I am too. Lane was Cohen's "good cop" as was Butch when they were all here. He's a tremendous recruiter and has given a lot of Mississippians a chance to play D-I baseball at La Tech and he has them as one of the top three programs in that league.
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The real issue with our schedule is we scheduled five SWAC teams. IMO we should have scheduled La Tech to start with and dropped Texas Southern, Grambling, or Pine Bluff. We also should have played USM in Pearl and someone like Tulane in Biloxi. I'd actually like to see us play LSU midweek in Biloxi but they aren't going to do it.
My guess at this time is that we will probably throw either Keegan James or Plumlee against them. Probably Keegan since I would imagine that we are going to want to get Plumlee back in the SEC weekend rotation as soon as we can. The recent rotation shake up has me wondering who we are going to pitch against Memphis because if it's Plumlee that could affect who we throw against Ole Miss. And it may be that they don't want to throw Plumlee again against Ole Miss since they have seen him before.
I don't either. I'd guess that travel is an issue because when we play in Pearl the players are probably back in Starkville around 1 AM which is like 10 PM for college kids. So, our team would have to stay overnight in a hotel or even possibly fly down so that they could get back at a reasonable time.
But that said, I agree that we should play a game there every year because it's good for baseball in the state of Mississippi and good for MSU and MSU baseball.
Personally I like Trustmark Park better than MGM but that's me.
I guess nobody wants to give up a weekend at Dudy Noble, but I wish we'd play a three game weekend down there before the conference season starts; ideally have a four team round robin, or if not, maybe have four teams and play two games each.
I probably am penalizing Trustmark because when I leave Trustmark I see Pearl and when I leave MGM I see the Mississippi sound.
I guess nobody wants to give up a weekend at Dudy Noble, but I wish we'd play a three game weekend down there before the conference season starts; ideally have a four team round robin, or if not, maybe have four teams and play two games each.
I probably am penalizing Trustmark because I prefer the coast to Pearl and Jackson.
I bet we could work out a deal with someone where we play them in Starkville one year and Biloxi the next. I bet South Alabama would love to play us twice- once in Starkville and once in Biloxi.
And I do agree that MGM has the decided advantage over Trustmark Park when it comes to backdrop and scenery and locale. Although Pearl has some nice conveniences. I wish the restaurants in Pearl would stay open until midnight after games like the Governor's Cup instead of closing at 10. Especially Moss Creek Fish House.
As I said.