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Glad I went to bed when they tied it up. And I was only “watching” on Gametracker. Ugh. Well, at least the Braves are above .500 – for now.
Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy. Mao Zedong
I got behind in my watchings as I was traveling this weekend and couldn’t watch anything till yesterday. Thankfully a friend warned me and kept me from watching the epic collapse. I would have been sick afterward. I’m still stunned just by the fact that it happened.
Welp…all of my baseball from here on out will be confined to Birdland. Sorry to see you go, Wolfpack.Hey…Russky. My kid has been loaned to Team Belgium for the next 2 weeks.
Got no problem if they let you travel West. 🙂
BTW:
I carry a tremendous amount of respect for a coach like Elliott Avent.
He has toilled in the shades of Spo, Tanner, and the cheating Mike Fox, for a career…Just wish I had a stop buzzer attatched to his noggin, in-game.
Finally:
A freaking, sweeping Tip o’ the Cap to Wuf. That guy went thru near Hell this season and still managed to keep this site vibrant with baseball writing. I mean it, Red Barber Jr.
Ok. So help me out here.
1. I didn’t play much baseball.
2. I don’t watch much college baseball.I do know this:
Part of being a good team is doing the little things: ie – not making errors.
However, I seem to recall last time we were close we had a ton of errors. I don’t track the statistics or anything…but do avent’s teams have more errors than most good teams?Welp…all of my baseball from here on out will be confined to Birdland. Sorry to see you go, Wolfpack.
I had just read your comment after turning on tonight’s O’s/’Stros game in progress, with O’s holding a 4-1 advantage. As I was typing out a jocular warning that so far Birdland seems likely to be a heartbreak continuation from Pack9 this year, the ‘Stros began a string of back to back jacks to take a 5-4 lead as if to pound home the fact that I seriously pissed off the baseball gods last night I think.
To illustrate how last night’s unraveling is on me, at least in part…Somewhere out there in the ethereal blackness of the interwebz is the remnants of a victory article penned by yours truly. I was essentially finished, save for some of the final bells and whistles, by the time we had the 8-1 chokehold.
My tempation of fate did not go unnoticed by the fickle baseball gods, and I sincerely apologize to everyone. I deleted the entire thing (when it got to 8-4 I think) but too little too late.
‘Dog, I appreciate the kind words of course. We still gotta figure out some roadtripping options. I may be required to perform some bloodletting in Cooperstown if we can manage to work that in.
No. Overall, that is.
Agreed fwiw.
If TCU disposes of A & M, then I know I will be sick. We had em. Still in disbelief. Glad I wasn’t a player, especially one who made an error, or pitched TCU to a victory. This game will forever haunt them.
Don’t be too hard on yourself Wuf. AT 8-1 I thought about posting but held off for fear of upsetting the mojo. But at 8-4, then 8-7 I should have said F it, I’m posting. Anything to shake up the bad juju. But I didn’t. I second guessed as much as the team did. It was contagious.
No Wuf, Ply, I think this one is on me. Apologies to all.
A Dallas honey called me Monday night. Not seconds after I pick up the phone the good guys start putting runners on base towards our first 3 runs.
Turns out the honey is doing some shopping in Fort Worth. When she gets to the cashier, she tells me to hold on, she’ll call me right back. The score at this time is 4-0.
This is when TCU gets their first base runner towards scoring their first run.
She calls back at 4-1, just as Gilbert is finishing his warm up. Next batter is K’d to end the inning.
She has no choice now. Of course she’s staying on the line.
After the top of the eighth and some colorful discussions, I tell her it’s ok, she can go. She’s done her job. She asks me, twice, if I’m sure. Twice. I respond with yes, it would require an epic historical meltdown for us to lose now. I’m not kidding, I actually said that.
But I add, “wait, knowing NC State… I’ll text you to call me back if the bad guys begin to rally”.
So, TCU begins to rally… and my freakn phone won’t work. I have @#!# Sprint and their @#!# coverage and have to use an Airave signal booster in the house to get any bars. Its suddenly on the fritz. I have to reboot the damn thing. By the time everything is up and running, TCU has put 6 on the board. I call her back…
and they get the last 2 runs of the inning before we finally get the 3rd out. Mojo gone, team fading, score 8-7.Now my internet is all screwy… espn3 freezes… now I have to reboot my router. I get everything back up and running but it’s already too late, I’ve killed it… I tune in just in time to see them tie the score.
So now I’m trying to cast it to my TV via Chromcast. Locks up again. I miss the entire top of the 10th before Im able to tune in again using my phone.
Just in time to see the first batter of the bottom half of the inning and witness the delivery of my punishment and reminder from the universe.
Honest truth. All the above happened just as described.
I’m sorry all. So so very sorry.
‘Foose, you were hit by a Cheyenne Shaman calling up the Frog King of the baseball netherworld.
I searched my soul trying discover who was the human catalyst for the mojo shift.
…Not your fault, brutha. The Cheyenne are wicked strong.
Thanks for clarification cowdog – I didn’t want to connect dots that shouldn’t be connected.
Based on your laundry list it sounds like the weakness is in-game decisions.
I hate it. It sucks for kids, their parents and fans. I spent much of evening trying to comfort a dog in her last few weeks. (No, its a real dog.) When collapses like this happen my thoughts turn to players, staff and their respective families and unfortunate pack fans who don’t have much time left.
chop: I don’t follow baseball as closely as football and basketball. Like you I kind of have to defer to others who do with respect to in game strategy, or overall strategy decisions. For years though with Avent, I’ve seen those who know more (not just here) question a lot of the in game and pitching decisions. I don’t know much, but even I questioned that Rodon/Florida move referenced earlier in the thread.
With respect to getting talent in here, facing an uphill battle against dirty play right down the road, and getting results relative to our facilities, I think Avent has done a commendable job. It just seems like a bonehead move here or there always holds him/us back.
I do think he’s punching above his weight. I suspect this is a tough decision, if there’s actually a decision to be made. I’m not convinced there is due to the contract, but at a certain point things get stale after 19 years.
Rye – he seems to do a good job securing talent. Seems like both a decent and ethical guy, but like you I see others question his decision-making process (who actually know what they are talking about.)
I would tend to agree with CD that EA’s teams don’t commit anymore errors than other teams, on average, but this year’s bunch was among the worst in the league in walks, balks, hit batters, passed balls, and wild pitches. Some of this was youth, inexperience behind the plate, but I tend to think his teams have always walked too many. I have no patience for it. We were among the tops in the league in ERA, but we gave up far too many unearned runs all year. In addition to the head scratching decisions EA inevitably makes during a game, including the all too often, useless, pointless, prolonged, and embarrassing tirades on the field, I’d say his teams, on average, do make more mental mistakes than other ACC squads. I say this is a reflection of the skip. Base running errors, getting picked off, you name it…Too many in my book. I’m all for aggressive play, but I think some of what I witness goes beyond aggressive…
As far as recruiting goes, I think he does a pretty solid job getting arms. Not great but solid. High school baseball in NC has steadily been on the rise in the least 10-15 years, and I still say we don’t get enough of the top talent that eschews the pros, or the diamonds in the rough, the guys with the tools, but maybe not the physical makeup at age 18. In my experience as a high school coach, I didn’t think Avent and crew expended enough effort scouting, and still don’t.
chop: That’s kind of how I see it. I’ve got no “dog” in this fight. I will say that I do not think this is as attractive a job as the men’s basketball position, or even the football one. Maybe the NC talent pool that whiteshoes mentions helps, but we seem to have some disadvantages against other NC suitors for that talent.
whiteshoes: Thanks for your input. It’s good coming from someone who is coaching the sport (and I’m not talking Little League).
I could see Yow going either way with this. I could see how either path could be the correct one. I’d also lay even odds that a successor wouldn’t do any better, unless there’s a significant increase in commitment to baseball.
‘Foose, you were hit by a Cheyenne Shaman calling up the Frog King of the baseball netherworld.
I searched my soul trying discover who was the human catalyst for the mojo shift.
…Not your fault, brutha. The Cheyenne are wicked strong.
Blame it on me if you want…I will watch a State baseball game, but have a hard time dealing with basketball over the past 2-3 years. However, we were up 8-1 when I lost the game on TV when UCLA-Maryland came on. I’d already climbed in the sack so I didn’t get up to watch it on ESPN3. I watched the score at the top during the UCLA-Md game and all I could think is “you gotta be kidding”! I missed all of the balks so I can’t address, but I had a very sick stomach the rest of the night.
"Whomp 'em, Up, Side the Head"!
I suspect this is a tough decision, if there’s actually a decision to be made. I’m not convinced there is due to the contract, but at a certain point things get stale after 19 years.
I have been too shell shocked to post all week, but the quote above has stuck in my craw until I finally have something to say. To pour your heart and soul into a job for 19 years and then someone thinks you need to be replaced because you have gotten stale is the worst kind of mentality I can think of. I know because it happened to me. It turns your life upside down, and for no good reason other than someone doesn’t appreciate your experience and hard work and thinks someone new can do it better.
Coach Avent is way more hero than goat. He is a true Wolfpacker. His record speaks for itself, but you know how I know he is a great coach? Did you see how much those kids loved the team, each other, NC State, and how much it hurt them to lose? They cared, and that is the sign of a real coach.
I do not understand the mentality of questioning the coach’s job after practically every loss. When I first started participating on this forum, I was appalled by it. But then I started to understand that all viewpoints are accepted and welcomed, no matter how boneheaded they seemed to be. Furthermore, once I began to recognize the players, I realized there are only a handful who are so negative. They just come out of the woodwork after losses, like cockroaches, making it seem like they speak for many.
I do understand questioning/discussing calls/decisions/plays etc. That is part of fandom. But when you think you are smarter than the coach all the time, watch out! One comment posted, that was a good one, was questioning not walking the batter with runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out in the 10th. Obviously, in the bigs that’s what you do. But I suspect Coach didn’t want to put added pressure not to walk the winning run in when we were obviously having problems throwing strikes. And we had not shown the ability to make the double play when it was available. It’s a tough call, and I’m sure EA weighed it out. He is not an idiot.
I am still heart broken over the loss and missing the opportunity to compete in the Super Regional, just like I was when we lost to Louisville in BB, but it doesn’t mean it’s time to run the coach off. In fact, it is fun to be in those positions to do something great that makes a loss hurt so much.
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