Not to make an excuse, but simply to let people know what the team has been going through the past several days....

Tuesday travel to Marshall: plane ride to Columbus, OH, then 4-hour bus ride to Huntington, WV...with no a/c

Saturday (post-game) travel back to Houston: bus ride to Columbus with no a/c (broken down)...2 hour flight delay, then cancelled. Rebooked on connecting flight to Houston via Washington, DC. Finally arrived back on campus after 2:00am Sunday morning.

Monday travel to Biloxi: reboarded bus at noon (less than 36 hours after returning from Marshall) for 7-hour ride to Biloxi.

Yes, these kids are young and strong, but this has to take a toll on their bodies and mental mindset.

I mean it’s not like another team in their conference has been stadiumless and locker room less for weeks after a tornado struck their stadium.

Sure, the travel in OH could’ve gone smoother but they still have/had 42 hours or so from arrival in Biloxi to first pitch on Wednesday... I think they can handle it.

But if not, just further evidence that this team is easily rattled.

Not to belabor a point, but one also has to factor that the team just got hoovered in a series in which they led in every game with one or two innings to go.

it's surprising how far Huntington is from a major airport. One can also fly nonstop from Houston to Chuck Yeager Airport (which I've done) in Charleston WV, about an hour from Huntington, but flight options are limited. Yeager is also a bit harrowing: given WV's topography, the airport is built on a hilltop, and the land falls off seemingly just a few yards from the edge of the runway.

This is pretty weak excuse IMO.

Yes, that schedule sucks, but our best team ever played in the WAC which was an infinitely worse travel schedule.

Don't make an excuse before you have to.

BTW, there is an easy solution - get invited to a better conference. First step is to win (across all sports).

Remember when we could lose the conference tournament and still host regionals? Good times.

(05-21-2019 09:09 AM)RiceOwl Wrote:  This is pretty weak excuse IMO.

Yes, that schedule sucks, but our best team ever played in the WAC which was an infinitely worse travel schedule.

Don't make an excuse before you have to.

BTW, there is an easy solution - get invited to a better conference. First step is to win (across all sports).

1. I specifically said, upfront, it's not an excuse.
2. Traveling to Huntington, Hattiesburg and Biloxi are bad enough if the scheduled trip goes without a hitch, but when the a/c in the bus breaks down, and due to flight cancellations and reconnections, your trip home goes from 6 hours to over 12 hours....and then you have to turnaround within 36 hours for another 7 hour bus ride, sorry, but my bones ache just thinking about it.

(05-21-2019 09:14 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(05-21-2019 09:09 AM)RiceOwl Wrote:  This is pretty weak excuse IMO.

Yes, that schedule sucks, but our best team ever played in the WAC which was an infinitely worse travel schedule.

Don't make an excuse before you have to.

BTW, there is an easy solution - get invited to a better conference. First step is to win (across all sports).

1. I specifically said, upfront, it's not an excuse.
2. Traveling to Huntington, Hattiesburg and Biloxi are bad enough if the scheduled trip goes without a hitch, but when the a/c in the bus breaks down, and due to flight cancellations and reconnections, your trip home goes from 6 hours to over 12 hours....and then you have to turnaround within 36 hours for another 7 hour bus ride, sorry, but my bones ache just thinking about it.

I know you said it was not an excuse, but by putting it out there it comes across as one.

Worth asking if stuff like this ever happened under the OG's watch. I cannot recall hearing any stories like this one.

(05-21-2019 09:14 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(05-21-2019 09:09 AM)RiceOwl Wrote:  This is pretty weak excuse IMO.

Yes, that schedule sucks, but our best team ever played in the WAC which was an infinitely worse travel schedule.

Don't make an excuse before you have to.

BTW, there is an easy solution - get invited to a better conference. First step is to win (across all sports).

1. I specifically said, upfront, it's not an excuse.
2. Traveling to Huntington, Hattiesburg and Biloxi are bad enough if the scheduled trip goes without a hitch, but when the a/c in the bus breaks down, and due to flight cancellations and reconnections, your trip home goes from 6 hours to over 12 hours....and then you have to turnaround within 36 hours for another 7 hour bus ride, sorry, but my bones ache just thinking about it.

Your bones are more brittle than these young lads.

(05-21-2019 09:19 AM)Throwing Chade Wrote:  

(05-21-2019 09:14 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(05-21-2019 09:09 AM)RiceOwl Wrote:  This is pretty weak excuse IMO.

Yes, that schedule sucks, but our best team ever played in the WAC which was an infinitely worse travel schedule.

Don't make an excuse before you have to.

BTW, there is an easy solution - get invited to a better conference. First step is to win (across all sports).

1. I specifically said, upfront, it's not an excuse.
2. Traveling to Huntington, Hattiesburg and Biloxi are bad enough if the scheduled trip goes without a hitch, but when the a/c in the bus breaks down, and due to flight cancellations and reconnections, your trip home goes from 6 hours to over 12 hours....and then you have to turnaround within 36 hours for another 7 hour bus ride, sorry, but my bones ache just thinking about it.

Your bones are more brittle than these young lads.

True, but if I recall correctly, both Ry-an Ber-ry and Mike Ojala suffered injuries way back when on the same ill-fated bus ride to Hattiesburg.

(05-21-2019 09:09 AM)RiceOwl Wrote:  This is pretty weak excuse IMO.

Yes, that schedule sucks, but our best team ever played in the WAC which was an infinitely worse travel schedule.

Don't make an excuse before you have to.

BTW, there is an easy solution - get invited to a better conference. First step is to win (across all sports).

+1

The thing that jumps out at me the most is that both bus rides between Columbus and Huntington had no AC. At what point is the department actually making that trip if the bus company isn't providing a bus with AC? How can you accept that? Or does the contract with these bus companies really not specify that requirement?

I see the return state it might have been broken, but that's just amazing to me that it would be tolerated. I'm obviously not inside those conversations when this fact was discovered, but none of the explanations I can think of point to well-run support for the team.

(05-21-2019 09:55 AM)gsloth Wrote:  The thing that jumps out at me the most is that both bus rides between Columbus and Huntington had no AC. At what point is the department actually making that trip if the bus company isn't providing a bus with AC? How can you accept that? Or does the contract with these bus companies really not specify that requirement?

I see the return state it might have been broken, but that's just amazing to me that it would be tolerated. I'm obviously not inside those conversations when this fact was discovered, but none of the explanations I can think of point to well-run support for the team.

Karlgaard is all talk no action on things like this. Other examples include but are not limited to: Football Post-Harvey (which has contributed to our transfer problem-many of the guys who got hit hardest there are the ones who have transferred out), women’s soccer getting stuck in El Paso for days one time, etc.

What a shame. Instead JK invests in chicken head branding.

(05-21-2019 09:09 AM)RiceOwl Wrote:  Don't make an excuse before you have to.

I didn't get the impression he was trying to make an excuse, more of a FYI.

But I agree with the quoted sentiment.

This would be the time for Gayle to pitch up to his potential. Pitching depth wins tournaments.

Incidentally, I'm proud to say UH's inability to beat Rice or UConn may keep them out of a regional

(05-21-2019 09:22 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(05-21-2019 09:19 AM)Throwing Chade Wrote:  

(05-21-2019 09:14 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(05-21-2019 09:09 AM)RiceOwl Wrote:  This is pretty weak excuse IMO.

Yes, that schedule sucks, but our best team ever played in the WAC which was an infinitely worse travel schedule.

Don't make an excuse before you have to.

BTW, there is an easy solution - get invited to a better conference. First step is to win (across all sports).

1. I specifically said, upfront, it's not an excuse.
2. Traveling to Huntington, Hattiesburg and Biloxi are bad enough if the scheduled trip goes without a hitch, but when the a/c in the bus breaks down, and due to flight cancellations and reconnections, your trip home goes from 6 hours to over 12 hours....and then you have to turnaround within 36 hours for another 7 hour bus ride, sorry, but my bones ache just thinking about it.

Your bones are more brittle than these young lads.

True, but if I recall correctly, both Ry-an Ber-ry and Mike Ojala suffered injuries way back when on the same ill-fated bus ride to Hattiesburg.

Ojala was due to a misdiagnosed UCL tear which was over the course of several weeks. I don't remember Ryan's, but unless the bus crashed I'm not sure how these injuries were a result from the trip.

Maybe I missed something, but what is our schedule for the tournament?

(05-21-2019 12:09 PM)RiceOwl Wrote:  Maybe I missed something, but what is our schedule for the tournament?

3 Ls based on how we've been playing.

(05-21-2019 12:12 PM)Throwing Chade Wrote:  

(05-21-2019 12:09 PM)RiceOwl Wrote:  Maybe I missed something, but what is our schedule for the tournament?

3 Ls based on how we've been playing.

It's a triple-elimination tourney? Nice!!