LovetheLord

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I remember a push back in the 90s I believe for wooden bats when every game seemed to be 24-19 and such. But it was said that there was a shortage of wood. And I don’t think they were referring to Ash. Maybe someone will have a better memory.

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You are correct. The push was in the aughts, and was a pushback against 1990's "Gorilla ball" that consisted of homerun derbies. The result was a composite bat that plays much more like wood.

The old aluminium bats were like hitting with a tennis racket. The ball jumped off at dangerous speeds. Also, the metals would warp in unique ways on impact, which could make miss-hit balls travel more like a squared-up ball. Warning track balls today would be clearly out of the park then.

The BBCOR bat is played in college and below due to costs. Wooden bats break, causing a financial strain on already tight baseball budgets. "Amateur" baseball also is more likely to reuse baseballs for cost savings. Pro ball will throw away pearls like pennies. Every dirt-ball pitch warrants a fresh ball from the ump's bag, and they go through tens of thousands of balls a year. College and below don't have those budgets.

I'm not specifically directing this at you, but society as a whole. We asked for this shameless grab for money when we allowed coaches to reframe raw lust for money as "a business decision."

In the 20th century, America took great strides in throwing off the shackles that once constrained our baser passions. People started to mock the idea that anyone should be ashamed, and the word "society" was put in scare quotes, in order to belittle the constraints it brought.

Our base desires were given free rein. We sowed to the wind, and it felt good, liberating, and real... for a while. And then reality set in, and we reap the whirlwind.

Wall Street has no moral problem with stealing from investors. Corporations have no qualms about cutting jobs to get an extra one penny in earnings for the 4th quarter earnings call. Politicians exploit every loophole to cheat the taxpayer, and they get away with it because there is no sense of shame or social taboo. Men and women divorce to go find their better, more authentic lives.

And the idea of loyalty died too. So, today, we sit here and watch a group of greedy little mercenaries put on the jersey with the biggest dollar sign attached to it and play for that team until another comes along and offers a bigger dollar sign. And we miss things like character, loyalty and morality. But these things are dead. And it is we who killed them.

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but putting the blame on shooting threes against one of the most dominant interior college teams in history is just silly. you simply lost the plot on this one sir.

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I beg to differ. Oats’ teams always shoot poorly against teams that have a big and physical frontcourt. I told my son before the Michigan game that we were going to have a poor night from three and lose.

And yes, to your point, it is a defensive matter. Inability to stop teams in the paint puts a lot of pressure on our guards to keep up, and like anyone else when under high pressure, our shooters do not perform as needed. In fact they perform below average.

Pressure to be perfect is almost always debilitating.

Islanders fire Patrick Roy, name Peter DeBoer replacement

Michigan is stinking ridiculous! Why do we keep having to play early against the team that is absolutely dominant in a particular year?

Curious why Jaxon Richardson is not listed as a commit? Did something happen since early March?

Fay absolutely has to be yanked NOW.

This will be a big challenge. Oklahoma is playing well and is legit.

Well. We kicked the crap out of Auburn in baseball.

I guess the talking heads were right about this game.