Road Trip:Buies Creek

The latest road trip features several people,several towns,several ballparks and lots of fun.
I'll be splitting each stop into a different post over the next few days,but they might not be consecutive as I have a lot of inbox buildup and one never knows when news breaks...

The first stop was Buies Creek NC,a small town that makes Hagerstown look like Washington DC and best known for being the home of Campbell University,one of the smaller Division I athletic schools in the country.
We left around nine in the morning and arrived at Campbell early in the afternoon with only a stop at Ralph's BBQ,a buffet filled with Southern BBQ (a North Carolina specialty) and other local delicious items.
Ralph's was a excellent stop and if in the area,Ralph's should be on your radar-make sure you use the house sauce,a vinegar sauce with some peppery taste tossed in....
The Landucci's (Fred and Michael) along with Doug Hopkins were in one car with another car with Derreck Chupak and Brandon Diehl skipping Buies Creek and another person as well.
We would meet up with that party in Durham later in the day in part two of our recap.

Jim Perry Stadium was named after the former pitcher,who won 215 games in the bigs,won the 1970 Cy Young award along with being the older brother of Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry.
The stadium holds just 1,000 people,which I would guess makes it the smallest stadium in professional baseball,but it was the best stadium available for the Carolina League,which expanded by two teams for the 2017 season and one of them was awarded to Fayetteville,NC,which is building a new stadium for the team.
The problem was that Fayetteville didn't have a facility good enough to play in for two years.
Enter Campbell and Buies Creek with Jim Perry Stadium and in return for the Houston Astros installing new artificial turf and a state of the art scoreboard,the two year deal was struck.
This situation made Buies Creek one of my two "Must Have's" to check off my stadium list with a later trip to Augusta GA,who are in their last year in their current stadium.

We arrived around 3ish for a 6 PM game (better early than late) and we were greeted by a team employee,who welcomed us and allowed us to go and look around the stadium.
I was impressed by the tiny,yet immaculate park and when looking at the new turf,you could actually see the "steam" coming off the turf on a humid,yet not beyond what I would guess as normal humidity for the area.
Very few teams in the minors use turf anymore (the only one that I know of currently using turf are the West Virginia Black Bears,Short Season Pittsburgh),but it makes sense for college teams that have to play games in late February and into March/April and need to get games in that just couldn't be played on a natural surface.
We watched BP and got a few players to sign that came out very early,but mainly just enjoyed the laid back atmosphere of Buies Creek.
There were a few small table with umbrellas and we sat watching the field,enjoying the scenery and company.
Prices on food and drink were super low compared to other places and the other guys took advantage of that fact.
Me? I'm still cutting back,so I took it as easy as possible (actually,I wouldn't eat after Ralph's until the next morning's breakfast),but the prices were right,if you needed a bite or a swig to beat the heat.

The team being such a temporary tenant didn't add a team store,they just used a small trailer for various souvenirs (it brought to mind Pulaski Va and last years visit!) and we did buy a team set.
I hadn't planned on buying one since Buies Creek had already made their one visit this season to Frederick,but since we could work on it while there and it was the first ever team set,I decided to work on one,despite the top prospect in the Astros system,outfielder Kyle Tucker having just been promoted to AA Corpus Christi,a few days before.
Tucker,a powerhitting outfielder,was one of the more impressive prospects that I've seen so far this season and will likely be the Astros most asked about young player as the trade deadline nears and the Astros begin to scan the market for potential upgrades for a playoff run.
Doug Hopkins did almost all of the work on the Astros,although I did call some numbers out to him.
The Astros had far less access than the visiting team,so we had to be much faster in figuring out who was who when they walked by.

As much as I wanted to work on Buies Creek,the visiting Carolina Mudcats (High A Milwaukee) were more important to me.
The Carolina League had once had the best schedule in baseball as you could count on the teams like clockwork-they came to town in order three times and then the season ended.
But as often happens in business,someone decided to fix what wasn't broken and ruined the whole thing.
Carolina hit Frederick twice in the first month and then would not return,so the recent release of the top 100's put all the pressure on me to knock the three players on Carolina out on this trip.
Corey Ray was easy as he's one of the nicest players I've met in years and he signed after finishing batting practice.
Ison Diaz doesn't seem to like signing as much,but he did sign his top 100 and another card.
Diaz hates when his name is mispronounced "I-Son" rather than the correct "E-Son",so I made sure I got that part correct.
Trent Clark was the final Top 100 player to get and I didn't think I was going to get him as when I asked he stepped into the dugout.
I began to shuffle cards and evaluate how best to get another shot,when Michael,who was right beside the dugout,shouted to me "Give me your cards,he's coming back".
Clark was indeed coming back,but there were a few kids in front of me,so I handed the cards off to Michael,who was able to get them to Clark for the signature.

With the most important cards finished,we had to prepare for the run to Durham to meet up with Derreck and Brandon,so we watched an inning or so before the "run TO the Bulls",but I wish we could have spent more time in Buies Creek.
Perhaps we can make a run there next year in the Astros final season there and be able to settle in and enjoy a game.
I liked the cozy park and small community that much and I'm hoping that maybe Buies Creek could land an Appalachian League team down the road for their community as a payback for their help and cooperation in a time of need for the minors.
Thanks to the Astros and their terrific team of employees for extending kindness and help for our visit.
When you consider the work involved for any temporary and imperfect situation,their employees are doing a great job in making things go so smoothly.

Next road trip stop will be our time in Durham,which is the plan unless something breaks in the Ohio State search for a new basketball coach or I decide to clean the overflowing inbox!

Late fade leaves Cavaliers down 3-0

The Cleveland Cavaliers were thrown on the shoulders of LeBron James and Kyrie Irving and through the efforts of Cleveland's top stars,the Cavaliers looked to have an excellent chance of making the series with the Golden State Warriors,well an actual series.
That was before either A) fatigue set in,B) the supporting players couldn't step up,C) Both.
In the end,it was the Warriors pulling away with under a minute to play,winning 118-113 and taking a three game lead in the series.
LeBron James scored 39 points with Kyrie Irving adding 38 more in the loss that likely essentially ended the series.
Game four is Friday night in Cleveland...

Swashbucklings

1) As much as we all (and they) want to believe that fatigue was not a factor late in the game,LeBron James and Kyrie Irving were clearly gassed out.
Their late shots were falling short and who can blame them after playing 46 and 44 minutes respectively.
You can't really ask or expect for any more than those two players gave,but something tells me that the Cavaliers fired their best shot and it wasn't enough.

2) Looking for an underrated reason for the Cavalier loss?
Try the late second quarter rush that saw the Warriors scored ten straight points that was only trimmed by Kyrie Irving's points as the last shot of the quarter.
I know that was the only two minute stretch that LeBron James sat out,but pretty crucial points were lost...

3) J.R.Smith finally woke up with a 16 point game and hitting five three's,but none of the bench players hit double figures and the total bench barely made there with just 11 points.
The supporting players have been such a letdown in this series..

4) Kyle Korver did hit two three pointers,which is why he was brought to Cleveland,but his miss late in the game on a pretty clean look at the basket cleared the way for the late Warrior win.
I know Korver is a one dimensional player,but shooting is that one dimension...

5) Cleveland missed all nine of their shots in the final 3 minutes of the game.

6) Devon Williams has yet to make a basket in this series.
No wonder Kyrie Irving has to play so many minutes,the role players that the Cavaliers added to give them a chance vs the Warriors have yet to make themselves present in the series.

7) Tristan Thompson continues his struggles as he finished the game without a point and just three rebounds in 23 minutes on the floor.
No one expects points from Thompson,but he is even struggling on the boards,which is supposed to be his strength..

8) Kevin Love did finish with just nine points (1-9),but did grab 13 rebounds and six steals,which for a player not noted for his defense is a strong number.
The biggest Love miss was a inside the paint miss that he might have been fouled on,but missed and the Warriors took the ball right down the floor for a Stephen Curry layup.
Huge momentum swing.

9) Finally this-No team has ever come from a 3-0 deficit to win any playoff series in basketball history and against one of the greatest teams to play ever,it's unlikely to this time either.
Cleveland needs to take things bit by bit and see what happens.
There is no margin for error,but that is how the game must be played from here on out.

Tebow Mania is Runnin' Wild

I wanted to write a little about Tim Tebow mania in Hagerstown,but allow me to preface this with that I was only there for one night.
Cherie and Rachel were there for another day while I was on my whirlwind four games in two days tour of North Carolina.
That recap will dribble out over the next week as things slow down (baseball wise) and I return to work along with several posts from the knee-deep pile of the inbox that needs cleaning...

I have to be really honest (ever notice how that is used? Like I don't use brutal honesty here any other time) here-I thought the Hagerstown Suns did a pretty good job in keeping things in order as much as possible.
My expectations for the series were very low,I've been critical of the Suns,the city of Hagerstown (responsible for stadium maintenance) in the past and present for botching so many various issues.
However,I try to be straight up and I thought the Suns made themselves look credible in the eyes of the attendees.
They had security that was visible,but not obtrusive,they brought food trucks in,so the service could be upgraded in order to keep food lines moving,they were fair to the graphers and allowed them to stand down the line and try to graph,even with the seats being sold,until the fans in those seats arrived,which was very fair of them (I wish they would do more of that on other days,but I digress) and whether it was the team or the city-the hideous board that stuck up and caused me to fall had been replaced.
Not a bad job at all.

As far Tim Tebow goes,I didn't really have much interaction with him.
I didn't try before the game,I just sat above the fray with Fred Landucci and watched.
After the game,I went to the parking lot to try to get him for Rachel (a big fan) on his book and the bus was surrounded by a portable gate.
Tebow did sign,but signed at another part of the gate-breaks of the game and he did sign,so just one of those things.

Wrapping up,I do have a few thoughts on this mess that is Tebow Mania.
First-I have just one problem with this whole thing,mainly that Tebow's attempt knocked two guys down a level and likely one lost a job for a lark.
However,Tim Tebow has done some good for the SAL and the teams in it as they are making a lot of money off his visits-money that could keep a team like Hagerstown afloat for a little bit,but more importantly give a town a chance to see what fun at the ballpark can be.

I get Tim Tebow wanting to try and I get teams being more than happy to make money off the attempt,but where does it stop?
Would it be just as fair to see more athletes from others sports try? Any singers or actors?
I'm sure one could find someone that could make just as much dough by appearing in the Hagerstown's of the minors.

Jason LaCanfora (normally a football writer) writes far better than I about Tebow's visit to Hagerstown here.

I'll be back plenty over the next few days.
I have game three of the suddenly tedious NBA finals (missed game two while on the road),notes from said road and all those inbox notes!

Ohio State fires Thad Matta

I was prepping a post series that would look at Tebow Mania in Hagerstown and my four game,four cities,two day trip to North Carolina before the news broke that Ohio State had relieved head basketball coach Thad Matta of his job and the Buckeyes would be looking for a replacement for the 2017-18 season.

Matta leaves Columbus at the age of 50, having both rebuilt the ailing Ohio State basketball program upon his arrival along presiding over its demise with two less than strong seasons,a poor 17-15 record last year that wasn't enough to even get into the NIT and recruiting became worse and worse as Matta's health became a recruiting liability.
Matta entered Columbus with a roar as he won 20 with a probationary team with lesser talents,but followed up with teams that made the national title game,a final four,another elite eight and in the only season before the last two seasons that saw Ohio State not make the tournament-won the NIT,along with becoming the all time wins leader in program history.
However,Ohio State fell to 21-14 in 2015-16 with a second round exit from the NIT,followed it up with the aforementioned 17-15 that was followed up by lost recruiting commitments and the eventual release of Matta.

The bigger question is why now?
I would have likely understood this move at the end of the last season,but now?
It's going to be tough (unless Gene Smith has an NBA guy in mind) to bring a top notch,name coach in at this time and Ohio State would have been a tough place to turn down for most coaches in March,but in June?
What was the major change between March and June that Gene Smith felt that this change needed to be done now rather than the end of the 17-18 season?
Was this about Matta's recruiting falling down?
Did Matta stretch this out in order to have an assistant get this job for a year?
Was this about finances and those issues needed to be ironed out first and might that decision bite the Buckeyes in bringing in a big name coach?

I wish I had the real answers to any of those questions,but the issue now is who is brought in?
The list I keep hearing seems like a pipedream with names like Billy Donovan,Brad Stevens and Sean Miller being mentioned,but I wonder about a few of these guys that might be a good fit.
Chris Mack of Xavier makes lots of sense having grew up in Cleveland and coached in Cincinnati,but Xavier should be strong next year and Mack might be considered too close to Matta.
Mick Cronin of Cincinnati could be a candidate,but he's only been as far as the sweet 16 once.
Gregg Marshall of Wichita State would be my top choice,but Marshall makes as much at Wichita State as Matta made,Marshall would likely take even more with a top ten returning in the Shockers.
Chris Holtmann of Butler is a name mentioned as a hot young coach,but wouldn't be the splashy hire that Ohio State is supposedly looking for and the same goes for the oft-mentioned Buzz Williams of Virginia Tech,who wins but lacks the same zip as bigger names and reputations.

I never was much of a Thad Matta fan,even though he coached for two of my favorite schools,but he still caught a bad break here.
Matta was led to believe he was going to get another year or two to revamp the program and that turned into less than three months,so it is tough not to feel a little bad for Matta.
However,it's tough to argue against the move-the program has clearly fallen backwards,the recruiting battles were being lost and it was pretty tough to see Matta being able to stem the tide,so it's not the move itself,it is the timing that makes little sense.
I'm willing to wait until the new hire though before final judgement...

Back later with some thoughts on Tebow Mania...

Cavaliers dusted in Game One

The Cleveland Cavaliers played a decent enough first half in Oakland in game one of the NBA Finals,yet still were down eight points at the half.
The Cleveland Cavaliers lost their defensive edge in the second half and were dominated in third quarter action,putting themselves out of the game and losing to the Golden State Warriors 113-91.
LeBron James led Cleveland with 28 points with Kyrie Irving adding 24 more.
Game two is Sunday in Oakland.

Swashbucklings

1) It all came down to the boardwork and you'd never know it by the numbers.
The stat sheet had Cleveland outrebounding Golden State 59-50,but it seemed like much of that advantage was accumulated in garbage time.
Cleveland seemed to lose every loose ball and every contested rebound and just seemed to be almost passive with every missed shot.

2) The Warriors are too good to give so many second chances.
Tristan Thompson finished with just four rebounds and zero points,if that is the type of statistics that we can expect from Thompson,it's going to be very tough for Cleveland to win this series.
Fortunately,I don't think that will be the case.

3) Ok,Kevin Durant finished with 38 points.
Kevin Durant will also be tough to stop,but something tells me that we've seen his best game.
Call it a hunch,but I have a feeling he's going to have a clunker or even two over the course of this series.

4) Kyrie Irving did finish with 24 points,but did that on shooting 10 for 24 on the night.
Irving is going to have play better on both sides of the floor in order to close the gap from game one to game two.

5) 20 turnovers for Cleveland and just four for the Warriors.
Contrast that with the 27-9 difference in transition points and you can see how this got ugly early in the third quarter.

6) Next to nothing from the bench,most notably three point gunner Kyle Korver,who did see key minutes before the game got out of hand.
Korver was 0-3 for the evening and had major issues defending.

7) I didn't love the officiating,same as many that watched the game,but the soft defense that allowed so many easy drives to the basket was far more influential in this loss than anything the officials did.
I can live with losing this series with Golden State shooting well from the outside-I cannot live with it allowing them to beat them with dunks and dishing off layups from inside the paint....

Browns trade for Calvin Pryor

On a day when our President decided that the dollars of energy barons was more important than the first step in protecting our planet,we here at TRS are both saddened and disheartened with today's decision.
I do occasionally talk politics here,but I'm going to let emotions go a bit more evenly before I write about this issue here.

Until then,we still have sports and the Cleveland Browns decided to take a little of the spotlight away from the Cleveland Cavaliers with a trade to upgrade the secondary as the Browns acquired former first round pick Calvin Pryor from the New York Jets to hopefully team with first round pick Jabrill Peppers to comprise the safety pairing for the upcoming season.
Pryor was rumored to be on the outs with the Jets as the Jets had demoted him,passed on his fifth year option (for 2018) and drafted two safeties in the recent draft in the first two rounds (Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye).
The Browns might have been better suited to wait,allow the Jets to release Pryor and use their number one waiver claim to add Pryor for free,but instead shipped linebacker DeMario Davis to the Jets in order to save even more money on the salary cap (Davis will make 3.7 million to Pryor's 1.6,both are free agents at the end of 2017) and add to their large amount of space.
Davis was the top free agent signing on the defense for 2016 and was penciled in as the starter at middle linebacker for the upcoming season,but that isn't as big of a deal as one would think.
In the Gregg Williams defense,the large majority of the time is spent with just two linebackers on the field and with the recent extension to Christian Kirksey and the re-signing of Jamie Collins,it doesn't take a Mensa member to figure out which of the three "starters" was going to spend the most time off the field.

As for Calvin Pryor,the Jets were disappointed in him,but he is a big hitter that hasn't performed as well in coverage as hoped,but is still just 24 and if you believe Jabrill Peppers will be the playmaker in the secondary that the Browns badly need (Color me very dubious on that),Pryor's aggressive thumping style could mesh well with that of Peppers.
Pryor didn't make a lot of big plays as a Jet (two interceptions and two forced fumbles),but he wasn't a disaster either as he started 38 of the 44 games that he was active for in New York.

I'm fine with the Browns taking this risk.
It's reasonably low cost (although I did like DeMario Davis,he wasn't a long term foundation piece) and you are giving a second chance to a player that just might fit what Gregg Williams does on defense.
Remember that Mark Barron came out of college as a first round safety that struggled in coverage for Tampa Bay and was considered a disappointment to the point that Barron was traded to--the Rams where Gregg Williams used Barron as a hybrid linebacker/safety and helped Barron into being a very productive tackler as most fantasy players that use IDP (Individual Defensive Players) know.
I can hope that the Browns are able to turn the career around of Calvin Pryor and I'm cautiously optimistic that can happen.

Will try to be back later with game one of the NBA finals...

Tebow Time

Today's the day that many in town have been looking forward to and the day that graphers have been fearing-Tim Tebow and the Columbia Fireflies are headed towards the Muni.

Now,I'm sure the Hagerstown Suns are thrilled as they'll be drawing the type of crowds not seen in Hagerstown in years,but this could be a double edged sword for people that have not been to Municipal Stadium in years.
The Suns are getting a four game chance to expose their product to fans that they (past management teams included) have lost and to people that have never sampled minor league baseball and it'll be interesting to see how they handle this opportunity.
I would hope that the "staples" of entertainment of late get shelved,but it'll be interesting to see what the Suns sell to attempt to hook the crowd in order to get them to return.

It'll be a tough sell with a stadium best described as old yet charmless without almost any modern amenities at all,but not one insurmountable,if  things don't go over the top,
One of the things that I always thought that the Mandalay group did wrong during their run in Hagerstown was the mentality of "hey,kids let's put on a show" with too much dancing and worrying too much about the entertainment side of things.
What I like about the Frederick Keys and the Harrisburg Senators as far as the in between innings entertainment is that it doesn't happen in every inning and when they do,they manage to do it at a sound that can distract if you wish,but can be ignored easily as well.
I'm hoping that the Suns use a similar plan and use a low key manner that gives the fan the option of enjoy or ignore.

As for Tim Tebow,I'm not really interested in him.
Nothing against the former quarterback,but I wasn't a fan (I didn't think he was anywhere near an average NFL quarterback) or a hater (he seems like a nice guy that needs to stick to what he's good at-football commentating on the SEC network),so not collecting current football cards,this is an annoyance more than anything because it is going to be difficult to do what I normally do-graph the rest of the team.
Tim Tebow is certainly the draw,it'll be interesting to see just how the fans root-you have to figure Tebow will get lots of cheers,but will the fans coming to see him root for Hagerstown,Columbia or could care less and just cheer Tebow?

This weekend could show one more thing that could be unexpected-if all goes well and if enough people have a good time and want to come to more games,this might show once and for all,that if Hagerstown wants minor league baseball,that Municipal Stadium needs a massive overhaul at minimum and a new stadium at maximum.
My fear is that the stadium might be the big downside to the weekend as fans see just how inadequate the Muni is.
Will that be the crushing blow towards the future of baseball as fans refuse to enter a downtrodden facility?
Or could it be the first step in a new facility as people finally realize just how decrepit things have become and begin the drumbeat to give the Suns and the SAL the stadium we deserve?

It'll be an interesting weekend for sure and the pressure is on so many to produce a good outcome-few of those are on the field playing the game.