With the unseasonably warm temperatures we have been having, it feels like baseball is only a few weeks away JT - reminded me the other day that his son's team will be practicing as a team in less than a week and from the sounds of it he is chomping at the bit

Reminder: This topic is open to ALL hsbbweb members from every state, province, and country. We have been running it for several years now and start a new one each semester. I have been pleased it has been a genuine exchange of information about our kids as opposed to a bragging thread. We are all dying for news so please don't be bashful sharing any type of experience be it practice, academics, team/player accomplishments, hopes/fears, and so forth.

My son has reported his team is being run like a Marine boot camp right now and I guess it is pretty tough. It sounded like good news to me but I am not sure he would categorize it that way He and his roommates have been getting to bed early (10ish) due to mental and physical exaustion. A positive for me is these kids do not have time or energy to get into trouble.

Love to hear from you now and through the 2008 season!

My son threw his 1st bull pen yesterday. Said his arm was a little stiff from all the layoff over the holidays. Said it felt good after a few minutes of throwing.
He has been working out since the new year and is really ready to go.
He also said his work load acdaemically was going to be a tough year. Lots of big assignments and tests in the 1st 2 weeks. Just bought his books on the net for less than 1/2 price and said the school will buy them back for what he paid after the couses are over.
He has a Fro and a beard which he will have to cut soon. His girl friend says she likes the fro and the beard but I told him he should look like a clean cut ball player during the season.

I got a photo of him here at a Xmas party with his teammates from a senior summer team. Two of the guys played with Orlandos son at the World Cup for Great Britain.
My son has the Toronto shirt and is in the back sitting on a stool.

http://s138.photobucket.com/albums/q275/greentw/?action...owd_jpg_w560h263.jpg

BHD - great picture of TJ with the fro and the gotee

Hey - I couldn't resist but looked at your other photbucket pictures. Is the following picture of you and your daughters? If so, they are beautiful and it is obvious they got some of their good looks from you

Ha Ha yes that is me and Lauren and Kris.

We were up north at a wedding.

Thanks

Son is leaving tomorrow for school. Practice starts on Monday. What a great Holiday at home we had except for the loss of one of our dogs. My wife said it was such a pleasure to have him home..

As CD said the weather has just been great the last few days...I'm sure it will be quite different when he gets back to Maine (balmy 25). The boys took advantage and spent a few days out on the field throwing.

This will be an exciting season for all. The parents of Jr's with the draft, the parents of Sr's experiencing the possiblity last games, parents of freshman with first game jitters and us soph parents geared up for year two. For the Merc's it will be a combination of two so a little added fun.

Good luck to all and hopefully we'll run into each other along the way.

Lots of Canadians at Maine. I understand they play UNLV to start the season.
Good luck

They have a great schedule.

Penn State is still on Winter Break until next Monday, but son headed up to PSU a couple of days ago to get some workouts in before everyone comes back. Hard to believe this is IT for college ball for us. Quite a few different emotions running thru ALL of us. I can see the realization that collegiate ball is almost over starting to set in with my son. He commented he was going to enjoy EVERYTHING about this season...the good AND not so good. Specifically commented that when he steps off the bus at 3 a.m. (returning from a road trip) and the temp is 20 degrees and he has class at 8 a.m. the next morning...he is going to scream "THIS IS FUN!!!" LOL. We'll see if he holds to that...I'll also remind him of that when the proverbial "batting slump" hits at some point during the season!

Lafayette has an extremely long break this year and they don't have to be back for practice until the 25th with classes starting on the 28th.

This has been the most diligent I have seen him regarding workouts and hitting so I know he is anxious to get started but leaving 80 degrees to go back up North will be tough.

The neatest thing about this year is he is throwing with a former high school teamate that is in the Cubs organization and hitting with the former teamates brother in law that played outfield for the Angels last year and just signed with the Nationals.

Come on Feb 22

quote:

Reminder: This topic is open to ALL hsbbweb members from every state, province, and country. We have been running it for several years now and start a new one each semester. I have been pleased it has been a genuine exchange of information about our kids as opposed to a bragging thread. We are all dying for news so please don't be bashful sharing any type of experience be it practice, academics, team/player accomplishments, hopes/fears, and so forth.

Thanks ClevelandDad-

I'll chime in from Texas. My son, a freshman at UTA is gearing up for his return Jan.14. The Fall session was an eye opener for him as he had never lifted as many weights and ran as much as they did.
Another big difference was the boys at the college level are a tad bit bigger than the high school level. Overall he really enjoys it and is doing well academically. He is a little eager to see the difference between the teams he played in high school and the likes of Alabama, Texas Longhorns, Oklahoma State, Baylor....etc
As rookie parents, both my wife and are excited and nervous, but most of all PROUD!

theygrowupfast - thanks for your report and welcome! Everyone else thanks for your reports as well Nice to see you Coach Merc! luvbb's post pulls on the heart strings and it is hard not to get emotional reading that. Getting off the bus happy was hillarious however

quote:

The Fall session was an eye opener for him as he had never lifted as many weights and ran as much as they did. Another big difference was the boys at the college level are a tad bit bigger than the high school level.

You can say that again. Some things just have to be experienced to be understood. If you get a chance, watch batting practice for Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma State, Baylor and so forth. There is almost no comparison to high school. I remember well being both excited and nervous when my son was a freshman. Please keep us posted

I remember my son's 1st call home after weigh in freshman year. He was amazed that at 6'3" he was looking up at several guys and he was shocked there were 40+ guys there trying out for the team.
It was excting and he made some good friends.

Does anyone know when the D1's are allowed to start practicing together as a team? I could ask my son but wanted to bump this thread to see if anyone has any news to report.

Been on the colder side in SC this week with high 40's and low 50's. Supposed to warm up to high sixties this weekend and dip back down next week. It has been in the 20's this week in Ohio but we still have not gotten much snow I am a big fan of Global Warming btw!

Son got an email from his summer team the other day.

Although not announced on the Florida Collegiate League website it said his head coach this summer will be Frank Viola.

Thought that was pretty cool news.

CD...Feb 1 is the first "official" day (and yeah, I meant to put it in quotes). From what I have heard, many players are working harder right now than if today was official.

jmepop...congrats. That should be quite the experience. Good luck to your son.

We started out at #93 last year on PG crosschecker so I guess we are getting more respect from them this year.

Surprised you missed this poll OS8:

2008 PRESEASON NCBWA TOP 35 POLL (JAN. 17)
Rk. School Conference Record Pvs.
1. Arizona State Pacific-10 49-15 4
2. North Carolina Atlantic Coast 57-16 2
3. Rice Conference USA 56-14 3
4. South Carolina Southeastern 46-20 8
5. Arizona Pacific-10 42-17 21
6. Texas Big 12 46-17 12
7. Mississippi Southeastern 40-25 17
8. Vanderbilt Southeastern 54-13 6
9. San Diego West Coast 43-18 23
10. Wichita State Missouri Valley 53-22 16
11. Oregon State Pacific-10 49-18 1
12. Miami Atlantic Coast 37-24 -
13. Florida State Atlantic Coast 49-13 14
14. Cal State Fullerton Big West 38-25 10
15. Michigan Big Ten 42-19 20
16. Clemson Atlantic Coast 41-23 15
17. Missouri Big 12 42-18 25
18. Long Beach State Big West 39-20 27
19. UCLA Pacific-10 33-28 26
20. Texas A&M Big 12 48-19 11
21. Virginia Atlantic Coast 45-16 13
22. UC Irvine Big West 47-17 5
23. Louisville Big East 47-24 8
24. Mississippi State Southeastern 38-22 9
25. Kentucky Southeastern 34-19 -
26. Baylor Big 12 35-27 -
27. Oklahoma State Big 12 42-21 18
28. Louisiana-Lafayette Sun Belt 45-17 29
29. Fresno State Western Athletic 38-29 -
30. Coastal Carolina Big South 50-13 19
31. Georgia Tech Atlantic Coast 32-25 -
32. Pepperdine West Coast 35-22 -
33. Southern Miss Conference USA 39-23 -
34. LSU Southeastern 29-26 -
35. Arkansas Southeastern 43-21 22

Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically): Alabama (31-26), Austin Peay State (40-22), Bethune-Cookman (33-27), California (29-26), Charlotte (49-12), College of Charleston (39-19), Creighton (45-16), East Carolina (40-23), Georgia (23-33), Kent State (33-26), Louisiana Tech (35-24), Memphis (36-27), Minnesota (41-18), Nebraska (32-27), New Orleans (38-26), North Carolina State (38-23), Old Dominion (35-24), **** Roberts (40-17), Penn State (31-26), Sam Houston State (40-24), South Florida (34-26), Southern California (27-29), Southern Illinois (34-22), St. John’s (41-19), Stetson (42-21), Texas Christian (48-14), Texas-San Antonio (36-22), Tulane (34-26), UC Riverside (38-21), UCF (27-32), VMI (34-21), Wake Forest (34-29), Western Carolina (42-20).
By conference: Southeastern 7, Atlantic Coast 6, Big 12 5, Pacific-10 4, Big West 3, Conference USA 2, West Coast 2, Big East 1, Big South 1, Big Ten 1, Missouri Valley 1, Sun Belt 1, Western Athletic 1.

quote:

Originally posted by jmepop:
Son got an email from his summer team the other day.

Although not announced on the Florida Collegiate League website it said his head coach this summer will be Frank Viola.

Thought that was pretty cool news.

Frank Viola - that is very cool! He was a fine player.

quote:

Originally posted by jmepop:
Son got an email from his summer team the other day.

Although not announced on the Florida Collegiate League website it said his head coach this summer will be Frank Viola.

Thought that was pretty cool news.

jmepop - That is very cool news!!!

CD - Thanks for sharing that poll. Like most times, there's a few schools I'm a bit surprised about. I'm so looking forward to following our guys this spring. Kathy's son who is in his last year of college baseball. TB who will have a very exciting year, no doubt. I've followed Austin Peay for a couple of years because 03Parent's son was on the team. This year AP has a former HS teammate of sons and a former JUCO teammate of sons, so I'll continue to follow them. Grateful's son is one that I've followed closely and who has battled labrum surgery just to be followed by TJ surgery. I can't wait to see the kid pitch again - he's in his last year of college ball also. I've met a couple of new posters through PMs this past year and added their sons to my follow list too! I will have to get to Campbellsville of course to watch some great guys play.

I don't have that kid in college anymore, but my baseball list is as long as ever! I'll be rooting for all "my guys" as much as ever!!

I'm kind of on pins and needles. My young'un is back in the game after deciding in the fall of 06 to stop playing for a combination of reasons. He's now been given an outstanding opportunity at another school. He worked his tail off to accumulate the necessary credit hours. He had a good fall, and put himself in prime position to challenge for a weekend spot in the rotation. But, I found out two days ago that he's suffering from what, we hope, is just some tendonitis. So, he's getting treatment, and taking a hiatis from throwing. So, it's a big unknown as to when he'll be able to get back into form. Their first games are Feb 1 & 2, and I've been anxiously waiting for the chance to see him pitch in competition again.

But, more important than when he pitches, I think he's happy - with where he's at in terms of school and life.

quote:

Originally posted by Bizazz:
I'm kind of on pins and needles. My young'un is back in the game after deciding in the fall of 06 to stop playing for a combination of reasons. He's now been given an outstanding opportunity at another school. He worked his tail off to accumulate the necessary credit hours. He had a good fall, and put himself in prime position to challenge for a weekend spot in the rotation. But, I found out two days ago that he's suffering from what, we hope, is just some tendonitis. So, he's getting treatment, and taking a hiatis from throwing. So, it's a big unknown as to when he'll be able to get back into form. Their first games are Feb 1 & 2, and I've been anxiously waiting for the chance to see him pitch in competition again.

But, more important than when he pitches, I think he's happy - with where he's at in terms of school and life.

Bizazz - excellent story and thanks for sharing - I hope you continue your reports thoughout the season I'll keep your son in my thoughts and hope he has a great season! I especially liked the last sentence of your post

quote:

Originally posted by Bizazz:
I'm kind of on pins and needles. My young'un is back in the game after deciding in the fall of 06 to stop playing for a combination of reasons. He's now been given an outstanding opportunity at another school. He worked his tail off to accumulate the necessary credit hours. He had a good fall, and put himself in prime position to challenge for a weekend spot in the rotation. But, I found out two days ago that he's suffering from what, we hope, is just some tendonitis. So, he's getting treatment, and taking a hiatis from throwing. So, it's a big unknown as to when he'll be able to get back into form. Their first games are Feb 1 & 2, and I've been anxiously waiting for the chance to see him pitch in competition again.

But, more important than when he pitches, I think he's happy - with where he's at in terms of school and life.

That's awesome news!! Hope he's up and able to fully participate very soon. I know I'd love to know where he's playing - if you don't want to post, please send me a PM as I'd like to follow! Thanks and best wishes to Bizz Jr.!