No Respect for Raleigh

Pound for pound.. Rockhounds were, and are absolute the best players in Ral. period!

Hum, interesting.. am going to speed type a few thoughts... not sure that you have the right team here regarding the Rockhound roster, but from a purely "Historical" perspective. I can remember the coaches that were envolved, and not one of the coaches son played second base... after the first year of the organization. From another perspective, there were not just 2 Rockhound player that were any good, the entire team were among the best players out there... If you were as good as you say you were, I remember that the coaches were always moving players around and always looked at good players that came around to have the best players on the team. If you didn't try out in those days, that was YOUR bad kid..

I can remember clearly that the head coach never said no to a good player. He was always looking to find the next good player. And by the way from a "current" historical perspective everyone of the coaches sons even today, are extremely good players.. From what I understand 5 of the 6 are going to some really good schools curtesy of the base foundation they got from those Rockhounds, and Redwings..

Am sure that you are as good as you think you are, and am sure that many folks probably thought so as well. But the facts are the facts. In today's HS scene more often than not you will find that the best players that are there today as seniors and juniors, were at some point part of the Rec Program, that generated the Rockhounds and then after that, the Red Wings. Taking that further, if you were to track down the outside of Raleigh players, i.e. Durham you will find that even in the HS league in Durham, the top notch players were Rockhounds and Diamond players as well. Kid, the Diamonds, Rockhounds, and Redwings were not just good teams, they were great teams.

Lastly, interesting regarding your comment as far as the Charlotte area is concerned or team that won't come here, and specifically the influence of many teams just outside of the Raleigh area. From my experience as a Dad that traveled a great deal with his son, it has been and always will be a game in which you seek your next challenge. That was actually one of the areas in which those formal AAU teams made such a huge difference due to the amount of experience they received from traveling. Those teams went out and HUNTED the competition and tournies regardless of how good they were. Once again and without any BS, pound for pound in my opinion they were AND continue being among the best players out there today.

Buddy if you had the opportunity to be a Redwing or a Rockhound and you didn't tryout, you made a BAD choice.. regardless of how good you turned out as a player.. Why? cause you missed some awesome games with those two teams, in my opinion it was not who won the most, it was being part of those two teams when they were duking it out... Man those coaches and kids wage total war against each other, sometimes they lost and sometimes they won, but for the most part the families were good to each other and realized that there was always another tournament to go to, and that the goal was to meet each other again for bragging rights. and those are some of the best memories in my mind. Every Rockhound and Redwing played their hearts out against each other, and they did so till the last out...

Last note...

Interesting that other coaches from other teams are putting in a good word for you, why is it that other coaches are doing that and not YOUR coach. If your still playing you should sit down with your coach and find out why. Sometimes we see ourselves as something that we are not. And most of the time if we are as good as we think we are, your coach ALWAYS goes to bat for you... So dig in deeper and find out why... I know most of these HS coaches today, and they are very good leaders, some of course are over do for retirement, but nevertheless I have not seen any of them not speak up for one of their kids.. Something to think about..

 

hit a nerve

I think you should read before you post. My coach does speak highly for me. I just try to use other coaches I have played against and done well against for second opinions. Yes the rockhounds had both invites and tryouts, I am sorry you missed them. No, they werent the worldclass team that you claim they were. Yes, you had two coaches who had kids on the team, does the name Peanut refresh any memory. No, I am not the great player that you think that I think I am. They normally dont go to college, they go straight to the draft. Me, I just work hard and play the game for my coach, my team, and then myself. I do try to read and respond to the facts also.

 

Pound for Pound??????

Rockhound, in what year are you living??? Are you remembering 9&10 year olds where winning is that "important"??? The book you wrote makes little sense to anyone on this board. Live in the present. Are you saying that there are TWO travel ball teams that developed ALL the talent in Wake County??? Come on!!! I shouldn't write on this board after a few beers. I am just adding to the insanity.

 

In the day

The Durham Diamonds
The Durham Diamondbacks
The South Wake Storm
The Raleigh Red Wings
The RockHounds

There are the teams I can remember from the Raleigh Durham area. Fuquay had alot of players on the South Wake Storm teams. Fuquay also had the Fuquay Predators. South Johnston had the South Johnston Sabers. There was the Lumber and Lightning team I believe it was out of the Smithfield , Lee county area. Alamance county had the Alamance A's.
Kinston, Lenoir county had the Banks Blaze. And the Wilmington area had a couple of teams but I can not remember their name. Raleigh did have a very good team that was a year or two older at the time the Blaze. They were a very talented team made up of players from the Raleigh Cary Apex area.

Im sure I have missed a couple of teams. All of these teams had some really good players and the games were alot of fun and competitive. The coaching was very good imo.

I coached the Durham Diamonds and we eventually were the NC Baseball Aces and then the Durham Diamondbacks. It was alot of fun and we had some very good players. It was alot of fun to play against the area teams and of course we had our battles with the teams from the Triad and the Western part of the state. Teams such as the "Rowan Lightning"
"Rowan Stampede" "Catawba Valley Storm" "Triad Thunder" "River Bandits" "Davie BoSox" "Old Providence MudDawgs" "South Charlotte Panthers" "Rutherford Hawks" "Kernersville Cardinals" and a few more I know I am forgetting. Those were some great times and some great competition.

On my 10u AAU state title team we had 12 players. Out of those 12 - 9 will play in college next year. I would like to think that we had a little to do with helping them develop as players. But the fact is they were all very driven to be good. They all had a great work ethic and loved the game. Those were some great times I would not trade for anything.

 

First of all, thanks for the positive comment about my player that you think was a "no-brainer" for the region 3 team. I think he is a solid player myself. I do know of other catchers in the region that are just as deserving and are talented in their own right, but since I was not there, i cannot say definitively about the "policics" that may or may not have existed. Every year tough decisions are made regarding the state games selections. Heck, Wake COunty and Mecklenburg County could have their own teams not inclusive of the rest of the region and do just as well in the state games. With the high number of quality players in the regions, it is tough to pick these teams and invariably some very talented players are left off. That's a fact of life, like it or not.

Rarely do I mention anything about myself, but I do take offense at being "called out" by someone that may not know anything about who I am or what I stand for. I have been through the State Games twice as an asst, Head Coach for region 3 (Gold Medal), asst for the East, and Head Coach for East (won 2-3 series over west). It is not easy to pick the teams. As coaches we do have an idea of who the best players in our areas are ahead of time and sometimes these "known" players do have an advantage because of either reputation, or accomplishment. That's human nature... I can say there was never a time when I was involved that a person made the team that did not deserve to be there! Were there other players just as deserving? Most likely there were, however we did the best we could with the limited number of spots available. BUt dont just take my word on my beliefs, ask those on this board that know me, those who have played for me that post and those coaches and parents that have had their players and sons play for me... Do I know everything about baseball and recognizing talent? NO! There are smarter people and those with more baseball knowlege than I that post here. I just think that if you are calling me out then you ought to know that I call it as I see it.

Don't go out on a limb and make a judgement when you dont know all of the factors. Because I was not there, nor have I spoken to the coaches involved, I cant say anything about why certain players were chosen or not chosen. Just because you did not make the team doesnt mean you arent a heckuva player.... just go out and play hard and prove yourself. Let your play on the field do the talking, not your fingers on the keyboard or mouth.

Sorry for being so long winded, but I needed to get this off my chest!

 

I enjoy reading about players from all over the state. More capital area info would be welcomed on my part...

And to those who are trying to figure out how to "cure" the Raleigh area situation, I will say this... Sports Illustrated awarded Greenville as Sportstown USA in North Carolina. And for good reason. The success year in and year out at all age levels at all area schools (as I type this, all three area schools have advanced to the next round) is no fluke.

Research the way these players are groomed for baseball, football, etc with youth programs in the area and the community...i.e. Pitt County (as well as in middle school). It might give you some insight...

Peace...out

 

You definately have the BEST OFFICIAL LITTLE LEAGUE program in the State...

 

state games

Coach Evans - wasn't calling you out - just using your quote in the context of the post - I understand your position as a coach and I
would not expect you to agree which is fine - I would never say a
player is not deserving, but will say there were more than a few that
were much more deserving based on what they did on the field, not what conference or county they live in, and if the coaches choosing really cared to put together the best team they would have done a better job of researching and doing this, not just picking kids they know from their area - we all know it does not all come down to the tryout - much of the process is done before - it will never be perfect, but it has been subpar for to many years in this region.

 

Outstanding and very informative post

 

Raleigh is stacked with talent.

My son has played a lot of travel ball in and around Raleigh and I can tell you that there is tons of talent in that area.