Entry #73 - 12/5/08

This semester has really flown by. Our players will begin their final exams this weekend and most will be finished and done by the middle of next week. I am very optimistic that our guys will have a good semester academically. Bob Baker and our academic staff have done a great job this semester keeping our guys to task. Once final exams officially end there will only be 71 days until our first game. This semester has been very productive and there has been a lot that has occurred since our guys arrived on campus in late August.

I thought our fall season was as good as any that we’ve had since I have been at ETSU. This fall we tried to put our players in as many game like situations as possible. We wanted our guys to be in a competitive mindset every single day. We were able to really find out a lot about our new players and our returning players were learning to adapt as well. Our emphasis this year has been to get that “toughness” back in our program that was missing last season. Our players have been in some uncomfortable and tough situations this fall. Our goal was to get them comfortable with the uncomfortable. This spring we hope there won’t be a situation that arises that we won’t be prepared to handle, both mentally and physically.

We had some very good performances by many players this fall. Our new players showed a high level of skill and really caught up with the speed of the game in a hurry. This is an outstanding group who will be an exciting class to watch throughout their careers. There was also great improvement by many of our returning players. All of our returners have a lot of experience, so it was necessary that they begin to take their performances to a new level. In order to accomplish this, it wasn’t necessarily about them making great plays or great pitches. It was basically about them making fewer mistakes, not being selfish, playing the game the right way, being accountable for their performance and putting themselves in a position to be successful. Our coaching staff is very pleased with how much we have developed in these areas. Statistically the guys who had the best fall offensively were Paul Hoilman, Bo Reeder, Derek Trent and Garrett May. While on the mound our top performers were Cody Bentley, Dustin Plumlee, Bo Reeder, Ben Allen and Taylor Gouffon. Our pitching and defense were very good this fall.

This fall we also had an outstanding Alumni Weekend. It was very special to me because it just so happened that this weekend fell on the same day as my birthday. So much to my surprise, my wife Jody threw a surprise birthday party for me. I pride myself on being very observant to what goes on around me, but somehow she got this one by me. There was a wonderful turnout of former players. Many of whom I hadn’t seen in a couple of years. All of my family was in town from Atlanta and Florida. And many of our close friends from Johnson City and throughout the country were there. I was completely surprised and I was very humbled by the crowd. It meant the world to me to see all those in attendance. It was a very special evening that went on into the early morning of the next day. There were some great stories and memories shared by all. I don’t think a smile left my face the entire evening. I am so grateful to all those that shared in that special weekend. I will never forget it.

As we head into the holiday season I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. The holidays are always such special time of the year. Although our country’s current state of economy has caused a lot of anxiety in our society and in all of our homes, I hope we all can maintain and grasp what the holiday season is really about. It is spending time with family, friends and all your loved ones. We should all understand that no matter what the evening news portrays at times, we do live in the greatest country on earth. We are blessed to have so many freedoms that sometimes we tend to take them for granted. We all need to understand that nothing compares to the love and charity given from the heart. This time of year is defined as the season of giving, during which goodwill and random acts of kindness take center stage. These are the qualities that should define the holiday season. When all is said and done, our lives will not be remembered by how much we had or how expensive our taste was. What will be remembered is how much we gave of ourselves to others. Make this holiday season one that can be remembered for years to come.

Until Next Time…

COACH SKOLE