Mornin Mates...
Today's Topic = SWAG-LESS Baseball Program
Returning some swagger back to the Sun Devils baseball program was one of the chief goals of Willie when he was hired to coach ASU baseball four years ago...
He couldn't get the Sun Devils to the postseason playoffs during his first three seasons in the PAC and now, in the Big-12, that is without either Texas or Oklahoma, he is on the verge of not making the playoffs for a fourth straight year...
Meanwhile, down here in Tucson where Chip Hale is making about the same amount as Willie, it looks like he'll have the Cats in the playoffs for a fourth straight year...
Of course, we all know that Chip has much more money with which to buy success, and has better facilities, a better fan and booster base, etc, with which to make the postseason playoffs every year, right..??
Well, at the very least, they have had much better athletic administration down here in Tucson (IMHO) than what we have had up there in Tempe but, supposedly, our new AD was instrumental in hiring Willie to return some SWAG to our once elite baseball program...
Which brings me to the key question related to our program under Willie and one I hope that you will respond to as fans and boosters of our baseball program...
And, the question is this...will having 34 scholarships available to Willie next season mean much in terms of finally being able to elevate our baseball program or not under Willie's guidance..??
Or, will we be throwing more good money after bad given Willie's tenure at ASU thus far..??
And, is there any reason why ASU cannot find a coach like what the Cats found in Jay Johnson when he was hired by them from Nevada in 2016..??
He was making $335K and ended up taking the Cats to the postseason three times, that included two trips to the CWS and a second place finish there once...
I don't think he had more scholarships than the Sun Devils and they played in the same conference, too...
I know we don't have the same financial resources as LSU, that hired Jay away from AU, but are we also that far behind in resources as our in-state rival the Cats..??
I don't know if the Cats will extend Chip Hale, who was hired the same time as Willie, after this season, since the Cats were expecting much bigger things this year than what they have achieved so far...
But, somehow, thanks primarily to our poor efforts against the Cowboys this past weekend, the Cats have a conference tournament BYE in the first round, while we have to play BYU in order to move on in the tournament...
So, I ask you once again...will having 34 scholarships help to elevate our program under Willie or will it mean just having more of the same, since the head coach and his staff will still be there running the team next season..??
I await your feedback as always...
G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!
Today's Topic = SWAG-LESS Baseball Program
Returning some swagger back to the Sun Devils baseball program was one of the chief goals of Willie when he was hired to coach ASU baseball four years ago...
He couldn't get the Sun Devils to the postseason playoffs during his first three seasons in the PAC and now, in the Big-12, that is without either Texas or Oklahoma, he is on the verge of not making the playoffs for a fourth straight year...
Meanwhile, down here in Tucson where Chip Hale is making about the same amount as Willie, it looks like he'll have the Cats in the playoffs for a fourth straight year...
Of course, we all know that Chip has much more money with which to buy success, and has better facilities, a better fan and booster base, etc, with which to make the postseason playoffs every year, right..??
Well, at the very least, they have had much better athletic administration down here in Tucson (IMHO) than what we have had up there in Tempe but, supposedly, our new AD was instrumental in hiring Willie to return some SWAG to our once elite baseball program...
Which brings me to the key question related to our program under Willie and one I hope that you will respond to as fans and boosters of our baseball program...
And, the question is this...will having 34 scholarships available to Willie next season mean much in terms of finally being able to elevate our baseball program or not under Willie's guidance..??
Or, will we be throwing more good money after bad given Willie's tenure at ASU thus far..??
And, is there any reason why ASU cannot find a coach like what the Cats found in Jay Johnson when he was hired by them from Nevada in 2016..??
He was making $335K and ended up taking the Cats to the postseason three times, that included two trips to the CWS and a second place finish there once...
I don't think he had more scholarships than the Sun Devils and they played in the same conference, too...
I know we don't have the same financial resources as LSU, that hired Jay away from AU, but are we also that far behind in resources as our in-state rival the Cats..??
I don't know if the Cats will extend Chip Hale, who was hired the same time as Willie, after this season, since the Cats were expecting much bigger things this year than what they have achieved so far...
But, somehow, thanks primarily to our poor efforts against the Cowboys this past weekend, the Cats have a conference tournament BYE in the first round, while we have to play BYU in order to move on in the tournament...
So, I ask you once again...will having 34 scholarships help to elevate our program under Willie or will it mean just having more of the same, since the head coach and his staff will still be there running the team next season..??
I await your feedback as always...
G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!
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