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Wednesday - December 21, 2005

Alumni News: Maroul Interview

'Turns out that EA Sports is releasing a college baseball video game (MVP 06 NCAA Baseball) and they're using a photo of David Maroul swinging the bat in his Texas uniform on the cover of the game box:

You can read about it in an article by Jon Robinson of IGN Sports. It sounds like the interview must've taken place a couple of months ago but it's a little unclear. At any rate, check it out.

I'm not really into video games but it's clear that David is. He talks about how realistic the images are. And, it's true. The article includes links to screen shots of the game in action. One of them, in particular caught my eye because it includes a shot of our new scoreboard:

Amusingly, the ads on the scoreboard do not correspond to the real ads on the actual scoreboard. Heh.

Posted by Joanna at 5:30 PM | Permalink

Friday - December 16, 2005

Alumni News: Flores going to Indians organization

The Indians signed Jose Flores (most recently in the Dodgers' organization, playing in Las Vegas) to a minor league contract last week and invited him to Spring Training (indians.com story).

Posted by Joanna at 12:47 AM | Permalink

Friday - December 9, 2005

Alumni News: Majewski traded

The A's sent Dustin Majewski to the Blue Jays as the "player to be named later" in a trade made a few days ago (press release). Good luck, Dustin!

Posted by Joanna at 12:06 AM | Permalink

Monday - December 5, 2005

Alumni News: World Baseball Classic

'Turns out there are a couple of Texas Exes who've agreed to play in the innaugural World Baseball Classic in March (should they be selected by the US National Federation): Huston Street and Roger Clemens. How 'bout that?

I liked this question and answer group from the FAQ:

Q: Why conduct the World Baseball Classic?
A: The World Baseball Classic was created to provide a platform that will increase worldwide exposure of the game of baseball and further promote grassroots development in traditional and non-traditional baseball nations. The tournament's primary objectives are to increase global interest and introduce new fans and players to the game. The World Baseball Classic acknowledges and pays tribute to the tremendous growth and internationalization of the game.

Nuthin' whatsoever to do with the fact that baseball and softball were dropped as Olympic sports, I'm sure. Also note how the schedule (early to mid March) doesn't conflict with the MLB schedule nearly as much as the Summer Olympics always did.

Posted by Joanna at 8:41 PM | Permalink

Friday - December 2, 2005

News Grab Bag

Links to recent news items from TexasSports.com...

• Baseball announces 2006 schedule.

  I can't believe I didn't link this last week. Sorry about that. As for the schedule...I honestly can't believe we don't get a home series until the fourth week of play. What in the world is up with that? It's rather stunning. Overall, the schedule seems a bit odd. Again. I thought it was weird last year but I think they've topped it this year. There's a long stretch in the middle of conference play (OSU, OU, KSU) where we have no mid-week games. Just under 50% of our games (27 of 56) are at home. That doesn't seem right. And, at the end of the season? KU in Austin for a three-game series, Dallas Baptist the following weekend for one game (one game??? on a weekend???), and then Missouri at Missouri for a final three-game series. So, our last regular-season home game is a Saturday afternoon affair against a non-conference opponent. Very very weird, if'n you ask me.

• Baseball receives two more commitments for 2006-07 season

  Texas signed a couple of pitchers from Navarro Junior College. It's a bit unclear to me: will these two be here in the spring?...or not until next fall? I'm guessing the latter since they've been lumped in with the signing class for the 2206-07 season. But, why aren't they coming now?

• Alaniz and Stubbs named to 2006 Brooks Wallace Award Watch List

  "The Wallace Award is presented annually to the top player in college baseball as voted on by a selection committee comprised of a national panel of preeminent coaches, sports information directors, former winners and beat media who most closely follow the sport."

• Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championhsip changes format

  I'm not sure what to think about the proposed change. One thing I liked about the old format was that it seemed to do a really good job of preparing the winning team for the CWS. It's the same basic format and number of games as the CWS (until you get to the winner-takes-all championship game). Of course, it's played in a much shorter time frame so it could be quite a bit harder on a team going through the loser's bracket than for loser's-bracket teams at the CWS (since there's more recovery time between games at the CWS). You have to have a great pitching staff to make it through the current format. Making it through that is a very good test of a team.

  The new format seems to have two main things going for it:

1. The teams know how many games they'll be playing and don't have to stretch their rotations out.
2. Everyone knows, as soon as the seeding is finalized, which games each team will be playing in. No more guessing. FOX can pick all the Texas games if they want. And, the fans can buy tickets just for those games rather than tournament packages if they like. Although, I'm guessing making that sort of purchase is difficult.

Posted by Joanna at 3:27 PM | Permalink

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