I'm not a college baseball expert, not even a little. I don't watch it all that much. The season begins in February when I'm covering college basketball and continues through March and April, when I'm usually occupied covering spring football (and sometimes some basketball). Chase Parham handles the beat, and he does it very well, so I usually end up seeing very little.
Last night, I had a drink with Richard Cross down at the hotel bar. He asked me if I take my son, Carson, to Swayze Field much for games. Richard was amazed when I told him Carson has lived in Oxford 10 years and has only been to a couple of games -- once for a birthday party and once when I went to just hang out in left field so he could play with some friends.
"You should go more," Richard said.
"Probably," I said, "but he's just not interested in it."
I say all that to say this: I'm as close as you're going to get to a neutral observer on this message board. I can approach this topic without passion. So here goes:
What's at stake today for Ole Miss? Not much. Sure, Ole Miss would love to win an SEC tournament title. It would be a cool moment for the players and the fans and the program. Championships are precious. Opportunities to win them are fleeting.
HOWEVER...
I've been on this job for 10-plus years. I've spent some time on this message board. I've lived in Oxford, listened to Ole Miss fans, etc. The one thing I hear every time Ole Miss baseball comes up is Mike Bianco doesn't get to Omaha enough. It's always about Omaha. Every season, we have the scholarship argument. Every season, we argue about whether Ole Miss over-invests in baseball. Every season, it's the same thing.
And this year, Ole Miss is in great shape to get to Omaha. The Rebels are 28-4 at home. Twenty-eight. And. Four. They've lost games at Swayze to Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia and LSU. No team has gone to Oxford and beaten Ole Miss twice. No team.
Well, no matter whether Ole Miss dog piles this evening around 5 or if the Rebels lose to LSU and leave the Met muttering about corn dogs, Ole Miss' road to Omaha is going to go straight through Oxford. Over the next two weeks, some team, barring a regional disaster, is going to have to do something no one has been able to do _ beat Ole Miss twice at home _ to eliminate the Rebels. Ole Miss' path to Omaha couldn't be more clear, more pristine, more easy to navigate.
And one more thing: No, I'm not a college baseball expert, but I have eyes and I've covered a lot of college baseball. And I dare say this Ole Miss team is built for Omaha. Why? It has dominant bullpen arms and in Omaha, there's built-in rest between games. This team might not have a core of elite, dominant hitters, but it can produce offense 1-9. This week in Hoover, it's made plays when it had to and produced runs when it had to and I'm telling you, that Thursday afternoon comeback against Georgia to bail out Parker Caracci was a team-building, galvanizing moment.
So if I'm Ole Miss today, I don't throw Ryan Rolison or Brady Feigl. I understand the temptation, but I keep those guys on schedule. I make sure they're healthy and rested and raring to go next weekend and the weekend after that. Someone is going to have beat those guys at Swayze, and if I'm Mike Bianco today, I don't do anything that would have that task easier. I go with Houston Roth as far as he can take me and then I use some bullpen arms that haven't thrown much. If I get to the eighth with a lead or within a run or two of the lead, I use Caracci to close.
Yes, I understand the desire to win today. I also know this program is always judged on what it does in the postseason. If Ole Miss wins today but loses next Monday to end its season, no one is going to find solace in a trophy from Hoover. If Ole Miss loses today but is celebrating two weeks from today in Oxford, no one is going to give the slightest of damns about that SEC tourney title loss to LSU.
That's my opinion. Feel free to disagree. I won't judge Bianco is he uses Rolison today. He knows his team and he knows the kid. But I damn sure won't criticize him if he takes the conservative route and keeps his powder dry, if you will. This team likely has two huge Sundays in front of it, and neither of those Sundays is today.
Last night, I had a drink with Richard Cross down at the hotel bar. He asked me if I take my son, Carson, to Swayze Field much for games. Richard was amazed when I told him Carson has lived in Oxford 10 years and has only been to a couple of games -- once for a birthday party and once when I went to just hang out in left field so he could play with some friends.
"You should go more," Richard said.
"Probably," I said, "but he's just not interested in it."
I say all that to say this: I'm as close as you're going to get to a neutral observer on this message board. I can approach this topic without passion. So here goes:
What's at stake today for Ole Miss? Not much. Sure, Ole Miss would love to win an SEC tournament title. It would be a cool moment for the players and the fans and the program. Championships are precious. Opportunities to win them are fleeting.
HOWEVER...
I've been on this job for 10-plus years. I've spent some time on this message board. I've lived in Oxford, listened to Ole Miss fans, etc. The one thing I hear every time Ole Miss baseball comes up is Mike Bianco doesn't get to Omaha enough. It's always about Omaha. Every season, we have the scholarship argument. Every season, we argue about whether Ole Miss over-invests in baseball. Every season, it's the same thing.
And this year, Ole Miss is in great shape to get to Omaha. The Rebels are 28-4 at home. Twenty-eight. And. Four. They've lost games at Swayze to Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia and LSU. No team has gone to Oxford and beaten Ole Miss twice. No team.
Well, no matter whether Ole Miss dog piles this evening around 5 or if the Rebels lose to LSU and leave the Met muttering about corn dogs, Ole Miss' road to Omaha is going to go straight through Oxford. Over the next two weeks, some team, barring a regional disaster, is going to have to do something no one has been able to do _ beat Ole Miss twice at home _ to eliminate the Rebels. Ole Miss' path to Omaha couldn't be more clear, more pristine, more easy to navigate.
And one more thing: No, I'm not a college baseball expert, but I have eyes and I've covered a lot of college baseball. And I dare say this Ole Miss team is built for Omaha. Why? It has dominant bullpen arms and in Omaha, there's built-in rest between games. This team might not have a core of elite, dominant hitters, but it can produce offense 1-9. This week in Hoover, it's made plays when it had to and produced runs when it had to and I'm telling you, that Thursday afternoon comeback against Georgia to bail out Parker Caracci was a team-building, galvanizing moment.
So if I'm Ole Miss today, I don't throw Ryan Rolison or Brady Feigl. I understand the temptation, but I keep those guys on schedule. I make sure they're healthy and rested and raring to go next weekend and the weekend after that. Someone is going to have beat those guys at Swayze, and if I'm Mike Bianco today, I don't do anything that would have that task easier. I go with Houston Roth as far as he can take me and then I use some bullpen arms that haven't thrown much. If I get to the eighth with a lead or within a run or two of the lead, I use Caracci to close.
Yes, I understand the desire to win today. I also know this program is always judged on what it does in the postseason. If Ole Miss wins today but loses next Monday to end its season, no one is going to find solace in a trophy from Hoover. If Ole Miss loses today but is celebrating two weeks from today in Oxford, no one is going to give the slightest of damns about that SEC tourney title loss to LSU.
That's my opinion. Feel free to disagree. I won't judge Bianco is he uses Rolison today. He knows his team and he knows the kid. But I damn sure won't criticize him if he takes the conservative route and keeps his powder dry, if you will. This team likely has two huge Sundays in front of it, and neither of those Sundays is today.
