Generally, we are the "authors" of "content" around here - "here" being a blog and not a message board. Recognize, we do, that you've come here not to contribute, but to consume. Nevertheless, there is the sporadic occasion where, either for our benefit or for to exercise the thinkifiers of the masses, we ask you a question. Today's question is ...
Georgia's coming up this weekend; would you rather have Mike Bianco or Dave Perno?
Pure hypothetical, and I don't mean coaching styles (unless you can causally relate coaching styles to post-season results). More specifically, I mean, since 2002 Perno has led Georgia to 2 SEC titles and 3 College World Series appearances. He is a UGA alumnus, who recruited and developed the marquee player in UGA baseball history, Gordon Beckham.
In the meantime, in between time, he has had three seasons that ended without an NCAA tournament appearance (and looks like he is headed for another). Missing the NCAA Tournament is a doomsday scenario in Oxford. Four of his eight seasons in Athens have seen ledgers with fewer than 35 wins. One was a losing season.
The success of the Rebels under Mike Bianco, well-documented, is more consistent with higher valleys and lower peaks. Bianco has missed the NCAA Tournament only once during his tenure in 2002, and even that one was a nail-biter with 37 regular season wins. And there are the five hosted regionals and four Super regionals.
His failures have also been well-documented (at least here). Every team since 2005 has been some key component for a run to the College World Series. And even those teams have been able to defy good fortune and "cough up the ball," so to speak. Bianco has not gone to Omaha. I don't expect him to this year. Or next.
Would you rather have a visit (or a couple) to the College World Series with more than a few duds thrown in or have the security of knowing that your team will be always good, but not yet great? Perno gives you the thrills every few seasons, but Mike gives your the comfort of knowing - year in and year out - that if you go to Swayze Field, you've got a good chance to see the Rebels win (except on the Lord's Day), which might explain why our average attendance doubles that at Foley Field.
Unlike BWE, not only do I want to take home the one that brought me to the dance, but, also, I value the full experience of Ole Miss baseball, including the extra weekend in June. If you've forgotten how quickly one bad season can destroy a sport at Ole Miss, then go back to your Rebel Encyclopedia and look up Barnes, Rod (circa. 2003). It might be old fashioned, but I'd rather have pot roast every night than vacillate between spam and steak. Give me Mike!