Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Black and Blue

Our annual fall world series is about to begin on Friday, and like every year there will be bragging rights and steak dinners on the line.  Tomorrow is the 5th and final game of our " divisional" series...  We really just call it that because the "series before the series" sucks for a title...  And the winner of the divisional set will get home field advantage for the real deal.  Both teams have had some good moments thus far, and it looks like it really is going to be another year where either club could realistically win.

Also happening are our crossfit games.  Four teams compete in head to head competitions every day to earn points toward t-shirts, free passes, and a boatload of pride.  In the midst of the team competition is the individual Iron Pirate competition, which basically amounts to the guys who can go the hardest for the longest getting a sweet t-shirt.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Been a while, I know...

Since my last post, and hopefully, a break that long won't occur again.  The last couple of weeks have been good for us, as we've started to get some rough edges cleaned up and I think we're getting to a point as a coaching staff where we can really see our team shaping up.

This next two weeks is going to be vital because as we finish the Black and Blue playoffs and wold series, we're also seeing the last few opportunities for some players to either take hold of a position, establish a role, or even just make the spring roster. 

Here's the long and short of it.  Right now, we have 32 players.  Reality is that we will only carry 24 or 25 players in the spring, and of that 24 or 25, only about 18-20 will see alot of action.  In a given season, assuming there will be platoon or two, only about 12 position players will get on the field a whole lot, and maybe 6-8 pitchers will throw often enough to be considered regulars.  That leaves around 3 position players and several pitchers on the roster that will only perform in limited duty.  Where does that leave the remaining 5-7 guys that aren't on the roster?  Well, a couple will likely be off the roster because they are injured and will require a medical red-shirt.  With the remaining guys we will evaluate their performance and make a decision:  Either we feel like they will eventally have a chance to start for us, whether it is next year or the following, and offer them a red-shirt, or if we don't feel like they have a chance to win a job in the future, we'll let them go.

I guess that's why this next two weeks are so important.  Close to 20 guys have already made the roster, and there is a job or two that is sewn up, but these next two weeks will determine where the rest of the team winds up.  Every year, someone wins or loses a job in the Black and Blue, and I have little doubt that this year will be the same.  This is the part of the year when the guys on the bubbe get to prove which of them has the stomach to face the pressure and the challenge of competing at the collegiate level, and which are going to cave in to the pressure or be outshined by another athlete. 

Monday, October 4, 2010

A Week and a Long Day

"A week and a long day"...  That's how the Navy Seals describe hell week.  Now, a tough week at The Lake isn't quite 120 consecutive hours awake and in action.  As a matter of fact, a bad week at The Lake is probably better than a good week at a lot of places. 

In our effort to get our young ballclub to understand what our version of playing hard is, we've had to change the tempo of practice.  Last Tuesday, we were timid at Middle Georgia.  As with anything else in life, when you go into something without belief in yourself, it doesn't quite work out the way you'd like.  We took one on the chin from an opponent because we weren't up to the task on Tuesday, so Wednesday, we drew a line in the sand and made them fight (metephorically, moms!) to get over it.  Thursday was more of the same, and Friday we got to see the fruit of our labor. 

After being embarrassed at MGC, we went down to Darton and beat the Cavs 18-3 at their place and took a 4-0 win from Chipola.  The lesson learned is that just getting after someone's ass is most of the game.  We're still a long way from February, and the long day hasn't quite ended for this group of Pirates, but we're looking a lot more like Chatt Valley than we had been.