And The Valley Shook

Of Those that cover the Tigers, Who do you think has the fastest 40 time? Wrong, It's...

2010-03-15T16:45:55Z

Of Those that cover the Tigers, Who do you think has the fastest 40 time? Wrong, It's Gordy Rush

Spring Sports Highlights Video, Week of 3/14/10-LSUSports.net

2010-03-15T16:26:48Z

Spring Sports Highlights Video, Week of 3/14/10-LSUSports.net

Link Gumbo 3/15/10

2010-03-15T09:00:28Z

Fast in any Language, LoLo Jones.

Yes, we'll get to the baseball in a second, but over the weekend at the World Indoor Championships in Qatar, LoLo Jones (#12 on the Greatest Tigers of the Decade List) smoked the competition and set a new championship and American record in her collegiate specialty, the 60m Hurdles. Maybe it was the pep talk from Coach Shaver that helped her have such a great run.

What a dominating performance on the diamond this weekend, eh? We destroyed those birds.

Alright, so after all the bluster we gotta take some lumps this morning. Kansas came to town and left with our first series loss of the year (don't panic, remember Illinois). Friday saw a very bad outing for Bourgeois and a late rally that came up short. Saturday was The Blake Dean Show (Feat. Matty "Iceman" Ott). And on Sunday we were doing alright until, like clockwork, Rittiner broke down in the 5th with nobody warming. I'll leave the analysis to Poseur, but getting our starters out of there and getting quality time from middle relief has now gone from a slight worry to a full-on problem. And scuttlebutt on the interwebs says if Ranaudo is still hurting in practice today they may send him in for a scope surgery. Try not to Panic.

Stat of the weekend: Watkins HBP 4 times (3 on Saturday)

For those with some serious cash to burn, the Alex Box Auctions are entering their final weeks. Current personal favorite: The top of the scoreboard (Min bid $2500, What A Steal!)

Pro Day starts at 11am, LSUSports.net will have live results and video highlights throughout the day, I'll try to post as many as I can here. Meanwhile here's the recap of Saturday's scrimmage.

Jrlz Celebrates the Good Guys Vol. 1

2010-03-14T19:21:26Z

More photos » Phil Coale - AP

6 months ago: Miami coach Randy Shannon talks via his headset during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against Florida State, Monday, Sept. 7, 2009, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Phil Coale)

Browse more photos »

I'm in a good mood today, and it's football's off-season, so I feel like making a toast to college football's good guys. Time and time again I mention that I'm proud of LSU's recent lack of thuggishness (Toliver's incident notwithstanding) and I want to praise other programs and coaches for doing the same. This week, I'm proud to point out a coach that doesn't get enough due for choosing the high road- Miami's Randy Shannon.

Randy Shannon has obliterated the thug from Thug U. In 2006, Miami was involved in the most embarrassing moment ever in college football history- the brawl versus Florida International. Larry Coker was fired because he couldn't control his players. Randy Shannon had a tough job on his hands.

The U's return to prominence has been slower than most Miami fans would like, but Shannon is rebuilding it on a foundation of great character. Miami players are given strict regulations, and the results are stunning. When's the last time you remember a Miami player getting arrested? Maybe many times in the past, but not recently.

Miami is not the greatest city in the world. The area is dense with crime, and much of Miami area's football talent comes from these areas. If the football coach doesn't turn these young men into great people, who will? Remember, only a small portion of the football players go to the NFL even at a program like Miami. Most of them go straight from the football field to the community, and the U owes it to Miami that they make sure they return as great people, not just great athletes.

So a toast to Randy Shannon, one of football's good guys. I'll take him over Urban Meyer any day, and I mean it.

GAMETHREAD: v. Kansas (3GMS)

2010-03-12T21:19:37Z

So, not all Classic Logos are created equal...

Finally I don't have to go scouring through official athletics sites to get a bead on the opposition. Kansas (9-3) has already been destroyed by Arky (15-3) and Arky isn't having the best of years. Still, a series is different from a mid-week and the Jayhawks expect big things from their middle relievers.

This should be a great final warm-up before SEC play. If our own concerns about middle relief are true, it will definitely show this weekend. But even if we have problems, our offensive prowess should be enough to pull us out of a jam.

TV starts next weekend, and with no basketball, It's Hawthorne & Hanagriff all weekend long.

Weather will be just fantastic this weekend. 70 and breezy.

Still no official word on Landry's Hammy, but I still expect Deshawn to start for him, at least for tonight.

PITCHING MATCHUPS
Game 1 Fri 7pm
LSU - So. RHP Joey Bourgeois (2-0, 2.08 ERA, 17.1 IP, 7 BB, 16 SO)
KU - Jr. RHP T.J. Walz (2-1, 1.80 ERA, 20.0 IP, 5 BB, 18 SO)

*CHANGES AS OF FRIDAY POST-GAME COACHES SHOW***

Game 2 Sat 2pm
**SWAP** LSU - Jr. RHP Austin Ross (2-0, 5.28 ERA, 15.1 IP, 3 BB, 19 SO)
KU - Sr. RHP Cameron Selik (3-0, 1.40 ERA, 19.1 IP, 7 BB, 16 SO)

Game 3 Sun 1pm

**SWAP** LSU - Fr. LHP Jordan Rittiner (2-0, 1.29 ERA, 14.0 IP, 3 BB, 7 SO)
KU - Sr. RHP Brett Bollman (1-1, 3.86 ERA, 14.0 IP, 2 BB, 9 SO)

The Geaux Show for March 11th, 2010

2010-03-12T19:34:00Z

Big Wee, Poseur, and Pat chat about Toliver Ridin' the Lightning, spend way more time on LSU Basketball than intended, and lay the smack down on a whinny Kansas blogger.

A Day In The Life of Paul Mainieri- Daily Rev

2010-03-12T17:00:39Z

A Day In The Life of Paul Mainieri- Daily Rev

Link Gumbo 3/12/10

2010-03-12T14:50:30Z

via cache.gawkerassets.com

I always have a few choices for what I lead off with, but today was easy. It would seem our fearless leader, lord, and master, Steampunk Emperor of the Kingdom of Mingovia, will allow the peasants to chose a new Name of the Year instead of thoroughly crushing the competition again. Praise our emperor for this mighty show of compassion.

So the long nightmare is over now. Tasmin Mitchell ends his stellar career at 1989 points. Hawthorne said it alot on the radio, but it bears repeating that we may not see another player like Taz for a long time.

Ready to stuff a ballot? The NCAA is polling for the All-Time Rosenblatt Team and quite a few Tigers have been nominated. Do your civic duty.

News from Spring Ball: The 5-man rotation on the OL isn't happening or at least not in practice so far. Dandy Don is off IR and back at practice. And here's Toliver not catching a pass.

Series with Kansas starts tonight at 7pm. Landry (Hammy) will likely join Ranaudo on the bench this weekend, Johnny Dishon will likely get the start.

After the break, THE MOST IMPORTANT NEWS IN THE HISTORY OF LSU...

Kansas Blogger Gets Uppity

2010-03-12T01:23:27Z

Here I was, having a slow week here at Poseur HQ and letting the boss drive the big ship and take a backseat for LSU's inevitable loss in the basketball tourney. It's a busy week for me both personally and professionally, as work demands took up lots of time and mental energy, coupled with the impending visit of my mother, which sucked up all my remaining energy and time. So we were likely headed for a week without a baseball post as I couldn't really get juice up for another tune-up series, especially one without Ranaudo pitching.

Then the Kansas blog comes and saves the day.

The last time KU visited LSU in 2003 the Jayhawks stunned pretty much everyone by sweeping the series. Over the last few years I have not kept my dislike of SEC baseball a secret, so, not surprisingly, I will be more invested in the outcome of this series than most. SEC baseball teams have rubbed college baseball fans across the nation the wrong way for decades by their refusal to play non-conference road games and the favoritism they receive most years from the NCAA tournament committee. Many college baseball fans think that SEC teams should either prove themselves by scheduling quality non-conference road games or drop their sense of entitlement.

I can't speak for the rest of the SEC, but I know what fuels LSU's sense of entitlement. All of those titles. LSU doesn't have to prove diddly squat to Kansas. Look at the billboard in right field, those are our tough OOC games. We played them in Omaha.

It's not that LSU "refuses" to play to tough OOC games on the road. Heck, I would like for LSU to schedule a tough non-conference series as well. But until another program starts bringing in 9000 fans per game, we're gonna keep playing games at home. Why lose money to play on the road to help build up baseball in another region when the program can actually make money, make the tourney, and then play for national titles? And I'm certainly not going to take crap for our schedule from a fan of team that just played two NAIA schools.

I'm not sure we've rubbed fans the wrong way across the country. OK, there's some bad blood with UC-Irvine and USC, but anyone who has ever been to Omaha can report to the good feelings the locals there have towards LSU. Maybe they are lying to us, but if so, they are really good liars. I haven't really heard of LSU rubbing other fans the wrong way across the country except for the way we, you know, beat them.

In keeping with their flightless tradition, LSU's first twelve games were played at home against less than impressive opponents. This season all but 2 of LSU's 26 non-conference games will be played in Baton Rouge, and the two road games will still be in Louisiana. Last year the first non-conference game the Tigers played outside Louisiana was at the College World Series! If KU can take two of three games in Baton Rouge I am sure they will be back in the national rankings and will have made a lot college baseball fans happy.

Yeah, and what happened when we went outside Louisiana? Oh, that's right. We won the national frickin' title. So how exactly is not playing outside Louisiana HURTING the program? If it's making LSU money and resulting in titles, isn't that a good thing? And it's not like going into New Orleans to play Tulane every year is some layup game. The reason LSU doesn't have to leave the state is that there are other good baseball programs in the state.

I think there are people who want to see LSU to lose, not because of some nefarious scheduling, but because nobody likes the big bully on the block. We're the top of the mountaintop, so other teams want what we have. That's the way it's supposed to work. But I honestly don't think there's anything to this hatred more than seething resentment.

We're better than Kansas. We're a lot better. Sure, we might drop a game or even the series... we have to lose eventually. But here's the great thing, we don't care if we lose a series in March. Because one of these two programs will still be playing in June, guess who that will be? Things have changed a bit since 2003 around these parts. This ain't the Smoke Lavall Era anymore. We fire coaches for not winning enough games in Omaha here. No program has higher expectations than LSU. We ain't ducking anybody, we just know the season's success is not determined by beating Random School U in March. It's made by beating the very best teams in the country in June.

Oh, is that rubbing Kansas the wrong way? Then don't poke the tiger(s) with a stick. We bite.

One Last Chance: SEC Round. 1 v. UT @2:15ish

2010-03-11T18:38:16Z

Dave Martin - AP

4 days ago: LSU forward Tasmin Mitchell waits his turn to run a drill during NCAA college basketball practice on Wednesday, March 10, 2010, at the Southeastern Conference tournament in Nashville, Tenn. LSU will play Tennessee on Thursday. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

View full size photo »

Hey, it could happen.

Game is on WAFB in BR and some SECNet affiliates elsewhere. Also on ESPN360.com if you have Cox Cable.

Link Gumbo 3/11/10

2010-03-11T14:36:47Z

As seen above, CPM is doing a few more line up changes while we still have time to test things. Moving Ross to Sundays with availability on Friday is probably just a move to shore up middle relief while Ranaudo is still out. Bourgeois, on the other hand, has been impressive in his starts and may have earned himself the midweek starters job once Ranaudo comes back.

Weather should be nice and warm for Spring Ball today. Expect lots of shots of Toliver trying to catch a pass with that cast on. The Rev has a short profile on the most important recruit of the incoming 2010 class, Brad "Wing It" Wing.

Basketball's tourney run for an auto-bid to the NCAA's (keep hope alive, folks) begins today at 2:15pm CST (or whenever the 1st game ends). These 1st few rounds are on SECNet (WAFB in BR) and on ESPN360.com. At least one person isn't happy about having to play us.

So Ends The Box

2010-03-11T02:52:53Z

So Ends The Box

Link Gumbo 3/10/10

2010-03-10T14:45:53Z

Terrance Toliver and Les Miles After Practice Press conference 3/9/10

Toliver used the beginning of CLM's daily press meeting to apologize for his actions. He suffered a small fracture in his left hand during the altercation. Miles says he will practice the remainder of the spring in a cast and will be expected to participate and make catches as if he weren't injured. No other punishment will be levied, and this is likely the end of it.

Baseball thoroughly annihilated Monroe last night 18-7, with gaudy sat lines for almost everybody. Only guys who had a bad night were Gaudet, who's slump continues, and starting pitcher Reed who struck out 2 in the 5th with one on and then proceeded to walk 3 straight batters, forcing Mainieri to pull him. His replacement, Riedie, had a horrible outing allowing 4 more runs to just 2 batters in the 5th and was pulled for Alsup. Reeds numbers now look pretty bad for last night, but he really pitched well until it fell apart in the 5th. Still, it's nice to be an SEC team that actually won last night.

Tonight's game against Natchitoches in Shreveport has been rescheduled for April 20th due to the threat of rain. It will still be at the Fairground field and all tickets are good for the rain check.

Mitchell was named 2nd team All-SEC for the season. Farrer was named to the Community Service team.

A full day of press conferences from the other Spring sports yesterday, I've posted them after the jump.

D.D. Breaux (GYM)

D Shaver (T&F)

K. Bahnsen (W Golf)

BASEBALL GAMETHREAD v UL-M @ 6:30

2010-03-09T22:20:47Z

via www.vector-logos.com

Another case of the old logo being better than the new one.

Honestly, a good chance this one gets rained out, or else played on really soggy turf.

Leaders on offense for the ~~Indians~~ WarHawks are Judd Edwards at .444 and Nick Wade at .364 with 10 RBIs. ULM is 5-4 with a season opening win at Ole Miss.

PITCHING MATCHUP
LSU - Fr. RHP Michael Reed (0-0, 7.71 ERA, 4.2 IP, 3 BB, 1 SO)
ULM - Sr. RHP Corey Brown (0-1, 9.64 ERA, 9.1 IP, 5 BB, 8 SO)

The Final Days of the Old Alex Box-LSUSports.net Shame they couldn't save the facade

2010-03-09T19:11:41Z

The Final Days of the Old Alex Box-LSUSports.net

Shame they couldn't save the facade

Link Gumbo 3/9/10

2010-03-09T15:03:42Z

If you weren't worried about Ranaudo before, It may be time to get concerned. After only an afternoon of pitching, Mainieri had decided to pull him from the rotation for another week. That means heading into SEC play, his only warm up this season was the 5 innings against Centenary in the opener. Of more immediate concern is who will start Sunday after a long week that will surely deplete the staff. FR RH Michael Reed will get the start against the ~~Indians~~ Warhawks tonight.

Spring Ball resumes today, and judging by the weather outside my window, it'll probably be indoors again. Laney at the Advoc has an interview with LB Kelvin Sheppard about taking a leadership role on defense.

The story continues to turn on the incident at Fred's on Saturday. While Toliver claims he was trying to break up a fight, BRPD says he was a party to the fight and had to be tasered twice. Miles is waiting till he can get a copy of the police report before taking any disciplinary action. Meanwhile CTJ will not be suspending Harris for his role in the incident, though he mentioned his own concerns that both Harris and Garret Green were out past 1 am when they are both currently trying to recover from some lingering back issues. And I don't know if it's out of context or a backhanded compliment, but this quote is pretty funny.

"A fight?" Johnson said. "You guys have seen Dennis play basketball, haven’t you? Does he look like a guy who’s going to fight anybody?"

Link Gumbo 3/7/10

2010-03-08T17:20:38Z

via cdn0.sbnation.com

"I just thank God for this," Mitchell said. "God and Bo Spencer."

It could not have been scripted better. After a season full of games where things never went our way, finally it was the other guys who couldn't get off the final shot. Spencer's long 2 sealed the 50-48 victory. Mitchell had a fantastic performance with 20 points that puts him at 1,979 with the only the opening round of the SEC tourney left. We will play #13 Tennessee Thursday @ 3:15 (SECNet). Full Replay of the game after the break.

Key word from the 1st week of practice: physical, physical, physical. Much praise was made of the new "Big Cat Drill" which sounds like a base form of Sumo Wrestling:

The drill has the team standing in circle and cheering as two of their mates go head-to-head inside the ring, offensive line men vs. defensive linemen, running backs vs. linebackers and receivers vs. defensive backs.

Baseball swept the weekend, with an impressive pitching performance by Bourgeois and Rittner. Who's worried about not having Ranaudo? (Before you get the shakes, he's due to start Sunday against Kansas) No rest for the weary as we start a 5 game week against USL on Tuesday then travel to Shreveport for a game against Natchitoches on Wednesday.

The Lady Tigers did not have a great weekend, getting bounced from the SEC tourney in the 1st round by Vandy, 63-61. Despite a 15-3 lead to start the game, and some valiant work in the final minute, LSU did not make the Saturday round of the SEC for the 1st time since 2001.

LSU wide receiver Terrance Toliver was one of three men issued a misdemeanor citation early Sunday...

2010-03-08T01:42:30Z

LSU wide receiver Terrance Toliver was one of three men issued a misdemeanor citation early Sunday morning for participating in a fight outside a Baton Rouge bar, sources at LSU confirmed.

Toliver, who is from Hempstead, Texas, was tasered by Baton Rouge City Police at 2 a.m. outside of Fred's, a lounge located in the Tigerland area, according to a police spokesman. He was charged with disturbing the peace, public intoxication and interfering with a police officer.

...

LSU men's basketball player Dennis Harris was also issued a citation for interfering with a police officer.

LSU men's basketball Coach Trent Johnson said through the sports information office that he will meet with Harris as soon as possible but would not comment until his Monday press briefing.

Terrance Toliver tasered, Dennis Harris cited for role in bar fight-Times-Pic

Brown Pepper: Weekend Series Thread (3GMS)

2010-03-06T00:00:06Z

First up tonight @ 7, Brown out of the Ivy league. Their season started just a few hours ago, beating the Fightin' Peppers 8-7 after being down 7-4 heading into the 8th.

We play Pepperdine again tomorrow @ 7 (after they play each other again) and Brown again on sunday @ 12. No TV.

Pitching matchups

Brown at LSU, 7 p.m. Friday
LSU - Jr. RHP Austin Ross (1-0, 3.60 ERA, 10.0 IP, 1 BB, 13 SO)
BROWN - TBA

Pepperdine at LSU, 7 p.m. Saturday
LSU - So. RHP Joey Bourgeois (1-0, 3.48 ERA, 10.1 IP, 5 BB, 13 SO)
PEP - Jr. LHP Matt Bywater (1-0, 0.64 ERA, 14.0 IP, 5 BB, 14 SO)

Brown at LSU, 12 p.m. Sunday
LSU - TBA
BROWN - TBA

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (Analysis)

2010-03-07T00:27:15Z

More photos » Bill Feig - AP

8 days ago: LSU forward Tasmin Mitchell, center, attempts to get between Georgia's Albert Jackson, left, and Trey Thompkins, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, March 6, 2010, in Baton Rouge, La. (AP Photo/Bill Feig)

Browse more photos »

Taz led LSU scoring with 20 points, but this was a team effort. Bo Spencer was 3 for 12 from the field, but he was accurate when it counted. With 19 seconds left, Bo Spencer sank a long two to give LSU a 50-48 edge that would be the final score.

Let us all sing the praises of Gingerbeast. 2 points and 3 rebounds doesn't give Eddie Ludwig's performance justice. Ludwig pestered the Bulldogs to no end, keeping the Bulldogs out of rhythm and grabbing a whopping four steals (phenomenal for a big man). Perhaps his biggest play was keeping the possession alive by saving the ball after a bad Taz shot, flinging out to Populist, who sank a HUGE three.

There is still that tasty chance for LSU to win the SEC tournament and earn a shocking bid to the dance, but it is literally win or go home from here, and our first game is against a very good Tennessee team. But if we play like we did tonight, who knows? I challenge the Tigers to do something special.

Let's hear that Katamari song again. It's the sound of energetic joy, which is what I'm feeling right now.

We Love Katamari - Katamari On the Swing (via clementsongs)

And The Valley Shook

Of Those that cover the Tigers, Who do you think has the fastest 40 time? Wrong, It's...

Spring Sports Highlights Video, Week of 3/14/10-LSUSports.net

Link Gumbo 3/15/10

Jrlz Celebrates the Good Guys Vol. 1

GAMETHREAD: v. Kansas (3GMS)

*****CHANGES AS OF FRIDAY POST-GAME COACHES SHOW*******

The Geaux Show for March 11th, 2010

A Day In The Life of Paul Mainieri- Daily Rev

Link Gumbo 3/12/10

After the break, THE MOST IMPORTANT NEWS IN THE HISTORY OF LSU...

Kansas Blogger Gets Uppity

One Last Chance: SEC Round. 1 v. UT @2:15ish

Link Gumbo 3/11/10

So Ends The Box

Link Gumbo 3/10/10

BASEBALL GAMETHREAD v UL-M @ 6:30

The Final Days of the Old Alex Box-LSUSports.net Shame they couldn't save the facade

Link Gumbo 3/9/10

Link Gumbo 3/7/10

LSU wide receiver Terrance Toliver was one of three men issued a misdemeanor citation early Sunday...

Brown Pepper: Weekend Series Thread (3GMS)

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (Analysis)

*CHANGES AS OF FRIDAY POST-GAME COACHES SHOW***