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Says He’ll Return If Eagles Go To CWS

Hattiesburgh, MS–The number of touchdown passes Brett Favre does or doesn’t throw next fall could come down to the number of home runs B.A. Vollmuth does or doesn’t hit in the next three week.  On Thursday Favre told Vollmuth and his Southern Mississippi teammates that he will return to quarterback the Minnesota Vikings next season if they return to the College World Series next month.

Favre in his Southern Miss. playing days (USM photo)

Favre has (as usual) remained uncommitted on his NFL future since falling to the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game.  He signed a two-year contract before joining the Vikings prior to last season.  The sophomore Vollmuth leads USM with a .390 batting average, 14 home runs and 60 RBIs.

Favre, a Southern Miss. alum,  surprised the Golden Eagles with an appearance at a team meeting Thursday morning when he told them “I was a kid again when y’all played Texas in (the first round of) the College World Series (last year).”  The 19-year NFL veteran turns 41 in October.

Southern Missississipi was last year’s College World Series “Cinderella” when the Golden Eagles first won the NCAA Atlanta Regional as the number three seed.  They then went to the Gainesville Super Regional and stunned national seed Florida to advance to the CWS.

The Golden Eagles (31-20, 13-9)) had a 12-game winning streak snapped last weekend when they lost two of three games to Rice.  They have a spot locked-up in next week’s Conference USA Tournament, but they are on the bubble for an at-large NCAA spot if they don’t claim C-USA’s automatic bid by winning the tournament.  With two games remaining vs. Memphis in the regular season (Friday and Saturday) they would be the #2 seed in the C-USA Tournament.

USM has made seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances.  They are ranked #50 in this week’s CB360 Composite National Rankings.

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Greg Meyer Was A Four Year TCU Baseball Letterwinner

Greg Meyer

FORT WORTH, Texas — Former TCU baseball player Greg Meyer will be the side judge in Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIV between the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints.

Meyer was a four-year letterman (1978-81) on the diamond for the Horned Frogs. He will wear No. 78 on Sunday.

Meyer has been an NFL official since 2002. He previously worked on the collegiate level with the Western Athletic Conference and Big 12.  His postseason assignments included the WAC championship game, Outback Bowl, Cotton Bowl and Hula Bowl.

This will be the second straight season that TCU has been represented in the Super Bowl. Former Horned Frog Jared Retkofsky was the Pittsburgh Steelers’ long snapper in last year’s win over the Arizona Cardinals.

Eighteen former TCU football players have played in Super Bowls.

A Few Things I’m Thinking About Right Now…

1.  A new year is here, but the question is how do you say the year?  You would think “2010” is pretty simple, but maybe not.  I guess ESPN has directed its employees to say “Twenty-Ten”.  I prefer “Two Thousand Ten”.   I think most people say “N-C-Double-A” when referring to the “NCAA”, but I have know some people who call it the “N-C-Two-A”.   It’s all “tomato-tomahto” to me.

2.  There’s a big part of the Mike Leach/Craig & Adam James situation at Texas Tech that hasn’t been talked about much that applies to all sports.  First a disclaimer, what Leach did with Adam James was wrong, so I am not condoning Leach putting Adam in a closet by any means.  That said, Leach and his staff have characterized Craig James as a “helicopter dad”.  They say he has hovered around the practice field, called repeatedly and lobbied for more playing time for his son, Adam.  James has downplayed that characterization, but there has to be something to it.  My point is, by the time a parent send their kid to college that “kid” is a young adult.  At that time it’s time for “junior” to take care of things on his own.  If Adam James or any other 18-22 year old has playing time issues they should approach their coach themselves.  Is Craig James preparing Adam for life if he’s still calling coaches to talk about playing time?  I’ve seen and heard too many instances of parents crossing the line to think there’s nothing to Leach’s claim.  From parents calling the press box during a game to question a hit/error scoring decision to a high profile booster verbally lambasting a head coach for not playing his silver spooned kid more.  If the Adam James’ of the world can’t take care of themselves without hiding behind their parent’s coat tails by their third year in college, when are they ever going to take care of themselves?

3.  I love college baseball and college football, but I don’t love college football overtime rules.  I’m not a huge hockey or soccer fan, but I follow them a little bit, and I don’t like their OT rules either.  I wish both college football and the NFL would just go to a system where they kickoff in overtime and just ensure that both teams get the ball at least once.  Hockey and soccer at least play overtime periods, but if things still are not resolved they go to a shootout to break the tie.  What if baseball did something similar?  What if they started an extra inning with one out an a runner at second base like they do in some little leagues?  The epic Texas-Boston College 25-inning game might have ended after 12 innings.  Are you kidding me?  It’s not natural.  It’s not the real game.  The other sports should take a lesson from baseball (and basketball as well).  Either play the game from start to finish by one set of rules or just let it end in a tie.

4.  There has been a lot of talk over the last couple of weeks about teams like the Colts and Saints not playing their starters at the end of the NFL season.  Things like competitive fairness and fairness to fans paying for tickets to a game absent of stars are being looked into by the NFL.   College baseball (and really most college sports) really doesn’t have the luxury to sit players regularly, because every game really does mean something.  The best players typically play almost every game.  What about the MLB though?  Big League baseball players get frequent rests throughout the season, and that’s just the way it is.  I’ve gone to a Cubs-Giants game expecting to see Barry Bonds in the line-up only to see him sit on the bench for nine innings instead.   I might not like it, but that’s the way it goes.  To the victor go the spoils, and resting players is the spoil of teams that win.

A Look At Some Of The Stats Tate Has Put Up On The Gridirion & Diamond At Notre Dame

Golden Tate declared for the NFL draft on Monday (AP Photo)

college baseball one last go round.  After all, Tate was actually recruited by the Irish baseball team before ND football recruiting coordinator Rob Ianello got him on campus for a visit.

Tate also had the model of Jeff Samardzija, another former Irish two sport guy, to look at.  Samardzija was the guest speaker at the Notre Dame baseball Opening Night Dinner before last season and he prophetically told Tate “You might break my records, but you’ll never look this good.”

Like Tate, Samardzija didn’t burst on the national stage until after a monster junior season on the football field.  MLB scouts then flocked to Irish baseball games all spring in 2006, and Samardzija capitalized when he was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the first round, played minor league baseball that summer, and then caught more passes from Brady Quinn that fall.

Samardzija has something Tate doesn’t though (besides his trademark shaggy hair):  a 6’5 frame with an upper 90s fastball.  Tate is just 5’11, albeit with blazing speed, but he was still considered a work in progress on the baseball field.

With that said, Tate did play two seasons of college baseball, and he rewrote the Irish receiving record book in just three seasons.

Here’s a By The Numbers look at Tate’s two sport career at Notre Dame:

1,496…receving yards by Tate this season-a new Notre Dame school record

1,211…total receiving yards in his first two seasons combined…

15…touchdown catches in 2009 for Charlie Weis and the football team

16…career stolen bases with the Irish baseball team

93…football receptions in 2009-also a new school record

92…total bases on the diamond in 2009

(ND Photo)

8…straight games with a touchdown catch in 2009-a school record tied with Samardzija

8…doubles for the baseball team in 2009

2…games of 200-plus receiving yards this season-including a school record 244 vs. Washington

222…career at-bats as a baseball player

.329…batting average in 2009

63…career starts for baseball head coach Dave Schrage

64…combined receptions as a freshman and sophomore in 2007 & 2008

9…games this season with 100-plus receiving yards – another single-season school record

7…sacrifice bunts in 2009 – the second-most by an Irish player

1,915…all-purpose yards during the 2009 football season

1…Irish player with more all-purpose yards in a season – Tim Brown with 1,937 in 1986

1…career home run by Tate – a late inning longball that helped his team win a crucial late April series at Louisville

22…career base on balls drawn by Tate

23…his jersey number with the football team

32…Tate’s baseball number

21…RBIs in 2009

11…straight games with either a receiving, rushing or punt return TD in 2009

.813…OPS (on-base plus slugging %) in 2009

0…other college baseball players who are a 2009 Biletnikoff Award finalist

(Tate is one of more than 35 players who have been featured in the exclusive Collegebaseball360.com Two Sport Reports.)