Pom still on

It would be a drastic understatement to say that Drew Pomeranz was locked in against Guatemala as the rising junior lefty mowed down 17 batters in 6 IP. For those of you who struggle with math, that means that exactly 1 out in 6 IP was not a strikeout of some form.

I'll grant you that Guatemala isn't exactly a baseball powerhouse - they struckout 24 times for the game - but it's still an impressive number to throw out there. Good to see him pitching well.

'Rico and Pom tearing it up

It’s nice to be back in the blogosphere after a good bit of traveling and overwhelming work projects. I missed a good bit of pop culture news last week, but – as to be expected for late June – there’s just not much going on in college sports. Other than the new chancellor being announced (more on that in another post), the biggest news in Rebel Land these days is Terrico White and the upcoming U19 World Championships and Drew Pomeranz.

Even after being named SEC Freshman of the Year, White is not as well known across the country. Michael DeCourcy of The Sporting News feels all that could change () with his appearance on the national team, even dropping this gem about ‘Rico:

Terrico White is the best-kept secret in college basketball, and don't expect him to do anything to change that unless it involves points, rebounds and assists.

Jonathan Divony, president of Draft Express, was also there to watch the tryouts and came away impressed with White’s potential and athleticism. His analysis was very similar to mine a couple of months ago, where I voiced the same concerns regarding the high number of jumpers:

He relies far too heavily on his 3-point stroke considering how talented an athlete he is, as nearly 50% of his attempts this season came from beyond the arc. He doesn’t get to the free throw line very often and still needs to learn how to use his quickness and leaping ability to create better shots around the basket, as he often prefers to settle for contested fade-away jumpers.

Overall, the analysis is positive though, closing with:

White is a guy to keep under the radar for now, but if he puts the work in and is able to become a smarter and more complete all-around player, he could really emerge as an interesting prospect down the road.

Meanwhile, Drew Pomeranz mowed down 10 Canadians in 4 IP and picked up the win for Team USA in the opening game for the team.

Mike Bianco: By the Numbers

After yet another frustrating loss in a Super Regional, there's a small but noisy faction of Rebel fans calling for the head of Mike Bianco on a platter. His Rebel clubs' postseason failures are being compared to the Bills and the Cubs, and, unfortuantely, both hold a certain degree of validity.

But you can't just dismiss what Bianco has accomplished in Oxford. When Don Kessinger took over the baseball program via his Good Ole Boy Network connections, he amassed a 185-153 (54.7%) record in 5 seasons. When Pat Harrison tried to build an SEC team out of California rejects, he put together a 116-107 (52%) record in 4 seasons. In 9 seasons, Mike Bianco is 365-203-1 (64.3%) and has actually moved ahead of Tom Swayze in winning percentage. He's taken a program that fans were apathetic towards (at best) and has turned it into a marketing machine for the university.

Only two SEC schools have won as consistently as the Rebels have in conference over the last 9 seasons. South Carolina and Ole Miss are the only schools in the SEC to be at .500 or better in conference play each of the last 7 seasons. Over Bianco's 9-year tenure, only LSU and South Carolina have compiled a better winning percentage in conference than Bianco's squads.

LSU: 156-110-3 (58.65%)
South Carolina: 154-115 (57.25%)
Ole Miss: 152-118 (56.30%)
Florida: 147-122-1 (54.65%)
Alabama: 145-124 (53.90%)
Georgia: 140-128-1 (52.24%)
Arkansas: 134-131 (50.57%)
Vanderbilt: 124-142 (46.62%)
Tennessee: 122-144 (45.86%)
msu: 119-144 (45.25%)
Auburn: 114-156 (42.22%)
Kentucky 97-170-1 (36.33%)

If you go look at only the last 5 seasons, only Alabama has won a higher percentage of their SEC games, and it's by just a fraction of a percentage point.

Alabama: 86-63 (57.72%)
Ole Miss: 86-64 (57.33%)
Florida: 81-69 (54.00%)
LSU: 81-67 (54.73%)
South Carolina: 80-70 (53.33%)
Vanderbilt: 78-70 (52.70%)
Arkansas: 77-71 (52.03%)
Georgia: 76-72 (51.35%)
Kentucky: 68-80 (45.95%)
Tennessee: 65-81 (44.52%)
msu: 58-87 (40.00%)
Auburn: 54-96 (36.00%)

All that's left for Bianco to do is get over the seemingly insurmountable hump of winning a second game in a Super Regional. His squads have shared the division title twice, won the SEC Tournament, and shared the overall SEC crown this year. I know everyone is frustrated with the repeated Super Regional failures, but you can't ignore what Bianco has meant to this program.

All that said, there's little to no reason for the Rebels to not have advanced to Omaha yet. While Bianco is an elite recruiter and ambassador for the university, flawed game day logic and decisions keep him (at least until now) from accurately being recognized as an elite coach. Whatever approach he takes in Super Regionals has not worked, then or now. Something needs to change - whether it's philosophy or assistant coaches or both - but not Bianco.

And to the ones calling for his head... who is he replaced with? Who has won with the consistency that Bianco has against the same level of competition? Some suggest former Bianco assistant Dan McDonnell, but there's no guarantee that he or anyone else brought in could match Bianco's wins.

So what does all this mean? It means that firing Bianco would set the program back, not move it forward. He has built a once moribund program into a consistent winner that has been on the precipice of greatness for several seasons now. If Evan Button doesn't shortarm that throw Saturday afternoon, this entire argument is moot. But that's the way baseball is. Bianco is going to get the Rebels to Omaha... it maybe 2010, maybe 2011, but he's won too consistently over an extended period of time to not catch a break. I just want him to do it in Oxford.

A (somewhat) level-headed look at Mike Bianco, Ole Miss baseball

As game 3 of the Oxford Super Regional came to a end yesterday afternoon, the floodgates opened on the message boards, text messages, and the blogosphere. I was as frustrated as anyone, but after a few Fat Tires, some yard work, and a good night’s sleep, I can pen my thoughts with a clear head, instead of one fresh from the heat of the moment.

Nothing said here is to cheapen what Virginia did this weekend or what they’ve accomplished all season. The Cavaliers played a very solid brand of baseball and gutted out two win-or-go-home games to punch their ticket to Omaha. They’re a very solid team top to bottom. This is more an indictment of the way the Rebels played. Certain things jump out at you after the series this weekend.

What was the painful aspect of the weekend was how poorly the Rebels fared executing mundane fundamentals. We struggled all weekend bunting guys over, making the easy play (7 errors?), hitting cut off men, turning double plays, stringing hits together, etc. Our poor execution coupled with UVA’s nearly flawless Saturday and Sunday performances equated to an easy series win for the ‘Hoos.

Here’s what I’ve come up with. Feel free to dispute, agree, ignore, or patronize…

There is no excuse for not winning this Super Regional

Against Texas in 2005, we said, “Oh it’s Texas, they always win and it’s our first Super Regional ever.” Against Miami in 2006, Miami rolled into town and won. We said, “Oh, it’s Miami, they always win.” Against Arizona State in Tempe in 2007, we said, “It’s Arizona State, they always win. Plus we’re on the road.” None of that applies to Virginia this year. The Cavaliers had never been to a Super Regional before this weekend. They start 7 freshmen/sophomores. They almost dropped baseball to a club team several years ago.

The only one of those four I can truly stomach is the ASU one, but given how we lost game 1 because Bianco ran Kline back out for the 9th, even that one’s tough to take. The Miami series in 2006 was inexcusable as well. That was a mediocre Hurricanes team that had no business winning Games 2 and 3 in Oxford that season.

Firing Mike Bianco is not the answer. At least not yet.

The Ole Miss baseball team has experience unparalleled success under Bianco’s direction. The late years of Don Kessinger’s tenure paired with Pat Harrison’s very existence left a very bad situation that Bianco has turned into one of the most successful regular season programs in the country. To dismiss that as something anyone could step in and emulate is foolish.

Yes,. the four super regional losses are tough to swallow, but, quite frankly, Miami is really the only clearly inferior team that we lost to. Above all the others, that's the Super Regional that the Bianco haters should point to. As great as the 2004 team was, Texas was clearly better, as was Arizona State. With Bittle on the shelf, it's easy to make the argument that UVA was a better team than Ole Miss was before the weekend series.

The problem lies in Bianco’s salary, by some accounts the highest in the SEC. Yearly failures on the 2nd biggest stage in college baseball should not be a characteristic of the highest paid coach in the league.

That said, there need to be changes, either in philosophy of existing coaches or in the actual assistants

The common thread in the 4 SR losses is they’ve been under Mike Bianco’s watch. The 4 Supers in 5 seasons is certainly nothing to sneeze at, but the growing grumblings of Bianco taking the Rebels as far as he can are starting to gain much more traction with another failure. Bianco’s teams are now 0-6 in home games that would send us to Omaha. Whatever approach he is taking to loosen guys up is obviously not working. Even this team – with all their antics and carefree attitude – played tight yesterday, even with an early lead.

Bianco’s typical stubbornness with starting pitchers cost us yesterday as he stuck with Nathan Baker far too long. Baker wasn’t pitching poorly, but his painfully slow delivery + UVA’s speed on the basepaths + Kyle Henson’s “arm” was a recipe for disaster. UVA’s starter was pulled early because he was struggling… Bianco should’ve taken the hint and pulled Baker as well.

The small ball he tried this season doesn’t work well unless the players are skilled at sacrifice bunting. It’s tougher than looks – keeping the head of the bat up, coming back at just the right time to deaden the ball, placing it just right – but practice makes perfect. Something needs to improve in that skill-set or the small ball just won’t work.

They say once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a trend. It’s hard to not feel that way watching another Oxford Super Regional go the way of the visitors. Next year’s Rebels will be another Top 10 quality team and will have a legitimate shot at another Super Regional. Will it finally be the year Bianco and his Rebels break through? Or will be just another disappointment for Rebel fans?

It's like deja vu all over again

Oxford Super Regional Checklist:
_x_ Win Game 1 in dramatic fashion
_x_ Lose Game 2
_x_ Lose the coin toss so you're the visiting team in Game 3
___ Lose game 3, sit at home while winner goes to Omaha

Ah yes, the old familiar slow trudge out of a sporting event so ingrained into Ole Miss fans reared it ugly head today. For a second straight game, the Rebels played bad fundamental baseball - errors and a missed cut-off man - and now face a win-or-go-home game tomorrow. The game couldn't have started any better - the Rebs were up 2-0 before there UVA recorded its first out - but the bats went silent for too long after that, mustering only 1 run in the next 27 outs.

A few plays stand out to me today...

* Kyle Henson should have been waved home in the 6th inning. It's easy to say that now after we saw what the throw home looked like, but with the momentum we had going there - and David Phillips coming up in a potential double situation, you've got to take your chances there

* When Basham was subbed in for Henson for defensive purposes, why wasn't Ferguson put in for Power?

* Zach Miller could've scored on Kevin Mort's flyball in the 9th. UVA's leftfielder Shane Halley is righthanded and was sprinting in to make the catch on a line that was taking him directly at first base. Had Miller been tagging, he could've scored as Halley slowed down, angled himself towards the plate and made a throw.

Regardless of today's outcome, this series should be tied 1-1, just with a Cavalier win yesterday and a Rebel win today. Each team's 2nd baseman has made a costly error at a critical time of the game to open the door for the other team. UVA bounced back from a 2-0 deficit this afternoon to stave off elimination, but that's what we've come to expect from the opponents in the Oxford Super Regionals. The Rebels win Game 1, show promise in Game 2 before crashing back to earth, then drop the rubber match.

There is no excuse for not winning tomorrow. There have been built-in excuses in the other Super Regionals Ole Miss has participated in, but not this one. If the Rebels lose this one, which one are they going to win?

Matt F#$%ing Smith

Holy hell what a baseball game this afternoon. Errors, poor bunts, bloody noses, baserunning blunders... you name it and the Rebels did it and still walked off with an unbelievable win in Game 1 of the Oxford Super Regional.

Matt Smith went from near goat in the top half of the 12th to unquestioned hero in the bottom half. His fielding error was a distant memory as soon as the loudest PING of the day sounded in a jam-packed OUS. One pitch. One swing. Ball game.

The question now is - Can the Rebels finish it off? They've been in this situation before - up 1-0 in an Oxford Super Regional - and have failed to advance both times. Can they finally put it all together this time?

Like I said earlier today, I think this may just be the Rebels' year to make it to Omaha. This isn't the most talented Rebel team in recent memory, but there's not been a scrappier, never-say-die team to wear the Red and Blue. They easily could've folded up shop several times today with the miscues and UVA's pitching, but they didn't. And they won't tomorrow.

While I doubt we see 9 innings out of Pomeranz tomorrow, we will see a performance where he keeps the Rebels in the game for as long as he's out there, probably 6-7 innings. It'll be up to the Rebels to generate some offense, tighten up the defense, and get their damn bunts down in key situations.

Virginia may be down, but they're not out. They've rallied around 1-run losses all season and they aren't going to roll over now. But if the Rebels get a typical Pom start and reach double digit hits for the 20th time in 21 games tomorrow, Rosenblatt Stadium and the fine people of Omaha won't know what hit 'em next weekend.

Oxford Super Regional... Third time a charm?

When the first pitch in the Oxford Super Regional is thrown this afternoon around 1:10 or so, it will mark the Rebels 4th Super Regional in 5 years, which is a run of success that few teams across the country can point to. Unfortunately, the other 3 have ended poorly for the Rebels. Perennial powers Texas, Miami, and Arizona State have all dispatched the Rebels with different levels of ease over the past few years, causing different levels of heartbreak for the Rebel Nation.

This year looks to be a different story. Instead of facing one of college baseball’s storied franchises, the Rebels will square off against Virginia. The Cavaliers are a very good team, having the 2nd best winning percentage in the country as well as the 3rd best ERA. Their pitching staff gave up exactly 2 runs in last weekend’s Irvine Regional, which is the lowest run total any team has surrendered since the format switched in 1999. The Cavs also bat at a solid .331 clip and steal a lot of bases – 104 on the season.

All that said, I like this matchup for the Rebels. The similarities between the teams as well as the schools (posts like this are why blogs were created) are eerie. And while the Cavs have an edge in every statistical category, other than ERA, none really jumps out at you. The Cavaliers pose a better matchup than a team that wants to come in and play 10-9 games all weekend.

Virginia’s projected starting rotation looks like this:
Freshman LH Danny Hultzen (8-1, 2.01)
Sophomore RH Robert Morey (3-0, 2.91)
Senior RH Andrew Carraway (7-1, 4.30)

Phillip Irwin gets the nod this afternoon, but after that Bianco says the rotation is not set, on which I call Shenanigans. Anyone who honestly believes that Drew Pomeranz is not going to take the mound late Saturday morning – a game that a win would either propel the Rebels to Omaha or stave off the end of the season – is just not paying attention. Pom’s performance Monday night was the greatest single pitching performance in Ole Miss history… no way he’s not out there Saturday with the season on the line. As expected, Scott Bittle is not pitching this weekend.

This is not the most talented team Bianco has taken to a Super Regional - not even close. But this is the scrappiest, and the most fun group of guys he’s been around. Their camaraderie has been a key component of their success this year and they’ll need to be extra-loose this weekend as they face a very talented UVA team. The Cavs are streaking now, winners of 8 straight games.

For the first time in a Super Regional, there is no reason to be intimidated by the team name on the front of the jersey. The Cavaliers are playing in their first Super Regional in school history. And despite their win streak, they’re still the team that finished 6th in the ACC. That’s not to undermine what the ‘Hoos have accomplished this year, but to emphasize the fact that this UVA team can be beat. The time has come for the Rebels to make it back to Omaha. And this might just be the team to do it.

The Curious Case of Scott Bittle

As the excitement and sheer awe has subsided after Drew Pomeranz's performance Monday night, the Rebels have gotten down to business in preparations for a very good UVA team. The Cavaliers will roll into town this weekend with a ridiculous 3.19 team ERA and a lofty 46-12-1 record.

One of the biggest rumors circulating now is that ace righty Scott Bittle will be available to pitch this weekend against the 'Hoos. Some are very optimistic about it, others not so much.

Count me in the "not so much" group, more specifically the "No Chance in Hell he Pitches" group.

Bittle hasn't pitched in a live game since April 26th when he won the series-clinching game against Georgia. Friday's opening game against UVA will be 40 days since he last pitched. How effective do you really think he would be dropping him into a relief role in a high-pressure Super Regional environment in front of 10,000+ fans?

I tried as hard as any Rebel fan to will Bittle back from his arm troubles, but it's just not going to happen... at least not this weekend. Playing long toss during practice is a completely different animal than toeing the rubber on a mound. Bittle relies so much on his breaking stuff that it's unreasonable to think that his he'll pitch this weekend.

There's a good chance he'll be on the 25-man roster if for no other reason than to give the 'Hoos staff and players the illusion that they might have to face him. Even so, I'll be shocked if he even gets up to throw in the pen.

Drew F#$%ing Pomeranz

Great Googly Moogly... Drew Pomeranz firmly entrenched himself in Ole Miss lore with as clutch a pitching performance as you'll ever see, more than likely the greatest pitching performance in Ole Miss history. Coming back on just 2 days rest, Pom pitched a complete game, tying a school record with 16 Ks and giving up just 2 hits and an unearned run. How the first "hit" he gave up was not ruled an error I'll never know... and yet I won't care.

When Pom came back out in the 9th, my first thought was back to Game 1 in the Tempe Super Regional a couple of years ago when Bianco left Kline in an inning too long. Pom had just gone 7 innings a couple of nights ago... how much gas could he have left? The answer is obvious now - a lot.

A big tip of the Dead Guy cap to Western Kentucky though who tried their damndest to wreck another Oxford Regional. They just ran out of gas tonight after 5 games in 4 days. Their 2-4 hitters are better than a lot of SEC teams, but they were just outmatched tonight against Pom.

The continuing indictment of Mike Bianco continues to continue

Before we get into this, let’s get one thing straight… Neither I nor any level-headed Rebel is calling for Bianco’s head. The MessageBoardIdiots doing so are just that. He’s taken a moribund Rebel baseball program and built into a national power and people who gloss over that fact are missing the point.

That said, last night’s debacle was certainly more fodder for the faction of Rebel fans who think Bianco should move on. Why was Goforth lifted? Why was he replaced with our closer when we were up 6 with two innings to go? Why was our last remaining serviceable starter utilized at the end of the game?

In all honesty, I don’t see how the Rebs bounce back to win tonight. It was as frustrating a loss as the Game 1 Super Regional loss to Arizona State, and the Rebs were trounced in Game 2 of that one. Both teams will be deep into their rotations, but this year’s version of Rebels is not equipped to win a slugfest. If the arms are tired tonight and serving up BP for 9 innings, that greatly favors the Hilltoppers.

The flipside is that this is the scrappiest Rebel team in recent memory. They’ve scratched their way back to win some games this season that seemed hopeless at times. They’ll need their gutsiest performance of the year to shake off the sting of last night’s game. You could literally feel the air sucked out of the stadium when Wade Gaynor tied it up with his 3-run shot in the 8th. You could also feel the HR coming in the top of the 9th. It was just a matter of who was going to hit it.

Would the game have been different if Gofoth stayed in for the 8th and Morgan came in for the 9th? Who knows?

The bottom line is this: Mike Bianco is a fantastic ambassador for the university. He turned an also-ran sport into a national powerhouse that competes on a national level year after year. He is an elite recruiter. He has stocked the Rebel rosters with more talent top to bottom than any other coach in Ole Miss history. He is not an elite game day coach - at least not yet. Last night’s late-inning changes confirmed that. If the Rebs can't get back up for tonight's game, expect to hear it even more.

Ace up the sleeve?

A lot of the talk about the Oxford Regional is Mizzou’s choice to hold ace Kyle Gibson for a potential matchup with the Rebels on Saturday. MU head coach Tim Jamieson is quoted as saying, “we’re not here to win Friday, we’re here to win the regional”. It’s a calculated risk by Jamieson, as Western Kentucky is a good offensive team and Mizzou’s offensive numbers don’t really jump off the paper at you. The drop off from Gibson (10-3, 3.47) to Nick Tepesch (6-4, 5.81) is pretty drastic. If Tepesch doesn't make it out of the 3rd inning tomorrow, this is going to look like a boneheaded move.

Meanwhile, Mike Bianco is taking heat in some Rebel circles for his decision to start “ace” Drew Pomeranz Friday night against Monmouth instead of the Saturday game against WKU/MU. He’s in a much different situation than Jamieson though as there’s hardly a discernable difference between Pomeranz and Saturday starter Philip Irwin. Here are the SEC-only stats for each.

Pomeranz: 5-3, 4.12 ERA, .273 opponent’s BA, 1.46 WHIP, 3.17 K/BB ratio
Irwin: 5-3, 4.40 ERA, .293 BA, 1.47 WHIP, 3.0 K/BB ratio

Each pitcher also uncorked 5 wild pitches during SEC play. Irwin also plunked 5 batters while Pomeranz didn’t hit anyone.

As a whole, Pomeranz’s numbers are better across the board, but not by much. Pom has been our Friday night starter since… ahem… his season started and he’s served us fairly well at that position. Irwin’s been solid as a Saturday guy as well. I understand the “Save Your Ace” strategy and typically am a proponent of it. But in this case, it doesn’t really matter Bianco chooses as the numbers are so similar.
Bianco would take some heat regardless of his pitching rotation this weekend. Our true ace is unavailable for the postseason in all likelihood, and we’re left with basically interchangeable parts with Irwin and Pom. I say don’t mess with a rotation that shared an SEC Championship. Pom on Friday, Irwin on Saturday.

Oxford Regional Announced

As expected, the Rebels' crapping of their collective pants at the SEC Tournament cost them a legitimate shot at receiving a protected seed in the NCAA seeding. The fact that Florida landed the #8 national seed makes it even tougher to swallow. The Rebels were the only visiting team to win an SEC series in Gainesville this season. The Gators also dropped all 5 meetings to an average Arkansas team this season, including 2 in 3 days in Hoover last weekend.

To me, it looked the Rebels were gassed after spending every ounce of energy they had to sweep Arkansas and wrap up a share of the regular season title. They were spent and it showed.

All in all though, there's little to complain about when it comes to our pairings. There's not really a team in our Regional that jumps out you as a scary team. The Rebels ended Mizzou's season last year and - unless Aaron Crow was cloned - stands a good chance to do the same this year.

As for the pairing with UC-Irvine, it's really not as bad as the knee-jerk reaction infiltrating the message boards would have you believe. Yes it'll be a looooooooong trip for Rebel fans if the Rebels and Anteaters both hold serve, but there's always a flip side. This is the first time the Anteaters have ever hosted, so the pressure could get to them. Anyone who was at the incredible debacle that was the first ever Oxford Regional can attest to that. The Rebels fell to Western Kentucky and Washington - neither a very good team - in back to back games, bowing out unceremoniously 0-2. But for the Anteaters, they're not only hosting for the first time, they managed to land the consensus toughest Regional as well.

Of course none of this means anything if the players don't get their heads right before Friday night. My guess is that the week off to regroup and refocus and rest some arms will benefit the Rebels. Certainly having Bittle unavailable complicates matters, but it's time to get to Omaha. Period.

Time to get serious

Mentally unstable John Cohen and his band of mediocre bulldogs limp into Oxford this weekend, mostly hoping to give up less than 30 runs over the weekend. the bulldogs hit the ball well - they're 3rd in conference games with a .308 average - but don't pitch or field well, ranking last with a 7.79 ERA and a .959 fielding clip. The pitching staff is so bad, they've given up 74 more earned runs than the Rebels have despite playing one less game. Only Kentucky has given up more steals than the bulldogs have as well.

Good pitching and defense are what wins championships and the Rebels lead the pack in conference ERA (4.09) and rank 2nd in fielding (.959). The .294 average in conference games is not shabby either, ranking 6th. Even if Bittle can't go on Sunday, the bulldogs just don't have enough to win a game in this series if the Rebels show up to play.

While Bianco's overall record against state is just 19-18, this series hasn't been close since 2004, with the Rebels going 16-7 since then. If this team is serious about winning the division and the SEC overall crown, there is no excuse for not sweeping the bulldogs this weekend.

Here's hoping to a cumulative score of 35-15 with Cohen getting tossed out of Saturday's game for general douchebaggery.

* To go along with hammering state in baseball, we'll also get to end LSU's tennis season on their home court. Without digressing into bitterness regarding the regional location, the men will have an added chip on their shoulders this tournament, which may be exactly what they need.

* Just a friendly reminder to go ahead and plan your PTO for next week, as it's Notre Dame week on ESPN. Actually, I'd rather watch around the clock coverage of swine flu paranoia then sit through Fat Charlie trying to justify Notre Dame's relevance.

* Nice quick hitter on ESPN about the leaders that emerged on the defensive side of the ball this spring.

Is it Friday yet?

There’s a story today on NEMS360 today about the history between Ole Miss baseball coach Mike Bianco and mississippi state asshat John Cohen. It’s an interesting article spanning their days (Bianco at LSU/Cohen at msu) and coaching careers (Bianco at OM/Cohen at UK/msu). Nothing earth-shattering, but a pretty good read in a slow sporting news time like we’re in.

The NCAA released its 2009-10 Bowl Schedule. As usual, the New Orleans bowl kicks things off December 20 and all the festivities end with the MNC game January 7, 2010 in Pasadena. Also, be sure to check out the spelling of that school in Annapolis. Must be the military belly dancing school.

Brooms on the Plains

The Rebels head southeast this weekend to the Plains to take on a mediocre Auburn baseball team that does very little well besides smash HRs. Their 97 long balls on the year is more than 2x the Rebels' 42, but that's no way to win consistently, as evidenced by their record.

If Ole Miss is serious about winning their first outright division title under Bianco, they need to handle business this weekend. It's hard to see the Tigers scoring too many runs against Pomeranz/Irwin/Bittle. I'll go ahead and predict the much needed sweep.

Monday Lunch-Break Thoughts

What an awesome, awesome weekend to be a Rebel and be in Oxford. The weather was absolutely perfect, Double Decker Fest was fantastic (as usual), and oh yeah, by the way, we took 2 out of 3 from Georgia in baseball.

The atmosphere wasn't lost on the Georgia players either. Both slugger Rich Puythress and head Coach Dave Perno had rave reviews of the stadium and the "experience":

“It's the best environment I've been around,” Georgia slugger Rich Poythress said. “I've been to LSU. I've been a lot of places, and it's the best environment, other than Omaha, that I've seen in college baseball."

"It's not just the environment,” UGA head coach Dave Perno said. “It's the stadium. They've got everything. It's done right. It's the best we've been in, not just the environment and being tough to play in, but just the looks, the aesthetics. Everything's done right and I tip my hat to Mike and Ole Miss and their athletic department. They've done a great job."

* While we were partying in Oxford, our #2-ranked tennis team was partying on the Plains, celebrating its 2009 SEC Tournament title to go along with its regular season title. That's two in a row for Coach Billy Chadwick and his boys.

* That's not to forget that our Rebels were well represented in the NFL draft this year. The 4 Rebels drafted tied for 4th most in the conference. Alabama also had 4 players selected, and Georgia and LSU each had 6. But it was South Carolina that led the conference with 7 draft picks this year, stealing the lead with Ryan Succop's announcement as Mr. Irrelevant. Just further proof that you can't win in this league without a competent QB, regardless of who you surround them with.

A big Dead Guy congratulations go out to: Michael Oher (#23 Baltimore), Peria Jerry (#24 Atlanta), Mike Wallace (#84 Pittsburgh), and Jamarca Sanford (#231 Minnesota). As well as Ashlee Palmer closed the season, I suspect he'll wind up somewhere as a free agent as well.

Only one team failed to land anyone in the draft. It was the second straight year that moou achieved this milestone. But hey, at least they're bringing back the Dawg Pound Rock next year. In its first incarnation, the DPR just came across as thuggish. Doing it next year, when they'll be fortunate to win 5 games, will just come across as a combination of sad and comical.

* A big thank you also to Ed Orgeron for stocking us up with the talent that he did. While I refuse to believe he'll ever be a competent head coach - unlike this article - I appreciate the hard work and effort he put it during his time in Oxford. I can't say I wish him luck though.

And I love message board comments. They're the greatest...

mikesean865 writes:

hands down we have the best coaching staff in college football, maybe ever assembled. Who would have thought last fall that by this spring we would be the envy of football fans across the country as far as coaching staff goes. they are all trembling in their little boots right now because they know what awaits them for the next ten years. two national championships minimum, 4 sec championships minimum. Write it down i said it. FEAR THE KIFF!!!

Recognitions flowing in for Rebels

While Spring Football and the baseball team are dominating the headlines out of Oxford, there's positive news coming out of the non-Big3 sports as well.

* Our men's tennis team is currently ranked #2 and leads the country in average attendance by a large margin

* Senior Rebel netter Bram Ten Berge was named the H. Boyd McWhorter SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year

* Lauren Grill, a junior 3B for the softball team was named SEC player of the Week last week. She was first team All-America last season

* And most have heard by now that Scott Bittle was SEC Pitcher of the Week for his dominating performance against a hapless Kentucky team Sunday afternoon