Impact Baseball

I will agree that he does a great job on his reports. Most of the reports I have seen are dead on, but I have seen some kids he's inflated a little, although that doesn't happen often. But, when you say he's not making money, come on! Think about how much he charges kids to attend his showcases, then $50 for each subscriber which happens to be either the players that attended, their parents or scouts. He may not be making millions, but ask around and he ain't exactly losing money and lots of the people reading his site would love to be making the type of money he's making off them. This guy is a great business man and he's doing exactly what every business owner should do and that is make money, but I believe if his website didn't relate to our kids we may see a different picture. I think Andy either needs to hire someone to help run his website and post reports regularly or he needs to drop the subscription price to view the reports. That would be a simple fix and would stop the few complaints that are said. That's all I have against his website, is that I pay my subsription and get about one to two reports a week and I don't feel I'm getting my money's worth.

 

Magnum, I'm not saying you're wrong in your opinion of the website, but there are some things that you do not know:

1. Unfortunately, many people that do visit the site are not paying members.
2. I know the profit that Andy made last year and I hope you trust me in this...he would have made more as a McDonald's Assistant Manager.

Andy has a passion for HS baseball and the players. He has sacrificed his life devoting himself to helping these young men. It certainly wasn't for the monetary gains. As I stated, he could qualify for food stamps with the profits he makes. I'm sure he would be uncomfortable reading me say that, but it is the truth and to me it's another example of the commitment he displays.

Understandably, people get upset when he doesn't recognize or mention their son's name. But remember this

- Two years ago Andy could speak authoritatively about the Eastern NC players, but knew very little of the Western guys. He made a point of traveling the Western side the past two years to get an upclose observation.
- There is no way one person can see everyone, but he comes closest to do that than anyone else.
- His opinions are just that. What weight you choose to give it is up to you. I have gotten to know Andy and I give a lot of weight to his credibility. Do I share all his opinions?...of course not. He doesn't agree with me on everybody...so he can't be 100% correct

But I'll tell you what I learned from this board. If I post names on here and I have left someone off for whatever reason, you can be sure I will have an email telling me how stupid I am not including Johnny so and so. It's not that I didn't think Johnny was good, I just haven't seen him play and I'm not going to post something about Johnny that I heard from somebody else.

I had one parent rip me on his message board because he felt I only talk about players from Charlotte...Duh! I live in Charlotte and most of the players I see play in this region. But I will also talk about players that I've seen from across the state. But I can only mention the one's that I see. One last thing and I will leave this alone. If I post about a player it's going to be positive, but TBR is not Impact. Anybody can post their opinions about a player on here and that fact I believe gets missed. If someone knows of a player that deserves recognition ...please post it. This is not a job for us. We don't make our living posting on TBR. Our opinions are no better or worse than anyone elses, but the only thing I ask is if you are going to post something about a player, please keep it positive. There is no HS player that deserves to be ambushed or slammed.

As far as Andy is concerned...You da man!!! Keep up the great work!!!!

 

Andy really cares about the players more than anybody realizes. I do think that he tends to promote "his boys" over other players and $50 when the website isn't updated is a bit much. Now for the good stuff...he has focused a lot of attention on NC players. Just look at the schools that are courting the '05's. In this area, the Hill Family at On Deck gets a lot of credit for their efforts, but Andy has done a great job of getting players recognized and boosting them to the next level. Some day people will name North Carolina as one of the top baseball states because of the attention these people have drawn to NC players.

 

Exactly what needs to be reported on as we approach the end of AUGUST??? Maybe Impact should cover the LLWS, or better yet -- the OLYMPICS!!! C'mon, there isn't that much going on right now.

 

TBR Fall Fishing Tournament is coming up..it's always a hot topic in August

 

For the record for all those that seem to be offended, I am not saying Andy does a bad job at all. I personally think he does a great job and I appreciate all he does to improve the notoriety that he gives high school baseball athletes. HS baseball always gets put on the back burner and he is attempting to improve that. So, I do appreciate what he does. Maybe I said the wrong thing or said something in the wrong way, so I'm sorry if I have. I don't have a baseball webpage, and I don't want to try to create one. So, I'm glad he has taken the initiative to do that. I do not appreciate me saying my opinion about a certain topic and some people acting like I just slapped their mama. All that I meant to say is if he is going to charge for something like his web page he should do more articles. And yes it is the fall and their isn't much going on, but he hasn't finished reporting on the state games, he hasn't done any articles like he used to on coaches, but he did put up an article today naming Chad Flack the Impact POY. Congratulations to Chad, by the way. I personally liked the interviews with the current seniors he used to do, but I haven't seen many of those lately either. I am expressing my opinion to Andy about what I would like to see and it is just that, an opinion. I know he looks at this webpage and I know he sees the comments and that's why I post them here. I am not meaning to degrade him in any kind of way and I don't think my comments have done that. I apologize again if they have.

 

I didn't take your post that way at all. I thought the way you posted your opinion was excellent. I just wanted to point out a few things that people didn't know about Andy and while posting, I rambled on about something pertaining to this board. I wish everyone that disagrees with something would do so in the mature way that you did.

 

I have been reading the input on Andy and Impact Baseball and must share my recent experiences. My son went last fall to the Impact showcsae at Wilmington and it was a wonderful experience. There were over 25 college coaches and lots of reps for the kids so they could be evaluated. My son did get noticed and has been getting recruited by several schools since then. We also attended the one day workout session at Winthrop in June and there seemed to be about 15+ coaches present and once again enough reps for the kids to be seen. In early August we drove from Charlotte to Myrtle Beach for the one day session at Coastal Carolina. This program was a big disappointment, (time and money) because there were only 1 or 2 college coaches present and the kids got limited opportunity to show their skills. An example of this was the hitting session, which consisted of 8 swings only from a very inconsistent batting practice pitcher. The entire day seemed to be one of let's see how quick we can get this thing done. I agree that Andy has done a lot to get kids noticed but this was far from his best effort. I think he needs to hear this feedback as any good business person should, so they can improve their product and service.The other concern I have from Impact is the limited amount of feedback you get even if you pay for the website. I did subscribe to the site last year and found very little feedback about many of the kids including my son who participated in the Showcases. There are usually over 75 + kids at these showcases and only about 10 to 15 kids get mentioned in the write ups. The only reason I mention this is to compare it to a similar showcase ( not Impact ) we attended recently which gives you free access to their site.They do a good bio on all the kids listing strengths, weaknesses, rating levels and access to video of the players. The cost of this Showcase was about the same as Impact's and provides coaches and participants free access to information. The moral of this soap box is...thanks to Impact for what you haveand will do for our kids but buyers be aware of the other options available for your limited time and :huh: :huh: hard earned dollars.

 

Keep giving this guy your money all your doing is making him rich Good players will be found. If he want's to do a web site to promote kids in north and south Carolina well and good. promote them all not just the ones that go to an impact showcased for a weekend because they have the money to go.There are alot of good players that do not attend these events.

 

Hello -

It must be late August...

First, thanks to all the people who make this message board possible. What a great place for folks to gather and exchange information.

Second, thank you to all who have had positive things to say about Impact Baseball. It is neat to get on this message board and read what all of you have to say. And, thank you for all the feedback. It has really helped...

Let's refresh ourselves on this beautiful morning on what Impact Baseball is here for:
Goal #1) Help college coaches and pro scouts
Goal #2) Help "college bound" players
Goal #3) Promote high school baseball

Website: www.IMPACTBASEBALL.com is there for viewers to use. If you want to subscribe and read the articles and get the Prospect Lists you can do it. If you do not like it - don't subscribe.

Bottom line on showcases: If you can play, our showcases can REALLY help you. If you can not play, you are going to have a bad experience.

'highntight' - We are excited that your son got feedback from college coaches from our Underclassman Showcase. That is what our showcases are here for. As far as our "Open Workout" at Coastal Carolina - our "Open Workouts" are NOT a showcase and is not advertised as one. It is a tool to aid players in the process of how to get better, educated players on what college coaches look for, give them experience on how to go through the popular 'pro style' workout and give us a first hand look at each player.

As far as player feedback, we DO NOT charge $500 like most other showcases. If we did, we would post profiles and scouting reports on all those players. We would hire a full time peron to do those duties. But - we do not charge that kind of money. Sorry... And nobody in this area can touch our showcase price for what they get.

College Coach Feedback - A day after one of our showcases is over, I am on the horn talking with coaches. Many call me and want to know "who's good?" So, I tell em.' If I think kid is a potential pro guy, I let the scouts and the MLB scouting bureau know.

Profiles: We have talked with numerous college coaches, and they could care less about website profiles. We used to do them, but now we don't. You can 'say' or 'write' all you want about a kid, but the coach wants to see him in person. If you don't believe me, call the coaches.

I have an idea - Let's think for a moment about player's weaknesses.
- If a guy can not throw - do you need somebody to tell you that?
- If a guy runs a 7.8 sixty - do you need somebody to tell you he is slow?
- If a guy can not hit - do you need sombody to tell you that he can't hit?
- If a guy throws 77 mph - do you need somebody to tell you he needs to build arm strength?
- If a guy thinks he's a shortstop and he runs a 7.6 sixty, can not throw it to firstbase from 150 feet, and he has to hit it twice to get it to the fence - does somebody really have to say "you are not a DI guy." ?

Best advice: The player and the parents need to open their eyes and identify that player's weaknesses. The only way to get better - is to work harder on your weaknesses, right?

Just trying to do my portion...

PS: Braves - I am ready for my interview whenever you are.