Miscellaneous Stuff

Question for Gonzo

I hope you don't mind me asking you this on the board.

Your son had a great career in HS. How is he doing now? Can you share a little bit about his transistion from HS to college?

 

Good question Braves. The change has been fairly smooth for him. I got lucky with a fairly good kid, who has been through alot with me (divorce, changing custody, moving, etc..) so he was fairly mature about the ways of the world. So he did not get to college and have traumas about "missing mommy and daddy". So his transistion to a life where he is "on his own" has been smooth. He had two real issues. The first was a roommate issue. I think there was too much ego in the same 9x14 room. These boys are all fairly spoiled, and suddenly having to share a closet with another boy can cause some problems. Fortunately, there was a vacant room next door and his roommate was allowed to move next door, problem solved. Today they are best buds again.

Secondly (and maybe MOST important), he found out what they meant by college conditioning. His coach told him during the summer that if he could make it through fall and winter conditioning without tossing his cookies he was in shape. Alas, he did not make it. He did not have a clue what a REAL workout program was. Of course to make matters worse, most of his workouts were senior teammate driven, so they had their change to "abuse the plebs". They were pushed unmercifully all fall. And when they were not out running distance or sprints, they were hitting the weights.

Study habits are an issue. Something these boys need to realize is most college professors have a bit of an attitude about athletes. He was a bit surprised when he got his midterm grades. Miss a worksheet here, a quiz there and suddenly your grades stink. And he was surprised that the professors did not pull him aside and counsel him on this. Surprise boys, you (or your parents) are paying to go to college. There is not state board working to make sure all students advance at the same pace. Studying, turning in your assignments (on time or at all), attending class, all of these things are on you. Mommy, Daddy, attendance monitor at school, these are all high school things. Find a teammate who has good study habits and hook up with them. Study, workout, run, study, play baseball, eat do laundry (that's right boys, you do your own laundry), sleep. You will sleep, see item number two.

Sorry Braves, little long winded, hope this helps. To recap, his transistion baseball wise has been fairly good. Coach likes him, still swings stick well, wants to DH him some this year, probably will not get a great deall of position playing time, will probably get some pitching time. (Yes, as it stands right now he may get a shot to be a two way player, alot depends on how hard he is willing to work). Hope this helps

 

i'll have my son read this.
Good Luck to Your Son

 

What a terrific...and very honest...report!

You see it ALL the time. The high school star, whose innate abilities make him a standout in that environment, suddenly finds himself in the midst of a team of similar standouts...and they all find that the coach expects them to do SO much more than they ever dreamed of doing up until then. And, by the way, it is college, which expects college-level attention and quality in the classroom.

My money's on Gonzo's son to succeed in the transition. For those of you who are hoping to have the opportunity to confront the college baseball challenge one day, read Gonzo's post and know it to be the truth.

 

Wow...great reply Gonzo. Listen, you could have gone another ten pages and you wouldn't have lost my interest.

I'm happy for **** and you. He's a great kid and a terrific athlete. I can hardly wait to hear and (read) his accomplishments this Spring. Keep us posted

And thanks again for a terrific post!

 

wow..does this paragraph bring back some memories. I was in the same situation but i was ready to go my soph year.

 

Hey Bear, I can't let you go after that statement. Elaborate about what happened.

 

Thought I was in pretty good shape..until I got to college! My freshman year was pretty tough. We ran and ran and ran some more. I thought I was running track instead of playing baseball. Had to break a 5 minute mile the first day of practice. If you dint do it, you ran it the next day and the next until you made it. I think it took me 15 tries to make it. I made it the first day my soph year!

 

Tell us about your college experience. Obviously, you were in a SEC program. What was that like for you? ..and where did you go to HS?

 

Gonzo, glad to hear that your son is doing well. I heard just this past weekend that his roommate is no longer in school. Is that true?