• You do not need to register if you are not going to pay the yearly fee to post. If you register please click here or log in go to "settings" then "my account" then "User Upgrades" and you can renew.

HuskerMax readers can save 50% on  Omaha Steaks .

State of the program

pRED said:
And that resulted in Mike Riley, no? Only the availability of a once-in-forever legacy player-cum-coach, and his willingness to come home to take over the crown jewel of the athletic program, has delivered the fan base to a relatively optimistic and contented state. And thus far a 4-8 win-loss record.

Regarding “...stretches of horrid baseball...Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Creighton and Northwestern”, what I don’t get is why there is an assumption that we should dominate those teams without fail. (And also, how close losses constitute “horrid”.) Sure, I get frustrated and would hope for better game outcomes, but to expect that? If that’s the take and there’s only “winning and misery” (to quote Pat Riley), why bother? Do people really think that we’re naturally gonna fill a sport on fractional scholarships (and I’m in no way referring to ***’s B10 limitations) and build rosters that will be superior to Minnesota’s, Illinois’ or even Creighton’s at all positions and that those teams won’t even bother to compete with us? Just for a moment, put yourself in the shoes of a Minnesota or Illinois fan. Bigger population bases, more history (in the case of Minnesota, 1973, Dave Winfield), maybe today they’re wondering how they’re even sharing third place with us. I hear references to what we spend, but I have no idea if that’s (1) true, (2) the relative figures, and (3) how it’s supposed to translate unless you’re actually paying players, I.e., if it even matters (surely Cal State Fullerton spends less).

The best MLB teams lose 60 or 70 games a season and the worst win 55 to 60 (shockingly with sweeps against far better-performing teams, see Royals-Indians, April 2019). To view baseball through the prism of football losses as “catastrophic” (or “horrid”) means you’ll likely be disappointed more than not. Sharing frustrations is fair, lamenting offensive execution, pitching toughness (without calling out 18 and 19 year-olds) and recruiting misses, but hyperbole won’t win you many converts from what appears to me to be an avid and committed fan base here. And not one content with meh results, just a bit more circumspect about the nature of competition in the D1 landscape. Stay with us, though.
Click to expand...
Baseball has ups and downs, every team does. You can choose to look at the series’ we lose that we shouldn’t. Or look at the Baylor, Michigan, Arizona State series’ we win that we shouldn’t. Further, why do we get mad at an 8th or 10th place finish once every three years but fail to recognize 1st or 2nd twice every three years and regional births. The only answer I get is “because we should, it’s the B1G”.

It’s baseball like you said, not football, and I think that’s where our fans are so skewed. We look at a Northwestern series loss like losing to Northern Illinois in football, and they are completely different.
 
Last edited:

BigMacHusker said:
As I said, we have to win it every year. Crap conference, have to win it. When we win it then fire him for not competing with non crap conference teams.
Click to expand...
You may be trolling, but a top three finish every year, a tournament qualification 80% of the time, and a .500 record in postseason isn't an unreasonable expectation for this program, in this conference.

Erstad has the staff to go at least 1-1 in the first two of the Big Ten and hopefully better. I look forward to seeing if they are starting to figure it out--can't ask for a less intimidating atmosphere.
 
pRED said:
The best MLB teams lose 60 or 70 games a season and the worst win 55 to 60 (shockingly with sweeps against far better-performing teams, see Royals-Indians, April 2019). To view baseball through the prism of football losses as “catastrophic” (or “horrid”) means you’ll likely be disappointed more than not. Sharing frustrations is fair, lamenting offensive execution, pitching toughness (without calling out 18 and 19 year-olds) and recruiting misses, but hyperbole won’t win you many converts from what appears to me to be an avid and committed fan base here. And not one content with meh results, just a bit more circumspect about the nature of competition in the D1 landscape. Stay with us, though.
Click to expand...
ShortSideOption said:
Baseball has ups and downs, every team does. You can choose to look at the series’ we lose that we shouldn’t. Or look at the Baylor, Michigan, Arizona State series’ we win that we shouldn’t. Further, why do we get mad at an 8th or 10th place finish once every three years but fail to recognize 1st or 2nd twice every three years and regional births. The only answer I get is “because we should, it’s the B1G”.

It’s baseball like you said, not football, and I think that’s where our fans are so skewed. We look at a Northwestern series loss like losing to Northern Illinois in football, and they are completely different.
Click to expand...
These are awfully reasonable positions to take. Truly. But the difference is losing SERIES, not the aberrant game. The team is obviously going to drop games, here and there, because the ball takes an unlucky bounce, your pitcher has a bad outing, or your team just doesn't get it done; there is a ton of reasons that even great teams don't sweep every series and I'm not coming close to suggesting that.

But dropping SERIES to Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Northwestern (the Creighton series was frustrating, but you can't put too much in a competitive mid-week series)--and often getting routed in one of the games--is bad baseball. No comparison to another sport necessary.

I look forward to seeing Erstad reverse the team's postseason trend this year with a staff well-positioned for tournament play--it may be his best shot for a couple years since the staff needs to be rebuilt/sorted-out again next season.
 



ShortSideOption said:
Lol - now I’m 100% certain who you are speaking of. I can’t get mad at someone’s fashion based on how many times I wear sweatpants out.

I will however mock opinions that national coaches of the year, our current AD, and B1G/national media members mock. But I got bored of that so just ignored him. The national opinion speaks for itself and I have no time to defend “but we are Nebraska we can do better” entitled thoughts. It’s what got us in trouble this entire century for football.
Click to expand...

Give me a break. The guy finally wins a series against a conference team with a winning record in Mid-May, and you want me on his tip?

one word: Binghamton
 




ShortSideOption said:
No one said it’s the ceiling. I’m saying 3 regionals in 5 years (4 regionals in 6 years if we make it this year) puts Erstad in a class by himself with current B1G coaches. Super Regionals would be great, but there’s only two current coaches in the B1G that have actually done that and it’s only happened once each by guys with over 15 years at their school.

What I am telling you is anyone saying “The Erstad experiment is over” or saying we need to fire him when the Dodgers has him as a finalist, an SEC team tried courting him, he then won a conference title, then won coach of the year, and in 2019 has national experts saying we locked up our 4th regional in 6 years, anyone saying fire him is a moron. You don’t blow up results like that. You don’t move on from someone getting those results. You help them get over the hump. To put it another way, we were playing for a share of the conference title on the last game of our season and we had people saying he needed to be fired in April. What a joke.

“Through these gates...”
Click to expand...

Why is it never mentioned that Nebraska puts more money and resources into baseball then any other program in the B1G? Yet somehow this success is attributed to darin erstad?
 
HuskerWeatherman said:
Why do people put posters on ignore? In my 20 years here, I have yet to understand that.
Click to expand...
I do it to people who are consistently negative and aren’t interested in dialogue when things are going right. I was one of those that had no one on ignore up until 12 months ago or so. Just so much easier to not even engage them. I used to think it was weak to ignore someone, it started making sense to me when I had people saying conf titles didn’t matter. It’s basically like not following someone on twitter when you would roll your eyes everytime you saw something they tweeted. I learned the board was more enjoyable for me when I went that route.
 
Last edited:
BasilLongfellow said:
:rolleyes:

Ok tough guy
Click to expand...
Can an adolescent with a HMax account be old enough to have a kid playing travel ball already? I jest (but can't resist), but is he referring to the skinny kid he's shopping to Omaha HS coaches?

Fromunda Cheese said:
i see what your doing there. good PR move. But you and I both know the last place he will play on this planet is at Nebraska with erstad as head coach.

FYI I will see you down there next year, my son is in 8th grade and we are opting in to West solely because of what Shockey did with Povich. My son is a skinny left-hander also who has trouble keeping weight on. I'm going to give him to Shockey and let him do the rest.

Listen, his opinion is his opinion and he’s completely entitled to share it, but lacks any balance and nuance. Hell, most of the people on here could make the "anti" case better than him. Still waiting for an answer to the incessant "more resources" assertion and what it means.

And clearly last night's win and fan enthusiasm triggered something today. Freud? Jung? Wendy from Billions???
 
Last edited:




You must log in or register to reply here.

GET TICKETS


Get 50% off on Omaha Steaks

Back
Top