From the Ole Miss Rivals board: "Hosting a regional on our home field we lose to a poor W Ky team, and then get embarressed by Washington. The fans had every right to boo our players, I think Mr Boone needs to have a long talk with coach B. I think we may need a change, because the team has absolutely choked over the last 3 years when the games matter the most." "The team has done nothing but choke under Bianco. It means absolutely nothing to have top 10 recruiting classes and to rise to the top 5 in the rankings if we are ging to continue to collapse when it counts-- every year. Alll those glamorous rankings don't mean a thing if you can't win a championship or if you go 2 and out in every freaking tournament." "The bad news is that we don't quite have the depth or the talent anywhere, we've got a habit of folding in the stretch, and we've got discipline problems." "We don't even win a game. That is sad, embarressing, terrible, disgusting, or whatever other word you would like to throw in there, feel free. Great finish guys, you sure know how to make your fans proud of you" "Maybe our players won't fall down trying to watch the games from Omaha on their TV's." "We fold every year -- nobody how well we start out. It's starting to seem like a hallmark of Bianco ball. Hope those Rebs prove me wrong tomorrow and Sunday." Need I go on? :tigbas:
The same things would be posted on this board, had LSU gone 2 and out to Army and Charleston. And if somebody posts differently, I'll call you "sadly misguided" ahead of time.
"Mike Bianco’s first three years as the head coach at Ole Miss has produced one of the most successful stretches in the program’s history. Entering the 2004 season, Bianco has produced a 111-69-1 (.616 winning percentage) ledger, with the 111 wins being the most in any three-year period in school history. Ole Miss’ 48 Southeastern Conference wins is also the most in any three-year span in the program’s history. Record crowds, top-10 rankings, nationally-ranked recruiting classes and two players being selected to the USA National Team have also highlighted his short tenure at Ole Miss. While few doubted Bianco could turn around the fortunes of the Ole Miss program, the speed at which the Rebels have gained national attention has only helped cement his reputation as a program builder at both McNeese State and Ole Miss. Through the 2003 season, Bianco has produced six straight 30-win seasons with the Cowboys and Rebels to record a 211-140-1 (.601 winning percentage) career mark. He has taken both McNeese State and Ole Miss to NCAA Regional appearances, leading the Cowboys to the postseason in 2000, and the Rebels in 2001 and 2003" "After hiring his coaching staff, Bianco began to beat the recruiting trail, signing three players that would become key components of the Rebels’ 2001 NCAA Regional team. Picked to finish sixth in the SEC Western Division, Ole Miss would defy expectations in 2001. The Rebels posted a 39-23-1 record, one win shy of the school record for a season, and contended for the overall SEC and SEC West titles till the final weeks of the season. Ole Miss would finish second in the SEC West with a 17-13 record and tie the school mark for SEC wins in a season. With the Rebels’ rise, Ole Miss cracked the top 10 in the national rankings for the first time since 1972, and concluded the season with a No. 2 seed at the NCAA Regional in New Orleans, La. Four Ole Miss players would be named either first or second team All-SEC, with outfielder Burney Hutchinson earning second team All-America honors from Baseball Weekly. Ole Miss would find itself in the national spotlight again in 2002. After winning two-of-three at No. 2-ranked Alabama in April, Ole Miss climbed to a No. 6 ranking in the April 22 Baseball America Top 25 poll. The No. 6 ranking was Ole Miss’ highest since finishing No. 6 in the final Collegiate Baseball poll in 1969. In 2003, Bianco guided Ole Miss back to the postseason. With a pitching staff that featured five freshmen accounting for over 60 percent of the team’s innings, the Rebels finished 35-27, including a 17-13 mark in the SEC to tie a school record for conference wins, and earned a berth in the NCAA Houston Regional. The Regional appearance was Ole Miss’ second under Bianco and just the program’s fourth dating back to 1977." Bianco is a young up and coming coach that has led two pitiful programs from the bottom to a level the teams had never seen before. Remember he is at Ole Myth and there are some things that even an LSU guy can't fix. They did a typical ole myth fold at the end but you can't argue that he hasn't done a very good job in a short period of time with a nothing program. Even LSUSPORTSFREAK should be able to see that.
Woody Allen This is no reflection on Smoke or anybody else, but Coach Woody Allen of Manhattan could have coached this LSU team to a regional. That is just my humble opinion. Time will tell with regard to Coach Smoke Laval . . . let's see where we are in five years.
The main thing about Smoke and any coach. Can they improve as coach? If something didn't work last season, can you recognize it and fix it next season? Can you evaluate your assistant coaches and upgrade where needed in those areas? I want Smoke Laval to be one of the best college baseball coaches in the country. I'm pulling for him. I love the LSU Tigers. Smoke must have three more seasons after this season. I will still be here on this board. I'm hopeful that the national media recognizes as one of the best in the college game by then. Finally, let's hope Skip spends time keeping a secret list of coaching candidates for all LSU sports, just in case we need to replace a coach (for whatever reason, i.e. Who could have thought when Bo Rein was hired that he'd never coach a game for LSU?) If Skip works hard at this, we'll be able to replace a coach whenever and for whatever reason (Mike Price).
