Meg Hair

[Cheriehoop]

These stories just seem to confirm the old adage that the toughest part of an Ivy League education is getting in, not staying in. I would think that a student athlete not interested in academics would definitely go elsewhere. If an athlete gets injured and has to take a redshirt year which allows them to graduate before their normal eligibility ends, Ivy League rules don't allow the student athlete to play athletics there for their 4th year of athletic eligibility. That's why Shonn Miller, a Cornell basketball grad who lost a year because of injury, had to transfer.

Shonn Miller Will Have to Leave Cornell Because of Rule on Graduate Students

 

[br801]

You may be right. But these kids are still there making money How much, I don't know.

But I'll guarantee you they aren't any smarter.

If the Analytics crowd keeps it up with the On Base percentage stuff, that admittedly works, they are going to kill the game. They have to do something to speed the game up and get rid of these 12, 13, 14 pitch at bats with 12,13, 14 re-adjustments of the velcro on the batting gloves.

I've started to toggle between games or between the game and another show. Last night I watched most of the O's game but also a lot of "Hippos vs. Crocs" on Nat Geo. "Hippos vs. Crocs" was more exciting. (I was rooting for the Hippos and for at least some of the Wildebeast getting across the river.)

Your point about the length of at bats is well taken but somewhat hyperbolic. Since less than 2% of all plate appearances extend beyond 8 pitches, it's unlikely you are seeing too many 12, 13 or 14 pitch at bats.

 

[Townie72]

Your point about the length of at bats is well taken but somewhat hyperbolic. Since less than 2% of all plate appearances extend beyond 8 pitches, it's unlikely you are seeing too many 12, 13 or 14 pitch at bats.

Yes, you are right.

But even 8 pitch at bats seem interminable.

The fact is that baseball games used to take two and a half hours to play and now they take three plus.

And there's a lot of factors contributing to slowing the game down. One of which is these long at-bats along with three or four pitching changes as a chain of situational, highly-specialized relief pitchers are brought in as soon as the starter gets near 100 pitches.

When a baseball fan like me starts to channel surf, they better start thinking about ways to shorten the game.

I'd like to see some thought devoted to a limit on number of foul balls permitted.

 

[br801]

Yes, you are right.

But even 8 pitch at bats seem interminable.

The fact is that baseball games used to take two hours to play and now they take three. And there's a lot of factors contributing to slowing the game down. One of which is these long at bats.

But when a baseball fan like me starts to channel surf, they better start thinking about ways to shorten the game.

I'd like to see some thought devoted to a limit on foul balls.

More commercial time between half innings, more trips to the mound by catchers, more pitching changes, more strikeouts and walks as a percentage of at bats, more deliberation by pitchers and batters, more plays coming under review, etc., have all contributed.

The two-hour game is never coming back, but I would not be in favor of fundamentally changing the rules of the game. My suggestion would be to cut back slightly on the commercial time, put the pitchers on a clock, limit the number of mound conferences and streamline the review process.

 

[Townie72]

More commercial time between half innings, more trips to the mound by catchers, more pitching changes, more strikeouts and walks as a percentage of at bats, more deliberation by pitchers and batters, more plays coming under review, etc., have all contributed.

The two-hour game is never coming back, but I would not be in favor of fundamentally changing the rules of the game. My suggestion would be to cut back slightly on the commercial time, put the pitchers on a clock, limit the number of mound conferences and streamline the review process.

How about Seven innings?

 

[SUFan44]

From the Harvard Crimson describing the Academic Index:

"The Ivy League has set a minimum AI of 176 for any student-athlete offered admission, corresponding roughly to a 3.0 GPA and an 1140 out of 1600 on the SAT I."

How's that square with your ideas about the difficulty of Ivy League admissions for athletes?

I don't want to provide too much personal information, but I know quite a bit about it because two of my sons were recruited by Ivy League schools. When the cards, letter and phone calls started I thought there must be some mistake. They were good students at a very good school. But they were not top students.

But the coaches patiently took me all the way through it assuring me that we were in the right ranges. Then I talked to people in the Ivy League office to verify what I had been told. (not that any coaches would ever shade the truth.)

Then I watched kids who I know also get recruited and accepted by Ivies.

One of my favorite stories is about a lacrosse player, who was a nice kid, but definitely not smart. He was recruited HARD by Princeton and he went there on an official visit.

His parents have sooooo much money that they weren't all that interested in the cache of a Princeton degree. And everybody knew the kid was going into the father's construction-related business anyway.

When he got back from his official visit, His report was, "I didn't like those people. Too full of themselves." He wasn't interested. This made the Ivy League obsessed group among the parents dizzy.

The AI minimum changes depending upon the sport and the school. Also, not all sports have the same AI calculation. Football, at least when I was involved less than a decade ago, has "bands." Meaning there were academic segments that were tiered (i.e. Band 1 is lowest academic requirement, Band 2 is next lowest, Band 3 is next and Band 4 is elite academic recruit). A school could recruit to any of these bands but had limitations in the lower tiers. You could take an academic "risk" but only 1-2 per cycle.

All other sports had the ability to recruit these types of kids, too, but had to balance it with an elite academic kid or two to meet their required AI score. Teams could also "swap" admissions spots if a certain sport had one or two more that they really thought could make a difference within their programs. But again, they'd still need to hit their minimum AI average as it relates to their school and their sport.

Ivy League isn't for everyone - even working for a school like it isn't for everyone. What I found, however, was the kids I worked with were still kids and enjoyed the same things most other college students enjoyed. Also learned that had I been a more elite athlete, I would have had the opportunity to attend an Ivy League school rather than Syracuse.

I'm more than content with my choice.

 

[br801]

How about Seven innings?

Yikes, no. It's a game of records and statistics like no other, and that change would blow it up.

 

[Townie72]

Yikes, no. It's a game of records and statistics like no other, and that change would blow it up.

Well they extended the season from 154 games to 162 which was a significant help to Roger Maris.

Look, that was a wild suggestion, I know. But this tinkering around the edges doesn't seem to be helping much.

As an O's fan I am very sensitive to the increase in strike outs as they lead the league in them.

But I get the reason why. The calculus is that its easier to hit a home run than to put together three singles facing guys throwing in the high 90's. And hitting home runs has a lot to do with the angle (Loft) of the swing which makes hitting singles less likely.

 

[Bayside44]

Yes, you are right.

But even 8 pitch at bats seem interminable.

The fact is that baseball games used to take two and a half hours to play and now they take three plus.

And there's a lot of factors contributing to slowing the game down. One of which is these long at-bats along with three or four pitching changes as a chain of situational, highly-specialized relief pitchers are brought in as soon as the starter gets near 100 pitches.

When a baseball fan like me starts to channel surf, they better start thinking about ways to shorten the game.

I'd like to see some thought devoted to a limit on number of foul balls permitted.

I'd prefer foul balls, like it when batter fight off pitches (as opposed to challenging the ump to call strike 3).

This pitching change stuff is insufferable.

 

[Townie72]

I'd prefer foul balls, like it when batter fight off pitches (as opposed to challenging the ump to call strike 3).

This pitching change stuff is insufferable.

I get the strategy behind it and I even admire the skill associated with fouling balls off repeatedly and forcing the pitcher to finally groove a pitch or throw one obviously out of the strike zone.

But the games are too long.

Maybe watching BA in TBT woke me up or something. Because I have begun to long for the college football season to start.

 

[Bayside44]

I get the strategy behind it and I even admire the skill associated with fouling balls off repeatedly and forcing the pitcher to finally groove a pitch or throw one obviously out of the strike zone.

But the games are too long.

Maybe watching BA in TBT woke me up or something. Because I have begun to long for the college football season to start.

Pitcher clock - visits to the mound and looking off runners, stupid challenges and specialists. I am old enough where relievers got both righties and lefties out evenly and you're old enough when starters threw 330 innings a season...

 

[AlaskaSU]

I haven't heard that Hillsman was recruiting local players hard. He's actually targeted many international players and even added an additional staff member this season , Adeniyi Amadou, who specializes in overseas recruiting. It will be interesting because former assistant, Kelly Gibson who recruited Sykes, Peterson, Butler and the Day sisters etc left SU to join Rutgers in the same capacity after the 2015 season.

Why did they leave?

 

[br801]

Pitcher clock - visits to the mound and looking off runners, stupid challenges and specialists. I am old enough where relievers got both righties and lefties out evenly and you're old enough when starters threw 330 innings a season...

Put the pitchers on a clock and enforce violations by calling a ball. Call a strike on batters who continue to step out of the box for no good reason. Most players will fall in line soon enough. Also, cut out a minute of commercial time between each half inning. These recommendations alone will shorten games by a half hour.

 

[Cheriehoop]

Why did they leave?

It was Kelly Gibson, the assistant coach who recruited those SU players, who was the one who left for Rutgers. Sorry I wasn't clearer in my post. The players themselves just graduated.

Gibson was SU womens' main recruiter from 2010 through 2015. Gibson left for the same position to be a coach for Vivian Stringer at Rutgers. Stringer is 69 , a Hall of Fame coach who has had some underwhelming seasons the past 5 years or so. I imagine Gibson sees the chance to make a mark there, get a head coaching job soon.

 

[NYCSUGrad]

It was Kelly Gibson, the assistant coach who recruited those SU players, who left for Rutgers. Sorry I wasn't clearer in my post. The players themselves just graduated.

Gibson was SU womens' main recruiter from 2010 through 2015. Gibson left for the same position to be a coach for Vivian Stringer at Rutgers. Stringer is 69 , a Hall of Fame coach who has had some underwhelming seasons the past 5 years or so. I imagine Gibson sees the chance to make a mark there, get a head coaching job soon.

The one area where being referred to as Rutgirls is not a dire insult!

 

[weedsportwarriors]

Anyone know what is a good site to go and check out the girls recruiting and to see where Q's class ranks amongst others?

 

[orange79]

Anyone know what is a good site to go and check out the girls recruiting and to see where Q's class ranks amongst others?

I have no idea how good/bad these sites are, but here are a couple.

Women's Basketball Recruiting

2017 HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings - espnW 100 - ESPN

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

These stories just seem to confirm the old adage that the toughest part of an Ivy League education is getting in, not staying in. I would think that a student athlete not interested in academics would definitely go elsewhere. If an athlete gets injured and has to take a redshirt year which allows them to graduate before their normal eligibility ends, Ivy League rules don't allow the student athlete to play athletics there for their 4th year of athletic eligibility. That's why Shonn Miller, a Cornell basketball grad who lost a year because of injury, had to transfer.

Shonn Miller Will Have to Leave Cornell Because of Rule on Graduate Students

The easiest way into an Ivy is transferring.