re: Realistic expectations for LSU baseball

LSU baseball post Skip :
'02 : Smoke Laval era begins. Host a regional, get shutout at the Rice Super Regional.
'03 : Host a regional, host a super regional, make it to Omaha
'04 : Host a regional, host a super regional, make it to Omaha
'05 : Host a regional, lose it to Rice.
'06 : We did not qualify for a regional (however we made the SEC tournament). This is an outrage to LSU baseball. Laval canned.

'07 : The Paul Maineiri era begins. We do not qualify for postseason play at all.
'08 : "The streak". After starting out 23-16-1 and looking like postseason was going to be out of reach the tigers woke up and rattled off 16 wins in their final regular season games. They carried that on to win their next 7 in the SEC tournament and Regional. Hosted a regional, Hosted a Super, made it to Omaha.
'09 : One of the best teams in LSU history. Hosted a regional, hosted a super, won the national championship
'10 : This team started off 32-6and people were talking about a repeat national title. But as something that has become a theme with Maineiri's teams, they seemingly went to sleep. The team went 4-14 to finish the regular season and now a regional birth was uncertain. Still, they won their 3rd SEC championship in a row and traveled to UCLA for a regional.
'11 : Start out 16-1 and sweep a top 10 ranked Cal St. Fullerton. Then we go 8-16 losing 5/6 SEC series and midweek games to Northwestern St and ULL. Paul Maineiri comes out and promises that the team will play harder than they ever have and that they were going to put something special together. They did, going 12-3 to finish. But it was too little too late. LSU misses the postseason altogether.

So in 5 years under Laval we never missed the SEC tournament and we hosted a regional every year except the last. That was unheard of so he got fired. In 5 years under Maineiri we have only hosted 2 regionals. We did win a national title which no doubt buys him time. We have missed the postseason outright (meaning not even a spot in our conference tournament) twice! To think that just 6 years ago we were so used to HOSTING regionals that when we didn't qualify for one we fired our coach, and now we're hoping to just make our conference tournament is outrageous!

If Maineiri cannot host a regional this year he needs to be fired. Further than that, I'd like to see a consistent team again. Look at the win/loss swings this team has had since he's been here. It's like they get comfortable, go to sleep, then panic, and have to scramble to the finish. That's not the bats, that's not the talent, that's not the age, that's coaching.

yeah, not sure what thats based on......us not wanting him fired after a 2-2 SEC start with some blown calls that could have us 3-1?

Things in college baseball have changed alot over the last 4 years, not an excuse, but that's a small part of whats happened. We should still have more talent than we do, but with the roster limits and new bats, teams have been forced to adjust, and you will have fewer elite teams

No doubt

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making the NCAA tournament every year is pretty unrealistic, no matter the program, no matter the sport.

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Bull shite

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Contend for the regular season SEC title every year. By contend, I mean be in the top 4-5 overall standings.

Make the SEC tournament every year.

Make the NCAA tournament every year.

Host a regional on a regular basis.

Make a super regional on a regular basis. Contend to host a super regional on a regular basis.

Make Omaha and contend for the CWS at least every 3-4 years.

Agree or disagree?

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That sounds about right.

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making the NCAA tournament every year is pretty unrealistic, no matter the program, no matter the sport.

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disagree...LSU should make the NCAA tourney year in and year out, end of story

We arent...

We do not have one hitter in our lineup that anyone is scared to face.

Mainieri seems to try to force things that aren't there with the lineup sometimes. Like Jones leading off last night. I just don't see it. I know we realy don't have a true lead off hitter, but Jones is soo inconsistant.

I'm sick and tired of the excuses that talk about the bats, roster limits, and changes to the game. They are across the board. It's not like the NCAA came in and said, "hey LSU, here's a shitty bat for you to use b/c you're normally so dominant". No, they did that for everyone.

If things have changed so much and made it so difficult for teams to be consistently good over the last 4 years, how did North Carolina make it to Omaha 3 out of those 4 years? UNC has made it to Omaha 5 out of the last 6 years in fact. South Carolina is back to back champions. Oregon State won back to back in '06 and '07.

Also in that 4 years, Florida State has hosted both a regional and super regional every single year. Cal St Fullerton and Ariz St have also hosted 4 straight regionals. Texas is 3/4 in hosting regional and Supers, so are UNC and Florida. Ariz St is 3/4 in hosting supers (actually 4/5)

Going further, in the last 6 years UNC, FSU, Ariz St, Rice, and Cal St Fullerton have hosted 5 regionals each.

So someone please tell me again how I don't know how regionals work these days b/c i'm pretty sure the teams not making excuses and hosting them year in and year out know how they work.

edit : and when you think of elite college baseball programs, you think of the teams I've named. UT, ASU, CSF, UF, UNC, Rice. You also think of LSU. LSU needs to be hosting regionals every year with those teams. No matter the bats, rosters, weather, price of a hot dog, attractiveness of the bat girls, a light being out on the sign, or any other excuse people make for the mediocrity that is Paul Maineiri.