weslinder

I've got to juggle some things, so I can't make a commitment yet, but I'm going to try to go tomorrow if they win today. Go Lady Cards!

Call me crazy, but I think Beaumont will get to keep Lamar Sanders, at least during his offseasons and post-playing career. I don't know how serious it is, but the young lady that I see him with around town has very deep local roots and her father wouldn't much stand for him taking her back to Mississippi. Don't be surprised if next year, Mr. Sanders has season tickets in a neighboring section to your own.

It looks we're still in Posey's head from the game in Beaumont.

23-21 UTA. It sounds like Lamar's press is coming around.

Not a good start. Arlington is destroying Lamar on the boards.

Marlin has won the SLC (regular-season twice, tournament once), so that's not really true. But he won't have to win the conference at Rice to be considered successful. If he can run off three-straight 20-win seasons, he will have done much better than Willis Wilson ever did. Marlin is a decent recruiter and a very good game-planner.

According to Perry Clark, Roc calls Lamar his "dream job". It'll take a better job than Arkansas State to get him out of Lamar. By the way, do you think this is the year that Rice finally fires Wilson and hires Marlin? It seems to be a perfect fit.

I like Lamar's chances of keeping Tidwell for a long time. He's old to be a rookie college head-coach, and he seems to be more interested in building a program than building a resume. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he retires from Lamar.

I'm into the idea, but the Summit League is not a geographically sound fit. The travel to some of those schools is not ideal for the conference. If it was a league in our geographic region (i.e Sun Belt, SWAC), it would make more sense... The addition of Houston Baptist to the region should help. Their fan base states that they will play an ALL Div I schedule next year. I'm sure they'd love in-season home-and-homes with SLC squads. It's a level of play match, which in my mind is much more important than a geography match. There's no reason for the SLC to play down to the SWAC, nor is there much motivation for the better Sun Belt teams to schedule SLC road games. Travel to non-guarantee games will be a concern for some SLC teams that run their program on the cheap (ahem, Nicholls), but they won't be in it anyway. Besides, there is significant overlap in the geography. Northwestern is closer to Centenary than any SLC school, and Central Arkansas is closer to Oral Roberts than any SLC school. I don't think it makes much difference whether Southeastern or Corpus Christi have to travel to the Dakotas or to Denver. It's a plane trip either way.

I agree -- but apparently the conference as a whole (and we all know this is true) has a hard time getting home games. Ideally, we would only allow two sub-Div I opponents each year (this makes a bit more sense). Our teams have upgraded the schedule (Lamar, NWST and SHSU getting 2 for 1 with Texas Tech being the highlight), but we're obviously not where we want to be. Guess we need to play more SWAC schools, but we'd have to give them home-and-homes (we're realistically one of the few conferences that would bother traveling to the SWAC). Perhaps the SLC schools should work out deals with mid-major teams where say a team from out of region would play two neighboring SLC schools in one swing (I think a few schools have had some success with this, typically piggy-backing on major schools who are guaranteeing a game). There's different solutions, but I do not think all of them fit to each institution. One way to handle the problem for a Lamar would not work for a Nicholls State. College athletics is all about the $$$... I go back to my suggestion of a Summit League - Southland Conference Challenge, similar to the ACC-Big 10 Challenge. Every team in the Summit League gets a game, and the Top 10 in the Southland (previous year's standings) get a game. Get CSTV or Fox Sports to buy exclusive rights and let them play whatever games they feel like.

Same.

While I'd certainly prefer the SLC Tournament to be kept as close to Beaumont as possible, they might get more out of me by having it in Corpus. I'd probably go to more games that did not feature Lamar if they had it in Corpus.

From Landon Delage at the Ticket Office:

Coop, Is there any way you can lean on your management to have these available on demand? When I'm working (most of the time), 11:00 is just too late to stay up to watch an interview. I watched it tonight and really enjoyed it. I'd like to be able to watch it later during the week.

Everyone seems to really like the new field. It really plays well. It's a hair faster than grass, but it's barely noticeable, even when the ball scoots through onto the outfield. The best thing about it is that all the bounces are really true. It's not springy like old-style turf, and it stays in good shape, so there aren't any bad hops like irregular grass or dirt. The only thing wierd about it (which you can see in some of the photos) is that anytime the ball his the turf or a player slides or anything, a "rooster-tail" of rubber pellets fly up.

Photos from Lamar - Arkansas State and MSU - KSU link Michigan State - Kansas State I really like MSU's uniforms: Lamar - Arkansas State

SWEEP!

Joe Lunardi has been ridiculously accurate at predicting the NCAA field. He's accurate, not just with in and out, but also with seedings and even sometimes, who plays whom. I don't disagree with you necessarily, but if you have a problem with his projections, you have a problem with the selection committee.

[Hidden Content] This looks like a really promising new board. I've signed up, and I hope to get some Lamar/Southland talk going, but it looks like a worthwhile site.

Call me crazy, but I think SFA might be decent this year. Something about them tells me that. Maybe it's the 22-3 record with 2 of the losses by 1 and 2 points, but I'm not sure.

Me too. The Cards barely beat them without their best post player, Nevels. Since my gut doesn't feel good, I'll refrain from making predictions.

It's certainly possible to get a higher seed out of the SLC, but it takes a better record. If SFA wins out and wins the tournament, they'll be 29-3 going into the NCAA tournament. That would get them a 11-12 seed.

Even if the Cards won out, the best they'd likely do is a 15 seed (outside shot at a 14 seed). They just started too far behind the eight ball. 24-8 Southland teams just don't get seeded very high. Losing 1 more game gives no shot at a 14 seed, and losing 2 more means 16 seed or play-in.

I didn't really doubt you, it just surprised me when you said it, after Coach Roc had said the opposite on the pre-game show just minutes before.

What does that stuff feel like when you slide on it? I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I'm not sure I like it.