heypartner is correct, for all I've heard. And say what you want about college baseball, but the CWS is something that all sports fans should experience at least once in their life. If Omaha was a closer or I had more money, I'd go every year.
I rarely sit in the stadium, for some reason they won't let me bring my cooler in. The view from the OF isn't great, especially since they put the ads on the fence a couple of years ago, but it's a good time. There's usually 6 or 7 of us, playing frisbee with the dogs & throwing a ball around. I'll be there for at least one of the Sat/Sun games, maybe both depending on the weather & what else is going on. Let's resurrect this thread in a couple of days when I've figured out what my plans are, you should take a little 7th inning stretch trip to the bleachers. Beer's on me.
Although I'm not as big a Rice basketball or football fan, Rice had a great season in basketball this year, finishing 19-10. We beat Colorado, who beat UT and ended up in the NCAA tournament . We really should have made the NIT, but since we have only 33,000 living alumni, we aren't able to draw fans to games. As for football, it's another rebuilding year...
Definitely. Rice recruits the "2nd tier" kids in Houston who are 99% locks to play in college, while other schools go after the 1st tier players, who end up going the MLB route. Coach Graham has done a hell of a job of recruiting. Like 80% of the roster consists of Houston area players.
Graduated back in '96. They made some major changes to the school since I left. Looks completely different. Glad to see that the senior parking lot still floods during a storm. Some things never change.
Even though it was tongue in cheek (partly to annoy), I honestly think that Rice has more business being in the Big 12 than Baylor. I know this will make MadMax mad, since he is the only Baylor grad I know that posts here (I'm sure there are others...I don't think Refman went there but he might have), but why is Baylor in the Big 12 and Rice is not?? Rice has shown to be more competitive than Baylor in both basketball and football, and they could be respectable, hell even beat them, against some of the dregs in football in the Big 12 like Kansas, Missouri, and formerly Oklahoma State.
I wouldn't say that Rice as a better sports program than Baylor. While Baylor has been ****ty the last 5-6 years or so in football, they do have somewhat of a history there. Just 10 years or so ago they were ranked in the top 10 at one point in the season (or course, they were upset by Rice), and they've gone to numerous bowl games, unlike Rice. Rice has a superior baseball program, but we're not talking a gigantic difference here. Baylor is competitive this year, and has consistently been ranked in the top 15 or so the last few years. Baylor's basketball team has been on the rise and they've got a great coach in Dave Bliss. The girl's program has been very good the past few years as well. I know Baylor's had a great history in track & field as well. One of the main differences is facilities and alumni. While Floyd Casey Stadium is nothing to gawk at, they have added state of the art weight rooms to the stadium in recent years and have done some decent renovations. The Ferrell Center is far and away superior to Autry Court where Rice plays their basketball games, not to mention a new beautiful baseball diamond (that Rice as has well) and brand new softball and tennis courts.
The governor and lieutenant governor of Texas during the formation of the Big 12 were Baylor alums. It is reported they lobbied UT and A&M to take Baylor into the new conference. imo Rice and Baylor's records are incomparable unless doing head to head or common opponents. Baylor is playing in the Big 12. Rice is playing in the WAC. Baylor has won 13 out of the last 17 games vs. Rice in football.
The sole reason Baylor is in the Big 12 is because the governor of Texas at the time, Ann Richards, a Baylor alumna, refused to sign the Big 12's charter without Baylor's inclusion.
If you compared athletic department budgets, I think you'd find Baylor is spending more money than Rice, UH, TCU, and SMU. The bottom line is money. Rice baseball is the only thing that would be competitive in the Big 12. You are not Stanford.
Is it true that the baseball team lives off campus now? I heard in the 90's, some of the players threw a sofa out the window of one of the dorms (Sid Rich, I think).
Yeah, Matt Anderson threw a couch off of the top floor at Sid Rich. It splintered and parts of it landed in the Master's house. He now pitches for the Detroit Tigers and could have the best fastball in MLB. The baseball players primarily live off campus, but it is their choice. Almost all of the freshman live on campus however, so a few baseball players are still on campus.
One big reason Baylor is in the Big 12, is that the Big 12 wanted at least 1 private school (SMU, TCU, or BU) so that the conference as a whole, are not required to open up the "books". Had every team in the conference been a public school, then each school would have to make their "books" public knowledge. One could argue that maybe SMU should have gone into the Big 12, but SMU does not have a baseball team. Baylor also has more potential for growth than SMU or TCU.
Was he one of the Tigers who were smoking pot on the plane? I know Jeff Weaver and some random scrub were...
If anything, TCU has the best argument over Baylor. SMU was still (and still is) reeling over the death penalty in the late 80s. They do have a beautiful new stadium now, though.
