We have finished our first conference weekend and felt disappointment in the finish. We lost a one-run game in the opener, and had a 4-1 lead after five innings in the last game and found ourselves on the bottom end of a 7-4 defeat. A split is good on the road, but you hope to get an edge at home. Hartford deserves the credit for a hard-fought split.

Yesterday, we dropped our seventh one-run game of the season to Marist on a walk-off single in the ninth. It was a good college game, and many of the guys who were rolled out there competed. The meat of the postgame discussion was geared towards something else, which is one of the biggest challenges we face as skippers.

A few of the comments by some of the troops led me to believe that they were pressing and trying to do more than they are required to do. I had to sit down a couple of guys and explain that the rules are the same for all of our group members. Discipline is difficult, and cannot be instilled overnight. It is a long journey and we all must be pulling at the same end of the rope, or we will not overcome. More importantly, these life lessons will be remembered and brought out in times of struggle for our guys. It is not a fun part of coaching, but a necessary act in order to have your ducks in a line.

With a strange Spring Break, we spent time today going back to the basics. Cuts and relays, and bunt defenses were run over and over until we had them down. A loose BP followed, and a trip to the softball game to support our ladies followed.

College baseball is the greatest game in the world to me. You get on a bus, listen to the guys joke and leave your problems at home to be a kid again. Coaching kids gives me a great joy, and we all need to look no further than the news on Iraq to feel our blessings. Tonight, the boys will feast at my house and hopefully accept the words of wisdom I laid upon them in the last couple of days. I am not perfect, nor am I an extraordinary coach, but I have been around this game enough to know that this game will challenge the strong and eliminate the weak.

In closing, the home plate umpire passed me yesterday and asked me how my daughter was. I was shocked to see how vast the COLLEGE BASEBALL INSIDER NATION has grown over the past two years!! Even umpires are reading the site? If we have guys in blue uniforms following the site in upstate N.Y., imagine how many we are touching.

Keep plugging in everyone.

For the guys who are playing the game, remember who the boss is at the end of the day. Also remember who your biggest fans are.

JM

(photo courtesy of Albany Media Relations Office)