warren Nolan RPI. There you can find out about how every team stacks up against teams in the top 50, 50 to 100, 100 to 200, and beyond. Also has conference RPI's and a shows history back to 2004 (where the MVC ranked as high as 5th best conference in the country).

If you want the definition of getting it done please check out the SIU pitching stats, VERY IMPRESSIVE! 1 BB per 3.8 INN 2.87 to 1 SO/BB%

Keep working hard,
Justin Stringer
Do It Right Baseball
Lane Tech Baseball
www.doitrightbaseball.com
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