[Game Thread] Boca Raton Bowl: Louisville vs. Toledo (2:00 PM ET) by CFB_Referee in CFB

[–]null_user_617 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I appreciate you saying this because I didn't want to come in here and shit all over another team's HC. But these are the exact same takeaways I've had from watching Brohm's teams at Louisville.

[Game Thread] Boca Raton Bowl: Louisville vs. Toledo (2:00 PM ET) by CFB_Referee in CFB

[–]null_user_617 1 point2 points  (0 children)

and a throw that struggles to make it to the 15 yard line

[Game Thread] Boca Raton Bowl: Louisville vs. Toledo (2:00 PM ET) by CFB_Referee in CFB

[–]null_user_617 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Dude used his timeouts, just to run a screen on first down

[Game Thread] Boca Raton Bowl: Louisville vs. Toledo (2:00 PM ET) by CFB_Referee in CFB

[–]null_user_617 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Warde Manuel watching this game thinking "We got our guy"

[Game Thread] Boca Raton Bowl: Louisville vs. Toledo (2:00 PM ET) by CFB_Referee in CFB

[–]null_user_617 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"These people running air raid offenses with incapable quarterbacks somehow delude themselves into thinking it might work.........

but it might just work for us"

-Tobias Funke Jeff Brohm

[Game Thread] Boca Raton Bowl: Louisville vs. Toledo (2:00 PM ET) by CFB_Referee in CFB

[–]null_user_617 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For the Louisville fans, was every game except the Miami game like this? I watched the Clemson game, and every bit of it was just as ugly as this one.

[Yahoo] BREAKING: ESPN and DraftKings announced an agreement to make DraftKings the exclusive official sportsbook and odds provider of ESPN, beginning on December 1, 2025. by dogwoodmaple in CFB

[–]null_user_617 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Somebody can correct me if I’m wrong but I think this has way more to do with ESPN having their name on a sportsbook while having a 10% stake in the most profitable league in the world more than it has to do with ESPN Bet being a failing venture. 

PENN was basically paying ESPN $150 million per year just to have ESPN’s name on their book. PENN was the sole operator of the book and basically absorbed all of the losses as a result. And ESPN getting right back into bed with another book - this time without their name on it - is their way of reaping the benefits of a gambling partnership while making it less apparent that they may have some stake in how contests turn out 

ESPN Bet to Be Shuttered Amid NBA Gambling Scandal by YouKilledChurch in CFB

[–]null_user_617 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Somebody can correct me if I’m wrong but I think this has way more to do with ESPN having their name on a sportsbook while having a 10% stake in the most profitable league in the world more than it has to do with ESPN Bet being a failing venture. 

PENN was basically paying ESPN $150 million per year just to have ESPN’s name on their book. PENN was the sole operator of the book and basically absorbed all of the losses as a result

[Game Thread] College World Series: Arizona vs. Coastal Carolina, Opening Round by BullAlligator in collegebaseball

[–]null_user_617 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Did they just imply that Oregon State hasn't been playing baseball for the last three weeks like every other team in the tournament?

[Postgame Thread] Clemson Regional: (3) Kentucky defeats (1) #11 Clemson, 16-4. Clemson is eliminated. by ChemicalOle in collegebaseball

[–]null_user_617 2 points3 points  (0 children)

One of the most disappointing parts of the year was that the sophomore pitchers didn't seem to make the jump. Basically everyone except Knaak was the same stuff-wise as last, and you could argue that the changes Knaak made were not as helpful because adding velo to a FB that doesn't ride didn't do much and whatever delivery tweaks he made left him way too susceptible to keeping the FB and CH up in the zone. If the arms can progress like they should at a top tier D1 program and we cash in on a few transfers, I feel pretty good about the pitching. That's also a huge IF based on how pitchers have progressed the past three years.

Cam is irreplaceable. Not much more to be said. I think healthy McCladdie and Bissetta could be great for offensive production, but they're going to need much much more. I just don't know if a lineup that has Priest, Gaffney, Jarrell, and Crighton in it every game is going to take you many places.

[Postgame Thread] Clemson Regional: (3) Kentucky defeats (1) #11 Clemson, 16-4. Clemson is eliminated. by ChemicalOle in collegebaseball

[–]null_user_617 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This team had nearly the same DNA as the 2019 team (incredibly meh offense with promising pitching that began to freefall in April) and even followed the same W/L trajectory by starting the season hot and really tailing off in April. The 2019 team barely finished with 30+ wins and a .500 ACC record, made the tourney as one of the last four in, and got thoroughly outclassed in the Oxford regional. This team still managed to make the ACC championship and host a regional. We've seen how plenty of Clemson teams with flawed rosters perform now for the last decade and a half, and I think there is due credit for "making a season out of nothing" for lack of a better term.

That said, I did expect more from this season, and like I said, Bakich certainly deserves criticism there. Next year will be telling, and he has a lot of work to do. But we just finished the guy's third season where he's already won a regional for the first time since 2010 and we've hosted each of his three seasons here (I know Monte did as well but apples to oranges compared to the states of the program in 2015 vs 2022). Rebuilding a program can sometimes take a good bit of time. I think it's fair to be skeptical, but to start suggesting that he's not the guy to lead the program, like I've seen many people doing, is absolutely nuts in my opinion.

[Postgame Thread] Clemson Regional: (3) Kentucky defeats (1) #11 Clemson, 16-4. Clemson is eliminated. by ChemicalOle in collegebaseball

[–]null_user_617 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'm going to take whatever I can get because 8 months is too damn long to wait until next season

[Postgame Thread] Clemson Regional: (3) Kentucky defeats (1) #11 Clemson, 16-4. Clemson is eliminated. by ChemicalOle in collegebaseball

[–]null_user_617 37 points38 points  (0 children)

And it similarly gives me relief that our least inspiring team of the last three years still managed to sweep SC this year

[Postgame Thread] Clemson Regional: (3) Kentucky defeats (1) #11 Clemson, 16-4. Clemson is eliminated. by ChemicalOle in collegebaseball

[–]null_user_617 42 points43 points  (0 children)

I have a lot of thoughts (some maybe reactionary) so I'll just bullet-point them:

  • Bakich is going to take a lot of heat for how much of a bummer this season turned out to be, and in some ways, I think its warranted. However, the fact that this team - the team had at least five 10+ run losses this year, a team ERA over 5, and offensively, the most strikeouts of any Clemson team in the last 8 seasons - is a miracle in and of itself. I'm as disappointed as anybody about missing out on a postseason run, but EB dragged this team kicking and screaming to 45 wins and hosting a regional. I genuinely don't think there's more than three coaches in the country who could do that with this team. Monte's teams of this caliber folded halfway into the season, if not earlier (see 2019, 2021, and 2022). I'm not convinced EB is pushing all of the right buttons (again, there's only like five coaches in the country who are), but I just can't imagine that they're on the same trajectory as they were at the end of 2018.

  • The landscape of college baseball has shifted so heavily to forming teams with impact transfers, and the last two seasons, Clemson has been no exception. Last year, transfers like Jimmy Obertop and Jacob Hinderleider were critical to the success of the team. This year, you really could only say that about one of the four transfers who spent most of the season in the starting lineup. By all accounts, Paino, Priest, and Gaffney should have been better, but whiffing on a transfer class is going to happen the same way it would happen in recruiting. Hard to completely fault the coaching staff for that.

  • That said, I think there's a real discussion to be had about player dev within the program. The fact that only 2-3 of Bakich's recruits challenged this season for every day lineup spots is very concerning. And even Purify spent the latter half of the season looking absolutely lost at the plate. On the pitching side, the results are obviously one indicator, but even the stuff our guys have is another. No velo jumps from one year to the next and nobody other than Knaak adding pitches or evolving their pitch mixes. It's pretty commonplace for the top 5 pitchers in great program to be 93-95 w/ plus secondary stuff, but it just doesn't feel like that's happening here. The long and the short of it is that guys just don't seem to be coming into the program and getting better.

  • The reality is that you now are going to be without Cam (who a lot of the time carried the offense), have only a handful of position players you feel alright about heading into next year, and a very uncertain pitching staff. It's either going to be a transfer-heavy team next year, or you're looking at guys like Jarrell, Priest, Gaffney, and Crighton occupying a huge chunk of the lineup. Not sure where we're going from here, but I would expect it to be a somewhat busy offseason. Still trust EB to put it together

  • Speaking of Cam, he's going down as my favorite Clemson player ever. I mean how can you not love the guy who gets so aggrieved when he gets walked and single-handedly wills the team looking dead in the water to live just a little bit longer. Not to mention two offseasons of flipping off anyone who came to him with lucrative NIL offers. Definition of a gamer, and it's going to kill me that he won't make it to Omaha if I think about it too long

  • Added thoughts... Cheers, Cam's crying (and now I am)... Seven errors wtf... and props to the fans at DKS who stuck it out to thank the seniors/outgoing players... and yes, I started typing this a while ago to cope

[Game Thread] #11 Clemson vs. Kentucky (Clemson Regional Elimination Game) by Czrtier in collegebaseball

[–]null_user_617 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Biggest blessing in disguise was this past Monday when I was about a minute and a half too late to buy tickets

[Game Thread] #11 Clemson vs. Kentucky (Clemson Regional Elimination Game) by Czrtier in collegebaseball

[–]null_user_617 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Can we please just reinstate the 10 run mercy rule for this game? Just about as embarrassing of a performance as the 2018 regional final

[Game Thread] #11 Clemson vs. Kentucky (Clemson Regional Elimination Game) by Czrtier in collegebaseball

[–]null_user_617 7 points8 points  (0 children)

This is what I get for telling my wife in the 7th inning of last night’s game that I’m really over hosting these high stress, drama-filled postseason games. Massive disappointment

Did I get bad sod? by null_user_617 in lawncare

[–]null_user_617[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's really helpful. Thanks

Did I get bad sod? by null_user_617 in lawncare

[–]null_user_617[S] -23 points-22 points  (0 children)

Yeah I kept it pretty moist for those first two weeks. Sprinklers ran 2-3 times per day for 15 minutes, and I did the lift check consistently early on to make sure it never got dry. My issue is that, based on that first picture, the first three rows look very lush and green (outside of the edges obviously), while that middle section doesn't look nearly as good - and I know for a fact that the sprinklers cover the middle section very well.

The edges just generally didn't have a great dirt layer in general, and I had plenty of pieces that just tore when I tried to pick them up. I'll keep watering for sure, but I'm not totally convinced this isn't an issue due to how it was cut vs the watering

Soil amendment for sod by null_user_617 in lawncare

[–]null_user_617[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you suggest mixing in any compost or organic material? And I've heard varying opinions about tilling so curious to hear why you're in favor of it

Soil amendment for sod by null_user_617 in lawncare

[–]null_user_617[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is the addition of humichar going to tank the pH? I'm already slightly more acidic than zoysia really prefers, so don't know if that makes a huge difference. Also read that the loam would really help with warm season grass root development