Well, as far as I can tell this season (which I'll admit isn't much,) he does field an entertaining team. They don't appear to quit like Smoke's teams seemed to do. The offense has impressed me, I'll admit.
He does have a different philosophy. He is quick with the hook for relief pitchers if they can't find the strike zone with their first 2 pitches. Smoke used to leave them in there to rot. :shock: His small ballers have been knocking them out of the park lately, too. That's fun to see. I just hope he can redevelop a winning attitude that we had in the 90's. His recruiting was second to none this year.
Just an observation but.........standing on the edge of the dugout he looks about as worried as a Russian race horse at post time. He looks tense and to some degree, I have thought over two seasons that his teams have played tense. Looks like he's about to crap a brick with every pitch and his shortstops have looked like they are worried the next ball is coming to them. Like I said, just an observation. He may be very easy going in real life but he, and his teams look tense to me.
As someone who talks to him 3-4 times a week, I can tell you he does that. It's not really "throwing them under the bus." He is just honest. If Ochinko makes an error, he will say, "Ochinko hurt our momentum wiht that error, etc..." It's not like he says "Oh, that dude sucks," or anything. lol he is just real honest. He doesn't say anything the players and fans don't already know.
Which is the exact opposite of Smoke who appeared to use games as an opportunity to catch up on his naps.
Mainieri is one of the top 4-5 baseball coaches in the whole country. He will get LSU back in the top 5-10 in the country. It will just take a little bit of time, because I don't think people realize just how bad LSU's talent had gotten under Laval. The fact that the team is 15-7 right now is still amazing when you consider the turnover of contributors on the field.
Granted it's just from watching LSUSports.net, but the team just looks to have more swagger and attitude about them. The bats look good. Some of the pitching looks good. They don't seem to quit. I'd be surprised if the Tigers weren't back in the thick of it by next Spring.
Yeah we do. That's why the calling for his head got so loud. Everyone saw the dynasty flushing down the toilet.
