On Mark Johnson, the CS Regional & the ultimate goal

Howdy TexAgs,

I come to you at the start of Regional Weekend, excited about the upcoming NCAA Division I playoffs (the ghost of Jim Mora is echoing in my head — PLAYOFFS? PLAYOFFS?)! More to come on the regional, but first, I wanted to address a subject that has a lot of meaning to me personally.

Mark Johnson was recently inducted into the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame. I am elated for Coach as he undoubtedly deserves this honor; this induction solidifies MJ into Texas A&M lore where he belongs. 

Most fans do not get to see or understand the relationship between a Division I coach and a Division I athlete. While many of you played sports at some point in your life, athletics at the Division I level is a completely different animal. The amount of time spent and the investment both physically and emotionally into the player/coach relationship is difficult to effectively describe. Players and coaches are together (for the most part) every single day, so the coach impacts the player and the player impacts the coach, and there is no getting around this fact.

Think about it ... outside of your family, who do you see EVERY single day? If you are like me, that list is fairly short. I definitely saw coach a lot during my four year tenure on the A&M baseball team. He was there working, sweating, motivating, teaching, disciplining and molding 18-year old kids into 23-year old young men every day, and I certainly was impacted by his mentorship. 

Throughout a player’s career, the relationship between coach and player has its ups and downs. Every scholarship baseball player comes to A&M as a proven athlete; typically the best player on his team since he began playing the sport at a young age. Then, that athlete arrives at the Division I level and all of the sudden he is just one of 25 (as in a 25-man roster) compared to being the best player on the team growing up.

That reality combined with the fact the coaches are tinkering and molding and correcting you as a player from day one creates a lot of tension and frustration from the player’s perspective.

I was no different, as it took me a year and half to crack the starting lineup and I was frustrated with the coaching staff at times. Additionally, I remember teammates going through the growing pains of making the leap from high school to A&M. For example, one of my teammates told me that Coach Johnson told him, “I do not think you are good enough to start at this level.” 

Let that soak in for a second ... how many people have been that honest with you about your skill set? My bet is whoever you are thinking about right now is held in high regard (if they communicated honestly and compassionately) as this truly shows how much he/she cared about you. This particular player, however, was a relentless worker and he ended up being a key cog for the A&M baseball team. My point with that story is this: 

•    Coach Johnson was not afraid to look you in the eye and tell it like it was.  
•    Coach Johnson also allowed you to prove him wrong with your work ethic and performance.  
•    Coach Johnson was not afraid to help you when you were in trouble.  
•    Coach Johnson was not afraid to discipline you.  
•    And after playing, Coach Johnson was there to be your friend. 

He never won a national championship and as a former player I hate that I could not be a part of a team that delivered that for him. But the older I get, the more I realize the impact he had on me as a person. And even for the many players who came to A&M with high hopes, only to see those hopes vanish during their tenures (and there are a lot of those), I believe after all the dust settled they would echo the same sentiments I just described about Coach Johnson.

So here’s to you Coach, congratulations on the induction ... you deserve it! Now, on to the weekend: IT’S TIME TO STEP UP! 

The Aggie Family is starving for a team in the big three — football, men’s basketball, or baseball — to get on a roll and win something big. I honestly believe our culture in the big three of not getting over the hump has a hangover effect on the players. The fans have the “here we go again syndrome” when something goes bad and, believe me, those feelings resonate all the way down to the field. If you think I’m wrong on this just read a game thread when things start to go awry for the Aggies.

To further demonstrate this point, let’s take a look at historical powers in sports: The Yankees, the Steelers, the Patriots and the Lakers are just a handful of franchises to examine. These great franchises find ways to snap victory from the jaws of the defeat while teams like the Royals, Bengals, Nets, etc. find ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. If we are all honest with ourselves we would place the Aggies closer to the latter category than the former, and that is what has to change. 

I give a lot of credit to Bill Byrne and his regime for creating a winning culture at A&M and it’s now time to take the next step. Believe me, coaches at the Division I level are competitive and they follow what their peers are doing, so don’t think for a second that the championships in golf, women’s basketball, and track don’t impact our university’s athletic program in a positive manner. Positive peer pressure is good, and big time coaches embrace that pressure and want to perform at a high level to validate their status.

The A&M baseball program is without question the most likely of the “Big 3” sports to win a national title in the near future, and this year has been another positive step towards achieving that goal. However, I’m on record stating this team does not have the horses to win a national title and I stand by that statement, but more importantly I hope this year’s team proves me wrong.

That said, the 2012 A&M squad is definitely a top-10 team and I will be extremely disappointed if they do not make it to Omaha. Furthermore, assuming they make a run to the CWS, I want to see them perform in the tournament with experienced leadership as I do believe this will make a huge difference.

The Aggies have a great draw this weekend with TCU, Ole Miss, and Dayton. In addition, I like the super-regional pairing too, so the stars seemed to have aligned for the Aggies. However, everyone is good at this point of the season so it comes down to execution and confidence.

TCU has had tremendous success recently, Ole Miss will be battle tested and Dayton is a tournament team so by definition it will be dangerous. But the truth is nothing on paper matters; it’s time for the players to do their jobs. The team that makes the fewest mistakes wins. If A&M is going to play small ball, than they need to execute every time, not some of the time.

All of the generic baseball terms (base running, defense, situational hitting, bunting, hitting cut-off men, etc.) have to be executed flawlessly by the Aggies. The reason these terms are redundant and generic is because they are used daily by baseball pundits. The reason they are used by baseball pundits is because they are fundamental. And no matter if you are in sales, law, manufacturing or if you are the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the fundamentals rule, and execution of the fundamentals will make or break each of the 64 teams in the NCAA Division I baseball tournament.

So that’s it. I am ready for a Texas Aggie team to blow my socks off. I am ready for a Texas Aggie team to do the unexpected. I’m ready for a Texas Aggie team to over achieve and to win the whole thing. Will this team do that? The journey starts this weekend and I’ll be watching with you all the way!

Gig ‘em Aggies!