I should start a topic on the OT board about the millennials. Ran into some really special ones in De Vere's on Sunday :D

Sac State hasn't beaten a d1 team yet this year, which makes them easy to overlook. It also makes them dangerous. I'd give the hornets the edge in this game if Marcus Graves weren't out for the season. He's a real catalyst on offense

Usf released its schedule

Let's go Sagehems ! In the Dungeons and Dragons/Final Fantasy world I'm thinking that's a hen that knows white and black magic X-)

I guess he's up Stitt Creek now. Sorry, couldn't resist an easy pun.

Go UCI !

While I remember (forget whether I talked about this on here before or not) I think ERA is probably not as relevant a statistic as it used to be.

Back in the old days it was plenty relevant when you had pitchers who would throw 9 innings most starts. That is extremely uncommon these days, so it's not that useful to know how many earned runs a starter would give up in 9 innings. Not to mention that a pitcher who averages 5- 6 innings would possibly be pretty gassed + might give up additional runs should their starts be extended.

At the same time it is completely irrelevant to know how many earned runs someone who pitches in relief gives up because they rarely would get even close to 9 in a single game. For a relief specialist, a Javier Lopez- type, it might take them a dozen or more appearances to amass 9 innings of work Also, it's highly inaccurate since relievers suddenly made into starters would be likely to tire earlier and give up more runs if they tried to pitch 9.

I think there are more relevant calculations that can measure a pitcher's effectiveness. I'm going to write MLB and only tell them beca use I want all the credit. :D

Silly comment here.

As it turns out I no longer own the Yes Man DVD. Must have sold it. I settled for Liar, Liar ! Batman Forever is not bad. Jim Carrey is only crazy as the Riddler, not so much funny. It's kind of Cable Guy- esque.

Whenever I hear someone say to step back from or off a ledge I remember back to that scene in Yes Man where Jim Carrey sings the Third Eye Blind Song to convince Luis Guzman not to jump. I'm going to watch that movie tonight- I've been so inspired.

Aggie fans, watch a silly Jim Carrey movie tonight (not Batman Forever). Some silliness you don't have to think about is a good way to get over a game like this.

Wow, you guys sure get really down on the team fast ! So much doom and gloom, especially from the young ones... reminds me of me on the baseball board before I was forced to take a chill pill. I'd offer you guys one, but they're prescription opioids :D

I don't want to be a wet blanket here, especially in light of a win, but is UCD ever going to coordinate its game recap articles with photos from the actual game, like newspapers and pro team websites do ?

I'm looking at the article for this game, and the photo clearly shows the opponent as "Rams". Now Portland State didn't change its mascot mid- season. The only thing that ties that photo, which was possibly from last year, to the game just played, was the fact that the Aggies were playing basketball. I could see the relevance of using an older photo if it were the same opponent or if the headline were about a specific player's accomplishments (and she was pictured in it), but this photo is just so random. It's like they're saying, "The Aggies won at basketball. Here is a picture of what basketball looks like just in case you've been living under a rock your whole life". With all the technology you would think including game photos with the corresponding game wouldn't be so difficult anymore.

That's too bad about Steindorf. He looked like he had potential. Unfortunately, as poor a season as 2016 was it looks like he only got into mop- up situations, didn't get to protect any leads. So he was likely not the player I saw in the stands.

I don't really have the connections you have (to hear about player injuries and such), so I base more of my ideas off statistics and history. And uncertainty about the schedule, the pitching, and the catching keep me from projecting more wins than 2017. As far as Trautner is concerned I'm basing my expectations more on what recent JC starting pitcher transfers (Hamby, Parucha, Burke, etc..) have done. They've all been good competitors but more of their contributions were in relief.

I have to take the fall ball world series results with a grain of salt too because the team is only playing itself (with some participants who may not be on the roster come Feb.), and all their opponents will be better than the level of play you see in November. You can count on that since, to my knowledge, UCD doesn't play any non- Division I schools (except for Grand Canyon last year and Seattle several years ago- transition teams)

Catching I wonder about. Will Denholm be at full health by Feb., and if so will he be better defensively than 2 seasons ago ? The Aggies were terrible at holding runners on (So many errors on pitchouts and pickoff throws !) and throwing out basestealers in 2016. And if he isn't, is O'Boy or someone else up to the task ? You like to think the best of the current crew, but it's difficult to do until the season starts. Catching is such an integral part of the pitching success.

I think you're right about the ERA's. I can only remember three seasons (2006, 2009, and 2013) with Vaughn as pitching coach where the team ERA wound up being really ugly. There were extenuating circumstances in two of those seasons, like all of the injuries in 2006. Even the 2016 team's wasn't that bad.

I think it's also a question of defense and timely hitting. In 2016 and 2017 you could count on Garcia to give you quality starts, but his career record was what, 5- 12 ? How many games did he receive a loss or no decision when he turned in quality ? At this level if you have a starter give you a 3.50- 4.30 ERA you would expect he would be near or better than a .500 record

I've noticed the Aggies tend to have smaller recruiting classes than other schools, even ones that don't rely heavily on transfers or have many players drafted. Do you think this is due more to budgetary reasons or less attrition (fewer players leaving the program for a reason other than graduation)?

No, the Miss. U. for women won't be playing us. It just randomly came up in the search

Take that, You owe plenty !

I have that Weird Al album ! Of course I'm getting so old I don't recognize the songs of which he's making parodies anymore. That one is an original. Thanks for the link !

There's a separate topic for smack. That's where you'll find the regular stuff. Some good jokes, although I in all good conscience can't laugh at them.

I'm not going to rip on one of my two schools. I would like to be wrong about the SAC State students' apathy. Unfortunately everything I said is absolutely true.

Wow, I'm quotable all of a sudden. Twice in 1 day !

Sorry, you must have mistaken my post for trash talk. It wasn't intended to be. I don't dislike SAC State at all. I enjoyed my time there + still see athletic events. Supporting an athletics program doesn't mean you have to like everything about it.

However, I am frustrated, just as these folks are with UCD, with the utter lack of student support. Even in its diminished form you can't tell me the Aggie Pack is less of a factor than the small, rogue group of students that make up the Green Army. It simply isn't true. I appreciate the Green Army's efforts to increase student support, but they have much more of an uphill battle to fight, considering the students' apathy.
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In other words I was talking about SAC State independently of Davis. We still are allowed independent thought on these message boards, are we not ?

While we're at it though, the other sources of entertainment are irrelevant. If the SAC State students cared they would show up, but they don't care, do they ? Boring is subjective. A person who can't find enough to do in Davis is just a dull person in general. The college experience is what you make of it.

Given the lack of students in attendance I'd say it was the latter :D