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What I said was I thought about how some of our players are hitting HRs in relation to the UT players. Everyone saying "juicing", and I thought about it. Mingione said on the broadcast that they dedicated themselves to the weight room, so ok. Good for them for making a drastic turn-around.

Also, don't scold me for thinking that way. It was a thought, and I did not accuse. I loved watching some of our past players, Pompey and Shinn to be exact. If you have followed them since leaving UK, then you don't have to google their suspensions. It makes you think about their time in college baseball. Again, not accusing but it does make one stop and think.
You said this.... This is kinda mean and I am not trying to start anything, but I was thinking the same about some players on our team.... in response to a question about Tennessee and the testing of PEDs. At least you didn't mention any player by name. You can twist it anyway you want, but the insinuation is there.

And Pompey was suspended for abuse of a recreational drug, not PEDs.
 
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I never said he was on anything or even implied it. All I said was compare his stats from a year ago. And if he is the that Mingione said hit the weight room and really worked on his swing, then good for him. You can’t argue with the results.
Retirement said he was thinking the same thing about players on our team in response to Is Tennessee testing for PEDs. Slugger asked, LIKE WHO? You responded to that with.... The one that sorta comes to mind is (Player's Name).... That seems like implying to me, but maybe I just need to calm down. I know this isn't Journalism class, but singling a college kid out by name with no knowledge of him is reckless.
 
Retirement said he was thinking the same thing about players on our team in response to Is Tennessee testing for PEDs. Slugger asked, LIKE WHO? You responded to that with.... The one that sorta comes to mind is (Player's Name).... That seems like implying to me, but maybe I just need to calm down. I know this isn't Journalism class, but singling a college kid out by name with no knowledge of him is reckless.

What I stated is facts though. You don’t go from being a non home run threat to hitting 11 in one season without doing something. I never once even thought about any player, Kentucky or another team, using anything of substance.
 
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You said this.... This is kinda mean and I am not trying to start anything, but I was thinking the same about some players on our team.... in response to a question about Tennessee and the testing of PEDs. At least you didn't mention any player by name. You can twist it anyway you want, but the insinuation is there.

And Pompey was suspended for abuse of a recreational drug, not PEDs.
Yes, that's exactly what I said. I said I thought the same about some of our players. Did I name anyone? No, but I am allowed to think it. I never said anything like "maybe they should test or hey, he must be using something". I also stated that I didn't want to start anything, but of course, someone did. In the world we live in now, athletes will try anything to get ahead, and coaches/trainers will help cover it up, but I am not saying any certain players/coaches/trainers are!

Yes, I made a statement about Pompey and his suspension, never stated what kind of "drug" caused the suspension but I did say that it made me think about his time at UK.
 
And in my original post, I never called any specific contributor out. But it seems as though the guilty dogs have barked.
 
Yes, that's exactly what I said. I said I thought the same about some of our players. Did I name anyone? No, but I am allowed to think it. I never said anything like "maybe they should test or hey, he must be using something". I also stated that I didn't want to start anything, but of course, someone did. In the world we live in now, athletes will try anything to get ahead, and coaches/trainers will help cover it up, but I am not saying any certain players/coaches/trainers are!

Yes, I made a statement about Pompey and his suspension, never stated what kind of "drug" caused the suspension but I did say that it made me think about his time at UK.

In his defense, and this is my last post on this, I did mention Estep. But I never meant it to mean I thought he was on something illegal or whatnot. I simply said looking at his numbers compared from last year to this year something definitely changed. Wether that’s in the weight room, mechanics on his swing or luck its obvious there’s improvement. Last thing here, it doesn’t matter at this point. This team is playing like hot garbage right now and is in danger of missing not only the NCAA but also the SEC tournament.
 
The rumor was Heefner was Barnhartts top choice and Heefner never showed any kind of interest.

You have to push again. Could be that Heefner didn't get the job he really wanted. Say Texas, who was hiring at the same time. They hired Pierce on June 29th and maybe Heefner was holding out for that, but UK hired Mingione on June 13th. Or maybe he was holding out for any number of Texas schools, almost all of which have since changed coaches. So, maybe he now sees things differently and is more open to other changes.

Of course, that's a pure hypothetical. More likely, he is comfortable at DBU and doesn't want to change after 18 years.
 
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By the way, Heefner and DBU are number 1 in RPI and have played the nation's toughest schedule.
 
By the way, Heefner and DBU are number 1 in RPI and have played the nation's toughest schedule.
Watched them a little last night, they were getting hammered at Texas A&M but they are ranked and have had a strong program for years.
 
You have to push again. Could be that Heefner didn't get the job he really wanted. Say Texas, who was hiring at the same time. They hired Pierce on June 29th and maybe Heefner was holding out for that, but UK hired Mingione on June 13th. Or maybe he was holding out for any number of Texas schools, almost all of which have since changed coaches. So, maybe he now sees things differently and is more open to other changes.

Of course, that's a pure hypothetical. More likely, he is comfortable at DBU and doesn't want to change after 18 years.
So he's been HC there since he was 23. He's only 38. Hard to find info on him as he seems to be a very private person.
 
I have no idea who UK could hire, I just hope it would be an established HC instead of an assistant.
 
So he's been HC there since he was 23. He's only 38. Hard to find info on him as he seems to be a very private person.


I am not sure how old he is. He has actually been as HC at DBU for 14 years, not 18. Maybe I saw the 8 in 2008 and confused myself? lol He started as head coach there in 2008. He graduated from college in 2001. So, assuming he graduated at 22 years old, he would have been about 29 when he started as head coach, so I am guessing he's about 43 now?

Another wild thing is that he took over as HC for Eric Newman, who left DBU to take the job as pitching coach for Nebraska. He then went on to become head coach of UC San Diego where he has gone to the CWS 3 times and finished as well as runner up in 2017.

Maybe we could get Eric Newman to leave the west coast? lol
 
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I am not sure how old he is. He has actually been as HC at DBU for 14 years, not 18. Maybe I saw the 8 in 2008 and confused myself? lol He started as head coach there in 2008. He graduated from college in 2001. So, assuming he graduated at 22 years old, he would have been about 29 when he started as head coach, so I am guessing he's about 43 now?

Another wild thing is that he took over as HC for Eric Newman, who left DBU to take the job as pitching coach for Nebraska. He then went on to become head coach of UC San Diego where he has gone to the CWS 3 times and finished as well as runner up in 2017.

Maybe we could get Eric Newman to leave the west coast? lol
Dan Heefner enters his 18th season with the DBU Baseball team and 15th year as the Patriots’ head coach. A two-time Missouri Valley Conference Dan Callahan Coach of the Year (2016 & 2021) and a two-time recipient of the American Baseball Coaches Association Midwest Region Coach of the Year (2008 & 2011), Heefner has guided the DBU Baseball program to the NCAA postseason 10 times, including nine of the last 10 years. Under Heefner's leadership, the Patriots are currently the only team in the nation to post seven consecutive 40-win seasons and are one of just six teams in college baseball to reach the NCAA Regionals each of the past seven years.

In 14 seasons at the helm, Heefner owns a career record of 526-271 and his .660 win percentage ranks 10th-best among all active NCAA Division I coaches. Dating back to the 2015 season when the Patriots hosted the Dallas Regional, Heefner has guided DBU to 270 victories, a mark that ranks as the fifth-highest win total among the nation’s 302 NCAA Division I baseball programs.

TOP 10 PROGRAMS BY WINS SINCE 2015
1. Florida (293)
2. Louisville (287)
3. Vanderbilt (286)
4. LSU (279)
5. DBU (270)
6. TCU (269)
6. Texas Tech (269)
8. Arkansas (266)
9. Oregon State (263)
9. Southern Miss (263)
9. Texas A&M (263)
 
I am not sure how old he is. He has actually been as HC at DBU for 14 years, not 18. Maybe I saw the 8 in 2008 and confused myself? lol He started as head coach there in 2008. He graduated from college in 2001. So, assuming he graduated at 22 years old, he would have been about 29 when he started as head coach, so I am guessing he's about 43 now?

Another wild thing is that he took over as HC for Eric Newman, who left DBU to take the job as pitching coach for Nebraska. He then went on to become head coach of UC San Diego where he has gone to the CWS 3 times and finished as well as runner up in 2017.

Maybe we could get Eric Newman to leave the west coast? lol
45ish
 
I don't know that this is necessarily true, but it is extremely curious how they have practically no one that is struggling, at least no one playing significant time. Their top 8 are hitting .252 or better, with their top 7 hitting .294 or better. Their 9th guys, who they have changed out a lot are hitting like .367 and .321.

Pitching wise.... just 2 guys on the entire freaking team have ERAs above 4.

How do you get everyone to play that well, especially pitching? It's crazy.

Some of these guys have been really good for a while. Gilbert, for example, hit .350 as a freshman in 2020 before the season ended, and last year he hit 10 home runs, so it isn't all that surprising that he's hitting well this season, although he has just 2 homeers. Still, it’s amazing that no one seems to be slumping or struggling. They lose ace Blade Tidwell, and no problem… they’ll just plug in a freshman in who has a 1.50 ERA. A freshman who hasn’t played baseball in 2 freaking years… he has a 1.46 ERA in SEC play. How is that possible?! He didn't even play baseball as a HS junior or as a HS senior and he suddenly comes into UT and can shut down SEC hitting? This kid came out of TN ranked the 8th best player in the state. UK gets the number 1 player 2 years ago and he hasn't developed enough to get an SEC start and has a 5.23 ERA in league play.
Tony Vitello is a grinder. Not married. No kids. Recruiting and scouting is his life. He did the same at Arky in their little streak of success and the loss of him is big reason you’re starting to see cracks. Kopps, that reliever they had that won all the awards last year? He was a Texas kid rated way too low for Dave Van Horn to be interested. Vitello convinced him to take him and he’s why Arky won the SEC last year.
 
Tony Vitello is a grinder. Not married. No kids. Recruiting and scouting is his life. He did the same at Arky in their little streak of success and the loss of him is big reason you’re starting to see cracks. Kopps, that reliever they had that won all the awards last year? He was a Texas kid rated way too low for Dave Van Horn to be interested. Vitello convinced him to take him and he’s why Arky won the SEC last year.
Must like young boys.
 
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He likes winning and being number 1 and actually beating the harder teams on his schedule.
He likes running a rogue program, a "me against the world" thingy. School and conference is letting him get away with it too. Juiced players, illegal bats...true Big Orange bullshit. It'll eventually blow up in his face....then the school/SEC will run and hide like they always have.
 
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