Hogs vs Texass - Baseball

[Pig Benis]

There are other polls which dropped Texas.  What, 5 or 6 reputable baseball polls?

Baseball America has UGA, TX, then the Hogs #3.

[Pig Benis]

They have a better resume than anyone else.
Still a two game lead in the toughest conference.   

It's pretty clear that they aren't the most likely to win in or even get to Omaha.  And they're far from the most talented.  But just looking at the records I can't see how you could put anyone else in that spot. 

Let them keep that target on their backs. 

I agree with this. Arkansas and LSU should probably switch spots based on resumes.

[vegashog]

doesn't really matter.

with six tough games ahead of us, securing a national seed is the goal.

[BleedinRed]

doesn't really matter.

with six tough games ahead of us, securing a national seed is the goal.

100%

[Mazeppa Pompazoidi]

Need to rotate locations

Absolutely.  It's a travesty that they haven't had it at Auto Zone Park. 

[Pig Benis]

Absolutely.  It's a travesty that they haven't had it at Auto Zone Park. 

I believe it went back up for bid in the last year or two and Hoover was the unanimous choice again. The coaches seem to love it there for whatever reason.

[Show-Me Hog]

I believe it went back up for bid in the last year or two and Hoover was the unanimous choice again. The coaches seem to love it there for whatever reason.

I think for certain SEC minds it's locked in as much as Omaha is for the CWS. Win Hoover then make it to Omaha.

Could the CWS be somewhere else? For example there are a hell of a lot of medium sized baseball fields in central Florida.

[DirkPiggler]

I believe it went back up for bid in the last year or two and Hoover was the unanimous choice again. The coaches seem to love it there for whatever reason.

I think for certain SEC minds it's locked in as much as Omaha is for the CWS. Win Hoover then make it to Omaha.

Could the CWS be somewhere else? For example there are a hell of a lot of medium sized baseball fields in central Florida.

Let me preface this by saying that after attending part of this event in Hoover in 2018 I think they do a fine job of putting on the tournament.  The ballpark is dated and nothing special, but the park that it's located within works well and is fan friendly. 

However, I believe that the biggest thing keeping this event in Hoover on an annual basis is probably that someone with ties to the SEC office is profiting financially from the event.  That's just pure speculation, but it's consistent with the league's (state of) Alabama-centric mentality and history of cronyism and/or corruption.  There were reports in the past that Memphis put in a significantly higher bid the last time the event was open to moving and the league decided to stand pat. 

One argument that always gets brought up is the RV park adjacent to Hoover Met, and that is a great perk given how many RVers travel to the tournament.  But there are other sites with nearby parks, one of which being Dickey-Stephens in NLR.  And there are probably at least a dozen minor league parks within the league's footprint that could be better venues for the SEC event.

The best thing to do would probably be to make Hoover the "permanent" site the way Nashville is for the basketball tournament, but rotate it once every 4-5 years to break up the monotony and give someone else a chance to host it.

[Son of Spam]

Here's hoping the LSU umps don't screw us into the ground at their place. You know they will want to keep LSU above us.

[BASS]

We'll behind then in the net no matter what

[vegashog]

coil is back. wiggins done unless it's the cws. maxwell iffy for lsu. fraser out a "week or two".

[Cornhogio]

Here's hoping the LSU umps don't screw us into the ground at their place. You know they will want to keep LSU above us.

I thought we got a lot of grace from the umps this past weekend.  I don't expect the same in Red Stick.

[Pig Benis]

coil is back. wiggins done unless it's the cws. maxwell iffy for lsu. fraser out a "week or two".

I consider all of that news better than expected. Great to have Coil back.

[Usafhawg]

Here's hoping the LSU umps don't screw us into the ground at their place. You know they will want to keep LSU above us.

Why would the umps care about rankings?

[BleedinRed]

Why would the umps care about rankings?

They place their bets like the rest of us.

[Usafhawg]

They place their bets like the rest of us.

You can bet on where teams are ranked?

[DirkPiggler]

Why would the umps care about rankings?

Outside of ball/strike calls which should be done by automated systems anyway, the umpiring in the SEC is better than the officiating in either of the main sports (football, men's basketball).  Or maybe it's just less susceptible to the corrupt whims of the SEC office and their desires to engineer the championship race in a manner to maximize league revenue. 

In baseball they seem to mostly get the replay decisions right. Even if the umps miss a call on the basis the coaches have recourse to get it right before the next play.  Really the only thing left up to human error is the strike zone, and that's a relatively easy fix if the governing organizations would just implement it.  The technology is already in place in all SEC ballparks to make the change seamless. 

[BleedinRed]

You can bet on where teams are ranked?

Money follows the best teams.  Rankings are a refelection of that.

Edit: just to be clear, my sarcasm meter has apparently been broke for a while now.  I'm just screwing with you.  The ranking angle on why the umps will screw us in redstick is dumb.  Everyone knows the umps never need a reason.

[Spiderham]

Love this pic!
He might look like he's throwing batting practice some days but this dude is all Hog. You cannot view this attachment.

[Sus-Scrofa]

I'm torn.  It's probably in our interest for Texas to win their midweek game, but it'd be fun to see them lose to Lamar.