Augie speaks

I finally got to see parts of the postgame press conference last night, and it made me a little sick to my stomach watching Kyle Russell trying to defend himself.

I hate thinking that anyone associated with UT athletics, be they fans, reporters, coaches, whatever, would make him feel the way he obviously felt after that game and has probably felt all year long. The fact that HE apologized to "us" ... the fact that he actually had to say "I have done everything I can for this team, but I can't be perfect, and I'm sorry" ... it's just a little disgusting.

I really hate that he and Jordan Danks never got to play in Omaha, but I hate even more that they apparently feel like what they did in their 3 years here doesn't matter at all. I know that it was right after his last game in a Texas uniform and the end of a disappointing season, but it was still clear that he has felt some pain and frustration all year long, and it just sucks that his career as a Longhorn had to end like that.
 
I like Kyle Russell and Jordan Danks and a lot of other players on this team, but clearly something wasn't right with the chemistry.

The team lacked the get in your face kind of players that refuse to lose. Chance Ruffin is the closest thing to that and you can't play him everyday, even though we tried. So I guess its kind of a lack of a killer instinct.

Also, the number of errors this team made this season is simply a lack of focus and concentration which I think is also a part of that killer, we will not lose attitude.

Just my opinion.

Hook em
 
Thank interview with Kyle Russell was very disheartening. The kid is so talented, so smart, and so hard on himself. I wish he had just said "you know what, any of you who are disappointed with me can go F yourselves", but he's too classy for that.

That said, he doesn't HAVE to end his career this way, and neither does Jordan Danks. I'm not saying they should return for their senior seasons, as that cripples their draft status, but others have made that choice.
 
Russell needs to suck it up a little. i am sure everyone is proud of his contribution. He has the homerun record in only 3 years.
He should be disappointed in his career here and is natrally a little defensive right now.

I am sure his goal was to get to Omaha or at the very least win at least one regional.

That play needed explaining and if he took it on himself to bunt the ball then he should be big enough to take the heat when it goes bad.

I am not discounting his contribution to the team though!!!! He is one of the main reasons for the turnaround late in the season (also a main reason for the slump earlier in the season)

Pike
 
He did take responsibility for it, but iIt's not even about the bunt. I think it's everything. I think it's the fact that he turned down a professional contract to come back, couldn't do anything right for the first two thirds of the season, and then made a decision at the end that he thought was the right call, it didn't work out, and now everyone wants his head on a platter.

You know what? **** happens. People can say his decision to come back was pride or vanity or whatever. To me, it was courage. It probably hurt him tremendously, and he probably knew it would, but he did it. And even after he fought and struggled through two months of the season, he gave it one last push and dragged this team through the month of May. Everyone wants to talk about Chance Ruffin, and that's fine. But Kyle Russell had a whole hell of a lot to do with what the team accomplished at the end of the year, and the way everyone is jumping on one stupid little play that, in the grander scheme, meant very little is just nauseating.
 
It makes me a little ill that Kyle Russell feels he owes us anything more than what he has already given us.
 
thats what pisses me off most is that he was trying to make a play. it didn't work.

it's not as if he was ejected early for arguing or made an error being lazy... he is being slammed for trying to make a play. completely uncalled for esp. being a college kid that came back with money on the table.
 
I don't know if anyone is "slamming" Kyle.

The criticism I've seen/heard/made about the play stems 100% from the fact that Kyle is soooooooooo good. He's the best power hitter we've ever had here. He was absolutely scorching last weekend. He's literally too good for bunting in that situation to be considered a good play. (And I'd be saying that even if he had beaten it out.)
 
But I think he's more than earned the right to look at the facts of the situation (the defense, the pitches he was getting, etc.) and do what he thinks gives his team the best shot. If it works out, Texas gets 1 run from it and extends the inning. If it doesn't, Texas moves on to the next inning. Whether the call had worked or not, the game did not hinge on that play, much less the season.

Yes, Kyle is a great power hitter, Kyle had been on a role at the plate, etc. But we have to assume that Kyle was acutely aware of the situation and certainly better prepared than any of us to decide the best course of action. And that's what he means when he says that he has given every ounce of himself to the goal of winning and that he's truly sorry that things did not always go the way he planned.
 
The coaches have given Kyle (and others) the freedom to make that call when the situation allows. If our staff thought it was be a bad time to try that play, then they should have informed Kyle. They didn't, and he did what he thought was right.

This one's on the coaches MUCH more than it's on Kyle Russell.
 
That's a stretch, jimmyjazz. You can't pin that decision on the coaches.

Regardless, Kyle was outstanding in the regional, and I hope he is remembered for a great career, not an individual at bat.
 
What at bat?

Seriously, it is over. I remember his first at bat as a Longhorn perfectly. Now that one was memorable. Looked a lot like his last 3-run bomb.
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I am a season ticket holder and I have loved watching Kyle Russell play baseball for UT. Not only does he have incredibel power, he is probably the best right fielder I have seen out there. He has speed; gives up his body to make catches; and has a cannon of an arm. In fact, after his freshman year, teams quit testing his arm and just quit running when the ball was hit to right field. He should be proud of his time here and I really appreciate his desire to succeed and win.
 
I've never heard of a team having a "don't bunt" sign, but if any team needs one, it's us.

I don't know why I remembered this today, but for some reason I started thinking about Chance Wheeless' homer in Omaha -- maybe because it always makes me smile.

I remember reading the next day about how Chance told Augie he could hit, and Augie decided to let him, and the other coaches tried to talk Augie out of it.

www.usatoday.com/sports/college/baseball/2005-06-23-texas-wheeless_x.htm

In reply to:
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good point, Beau Vine. I'd rather take my chances with Kyle swinging the bat, but I'll take comfort in the fact that there was one player on the roster capable of laying down a bunt in a competitive situation.

I'm dealing with a limited sample size, but the lack of execution of overall fundamentals and bunting in particular this past weekend was just shocking. Frankly, I'm amazed we had the record we did based on what I watched.
 
You are also correct. Much lacking of fundamentals throughout the year. Also, some strange coaching decisions. It should never have come down to KR's bunt. What a dumb decision to pull B. Workman for a lefty after Wayne puts in a lefty pinch hitter. If Augie had looked, the pinch hitter was also a switch hitter. Exactly where did that get us? Just burned a pitcher that was doing a great job. All year long.........
 
kyle is my everything... it won't be the same yelling to him from the bus... because he won't be there.
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thanks to our guys who just played their last game in a Texas uniform. we've had a rough stretch, but i enjoyed getting to know them during the games and afterwards for a little hang out.

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Horns
 
I'm right there with G.O.O.

Kyle is a five-star badass. I wish him and everyone else that moves on the best. I'm already lookin forward to next season.

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kyle could have scratched his nuts and watched a third strike and he would have done more than 99.9999% of us on hornfans.com.... he hit three homeruns in TWO days.

to think that he would have hit another HR (or even hit safely) in that AB is sort of like being duped by the gambler's fallacy.

the biggest, baddest bat on the team bunting was a surprise to everyone, rice 3B included, but KR was just a couple of millimeters in an infinite number of dimensions from being a hero.

...and it wouldn't have mattered anyway. we didn't have enough pitching (the story of the last three years).

Kyle Russell will sign a contract worth more than I will make in 10 years this week. I was just lucky to see him suit up in burnt orange for three years.


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