What IS Your Intent?

Congratulations to all Baseball players that will be signing TODAY through November 18. You all should be proud of what you all have accomplished thus far in your lives. It’s really an honor to play a sport in college…and hard.

As you sign your Letter of Intent…Ask yourself what IS your intent? Will you strut around feeling full of yourself, or will you continue with that same hard nosed work ethic that got you here in the first place? Well, we along with your parents, coaches and future coaches encourage the latter, because it certainly won’t get any easier for you.

Each step in your life just keeps getting harder and more competitive. You may be the best in your high school or league, but next year, you will compete against all the best players in all the best leagues in your state or region of the country. Travel ball certainly helped you prepare for this moment, but now size, strength, stamina and heart are the wild cards to compete against and strive for. It’s time to get serious, be the senior leader, and show your future coaches that they have a lot to look forward to.

The same work ethic needs to extend into the classroom too. There really is no comparison between high school and college. Bottom line, college is much harder and just as you would train your body for a long grueling season ahead, you need to train your mind and prepare it for the rigors of higher learning.

Parents, savor this moment as well. It’s not too corny to break out the digital camera and take a few pictures of the signing. In fact, it will be a great moment. We even bet that as you drive away from his new surroundings next fall and head for home with the nest a bit emptier, you’ll break out those signing pics and your mind will rush with all of the memories of snack shack dinners, long drives with noisy players in the back, muddy floorboards, smelly socks, Motel 6’s when nothing else was available, diving catches, and the blur of acronyms like RBI’s GWH’s, HR’s, K’s, BA’s, OBP’s, ERA, SLG’s, and wonder how it went by so fast.

Congrats 2010’s!!!! Play Hard and Smart…Make us all proud!!!

Synergy Day 4...The Role of the High School Coach

There have been many discussions on various national and regional message boards about the role of the high school coach when it comes to promoting players to the next level. So over the past several years, we have heard just about every argument and opinion, good and bad. Everyone seems to have a personal story, some of them extremely touching and some not, about an experience they had with a high school coach. Therefore, everyone seems to have an opinion about what the HS coaches role should be...so do we.

In our opinion, the role of the high school coach is to coach...period.

Now, let's define the term "coach". High schools coaches see their players nearly every day of the school year...depending on their status at that school. By that, we mean many head coaches are also teachers. So those coaches influence on their players are in many cases, a bit more involved. Despite the restrictions many state High School associations have on off-season practices, a full time teacher/coach will encourage his players to buckle down in school, practice on their own, and open up the facilities for off-season conditioning.

During the season, the role of the coach is dedicated to molding his players into fundamentally sound, disciplined, smart, competitive ball players. His job is to make sure that those players taking the field are the nine best players he has seen in action at that point. Those nine can and probably will change throughout the season because good high school coaches will always create that kind of competitive atmosphere. And, no matter what combination of nine players are on that field, they will be the most competitive nine at that given time.

That's what high school baseball is all about. High School coaches are a huge influence in the development of baseball players and the better coaches take this role very seriously. This is a full time job that is not only emotionally draining, but these decisions often come with the baggage of over-zealous parents and other critics as well.

So with that in mind, we do not think his role should be that of recruiting facilitator on top of all of the aforementioned duties. It doesn't mean he is not a part of the process...he is, but just in a reduced role...more later...This is usually where the critics seem to disagree. If this question was asked 25 years ago, we would have said, sure...the high school coach should be involved. Today however, the rules of the recruiting game have changed.

The high school season is not a time when college recruiters can realistically observe players. Most college recruiters are assistant coaches and are too busy with their own schedules to find the time to go see a high school game. There are exceptions in areas like Houston, the North Carolina Research Triangle area, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose area where their are 6 or more D-1 schools within an hours drive. Even then, unless it's a big time tourney like Southern California's Phil Nevin Classic or Florida's Lincoln National Spring Break Invitational, which features a multitude of potential recruits, it isn't cost effective for a recruiter to take the time away from his own teams duties to go see one or two players.

Therefore, the job of recruiting coordinator falls upon the families themselves, with a boost from their travel/select baseball organizations. Families must remember, if baseball wasn't in the picture, the application process would be 100% on the student. The same should apply WITH baseball in mind.

That doesn't mean that parents shouldn't seek out additional help...For instance, many good showcase or travel teams have great databases of college recruiters e-mails and snail mail addresses available. Players and their parents should also ask the travel team coaches to help assist them with the proper format for a profile sheet. Many of the top travel programs, like the teams we profiled in our "Top 5" list last month, will even send out material for their players prior to a big showcase and while at the tourney, do a little tub-thumping on behalf of their players.

However, student/athletes still need to send out their own letters and e-mails to every school on their wish list. A player must take that initiative...if for no other reason, to show the coaches that he has a vested interest in the recruitment process.

Now, here's where the high school coach comes back into play...and where our article last week needs to be taken seriously by both the HS and travel coaches... If a college recruiter has an interest in a player, there are two references he WILL phone or e-mail. One is the travel coach...the other is the High School Coach. A good travel teams M-O is to get their players placed, so that phone call is a no-brainer.

The unknown in many cases is the reaction of the high school coach. It's not his fault...he didn't see his player play in the summer showcases...But, he should either seek out or be given that information...For instance, a player may not have had a great High School season, but really showed his mettle during the summer against better competition that really impressed a college recruiter.

Depending on the High School League, some top players actually under perform at the plate during the HS season because they are ahead of or are over swinging at the slower and inconsistent pitching. The opposite also occurs, where a player may hit his stride and be MVP of his High School team, but can't come close to catching up with the faster, more controlled pitching of the travel tourneys.

So, in our opinion, the role of the high school coach is to follow-up with the travel team coaches to get assessments of his players progress. A high school coach must know that the high school season is half of that players time on a field. He needs to know about the other half or summer season as well, so when he gets that phone call from a college recruiter about one of his players, he can base that particular players assessments based on all of the facts...or at least give the college recruiter an idea of his players progression.

A High School Coach should never say a player is not ready for the next level based on half of that players season...especially when that recruiter saw him play in the summer and the HS coach did not...and evidently that has happened on occasion, based on e-mails we have received.

Bottom line...A college recruiter wouldn't even waste his time calling a High School Coach if that recruiter didn't see something positive in that particular player. These guys know what to look for and know what they want. At the very least a high school coach should talk about potential or that players projectablity if he doesn't want to talk to travel coaches for whatever reason. But, we feel that it is in the best interest of all parties for all coaches to know all of the facts before they say anything to a recruiter.

And, likewise, we also feel that it is equally the responsibility of the travel organization to help break the ice and call the high school coaches and give them an assessment of their players progress and interest from colleges throughout the summer. And, as our last "Synergy" article suggested, this contact between the two should happen before the summer season starts as well. Once that is done...then hopefully it will become an annual ritual...all for the betterment of the player and baseball in general.

RT Staff

Synergy Day 3

Holistic Synergy sounds like a New Age practice found off the shores of the California Coast. In fact, it was a suggestion from a reader on the cooperation that all coaches should have with everyone involved in the development of a top rated player. Actually, it also sounds sort of redundant, but that's what baseball is all about...Repetition, repetition, repetition.

Players need to keep in baseball shape year round and with the seasonal state restrictions on HS coaches and the geographic difficulties in seeing travel coaches, players need to seek out extra help. That increases the need for High School and Travel coaches to have a ongoing relationship with hitting, pitching and conditioning instructors. Like our past three posts, this is another one of those instances where the lack of communication gets in the way of results.

Instead of being long winded on this topic...we are going to be a bit more blunt...Coaches...You need to talk with the private instructors and instructors need to talk with the Coaches.

Baseball players aren't industrial patents...there are no ownership rights of their impending successes to brag about. We hear too many times about instructor "Smith" claiming that Player "Jones" was the result of his "Innovative 8 Step Program"...Blah, Blah, Blah. Guess what? Forget about which instructor did the best job...Everyone is responsible...The high school coaches, the travel coaches, and the instructors...The end result however could be even better, if all coaches stopped working independently of one another and worked together. Communication handed down from one coach to another will help that player use the information and build a successful career with it.

Again, everyone wins and maybe, just maybe, coaches and instructors could learn something along the way. Face it coaches... After the high school season they will play on a travel/College Development Program team and after that they will seek out hitting and pitching and conditioning instructors during the off-season...it's an ongoing cycle and it's a smart way to keep the mechanics top of mind and build muscle memory...Everyone needs that type of consistent training.

Work together guys. It's the "New Age" of total communication for the Betterment of Baseball!!!!

RT Staff

Synergy Day 2

As we continue to receive e-mails from both High School coaches and travel/summer coaches on their players upcoming NLI signings, some of the names were duplicated between the two...and the thought occurred to us that it would benefit everyone if the two parties would just work closer together and take an interest in each others role in the development of the players that they have in common. We don't know how these coaches feel about one another in your neck of the woods, but around here, the relationship between HS and Travel coaches can be a bit strained. But it sure doesn't have to be that way. In fact, the ultimate success of their players revolves around the two of them working together to produce smarter, mentally tough, fundamentally sound ball players.

High School is about daily repetition, mental toughness, playing in front of crowds, and discipline. Summer ball is about putting that extensive training to the test against top competition and in front of recruiters. So to us, it would be highly beneficial to both coaches if they talked with each other about the progress, abilities and potential of their players with each other, so that the players can improve upon their game in the forthcoming seasons. Bottom line, they both see each others players about equally.

A HS coach will conduct about 60 practices and 30 games with his players and a Travel coach about 60+ games and 20 practices. Coaches that spend that much time with players, know what their players can and can't do, and should communicate those points with each other for the betterment of the players.

Here's an example: Let's say a HS team has an underclassman with projectable skills, but he is a bit apprehensive at the plate and in the field. The HS Coach however, sees a hidden potential in this kid. Towards the end of the season, this kid gets more confident and contributes more to the team. In other words, the coach was right, this kid will be a big contributor to the team next year.

Now, here's a perfect opportunity for that coach to contact that players summer coach and give him a full report on this kids progression, strengths, weaknesses and communicate what his player needs to continue to work on. It's a win-win for both the player (the most important benefit) and both teams. But often times, egos get in the way and the players suffer as a result. If they don't communicate, the summer coach may not see what the High School coach saw and the player regresses rather than improves that summer season.

The opposite happens from summer/fall to the HS season. Why does this happen? We don't know, but for the sake of the players, open communication and synergy between the two programs is paramount to the progression of a players abilities. What are your thoughts? Click the comment button just below this post and communicate your opinions on this issue.

Synergy

Every year in November, many of the top college coaches meet one on one with their players and give them their summer assignments. The Top players are assigned to leagues like the Cape Cod, Northwoods, Great Lakes and even Alaska.

College coaches from all over the country work in direct contact with officials from the National Baseball Congress(NBC), National Association of College Summer Baseball (NACSB) and the Atlantic Baseball Confederation Collegiate League(ABCCL) and other smaller leagues to get their players placed. Click on those links for a look at the leagues and their teams.

One of the mission statements of the NACSB is:

"To foster better relationships between collegiate coaches and the NACSB in conjunction with the ABCA".

The ABCCL's mission statement is:

* To serve as a convenient, accessible and quality resource for college baseball players to strengthen their skills and compete with their baseball peers.

* To provide college baseball coaches with an organized, constructive extension to their school programs during the traditional summer "off-season".

* To act as a venue for all college players to improve and showcase their talent before intercollegiate and professional evaluators.

Now That's Synergy!

Then it occurred to us...what if the high school coaches and the travel coaches took their communication to this level? Their college counterparts want their players to continue at a high level of competition...The leagues themselves (according to the ABCCL website)...are designed to improve the players by maximizing playing opportunity. As a result, they will improve their performance upon returning to school and increase their awareness among the professional scouting community.

Substitute the word professional with collegiate and that same synergy could exist with high school players. Again, we can not reiterate enough...the communications lines between the High School Coaches and the travel teams and leagues needs to come from both sides...and now is the time to make that contact! There is absolutely no reason why this can't happen...It's a huge win-win for both programs and an incredible upside for the players.

Comments?

RT Staff

Make The Most Of Your Opportunities

RT Staff Note: As the high school season approaches in a few months, the same issues will crop up as it relates to playing time. Many high school teams have just completed their fall workouts and the following article is a reprint of a post we wrote last spring.

"You don't lose when you get knocked down, you lose when you decide to not get up."
I can't remember where I saw this quote or who said it. I'm not even sure I have the right words. It's just one of those thoughts that I recall from time to time and it gets me through a tough situation at work. I'm one of those odd parents that often see quotes that I think would inspire my kids. I usually print them out and lay them inconspicuously by the computer where they do their homework. They never acknowledge that they see any of these quotes and I never ask them if they saw it. The quote will just sit there for a few days and get tossed on weekends when my wife does her clean sweep of the house.

But, I'm pretty sure they see it and think how weird their father is and then quickly move on to explore the wonders of Facebook or I-Tunes. Nevertheless, maybe it's one of those subliminal messages that just pop up in their mind when they need it the most. They have had tremendous success with baseball and have a pretty terrific attitude, so maybe....

This quote pops up in my mind because we have been receiving an inordinate amount of e-mails from parents that think their kid is getting the shaft from not playing enough high school baseball. Most are from parents of underclassmen and that will be the focus of this post.

First, just because a player is not starting or getting as much playing time as you, as a parent would like, doesn't mean that he is not learning, developing or a valuable asset to the team. Being on a baseball team is more than just playing or starting. Everyone on that roster has a role.

Many high school teams have mid week scrimmages, and situational practices in which everyone participates. We talked about this in a a previous post. Those scrimmages and practices are just as important as the games to many coaches. If a player is good, then his skills may motivate someone else that doesn't want to lose their position to that underclassman.

Many of you parents with bench sitting sons need to sit down with them and ask them what is their motivation? Is your son setting goals and working harder in practice to achieve those goals? Does he have the desire and the drive to want to be the first on the field and the last to leave? Does he hustle the most? Is he the most attentive when the coaches speak?

If so, then his time will come. If not...then that may be the problem at hand. Because practice and scrimmages are where you learn and develop skills...it's not always in regular season games. The coach may have picked up on that. The only way to turn this situation around is giving 110% effort, learning, developing and setting goals to get out of that mental rut that is often caused by sitting on the bench. If he truly loves baseball, he needs to truly love the journey to get there as well. That means paying dues, working harder, hustling and doing everything he is asked to do and more in practice.

But even if that player never gets his chance or is just not as physically talented enough to crack an everyday line-up, attitude and enthusiasm is still important. A player must realize that this is still a team sport and that there are other team members that need their support...a dead dug-out often results in dud of a game. There really is no room for negative attitudes in the dug-out just because a player is sitting the bench.

There used to be a kid we knew who was a smallish infielder who also never played much...but he never gave up trying. He was the inspiration in the dug-out, leading the team in other ways like spirit and upbeat chatter on the bench. He usually only got in games that were blow-outs, but when he got up to bat, he received more vocal support from his team mates than anyone else. He never even thought about quitting or giving up. He was having fun just being on the team, with his friends and for the love of the game. At the end of the season, the coach gave him a special award for being the most inspirational player on the team. He never played much, but I guarantee that he learned and developed in many ways other than just baseball.

Players, if you are sitting the bench, try something new and turn it up a notch and see what happens. The coach hasn't cut you. You ARE on the roster and he must see something in you right? Even if things still don't change then at least you can hold your head high and be very proud that you gave it your all and played the best of your ability day in and day out. You may not have a career in baseball, but that work ethic that you learned between the lines will pay you HUGE dividends later in your adult life.

Picking The Right College

RT Staff Note: Next week, on November 11 through the 18th is the first time a 2010 graduate can sign his National Letter Of Intent. If many of you players desire to be in that position next year or the year after that, here's an article that we reprinted from HS Baseball Web. They re-printed it from All Sports.com.

Questions To Ask A Coach
Reprinted From:
All Sports.Com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Choosing a college should be the hardest decision you should make. Is it the right school for you? Does it have the academics you need? Do you have a legitimate opportunity to contribute to the athletic department?

These are just some of the questions that you will need to ask coaches, team members and admissions during this entire process. Below are some questions you should be asking yourself.

Questions for Coaches

What kind of academic support does the college provide? (tutors, etc)

What is the team grade point average?

What is the team graduation rate?

What are some of the majors of team players?

Is my scholarship guaranteed for four years?

What are your red-shirt procedures? Will I be red-shirted in my freshman year?

Does the scholarship cover summer school?

Will the scholarship cover a fifth year if necessary?

At my position, what does the depth chart look like?

Where do I stand on the recruiting list?

What are my scholarship opportunities?

How many assistant coaches are there?

Questions for Team Members

Does the coach teach at the school?

What is the morale of the team?

Does the team like the staff?

Is the coach interested in academics?

Do the athletes really have to go to all classes?

How long is practice?

Would you go to this school if you had to choose again?

What is the average class size?

What are the dorms like?

Are the professors accessible?

Do the athletic dept. tutors do a good job?

Questions for Admissions

What is the average class size and ratio per professor?

Who teaches classes? (Professors, teacher assistants)

What is enrollment of college?

How is my major regarded?

What percent of graduates from my major receive jobs within three months of graduation?

How many fraternities and sororities are available?

What are the housing policies?

May I sit in on a class in my major? (as a guest)

How accessible are counselors to me?

Summary Question for Yourself

Did I have a good overall feeling about the school?

Would I go to school here if I wasn't going to play sports?

Will I fit into the athletic program?

Am I satisfied with the living arrangements?

Am I satisfied with the academic opportunities?

Many additional questions will, and should, come up throughout your recruiting process. The bottom line in choosing a college is simple...Choose a school that you would go to if you were not going to play sports!

Your chances of playing professional sports is very slim. Go to college to get an education, meet lifetime friends, play some sports & have fun! When the final whistle blows and you're 21 years old and out of college, what you will have is experience, memories and a college degree. Don't make the mistake of selecting a college only because they are the only school that offered you a scholarship. Pick a college because that's where you would want to spend the next four to five years of your life.

Schools Need Sports

All across the country, colleges are cutting back, laying off and instituting furlough days to compensate for the lack of funding due to the bad economy. The latest talk for many universities is to cut back or even cut off funding for sports. The academic professors and administrators claim that football, basketball and many baseball coaches make more money than the top tenured professors. And, in most, if not all cases, they are right. But to cut off funding? Not a good idea.

We have said this many times before, but collegiate sports gives a university its identity and soul. The TV, front page, magazine and Internet coverage is priceless for many schools. Maybe priceless isn't the right word. It's very, very profitable.

This past weekend, Oregon and USC were the featured game of the week. That game alone and its surprising outcome, did more for the Ducks and their admissions department than any academic achievement alone could have accomplished. It doesn't downplay the academic achievements that Oregon may have earned...on a scale of importance, any academic pursuit or achievement is far more important than a athletic contest. It just doesn't bring in as much money or create as much overall awareness.

Football and basketball do their part to create that top of mind awareness from September through March. We just need Baseball to step up and continue that build up of awareness from April through June.

But the bottom line is...you can't cut the heart of a universities identity out and expect it to keep beating at the same rate. Students needs sports and entertainment at their schools to break up the stress of the real reason they are all there...To get a well rounded education.

Improving Collegiate and Pro Baseball Relations

For the past several weeks, we have been suggesting that it would be in College Baseballs best interest to have a synergistic relationship with Major League Baseball. More and more top college players are spending less time in the minors and are often on a fast track to the Bigs. We have stated many times that college provides a controlled, disciplined environment that is governed by professors, teachers assistants, tutors, strength and conditioning coaches, baseball coaches and involves incredible time management skills. Combined with the excellent brand of coaching available in colleges today, you can start to see why many pro scouts are beginning to put their emphasis on college stars.

The one obvious change should be for all baseball players to be introduced as products of their college alma mater like they do in football and basketball. Every college, student, fan and alumni likes to hear their alma mater mentioned in a national or regional broadcast. Everyone knows that Tom Brady went to Michigan or Shaq went to LSU. Imagine the smooth Jon Miller announcing on an ESPN broadcast..."Now pitching, from the University of Arkansas, Cliff Lee." How exciting is it for the students and alumni of this Fayetteville, Arkansas university to hear that on a national broadcast?

Another change is limiting the players drafted out of high school to hardship cases...but only if the NCAA increases the scholarship limits to 20. High school players need to experience college. They also need to be able to afford college...and that means more scholarships...And, College Baseball will benefit greatly from those top blue chippers attending their schools. Networks will benefit as well, because colleges have a broader base of customers (present student body, plus decades of alumni) that will grow as more and more blue chip athletes infiltrate the college ranks.

Major League Baseball also benefits from the blue chips going to college by making the MLB draft the type of spectacle that football and basketball enjoy. There's school pride at stake when you involve College players to be a part of a pro sport's future.

The only downside is that more high school players going to college will decrease the need for the plethora of minor league teams. Do we really need an instructional league, rookie league, High A, Low A, AA, AAA. Can't that be pared in half? A college player that has had three years of grueling everyday practices, 56+ games a year, combined with a 40-60 game wood bat summer league experience, will be a bit ahead of the curve and might be a bit over qualified for an instructional league assignment.

We love the College game. We want to see it grow for today's fans and tomorrows future stars.

Creighton to Play In New Downtown Stadium

RT Staff Note: If you are a huge college baseball fan like me, the news that Creighton is playing in the new home of the College World Series is great news. The baseball fans in Omaha will embrace this move and pack this place. College baseball needs more community support like this. There's no excuse for teams like in college towns that don't have a pro team to follow not to embrace and follow their college teams. Folks, the college game is phenomenal entertainment. Omaha will not only have a decent NCAA D-I team to follow, they get to watch that team in one of the best venues the college game will have.

Reporter: Brian Mastre, LeAnne Morman
Email Address: sixonline@wowt.com

Creighton University and the Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority have announced an agreement for Creighton to play baseball at the new downtown baseball stadium.

The 10-year agreement begins in the year 2011, which is when TD Ameritrade Park Omaha is scheduled to open. In 2011, Creighton will play some of its home games at the stadium. All of the home games will be played beginning the year 2012. There's an option for a 5-year extension.

Creighton's President Reverend John Schlegel says playing home games at the downtown stadium "will be potent in the recruiting and retaining of Creighton baseball players."

Along with the huge benefit to Creighton athletics, Schlegel says it's a win for downtown Omaha, the economy and college baseball in general. But is it a win for taxpayers?

Creighton will pay a $10,000 flat fee per game at the new stadium, and with 25 home games slated for 2012, that adds up to a quarter of a million dollars.

"Just the College World Series alone, the facility pays for itself. This is an added plus that we have Creighton now as another anchor tenant," says MECA President and CEO Roger Dixon.

And more tenants may follow Creighton's lead. Dixon says the possibility of national teams playing exhibition games and an independent league are both still on the table.

MECA also plans to bid to host the Missouri Valley Conference tournament as well as College World Series regional and super-regional games.

So the idea that the stadium will only get used 2 weeks out of the year can be dismissed...almost.

"It is a baseball stadium. It’s going to be active during the summer months, but there are going to be times of the year where there’s not a lot we can do when it’s cold outside," Dixon says.

Myth Busters

RT Staff Note: In our past few posts, more than a few people refuted our assertion that the “Dumb Jock” is a bygone stereotype. So, we set out to see what experts feel about the subject. There were many studies done that supports our statement, but we felt that the following article said it best. It is written by Greta Munger, a Professor of Psychology at Davidson College whose works include The History of Psychology: Fundamental Questions and Dave Munger, co-founder and president of ResearchBlogging.org and a writer whose works include Researching Online. And yes, he is married to Greta.

Is "Dumb Jock" an accurate stereotype?
Posted on: August 15, 2006 10:54 AM, by Dave Munger

When Jim and Nora talk about the social groups in their school, they matter-of-factly categorize almost every fellow student into stereotyped pigeonholes. There are the nerds, the rockers, the cools, the goths, and of course, the jocks.
The assumption, naturally, is that none of these groups intersect. Jocks are dumb, nerds are smart, and cools could be smart if they cared about grades. But what of this "dumb jock" stereotype? Does it actually pan out in real life?

Herbert Marsh and Sabina Kleitman have conducted an exhaustive study of the records of over 12,000 American students, following each student for seven years, from eighth grade to the second year after graduation. Previous studies had shown trends that contradicted the dumb jock stereotype, but they suffered from methodological flaws. They tended to study only a cross-section of data, or a limited geographical region. It's possible that good students tend to participate in sports, rather than the sports themselves leading to academic success.

Marsh and Kleitman claim that their study resolves some, but not all of these methodological problems. Though a longitudinal design -- following the same students for many years -- can show if a student's academic success is associated with athletic participation, it still can't demonstrate that some other factor isn't responsible for both athletic participation and academic success. It can, however, control for many other factors, such as race, socio-economic status, parents' educational level, and even earlier academic success. Marsh and Kleitman controlled for dozens of such factors, and still found a significant -- though small -- positive correlation between athletic participation and academic achievement.

Achievement can be measured in many ways -- grades, homework, attendance, standardized test scores, and enrollment in college. In all of these areas except standardized test scores, even after controlling for economic status, race, and other background variables, athletic participation was significantly correlated to academic achievement. Even after controlling for academic success in 8th and 10th grade, athletic participation was still associated with positive academic outcomes in 13 out of 21 measures in 12th grade and 2 years out of high school. This suggests that athletic participation itself may be responsible for some academic achievement -- the later achievement isn't completely explained by earlier academic success.

But what if a student is overcommitted -- if he or she participates too heavily in sports, won't grades suffer? Not according to Marsh and Kleitman's data: only one measure, number of college applications submitted, was negatively associated with extremely high athletic participation.

One important point to realize is that all of these correlations are extremely small, with beta values typically less than 0.1. This means that less than 3 percent of variance in academic performance can be explained by athletic participation. So simply encouraging athletic participation is not likely to lead to a very large increase in academic performance.

Even with these small effects, however, Marsh and Kleitman were able to make some more specific statements about the relationship between athletics and academics. Competing with other schools had a larger impact than intramural sports. Team sports had stronger associations with academics than individual sports.

Marsh and Kleitman had hoped to find some other connections between sports and academics. For example, some schools claim that athletics can help lower-performing students increase their self esteem and connect school with a source of pride, eventually leading to better academics. But the data did not support this claim: lower-performing students showed the same academic gains due to sports participation as everyone else.

But back to the "dumb jock" stereotype: with more and more studies demonstrating that athletic participation is associated with higher academic performance, why does the stereotype persist?
__________________________________________________________________
OK, RT readers...There you have it...So...Why do you think the dumb jock stereotype exists...comment below.

The $5 Piece of Plastic

We had interesting responses from a couple of readers on yesterdays post. We like interaction and we are going to break the comments down...It can be read below the posting...just click on comments.

The basic ideas for our anonymous responders, was that high school and college baseball is straying away from it's priorities on education. It's more about the trophy...or as we like to call it..the $5 piece of plastic. Generally, we would say we agree, but after some research, we have a different take...and there are some surprises as well. In bold are their comments and our response is below that.

" After over 50 years in sports what has changed tremendously is that youth sports and HS sports are now run by non-teachers. There are two components to high school - the first is education, classwork. Look at how many select teams have people who make a living from baseball academies and so forth. Historically, youth sports has become a big business."

We don't disagree with this statement as it pertains to education. Education should be first. In high school, many but not all coaches are also teachers. And with the travel teams we know, they all preach that good grades and talent is the only way to get a college scholarship. Many of the top travel teams that we have talked about for the past three months will not take a player if their grade point isn't at the very least, a 2.8...many won't take below a 3.0. Yes, youth sports may be a big business, but it wouldn't be a big business if their wasn't some success associated with it.

Now as it pertains to college, it's becomes a bit more complicated. A player should play college ball to go to college, but sometimes, if a player is very good, the pro scouts can get in the way of graduation. Good players get drafted after their junior season...and there are literally hundreds more opportunities to play professionally in baseball than in any other sport period. Look at the draft board...Look how many eligible juniors are in the top rounds. Hundreds...

This year and beyond, there are a whole new set of problems...time. Since the NCAA has shortened the season without cutting the number of games that need to be played, teams have less time in the classroom and less hours to take during the season. That has a direct affect with on-time graduation. And, unlike football and basketball which give 100% scholarships which includes an opportunity to make up their classess and required hours in the summer, baseball players are lucky to get 50% scholarships. And, because baseball get assigned to summer leagues too, there's not an oportunity to make up for lost hours in the summer like football and many basketball players can. We would like to see more players graduate on time, but the NCAA is making it harder and harder. Many do graduate unless they have a long career in the professional ranks. They just don't always graduate in the NCAA allotted time frame.

"Look at the players who go on to play at some level in college and do not graduate. Why does baseball have the lowest APR of all sports in the NCAA. How many baseball players are working in the real world in a job that does not involve baseball?"

That statement is unfair and false. First, baseball does not have the lowest APR of all the sports. According to the NCAA web site he directs us to, the average APR's by sport for men's teams has baseball ahead of basketball and football. Baseball has an average APR of 934, football is 931 and basketball is 927. They are all below the other men's sports like golf, tennis, track and wrestling...mainly because there are very few opportunities to play professionally in those other sports. The big three have many opportunities, both here in America and abroad. And how many baseball players are working in the real world that does not involve baseball? Who cares? How many non-athletes are working in the field that they majored in? Scott Boras, the super agent has two post graduate degrees...law and medical...He also played baseball in college and the passion was so intense, he couldn't stay away from it. It worked out quite well for him. The thing about baseball is that it is a real passion for many, many people...so what is wrong with working in baseball after college...especially if baseball was the real passion?

"One critical question that coaches should ask is when a player is done (they all reach the end sooner or later) will they be able to go out and work for a living outside of baseball. Will they be successful and will their experience in HS be a positive one or one where the player looks back and wonders what did I learn?"

We don't know where he is going with this. Of course, high school experiences are all about graduating and getting good grades if one wants to play in college. And, if this is achieved, the high school experience should be great and the lesson learned is that if they have a passion for the game and are good enough, they join the elite club of student athlete.

"There is always another game. It is not about the program with the most trophies. It is about the learning. Find quality people not quality baseball people to help your child learn and grow. They are not mutually exculsive"

Amen. That we totally agree with. It's not about the $5 trophy. It's about learning, discipline, leadership, responsibility and mental maturity. But we do know many quality baseball people that are not only quality people, but incredibly passionate human beings that will bend over backwards to help their players learn the life lessons necessary to succeed at any level and any career.

"Is baseball, basketball or even football not just another honors class?Thank God I no longer have kids in High School."

Thank goodness we still do have kids in high school. While there are problems with some sports in some areas of many cities, for the most part, high school sports is more focused, and in todays world, we don't see the stereotypical "dumb jock" type that we may have seen in the 60's and 70's....we are a generation that is way too hands on to let that happen to our kid...especially in baseball.

RT Staff

Show Me

We often hear complaints from parents that their son is being "shafted"(a euphamism for what what really said) by their high school coach and is not getting enough playing time. Of course, the player hears mom and dad complaining and it starts to reflect on his attitude towards the coach, his support for his team and eventually his production in practice. Before long, he game is mired in quicksand. NOW...Unless the coach has sexteplets on the team and is showing gross nepotism, then we find it hard to believe that there are coaches out there that are that blind to talent if the player in question is really that good.

Somewhere along the line, the favorite son had a breakdown of sorts...Maybe it wasn't related to talent at all. Maybe it was attitude, lack of hustle, a listening issue or the failure to grasp the intricacies of the game. Parents...it's not always related to to whether or not you think he is good or not.

Baseball is a multi-dimensional game. It's not just about hitting and catching. It's about leadership, desire, enthusiasm, and above all the ability to UNDERSTAND and continue to be a student of the game... We have seen players with incredible amounts of talent that couldn't put it together for a string of consecutive innings. High School baseball players must play for seven innings not just one or two and maybe that's what the coaches see in those players in question. Maybe they see that players role as a pinch hitter or a role player. Whatever the case, it may be a good idea for the player to find out and then work on the missing pieces to his game, rather than mope and feel sorry for himself. Coaches don't want to see that in a player and WILL bench anyone that acts like that.

The best way to play is to Play Hard...Play Smart...Play with Enthusiasm...Play to Win. You have to SHOW the coach that you are a player by example, not with words. Let the coach decide if a player is good enough by giving it his all in practice everyday and hopefully that will lead to game day success.

College is a Good Thing

When a student opts for the pro's instead of high scool, it saddens me a bit. When a basketball player takes his mandatory one year to college and bolts to the NBA, it hurts the college game and the recruiting effort.

Many of us have teens in college or high school, and we are closer to this issue than we may have been a few years ago, and therefore, it doesn't seem like the right thing to do.

What happened to loyalty and school pride? What's the point of recruiting a Blue Chip athlete if a team is only going to have them for one year? Ohio State is in the championship game one year and doesn't make the tourney the next? How would you like to be that coach? So much for Buckeye Spirit.

Baseball, curiously has a hybrid rule that allows high school graduates to enter the draft. However, if they go to a four year university, they must wait until after their junior year to be draft eligible. We like that rule. Education should be the number one priority.

However, there are ways around this rule if a players goes to a Junior College. A player is eligible after each completed JC season. A player may use this strategy to move up the draft board. Let's say a player gets drafted in the 30th round after his senior year in High School. They don't offer much money at those rounds, so the player goes to a JC. The year after his JC freshman season, he moves up to the 18th round. Still not good enough money to make a living, but he did move up and is being followed. After his sophomore year, he moves up to the 6th round where the money is decent enough to sign and does so.

The JC route is not a bad strategy. At least the player gets an education, but in our opinion, that player may have had a more memorable experience, a better education and more applicable post baseball opportunities at a four year college. If that same player had gone to a four year and then decided to leave after his junior year and baseball didn't pan out, he would only have one year of college to complete...which is much more manageable.

Plus, nothing beats the college experience...the football games on Saturday afternoons, the college basketball season and the built in fan base of 25,000 plus faithful students, thousands of alumni and locals can provide at those sporting events. One year away from the real world of the baseball business will not make or break a players chances to succeed. MLB is full of college players that played at LEAST 3 years at a 4 year university. Even for those that didn't make it to the Bigs, most pro contracts will pay for the player to go back to college and finish his degree. Wouldn't it be easier for that player to only have a few semesters to get that degree? We think so.

Unless a player is the LeBron of baseball, it's just so hard for a player to succeed out of High School. There are so many intangibles at that young age. College gives the player a chance to grow up in a more controlled and disciplined environment to help him ease into the sometimes harsh realities of today's world. It's hard enough even for college players to make it...For instance, according to the NCAA, 9.4% of all players go on to play professionally if they go to college, versus .45% of players going professional from High School.

So, if any of you players are good enough to make that decision to go pro or college...pick college...College will not only help you mature and grow mentally, but every D-I program has top notch strength and conditioning programs and facilities that are often not readily available at the rookie and Single A level. You will emerge out of college smarter, more conditioned and disciplined than that kid that decided to make a leap into the big time out of high school...Plus, that degree will be far more valuable than any pro contract in the long run. If you are that good and have a desire to play pro...the scouts will be there waiting...and salivating at that mature, physical specimen that college helped you become.

Playing For The Love Of The Game

RT Staff Note: Not everyone is talented or lucky enough to play college baseball. Yet, for many, the desire to play never ends. At Sacramento State and at many colleges around the country, club baseball is growing in popularity. We think this is great...because the more people that continue their passion to play baseball, the better it is for the game that we love.

By Dustin Nosler

Dominic and Donte Morris tried out for the Sacramento State baseball team as freshmen. They did not make the team.

However, that rejection was the first step to something potentially groundbreaking: an alternative to Division I college baseball - a competitive league run by two Sac State business majors.

Dominic and Donte Morris, senior marketing and general management majors respectively, created the Morris League, a baseball league composed mostly of Sac State students, but also anyone in the local community who wants to partake in the national pastime.

The number of teams in the league has doubled in size every year since its inception: From two teams in 2007, to four in 2008, to eight in 2009 - from 23 players to 130 players. The eight teams are divided into two divisions: East and West, including a team from UC Davis' baseball club.

This type of growth gives the Morris brothers hope for their league - perhaps expansion to the Bay Area.

"Our next step is, actually, next spring, is to move maybe like a six-team league down to the Bay Area," Donte Morris said. "Eventually, we want to grow all up and down California and have a Morris base in every major city."

The league is designed to provide a place for those who are not able to play college ball, including junior college players, fifth-year seniors and redshirt players.

"The majority of our players are players that go to Sac State played in high school and don't really have a spot to play anywhere else; those guys who still have the 'baseball feeling,'" Donte Morris said. "In certain cases, we do have fifth-year (players) out of Sac State or Sac City who also want to continue to play ball."

The Morris brothers decided to create the league after playing catch outside their residence hall.

"One day we saw a lot of people playing catch and we were like, 'Why are we just playing catch when we could actually play a game?'" Dominic Morris said. "So we decided then to start up a two-team league and from there, we thought of it even further and thought of more ideas for this baseball league."

The league gets help from its fans, including one fan who Donte Morris specifically mentioned - Angelina Boykin.

Boykin said she brings snacks, drinks and does whatever she can to help out the Morris brothers.

She also said she comes to the games not only because her husband Oliver plays for the Dragons, but because the Morris brothers are dedicated to putting together a quality product with quality people.

"We try to do what we can to help them," Boykin said. "They're doing such a great job and it's a great league to be around. They give a lot of these players a good opportunity to get out there if they're trying to play just to play."

Boykin said she could tell there was something different about this league from the first time she attended a game.

"When my husband and I came out here, we saw them and said, 'We're going to give them a try,'" she said. "We're kind of picky, so we came out here, saw them and said 'We're going to stick with them.'"

Dominic Morris said his favorite thing about playing in the league is the fan turnout.

"Seeing a lot of people and their families coming out and just seeing a mass number of people coming out just to have a picture day - that type of thing - just seeing us grow brings me excitement," Dominic Morris said.

Adam Wilson, a 21-year-old Sac State mass communication major, has played in the league for a couple years.

"It's cool to have a team that you can create on your own," Wilson said. "Also, it's awesome to meet other guys as well."

A first-time player, J.P. LaCroix, said he enjoys playing night games, as well as just playing the game.

"I look for any opportunity to get out and play ball," LaCroix said. "I've played ball all my life, up until college. It's really convenient being right behind Sac State."

LaCroix is a player-coach for the Dirtbags and a double major in communication studies and physical education at Sac State.

The league has giveaways and raffles where the fans can win Morris League memorabilia - hats, T-shirts and wristbands included. The Morris brothers also hope to set a good example for everyone.

"We try to be as interactive as we can with our fans," Donte Morris said. "Most of our fans are parents, wives, girlfriends - there's a lot of kids at our games, so we always want to keep it clean, in terms of conduct."

The Morris brothers said another driving force behind the league is that they want the league to pay homage to the Negro Leagues.

"Me and Donte were fascinated with the Negro Leagues," Dominic Morris said. "We felt like if we were in a position where we had anything to do to contribute to the Negro Leagues, we would do it. We can honor them by playing in the game, representing their uniforms (and) representing the heritage that they once had."

In February, the league honored former Negro League player Elmer Carter, who was a catcher and outfielder for the Kansas City Monarchs in the 1930s.

Donte Morris also said the Negro League tribute is also to drum up interest among African American players.

"There's been a lot of talk about the lack of African Americans playing baseball," Donte Morris said. "We're trying (show) a mirror image to honor the Negro Leagues of the past while also showing that African Americans still play baseball today."

Dominic Morris said in the end, the league's character is vital to its continued success.

"We really want to strive on our reputation of a quality, family atmosphere of baseball," Dominic Morris said. "It's important … to conduct ourselves in a good manner and to keep our reputation."

Morris League games are played at 7 p.m. Monday through Friday at McAullife Baseball Field located behind Sac State.


Dustin Nosler can be reached at dnosler@statehornet.com

Keep Up The Conditioning

Fall work-outs are winding down, but that doesn't mean that baseball players stop working out. It's time to step up the work-outs to avoid injury. The most common complaints when spring comes around are shoulder and elbow soreness and if you don't follow our suggestion to long toss and build arm strength this winter season, you increase the risk of injury.

In addition to long toss and other arm drills, we have found that the Jaeger bands and similar band work is a sure way to strengthen that arm to limit any soreness or injury. A site that we really like and can give you a quick tutorial on what to do to strengthen your shoulders and arms between now and January 15th can be found at the aforementioned Jaeger Sports and at these links at BaseballConditioning.net or BaseballFit.com

Good baseball players don't crash course their work-outs, and the only sure way to decrease the risk of injury is to work out and strengthen your core and the rest of your body year round. But if you didn't have a year round program, starting now, while not ideal, is better than risking injury the first few weeks of practice...the most common time of arm soreness.

Good luck guys. Work Hard!

A Numbers Game

RT Staff Note: The following is from an e-mail we received from a reader a while back who has a son that went through the recruitment process in California. His perspective provides some good advice for players in warm weather states that may not be getting the offers that they desired.

As a California parent of a son that was a pretty good high school baseball player, I had to broaden my horizons to help him find a college where he could play baseball. It wasn’t till I had been through the process that I really learned what the obstacles were and how to overcome them.

One thing that never dawned on me was as a California kid, the numbers are stacked against you. By this I mean that there are more kids playing baseball with far fewer college opportunities than exist in other states. I didn’t know how significant it was until a sat down, ran some number using public data.

By my estimate there are about 45 kids playing high school ball in California for every one roster spot at a 4-year college. I then did the same analysis for 5 other states to see how California stacked up versus; Texas (34 kids), Oregon (27 kids), North Carolina (16 kids), Ohio (16 kids) and Pennsylvania (12 kids). I suspect if I took it out and did all fifty states the variance would continue to grow.

The message for ball players in warm weather states is if you are not finding an opportunity in your back yard, expand your horizons.

The Analysis

I took the number of high schools from the Department of Education files and assumed that 80% of them play baseball. This accounts for small schools, single sex schools and those without athletic programs. I did not test the validity of the assumption but it should not materially change the relationship that exists.

I then assumed that each high school graduates 10 baseball players a year (some will do more some less). The number of schools times players graduated each year creates a population of college eligible players each year.

From Collegeboard.org I identified the number of 4-year schools that have baseball teams in each state.

I specifically eliminated junior colleges for the analysis because it represents the same group of kid’s only 2-years later; they will ultimately be replaced by the same number of high school graduates. Once I identified the number of schools, I assumed a 35 man roster with one-quarter being incoming freshman or alternatively transferring juniors. This defines the number of roster spots available each year.

When you compare the number of high school players to the number of roster spots available, you can see that California produces nearly three times the number of high school players per college roster spots for its state as compared to some eastern states.

My Point

My point is there is opportunity for kids to play ball. You need to understand how and where you fit into the maze of college baseball. A big part of that is “understanding the numbers” so that you can help your son find a place where they will get the opportunity. For my son, out of northern California he ended up in Texas where he has had the opportunity to get a great education and play on a team that has made it to the NCAA tournament.

Baseball Exercises

RT Staff Note: We are busier than ever and sometimes we rely on others to do our work for us. Todays article is from Jon Doyle of Baseball Training Secrets. Enjoy.

By Jon Doyle, MA, CSCS

While you search around the Internet for baseball exercises, you no doubt come across some odd and strange looking exercises. The problem is a great deal of these "exercises" is not only worthless, but potentially dangerous. So I figured I'd write up a quick article so you can determine if an exercise you come across is worthy of you adding to your program.

1. Ground-based Exercises - Not all baseball drills need to be "ground-based" or standing up with your feet in contact with the ground, but 99% of the good ones are. Baseball is played standing up. So you should workout that way. Nuff said.

2. No Machines - If an exercise is done on a machine you can kiss it goodbye like an Adam Dunn bomb. You should focus on free weights, body weight and medicine ball -related exercises. Cables are ok, but if it's a machine it won't help your baseball performance and may even hinder it due to lack of stabilizer muscle working and improper execution of range of motion.

3. Explode - Baseball happens at lightning speeds and so should your training. Now, this does not mean exercising out of control, what it means it learning how to properly execute each exercise in a very explosive and controlled manner, just like you do with a bat and ball.

4. Posture - As soon as you lose posture, whether it's in your swing, your throw or when you run, you lose the majority of your strength and power. Same goes in the weight room. Make sure all of your baseball exercises not only maintain proper posture, but they should help build it as well.

5. Similar Joint Movements, Not Exact - This may be the biggest rule broken when it comes to baseball exercises. Don't try and replicate a throwing motion or swinging motion with an object a lot heavier than your game-used equipment. For example, if you use a 30 ounce bat, don't swing a 45-60 ounce bat thinking it will make you a better hitter.

In fact, it will make you worse. Studies prove that any implement over 15% heavier or lighter than your normal piece of equipment will alter your mechanics significantly. If you swing a heavy bat you're practicing a different swing! Same goes with throwing a ball. Drop the weighted balls. It's too much of an injury risk and virtually impossible to maintain your mechanics when you use them.

Same goes in the weight room. Don't use a baseball exercise that tries to mimic a specific movement on the field. This is NOT baseball-specific and stems from the brains (or lack there of) of idiot strength coaches who have no clue what they're doing and, most likely, have never worked with a real athlete in their life. Or in other words they are an Internet Hero. Be wary, they are everywhere trying to steal your money.

Stick to these five basic rules and you will eliminate most, if not all of the terrible exercises floating around the Internet. And you will have a program comprising of many very good baseball exercises to help you become the best possible player you can be!

College baseball still needs major changes

RT Staff Note: There is no doubt in our mind that the greatest college baseball web site is Rivals College Baseball managed by Yahoo and Kendall Rogers. Kendall, like us here at Rounding Third is a huge proponent of the continued growth of college baseball. We both feel that the College Game is still in it's infancy in terms of growth potential. The following is his latest article from Rivals College Baseball.

College baseball still needs major changes
By Kendall Rogers

Changes always are needed in a growing sport like college baseball.

In some ways, the NCAA and conferences have done a nice job of promoting the sport the past few seasons. In other ways such as television contracts and scheduling, both entities haven’t done a good job of putting the sport in a great situation.

It’s my turn to play commissioner in sparking college baseball’s utopia.

The scholarship total is 11.7 and there are proposals to raise it by a few scholarships. In a perfect world, the sport would become a full-scholarship sport. But for now, it’s important that the NCAA increases it at least to 14.

It’s also important to increase exposure and access to fans.

The NCAA would be smart to work with conferences to improve television contracts with regional and national networks. It also makes sense to make a huge change like moving from aluminum to wooden bats to attract the fans that shudder at the sound of the ping. Sure, some of us may love the ping. But some fans believe it’s sacrilegious.

What does my perfect world for the sport entail?

Increase scholarship totals.
The debate about scholarship totals has heated up the past few seasons. Most coaches aim to increase the scholarship total from 11.7 sooner rather than later. The optimum solution calls for an increase to 14 scholarships, but many coaches dream of a day when baseball is a full scholarship sport. For now, even getting 14 scholarships seems like a tough chore. There still are several smaller programs that have just three or four scholarships. The scholarship total likely won’t increase until that changes. However, the sport would receive a huge boost by attracting more talent.

Find a stable schedule.
We’re in the middle of the great scheduling debate. In the past, there were teams on the West Coast that began the season in January. Others in the eastern part of the country, though, didn’t start the season until mid-February because of inclement weather. The NCAA decided to condense the season and start in late February two seasons ago. However, the condensed schedule caused more issues. Now the NCAA has decided to add a week to the beginning of the season, while still keeping the uniform start date. The way the schedule looks for 2010 is the way it should be. The uniform start date is needed and last season’s starting date was too late. Let’s hope this is the start of some stability when it comes to the spring schedule.

Allow a fall season.
Here’s something we can’t seem to figure out. If you look at women’s softball, the NCAA allows teams to play several games in the fall. It also appears those games don’t count against their schedule. So, it strikes us as interesting that college baseball programs are allowed to play fall games, but that each games counts against their 56-game spring schedule. Even without softball in the equation, baseball programs should be allowed to play fall contests without them counting against the 56-game schedule. Not only does this enhance the sport in the fall. It also gives programs a measuring stick of what needs to improve before the spring.

Bring back an amended transfer rule.
It wasn’t too long ago we had a one-time transfer rule. But the NCAA felt it was important to force players to sit out a year if they transfer from one Division I school to another. There’s a problem with that, though. Unlike football and basketball, baseball isn’t a full-scholarship sport. So, how is hindering a student-athlete’s financial well-being good for the sport? It’s time for the NCAA to bring back the one-time transfer rule with some strings attached. Let’s put the rule back in place and say that a player may not transfer unless the financial package the other institution has put together is better than the current institution. This may sound unfair to some, but is the current rule fair? Not at all. It doesn’t make sense.

Better early-season tournaments.
We’ve made it a habit the past few seasons to cover the Houston College Classic, which is one of the best early-season tournaments and is played at Minute Maid Park in Houston. The Big Ten and Big East also have been proactive in scheduling the challenge between the two conferences down in the state of Florida. Other big-time tournaments are needed. As with college basketball, we’d love to see some conference challenges involving the ACC against the SEC and Big 12 against the Pac-10. Sure, having events like these was virtually impossible with last year’s schedule. But the newest schedule changes open the door to tournaments such as these being a possibility in the future. It’d be great for the sport.

Amend roster size, scholarship rules.
It’s time for the NCAA to head back to the drawing board on roster sizes and scholarship rules. Currently, the NCAA says that a team must cap its roster at 35 players with no more than 30 players receiving scholarship money. The rule is slated to change in the spring. The NCAA will then say teams may have no more than 27 players on scholarship. Both this year and in ’10, each player on scholarship must have at least 25 percent of a scholarship. In a sport such as college baseball, there aren’t too many teams with a wealth of depth. Therefore, limiting how many players can be on scholarship only will make this issue more prevalent. The NCAA should cap roster sizes at 35 and allow all 35 players to be on a scholarship. Requiring each player to have 25 percent of a scholarship makes zero sense. The NCAA does, however, need to make sure coaches can’t cut year-to-year scholarship totals.

More regular season television exposure.
The SEC has made huge strides in a agreement with ESPN to get more college baseball games on television. The conference also televises every game of their conference tournament on Comcast Sports and Fox Sports South. That’s pretty impressive. But outside of the SEC, most conferences have done a horrendous job of promoting the sport on television sets. The ACC gets some credit for at least putting a league game of the week on a Fox Sports national telecast. Florida State and Miami also are frequently on television in the Sunshine State. But when it comes to other conferences such as the Big 12 and Pac-10, they may as well not even try. The Big 12’s television contract, if you even want to call it that, is embarrassing. And the Pac-10 isn’t far behind. Perhaps it’s time ESPN televises a national game of the week, while individual conferences push for more airtime. There’s no question television exposure can be increased.

Switch to wooden bats.
We’re not sure this will happen anytime soon, but it someday will happen if baseball purists have their way. There are plenty fans we speak to that would become much more interested in college baseball if the sport moved from aluminum to wooden bats. MLB has attracted a large audience over the years with wooden bats, and it only makes sense for the same to apply at the collegiate level. Critics of moving to wooden bats say the cost would be too heavy, but it’s time for the NCAA and MLB to put together a program to subsidize the costs associated with wooden bats. Not only would this change improve the development of players. It also would increase the number of fans willing to watch college baseball. The sport would be better off.

Move the MLB draft after the College World Series.
There’s a chance the Collective Bargaining Agreement will bring major changes to the schedule surrounding the MLB draft in the near future. We’ll see if it actually happens. For now, though, it’s our belief the MLB draft should be moved after the College World Series. The draft currently occurs before the eight teams descend on Omaha, and it often can be a distraction to some of the highest drafted players. It’s true that professional organizations need to fill their summer rosters sooner rather than later. However, moving the draft back a few weeks is better for the players and coaches alike. It’s a needed change.

Faster paced games.
There’s now a major movement by many coaches to decrease the amount of time for college baseball games. That means a faster pace. Wichita State coach Gene Stephenson has proposed a pitch clock, where pitchers have a limited amount of time to step on the mound and deliver a pitch. If they don’t abide by the rule, the team is then warned. Perhaps implementing this rule will be needed at some point, but coaches need to realize that the pace of the game must be faster. Many programs on the West Coast are notorious for wasting time between pitches to essentially keep their opponents out of sync. The ploy often may work, but it’s bad for the sport. It’s time for the coaches to get on board with improved game pace.

Put together an All-Star Game.
This could be done at the end of the season or the few days before the College World Series. Either way, it is a fantastic idea to join MLB in putting together some sort of All-Star Game. Having the contest in the middle of the season like the big leagues is out of the question. But imagine having an All-Star Game the day before the CWS begins or immediately following the CWS championship series. Putting college baseball’s greatest players on display for a national audience would be a huge boost to the sport. It needs to happen someday.

Arizona Fall League's 18th season is underway

RT Staff Note: With the Arizona Fall Classic for High School prospects is on the horizon, another league for Minor League prospects is under way in the Phoenix Area. For those of you lucky enough to hook up with a team for the Arizona Junior and Senior Classic, make sure you check out of the Arizona Fall League games as well.

PHOENIX -- Opening day of the Arizona Fall League's 18th season, which kicks off on Tuesday, will feature the professional debut of college baseball's premier player at his position.

No, it's not pitcher Stephen Strasburg, the first overall pick in the 2009 draft, who will get his first start later in the week. Dustin Ackley, taken by the Seattle Mariners as the second pick, is also kicking off his career with his first official appearance since playing for North Carolina at the College World Series in June.

"It's an awesome opportunity for me to come out here and show what I can do," said Ackley. "There's a bunch of great competition here... the best players that have played in the minor leagues and proven themselves. I'm really glad to have the opportunity to come out here and compete with them, and hopefully put up some great numbers."

The 21-year-old Ackley was regarded as the best pure hitter in college baseball during his Tar Heels career and was a clear favorite to be the first position player selected in last June's draft. Like Strasburg, he was undrafted out of high school, in part because he played at a smaller high school just north of Winston-Salem, N.C., primarily against 1-A competition.

At 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, he doesn't have the size of a prototypical slugger. The left-handed-hitting Ackley thrives with exceptional hand-eye coordination and athletic ability, and set North Carolina records for career batting average (.412), hits (346), runs (227) and total bases (544) in just three seasons. He also led the Atlantic Coast Conference with 22 home runs in 2009, after hitting 17 in his first two seasons combined.

"I don't consider myself a home run hitter," said Ackley. "I just try to do all the little things -- try to hit gaps. I'll occasionally hit some balls out. I'm not going to be a guy that tries to hit a bunch of home runs. That's really not what I'm here to do. Mainly [I'm here] just get my feet wet in the pro ball, just take it a step at a time and work on every aspect of my game."

Ackley is expected to use his AFL time to showcase his ability to play the outfield. He was restricted to playing mostly at first base due to an elbow injury suffered during his senior year of high school. He had Tommy John surgery in late summer 2008 and played a handful of games in the outfield as a junior, but that doesn't keep scouts from projecting him as an above-average future defender in center field thanks to his plus speed.

"They've had me working in center field and left field," he said. "I think my speed will play in the outfield. There's a lot of room to cover and you've got to run down balls. I think I'll be a good player and fit the outfield role pretty well."

Ackley is chomping at the bit to get his professional career underway. He spent a few days in Seattle observing the big league club just after signing in August before reporting to the Mariners' complex in Peoria, Ariz. He played in a few instructional league games but mostly has been working out in preparation for the AFL season.

At least he has had some familiar faces to keep him company since the instructional league season started late last month. Former UNC teammates Kyle Seager (Mariners), Brian Moran (Mariners), Alex White (Indians) and Mark Fleury (Reds) were all taking part in instructs with teams based in the west side of the Valley of the Sun.

"I was out here for a month with nobody here except myself," Ackley said. "It was great to see some of the guys here and just see how they're doing and how they're making adjustments."

While he's got the Fall League season ahead of him, Ackley is also looking forward to going to spring training next year with the big league club.

"I've heard about spring training but never really been there, " said Ackley, whose father John reached Triple-A in the Red Sox organization as a catcher in the 1980s.. "I heard it's a great opportunity and hopefully I'll set myself up to have a great season."

Fall Guys
• Ackley won't be the only 2009 first-round draft pick to play in the Arizona Fall League. Five of the first 10 overall picks will be in the AFL, including No. 1 pick Strasburg (Nationals), No. 7 selection Mike Minor (Braves), No. 8 Mike Leake (Reds) and No. 10 Drew Storen (Nationals).

• Major League Baseball often has used the AFL as a proving ground for proposed new rules and regulations. This season's rule change to debut in the AFL is the introduction of new protective helmets that will be mandatory for all minor league players in 2010.

The "S100" helmets, manufactured by Rawlings, have been tested to withstand a 100-mph pitch, while current headgear in use throughout baseball can sustain only a 70-mph impact. A few big leaguers, most notably the Mets' David Wright, tried the new helmets during the 2009 season. AFL players were still getting used to the new helmets after the first four days of preseason workouts, but generally believe this will be a positive change.

"The padding's a little too thick," Diamondbacks first baseman Brandon Allen said. "It kind of gets your head claustrophobic a little bit, but it's a great thing they're trying to do, trying to protect us a little more. I think it will be good."

"We've only used them a couple days so far," added Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford. "They're a little bigger and a little heavier, but I'm sure the protection is much better."

Scottsdale Scorpion players around the batting cage joked about the appearance of the new helmets.

"How do they look?" said Phillies outfielder Dominic Brown, repeating the question asked to him. "Not great."

Allen confirmed Brown's assessment of the new helmets by saying, "They look a little big on some guys."

Check out complete Arizona Fall League rosters at Baseball America.