illpete23

Harry Carey hands down...but Bob Uecker was great in the Major League movies series...

Make this Falcon proud...I'm rolling with the ol' college softball team for the rest of their season as an assistant, but I'm keeping up with you guys...Once a Falcon, Always a Falcon...

I would have to agree with 'hard_ball1' on this one. I haven't really had a chance to see much area high school softball yet this year, but I will say something good about Elizabethton. The Raceway gas station near the old Winn-Dixie has some of the cheapest gas in the area that I've seen. Maybe I just haven't been look much, but I was so glad to see medium grade for $2.12 today and low grade for $2.04, as for District 1-AA softball...we'll see come tournament time...

I feel you on the Hawkins County reel bro...

you can't fake to first...can you? (that's for y'all to decide and debate, because I'm leaving it open...)

I just realized something about REO Speedwagon...a couple of their members look like some of my teammates with longer hair...lol Great job on a big win tonight Falcons...go ahead and break that record and then some...remember to take one game at a time, and remember that each game is a big game...

I now have 20 for the pitchers, and 30 for the position players. Does anyone have any ideas about surveys that they would like to see in the future? I know that CoachT allows us to take a 1 question poll, however, I would like to start gathering some information (mainly from high school and college athletics). I have noticed that both high school and college athletes seem to be concerned with their personal stats on roughly the same level. There are some other similarities that I have come across through this survey and others. I wish that there was a way that I could break this down further between geographic locations, but I am on a time constraint on this project. Further down the road I could develop a survey for West, Middle, and East Tennessee...or perhaps AAA, AA, A, and D-II athletes. It is always interesting to see how alike we are and how different we can be at the same time...

I see that I've already received a total of 12 (7 for one and 5 for the other survey) hits on my survey. I think that with these results that I can give a good presentation (once I have at least 20 hits on each survey), but it can take up to 100. Also, I was thinking last night and if this works out and has a good response rate from the CoachT community, then I could make out some more surveys pertaining to attitudes and beliefs about Tennessee high school sports and such. And please feel free to leave feedback about the survey (things you liked or did not like), actually feedback is highly encouraged... ...also remember to answer with what you actually do in a gametime situation, and not just answer according to what you should do or wish you would do. Thank You...

I'm not sure about the CoachT rules for posting outside information, so if this is against board policy then one of the moderators can delete this thread. I am currently putting a study together for my college psychology course on the behaviors and attitudes towards what is best for the team when it comes to baseball. I know that this is worded wierd, but here is what I am asking: I need 100 total participants to fill out each of my surveys. If you are a pitcher, then I have a survey for you to fill out at the following link: http://surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=200781035481 If you are a position player, then I have a survey for you to fill out at the following link: http://surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=715831035470 This 10 question survey is completely anonymous. However, I would like to post the final results that I find through this survey. The reason that I am posting this on the CoachT website is so that we can see exactly what is most important for our baseball players (if this works out, then I may make one for other sports starting with softball). I am looking for people that either play baseball at the high school or college level, or that once played baseball at the high school or college level. Hopefully this can give us some insight as to why athletes play the game and what their intentions are. Remember, this is a completely anonymous survey so PLEASE be completely honest. Also, if you would like to post some feedback, feel free to reply to this thread. Please try to limit your answers to only 1 choice if possible (Questions # 5 and 7 may require that you check multiple boxes, but for all other questions please check ONLY 1 box).

1. A flex player would be used for a player that is in the game for their defense. Usually this would either be an outfielder, middle infielder, or pitcher. You don't see many 1B, 3B, or catchers in the game for defense only. Taking turns in sitting the starter could either be giving the other players some playing time, or seeing what defensive/offensive combinations work the best. 2. The only way that I can see not having the same 9 on the field together long enough seriously hurting the team would be the lack of on the field communication. Constantly switching players in and out could lead to a defense not having proper communication, resulting in dropped fly balls or players not covering the bags when they need to. 3. Batting practice, in my opinion, is important because the more that you take it, the more that it comes second nature (kind of like a microcosim of walking and breathing). During batting practice, the same steps are taken repetitively, which teaches muscle memory (you can go VERY in depth on this), but in short it builds up the ability to quicken the reaction time from "seeing the ball" to "hitting the ball". As far as a pitching machine goes, for baseball I hate pitching machines because it takes the element of "seeing it out of the pitchers hand" out of the scenario, and the same goes for softball. Honestly, I love intrasquad games because it can give more people on the team a chance to participate, while giving hitters, fielders, and pitchers a chance to see real life situations first-hand. 4. I would say that your season long starters need ample time in the game in order to prepare for the post-season. This depends upon the player though honestly. Baseball and softball differ in that their are more pitchers per team in baseball, and in softball the same pitcher may pitch a complete game even though they may give up 15+ runs. For this reason, it may not always be a good idea to sub out your starters late in the season, even when a slaughter rule is going to come into play. However, the reserves also need to see some action in case of an injury or suspension of a starting player. 5. If a coach does not have confidence in the player then that can have a great negative effect on the player in question. However, that player needs to keep believing in their own talent. If the player loses faith in their talent, then all hope is lost. You cannot let the ideas of a coach get you down as a player, because sometimes that coach may or may not be seeing something that everyone else sees or doesn't see.

Our college team works on the philosophy of "Respecting the Game". If you throw a helmet, talk to an umpire, fail to touch the grass on a ground ball, or fail to run to second base on a fly ball (when there is not a previous baserunner in your way) then you are on the bench. We are a baseball team, but our softball team works on the same philosophy (except that they have to touch first base on a hit ball). This is part of the reason that it won't be such a big change for me to officially move to the softball coaching staff after my senior season, except that I expect to see a lot less players removed from the game for these reasons.

Look at it this way Oak Ridge...if someone is underestimating you, then that can work in your advantage...if you want the respect, then go out there and keep on beating people...but don't ask for it, because respect is never given to those that plead for it...let being the underdog work to your advantage...

Where is McEwen anyway?

Lol, I'm a Volunteer alumni. The comment about the swimming pool was an old joke with some buddies of mine. There used to be something about the Hawkins County School Boards had a choice between putting a swimming pool in Volunteer, or building Cherokee High School. Of course, that rumor was about as true as the idea of selling elevator passes to the freshmen.

I'm not sure how the level of classiness on the East Robertson team, or on the McEwen tam...but you sir have very little class coming onto a message board and talking smack. Yet another high school that thinks he is a man, and believes that screennames are real people. Maybe it's time that you take a megabyte of the real world and realize that you are just words on a computer screen until you put up the results. Best of luck to both teams involved in the District Tournament wherever that is, but what I want to know is why McEwen's catcher was thrown out of the doubleheader for in the first place...

I know that it can be tough trying to get all of your games in, especially with the weather. I play baseball for a college on the TN-VA line and the weather here is horrible. There have been many days of 70+ degree weather followed within the next 2 days by freezing temperatures. We have a 55+ game schedule that has been greatly condensed, which has REALLY cut into our practice schedule. I know that our softball team has faced the same problem (along with having to push some home games back because someone drove a car through their outfield fence). But so far both teams haven't had to completely scratch too many games, but our practices are really getting cut down though. Through time it can start taking it its toll, but we all have to rise our heads above it...

"You can make all of the people happy some of the time, but sometimes you just have to tell people where to jump off." Or something like that...

I wish that we would have built that swimming pool instead of having the school system build Cherokee back in the day...

Doodlebug, thank you for that info. KL is a wonderful player, and I also wish the best for Edwards and Weaver. After our season is over I'll be hitting the trail for softball games. It's nice to use Coacht to check out area players and see what other people say about them. I'll probably be working with the Bristol White Sox (the minor league affiliate for the Chicago White Sox) this summer, so that might cut down my personal time on the campaign trail. But I'm still hoping to see some district tournaments. I'll be honest in saying that I wish I could get some of those Jefferson County girls too. The best thing about the Unicoi girls is that they come with good grades, which really helps the eligibility factors. QueenBee, are there any good unsigned ladies in your area? If so then PM me or something (if I have that feature...lol). I know that there are some great softball teams down there, but I'm a little behind on who has signed and who hasn't.

Sounds like you are from an NAIA school. That's where I'm working from too. Otherwise we wouldn't be able to pick up on any grade, because NCAA is limited to talking to seniors only. Good luck with your recruiting, I have found Coacht.com to be a good supply of softball knowledge myself.

Why did the benches clear?

Scotty is SOOOOO much cooler...do any of y'all remember when Scotty pile drived that kid from Central in the football scrimmage? That was awesome...just busted through the line, picked him up, threw him down, sat on his chest, and screamed at him while laughing...this dude is definitely no Scotty Smith...

I think that our team had a game at Engel two years ago, it's a pretty nice place to play...good luck on the game, I hope that there'll be a great turnout...

Post some pictures of this if you don't mind...I can't get down there, but I'd like to see what it looked like.

"Waterboy, grab a stick" -shelling the pitcher "He's coming open, better zip him up" -a pitcher that is opening his front side too much, thus throwing high balls "FLOOD IT!" -the pitcher needs to flood the strike zone with lots of strikes "Get him some water!" -the pitcher is throwing LOTS of balls (in reference to flooding the strike zone) "Come on Bernie!" -umpire making horrible calls