UVA vs. VCU Tuesday Night

Do you know if the game will be televised?

Richmond vs Cornell finally the new turf ready at Pitt field!

Not to my knowledge.  There are no webcast indications up on either team's sites.  There will be LiveStats and UVA's site apparently offers an audio link, but I think it's subscription-based so you'd have to pay for it.

"Richmond vs Cornell finally the new turf ready at Pitt field!"

 

Big step for a program that is rapidly ascending.  (Currently leading the A10.)

 

Question:  Do the improvements mean we'll have to pay to see games there now?  It's been the last of the freebies over the past several years.

Tried to sneak out to that Spiders game but my son's team was playing at 5 (Thomas Dale over Matoaca 10-8, btw) and I had my front row seats for the game at the Diamond.   Figured three games in one afternoon would be pushing it :-)

The BEST way to catch a Virginia game if ya can't be there is to listen to Channing Poole call it on wina.com.  AM 1070 in CVille.  Not every game is on there but damn near every one and that kid knows how to call a great radio game.

Great turnout at the game yesterday.  Tough to find parking unless you got there early for the 3pm game and the beautiful weather.  My wife and I went out to the Richmond/Cornell game to see old friends and son's former teammates.  My oldest son got off work and naturally spent some time hanging out with the pitchers in the bullpen.  

 

The new Richmond field is tremendous, except there is a big red crab in the middle of the field (just kidding).  Richmond is going to really enjoy the field for many years to come.  Oldest son had a synthentic turf field up north and loved it.  No maintenance except the pitchers mound.....got to love it. 

 

As of yesterday, admission was free for a non-conference game.  I'm not sure what their future plans are to makeup that $1M field cost.  As for the outcome of the game, it was all Richmond feasting on Cornell mid-week pitching and even some Cornell position players pitched.  I'll spare everyone on the "whys".    One guy hit a homerun that was an absolute blast.  I think it broke a tree in half in left/center field.   

Regarding UR... In my opinion the set up is exactly how college baseball should be.  On campus.  Free.  Easily accessible for parents & students.  Keep in mind the Spiders were just a couple of outs from the CWS in the late 90's or early 2000's (I'm getting too old to estimate closer than a decade apparently).

 

Field can be reached from about 360 degrees around the field.  How could they possibly charge?  And thats the beauty.  I love bringing my dogs.  We'll watch from the parking lot in RF.  Then make a lap around the lake or 2.  Then watch a few innings from 3B line.  Love it!

 

I hoping they do some upgrades that the players & parents deserve like bathrooms, locker rooms, etc.  But I hope they leave the open flow.  But lets be honest, most parents sit up on the parking lot.  Unless they build a 40 ft wall we'll always be able to watch for free.

 

Side note:  Our 1st private workout on the VA College Bus Tour will be held on the new turf!  2nd private workout will be held at Va Tech!  

 

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com/bus_tour

 

VMI wins 7-6 over UVA in Charlottesville.

I"d love to see UR begin to be more active in the recruiting of Richmond area kids. I think they have a couple coming in but if I recall, only 1 local kid on the roster now. It's a great school and they have their challenges in 11.7 scholarship world with the tuition…but I think there would be a lot more interest in the program if they had a few more local kids. I know Woodson has said that he wants to have a better footprint in the local area so maybe we'll see more familiar faces on their roster. 

Woodson has already signed several VA kids w/ a few Richmond area kids on that list.

 

While I think any coach wants to "win" his state in recruiting, I think you have to look at the big picture.

 

University of Richmond is a High Academic Private $60,000 per year college.  The reality is you can't count on having an RVA based team.

 

A 25% scholarship leaves a family out of pocket almost $200,000.

Academic scholarship?  Ha!  Good luck.  Every kid there was top 10 in his high school class.

 

So that means the staff has to scour the nation looking for high level baseball players that are very smart and come from families making lots of money or very little money (financial aid).  To find just 1 kid a year in Richmond that fits that criteria would be great.  

 

Tracey Woodson was just interviewed on Top Coach Podcast.  If you aren't already addicted to TCP you will be soon… http://topcoachpodcast.com/?p=1285

 

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com/bus_tour

Great point. Schools like Richmond really have there work cut out for them. I wonder if public schools like UVA W&M have it any easier

Do the math.  50% scholarship at private school costing almost $60,000 leaves higher out of pocket price than public school of $25,000 at full price.  

 

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

 

Hi, Guys,

Coach Woodson has an even tougher job than you think.  

 

My son attended the prospect camp this Winter and in an excellent hour-long Q&A session at their top notch dining hall, he told us that he's not fully funded for scholarships.  He only has nine now.  I got ahold of him a little while later just to shoot the breeze and he's fighting for a tenth.  We talked academic scholarship opportunities and yeah... there are some pretty competitive kids there.

 

He's gonna build something special here, there's no doubt.  Hometown guy who loves to compete, doing business in a place with a ton of 'curb appeal'.  Unfortunately for my son, we're not gonna be in a financial situation where we can help him build it.

That's interesting that UR is not fully funded. Makes it even more difficult, as you point out. I've often wondered how many of the other Virginia schools aren't funding the maximum number of scholarships. I'd have to think there are others but I've never really heard anyone talk about that. 

I don't disagree with your assessment of UR and challenges in finding the right-fit kids. I do think its reasonable to think that their roster will ultimately have more than 1 or 2 RVA kids, though. If I'm not mistaken, even Harvard has a decent smattering of kids that are from their area. Winning at home is usually the first step in building a program and it will be tougher at UR. 

It is interesting how the topics get a bit off track on this web site. It went from a brief discussion of "UVa vs VCU Tuesday Night" (the topic heading) and meandered to a more lengthy discussion of U of R's new field and their recruiting. They are valid discussions; but, they are just out of place in my opinion.

True but ... typical for us ADD types!

 

One thing you guys are forgetting about UR.  They only recently implemented a school-wide plan (open to athletes and non-athletes alike) under which any kid from a family with $60,000 or less in annual household income can attend UR tuition free.  Since 25% equates to more than room, board and books combined, it's pretty easy for Coach Woodson to put some very attractive packages together for players.  Even with no scholarship money, a blue collar kid could attend UR for maybe $11,000/year, and far less than that if he was from the Richmond area and lived at home.

 

Also -- there are certainly some kids at UR who were top 10 in their classes, but nowhere near all of them.  And you certainly don't have to be at that level to get in via the baseball route. UR has come a long way up the rankings in recent years, but let's not get carried away.  Let's not extol UR so much that we give kids the idea that it's academically out of their reach.  The way to look at it is, baseball will help you to get in and stay in and pay the bills, so put your talents to work to get you that prize.

 

I offer these comments just to make sure that kids don't get the wrong message.  As in, if you think cost or academics rules UR out for you, you should pursue it and see what happens, because the result may turn out to be a much better deal than any other school could hope to offer you.