The Myth of "tough circumstances"

I’m not a Bianco “apolyigst,” but we simply got beat by a better Virginia team. There
were some very questionable coaching decisions, no doubt, but unlike, say football, there’s not a trick play or a surprise blitz to change an outcome. You simply have to make the plays defensively and get the hits on offense. I guess you can count the errors
similar to a turnover, and we more than made our share. Even with them stealing (too easily) 12 times on the weekend, they had 3, 4, and 5 runs. Even without Buck and Bittle our pitching kept us in the games. Virginia simply pitched a little better or they stringed together hits at the right time to win the games. We did not. Our position to win was on Saturday and we didn’t get it done. I really think you’ve got to give Virginia more credit for their win than a failure on Bianco’s part. They simply shut our hitting down the entire weekend. Their error allowed us to tie the game on Friday and then a mistake of a pitch allowed us ti win it. Did Smith see another fast ball anywhere close to the strike zone after Friday? We simply couldn’t get the hits – two-out hits to pressure their defense. Game over, season over.

i think bianco’s still on LSU’s payroll

I cannot claim either side in the Bianco debate…I see valid points on both sides.

Let’s look at the facts:

Bianco is probably the best thing (well at least one of the best things) to ever happen to Ole Miss Baseball. The guy wins. The program is at a level, year in and year out, that it has never seen before. We have become one of the elite baseball programs. We win every year, we draw record attendance, we have top recruiting classes, we have one of the nicest stadiums in the country, and we produce major league talent.

However….
We can’t get to Omaha!

Bianco has to be starting to feel the pressure.

Since McDonnell left for Louisville our recruiting has not been as strong.
Since Lake left our hitting has suffered.
Since Bianco has been at the helm at Ole Miss a number of other SEC schools have made Omaha…including our in state rival…and now another Mississippi school, those Golden Birds from H-Burg, have reached the promised land.

Oh, and did I fail to mention that McDonnell has already visited Omaha?

Something has got to change.
I’m not calling for Bianco’s job. It’s just that action has to be taken somehow to make it over the hump.

Because standing still for too long ( even if it is standing ahead of 90% of the rest of the programs in the country) after awhile, it starts to look like falling behind.

Why on earth, after the success that Bianco has had during his tenure at The University of Mississippi, do we still have a baseball team full of talent that must “overachieve” to reach the Super Regionals? We have some of the best conditions possible to recruit top-of-the-line baseball talent: 1) amazing stadium 2) excellent baseball atmosphere 3) hot co-eds 4) great alumni and university support. Why are we not going after (and successfully bringing in) elite talent?

Baseball recruiting isn’t anything near what it is for football and basketball. Unlike football, our baseball team is consistently at the top of the SEC. Unlike basketball, we aren’t competing against 300+ teams for top talent. Unlike both football and basketball, we don’t have to teach our prospects to read fudge test scores hope that they make the grades. Additionally, there are maybe 50 schools that consistently give a damn about baseball. As ESPN mentioned every opportunity they had last weekend, UVA nearly shut down their baseball program a decade ago (until UM alumni John Grisham became their “sugar daddy”). The “racism card” can’t be played against us in baseball because 85% of NCAA players are white.

I don’t buy the myth that we overachieved. A team doesn’t go to the super regions year-in-and-year-out without talent. Regardless, if our players did “overachieve” and we lost to a better team, that still falls on Bianco’s shoulders. We’re paying him serious money and giving him whatever he wants. Take us to Omaha!!!

Winning during the regular season is great, but Bianco can’t quite seem to win when it’s crunch time, ahem, when it really matters- like Sunday afternoon. His decision making skills seem to falter under pressure- I’ve heard it over and over again since this weekend- WHY did he have the career RBI leader bunt? WHY? it just doesn’t make sense (although I’m sure one of you out there will have an answer for me). Why are guys screwing up routine plays in the post season- are they not continuing to work on drills in practice? I have no idea.

And I’m not blaming Bianco for Bittle’s injury because I know he didn’t intend to cause it, but I have to wonder if Bianco truly considered the strength of Bittle’s arm before making him a starter. I watched Bittle struggle as a closer alongside the rest of you Rebel fans, but considering the nature of his injury (overuse), I can’t help but wonder if a better pitching coach could have prevented it by encouraging Bianco to use him for fewer innings (especially after the Yankees debacle). Yes, I understand Bianco wanted to win, but in the end, he won by paying a very high price- the injury of Bittle’s arm. All of that is purely my own speculation.

From what I have heard, Bianco isn’t known for being a warm and fuzzy coach. His encouragement resembles all but positive reinforcement. Generally, this doesn’t produce successful teams. For three miserable seasons, we all watched Ed Orgeron turn a group of very talented athletes into one of the worst football teams in the country. Cleary, a coach who berates his players is not one that has much success. We’ve watched a positive Houston Nutt turn those same guys into a winning team. Yes, Nutt is a better coach, but part of the reason why he’s a better coach is that he’s positive- he encourages his players to be the very best they can be.

If we keep Bianco, someone needs to send him copies of Three Nights in August and Moneyball. He could learn a lot from both books.