I went to the game today and it was awesome. Rice came back strong and they have a great shot at doing it again The CWS has grown so much over the past few years, its a great time.....and the girls are something else
LOL...believe me they don't get under my skin. They're not taking away from my celebration - don't you worry. They're a jealous, hateful lot, and actually I kind of feel sorry for them in a way. I'm up in Omaha now enjoying the CWS. The Owls are in the winners' bracket!!! I'm loving it!
bigtexxx....wow! you're in Omaha. Go big guy. I'm just trying to say that I hope you don't watch the games thinking..."man, now I have the goods on those UT fans at cf.net." You know, UT fans would never think that about Rice fans in similar circumstances. like "Oh, Vince Young just put on the most incredible college football performance of all time, now i'll go rub it into bigtexxx at cf.net." It's best to just let those UT fans who get upset whenever lowly Rice does anything athletic to keep searching google for reasons why all UT sports are better than Rice...to .... to ... lol....keep searching. Don't you think it's the glory of all glories when UT fans have to search google for backup analysis of why UT is better.....I mean....that's so sweet to me. case closed Don't include RM95 in that statement, that's for sure...and some others here. By my count, there are more UT fans giving support than not in this thread. Just let go of the rest. Let's have fun amongst ourselves talking about the games...tell me about Omaha, and what you saw that ESPN doesn't show! So, to return the conversation to Rice: does anyone else think Degerman's delivery looks like Sutton's? Not to say D will ever be a hall of famer, but that overhand curver looks mighty Sutton to me....just a random thought there. also, bigtexxx...from my seats over the last month, your lineup of starters probably will not happen. My ranking of pitchers is Degerman, then our bullpen. Cox is our 2nd best pitcher, imo. Our chances of advances hinge on Cox more than the other starters. Just get us to our bullpen and let the hitting win. relative to 2003, our staff is weaker, our defense is weaker, but our hitting is significantly better and our bullpen excellent. This is definitely a different formula than Graham has fielded before....he has never had hitting like this before, imo. I'm not so sure this formula can win. But I'll take one great starter, a great bullpen (with lefties) and much better hitting that 2003....and roll the dice. Enjoy the moment Go OWLS!!
I think St.Clair is our best pitcher besides Eddie. Over conference play, Wayne's been going with Eddie, Bell and Crow as the starters. Savery's injury really was a blow to our staff (although Joe says he'll pitch in Omaha), but as you correctly stated our bullpen depth lets us overcome it. Just recently Bell and Crow have had some control problems which have hurt us a little bit, so the buzz amongst Rice fans in Omaha is that St.Clair might get the start against Miami tomorrow. The re-emergence of Cox (who since changing his mechanics a month or so ago has been unhittable...) has provided us that luxury. Bobby Bramhall's emergence as a dominant relief guy has helped as well. Miami has a very left-handed lineup, which further suggests that we throw St.Clair (or maybe even Savery) against them. I'll leave it up to Wayne - he's the best coach in America. This is a different formula than Wayne has fielded in the past 5 years or so, but don't forget about the mid to late 90s of Rice Baseball. Our hitting was our strength with Lance Berkman, Jose Cruz Jr., Bubby Crosby and Damon Thames. Those teams made it to Omaha, but didn't make a lot of noise once there (although we had some tough draws, including 2 eventual champs). Wayne knows what he's doing. I'll trust him, and frankly, I really like our chances. Omaha has been great so far. Today I'm going to do a bit more exploring, as the past two days I've been mainly just going to games and figuring out hotel situations and stuff. There was a big Rice get together yesterday that was awesome to see all the alumni. Leebron spoke at the event - what a wimpy nerd he is...probably fitting for the student body in general...
Ah, forgot to answer this question. When I see Degerman, I think more Hideo Nomo than Don Sutton. The over-the-top throwing motion of Degerman has proven brutal on hitters to hit all year. During some of the Rice home games this season, I'd go stand behind home plate to look at his pitches from a batter's perspective. I played baseball for many years, and I never saw a release point like his. His curveball just keeps breaking and breaking. The hitters obviously don't know when it's going to stop, which is why you see them whiffing at all those balls that end up in the dirt. I don't know how Eddie gets the velocity he does with that catapult-like motion, but it's working, so I'm not going to question it.
bigtexxx, What do you think so far? Having a blast? I think I mentioned your "name" about 5 times yesterday while watching the Rice game and USA/Italy. I'm so freaking jealous.
cool, back talking about the team. I never played hs baseball or anything like you, but I'm no Rice baseball bandwagnoner either. You remember when KTRU first started calling the games in the late '80s. That was Bud Thomas and Alex. Alex was the KTRU manager and Bud was the DJ on Friday before my shift (one out of 5 of my DJ years). Yeah, so I remember the Lance years. I can't win any arguments about this team's hitting vs Lance and Jr. My point is depth in the lineup. You can't pitch around this team. I'm a believer that 2 to 3 hitters can't win the WS, but this depth or at least this last 1-2 months, this team can hit with the best of them. St Claire as 2nd best? Honestly (being a Rox season ticketholder and all) I only saw the Owls since the Rockets season ended (with the occassional big game or ESPN game)....which is usual for me. I'd normally defer to your judgement. But as we've seen since Graham and staff have changed Cox's delivery....imo, since that...he's the 2nd best. We probably need a solid start out of Savery for sure, and the talk here in Houston is about St Claire starting as well. But the WS opps are so good, imo it is not going to be about the starters after Degerman. As for Sutton vs Nomo, I'd agree with both. I'm just partial to Don, so forgot about Nomo.
sorry, have no editting enabled. when I said, "I'm a believer that 2 to 3 hitters can't win the WS," I meant without the great collection of Rice starters of before.
wow ...this game is getting exciting Miami's coach just got the boot on a disputed check swing call in the 9th Miami has runners on the corners, 2 outs, bottom of the 9th, Owls up 3-2
That stuff sounds wicked, texxx. Count me as a UH fan who's rooting for the Owls to go all the way. Rice is a great school and who knows? Maybe one of my kids will go there one day. They could do a lot worse! I used to live in the Rice/museum/Hermann Park area for years. Used to be a very eclectic and groovy place to live. Hope it's still that way. Go Owls! (I'm partial to owls, lol)
WOOHOOO....just got back from Rosenblatt and the obligatory post-game drinking!! Amazing game. Bryce Cox throwing 98 mph aspirins in there tonight. Unhittable. Sick, sick stuff. If y'all haven't been to Omaha to watch the world series, I'd recommend it. It's tons of fun, especially when your team wins.
Go Owls! Man, that ump showed some patience there in the 9th. He kept telling the manager not to come out.
