Fort Worth NCAA Regional Thread

[Moose Stuff]

Ok. How about this, Florida > Ft Worth.

My comment still stands .

 

[bmoney214]

3:00

You're right.. Those dumbasses said 4 at the end of the game last night.

 

[Moose Stuff]

I dont know if this literally is true but college baseball seems bigger than ever and more schools are investing heavily in it than it seems ever before.

Having said that, I alwasy thought we went cheap on Lupton. I recogniaze that at the time we werent flush with cash but now we have a real pickle. We need to start over with a massive re-build in my view and I wonder if the donors are there for it given the football stadium work and DMC.

Wait until you see what A&M does after they hire Jim (or whoever).

 

[FWTFrog]

Curious why you think major upgrade? I know the place has issues but what needs to happen?

Well to start, the stadium is an erector set made up of mostly aluminum and metal. There are six urinals for the entire stadium and have to bring in porta-potties for big games. The concourse is too small to walk through it you are playing frogger with the concession stand lines. There has been a waitlist of reserved seating for years, with little movement. No clubs and very limited suites, restricting potential revenue sources.

 

[Spike]

Ayy. I wanted Dover to go in so bad for that fool. Always throwing off his back foot.

You mean Stilley? Dover would have been about 25 by then.

 

[JugbandFrog]

What is wrong with our stadium?

Is it all the aluminum?

Is it the grass field, cuz I will fight folk at the fountain if we take out the grass!

I’ve been to a few stadiums and I like ours. I don’t see how that’s be a deal breaker for a coach.

 

[JugbandFrog]

You mean Stilley? Dover would have been about 25 by then.

Anyone but Printers!

 

[geezer]

You're right.. Those dumbasses said 4 at the end of the game last night.

The ESPN "dumbasses" said 4 pm because they speak in Eastern Time Zone--ditto for the official NCAA tournament website/bracket schedules and the D1Baseball website/bracket schedules, too.

 

[NewFrogFan]

Well to start, the stadium is an erector set made up of mostly aluminum and metal. There are six urinals for the entire stadium and have to bring in porta-potties for big games. The concourse is too small to walk through it you are playing frogger with the concession stand lines. There has been a waitlist of reserved seating for years, with little movement. No clubs and very limited suites, restricting potential revenue sources.

I quit reading at bathrooms, I have a post buried somewhere saying similar.

 

[Eight]

What is wrong with our stadium?

Is it all the aluminum?

Is it the grass field, cuz I will fight folk at the fountain if we take out the grass!

I’ve been to a few stadiums and I like ours. I don’t see how that’s be a deal breaker for a coach.

think this becomes an issue of what your are comparing lupton to and what is the ultimate goal

if you compare lupton to what many on here knew as the tcu baseball stadium next to daniel meyer it is a freaking state of the art facility.

curious how many would rank it versus of baseball facilities in the big 12 as i have only been to texas, tech, and ou.

the big question though is if you want this to be an elite program and they are having to compete against the power programs to the east as well as the instate schools is it comparable and the answer is no.

the interesting thing is how much money has been spent rebuilding freaking dorms on campus so that parents and kids can be swayed to attend tcu as well as be a source of revenue?

a new stadium really isn't that different is it and last time i checked i don't ever recall tcu's dorm roommates getting much television time

 

[Spike]

Well to start, the stadium is an erector set made up of mostly aluminum and metal. There are six urinals for the entire stadium and have to bring in porta-potties for big games. The concourse is too small to walk through it you are playing frogger with the concession stand lines. There has been a waitlist of reserved seating for years, with little movement. No clubs and very limited suites, restricting potential revenue sources.

Legit points but most of these are fan issues. Not sure how they effect the coach/player recruiting wars.

 

[NewFrogFan]

Legit points but most of these are fan issues. Not sure how they effect the coach/player recruiting wars.

They wont apply to the coach/players until their friends and families that probably come to more games than the average fan does, say the same thing, over and over.

When beer showed up in the concession stands, I think the TCU “response” to sales and bathrooms needed to be much better than what they did.

 

[geezer]

I've felt this program has missed the energy it once had ever since Micah died. I'm not saying that's the reason we've been bad recently and underperformed to our expectations this year, but I think the confluence of that and all of CJS' personal life issues going on in the background seems to have affected his work for several years. Add in the details about his relationship with ADJD and it looks like a perfect storm of events that ends even the best possible runs. Micah represented hope and inspired the program and fans to give max effort and never take the little things for granted. After Micah passed and all these other things came to light Schloss just seemed to have a different energy and didn't have the little guy to remind him how to embrace the suck and persevere.

I don't think we're ever again going to have the Schloss who took us to 4 straight CWS appearances even if we offer him a lifetime contract like Tadlock got. The only chance for Schloss to regain his mojo is to try to get it back somewhere else. And the only way we're going to get our mojo back is to try to get it back with someone else at the helm.

I'm like most others here who are grateful for what Schloss brought to the program and how he elevated it to one of the most fun things I look forward to every year in college sports. That said, if he decides to coach somewhere else I think it would be a mutually beneficial separation.

^^^^

This.

I was going to post the same thing--Schloss hasn't been the same person/coach since Micah's passing. His personal appearance in the dugout this year changed, oftentimes sporting visible stubble on his face (instead of his usual clean shaven look). Notice that he did shave everyday during regionals--coinciding with the public discussion of the A&M and other SEC openings.

(Also noticed his eating habits during games expanded from his ritual apple to include a different snack just about every inning. But, hey, a bachelor's got to eat.)

GP has also lost his mojo--and I peg the start to his decline to be after his trip to the Chancellor's woodshed for the "screaming in a players face on the sideline" incident on national TV. Gary can't be Gary anymore.

Dixon--IMHO--was a sentimental alumni rescue mission. Started out hot using players he didn't recruit...and as those players attrited out of the program, the program declined. Now, he's in scramble mode snagging bodies out of portal to save his job.

Overall, we have two cases "won't do" and one case of "can't do" in our 3 major men's programs.

 

[Moose Stuff]

Well to start, the stadium is an erector set made up of mostly aluminum and metal. There are six urinals for the entire stadium and have to bring in porta-potties for big games. The concourse is too small to walk through it you are playing frogger with the concession stand lines. There has been a waitlist of reserved seating for years, with little movement. No clubs and very limited suites, restricting potential revenue sources.

Agree with ALL of this.

 

[Pharm Frog]

The basketball team temporarily relocated to WG while the basketball venue was being remodeled. Maybe the baseball team can move to LaGrave or Arlington Heights for a while. /s

 

[geezer]

The guy shouldn't have been hired from the start. He was inexperienced and underqualified.

Have you ever considered that perhaps someone in the Fort Worth financial community might have said the same thing about you when you were hired?

 

[flyfishingfrog]

1 I agree with and can appreciate. That said I think ADJDs hands were tied. Few here will doubt that tcu powers above ADJD fear negative press.

Regarding the rest I just don’t credit the AD as much as others for our successes and failures. Dixon might be the only coach worth firing of the big 3 and for all we know he may already have been told that 21-22 is a major upgrade or he’s out.

IMHO it’s the AD’s job to hire/fire and raise money. Then the rest just shakes out.

feel like you left out the idea of keeping the coaches we want to stay - happy and here....

 

[Eight]

Have you ever considered that perhaps someone in the Fort Worth financial community might have said the same thing about you when you were hired?

very fair point, though is maniac being hired compared to donati taking over the running of a $100M+ annual revenue private business?

 

[BrewingFrog]

The guy shouldn't have been hired from the start. He was inexperienced and underqualified. I personally found it insulting that our university that acts like it wants to compete at an elite level was so lazy in our hiring process after CDC left.

If ADJD had come in with a chip on his shoulder ready to grind and outwork everyone, proving that it was worth taking a chance on him, maybe it'd be a different story. But from multiple accounts, JD loves him some JD and spends more time enjoying the perks of his position than he does trying to improve and lead our athletic department.

Not to mention, I've heard countless stories of the guy being a playboy that gets drunk regularly with his staff, especially on road trips.

Have you ever met Donati? Taken the time to sit and talk with him? I'm thinking not...

He's no fool. His line of work before the AD gig was Sports Agent, namely CDC's Agent. He's quite familiar with the behind-the-scenes machinations and Media smokescreens. It's not like the guy was selling insurance and just stumbled into the job. He indeed does have experience in the arena.

As to "drinking on the job," did you ever run into CDC making the rounds at tailgates? Ye Cats!

I believe the issue is that, as I have pointed out countless times, Donati plays things very, very close to the vest. He does not play the Media game. When you shut Media people out of the loop, they take it personally. Some politician once pointed out "You never pick fights with a man who buys ink by the barrel." In Donati's case, he just keeps them in the dark. CDC was an engaging goofball when he wanted to be, or an shrewdly intense listener, or a confider of the most secret things. Donati is none of those: He just wears the Poker Face and motors on.

In the end, we don't know diddley-squat about the inner motivations of the players in this drama. There's obvious surface motivations, but one can never truly know the personal angle. It would not surprise me that Schloss does not have a very good relationship with Donati, and that this is spilling into the rest of the equation and tipping matters. Why this is, I don't know. Perhaps Schloss got used to CDC agreeing with everything he wanted, and Donati tells him "No" instead. I can only speculate.

At the end of the day, Donati is in charge of what happens. I do not believe him to be a fool. I am also sure the Dixon Drama with UCLA is foremost in his mind as to how to handle a Coach who is (maybe) wavering in him commitment.

 

[geezer]

very fair point, though is maniac being hired compared to donati taking over the running of a $100M+ annual revenue private business?

macht nichts...human reactions to new hires is pretty consistent regardless of the level of the job (entry level to ceo).

(spent most of my working life as an hr boss)