Billy Pickard, one of a kind
When word came yesterday afternoon that Billy Pickard had had a brain aneurysm and was not expected to survive, I told my wife that it would be strange to go to practice today and not have him staring at me from his golf cart, wordlessly asking me what the hell I thought I was doing there.
"How could you know what he was thinking?" she replied.
"The only conversation we ever had consisted of him coming right up to me and asking me what the hell I thought I was doing there," was the reply.
It wasn't that Mr. Pickard didn't like me; he didn't know me. And I was trying to get near his football team. That's right, HIS football team. He was in 2009 the same way he was in 1956, protective of the kids wearing the maroon and white. Protective of Kyle Field. He was, in his mind, not only the equipment manager but the gatekeeper. In time, it wasn't just in his mind -- he was the overseer of Aggie football.
I've heard a lot of stories today about Pickard firing off some colorful comments at people a lot more mild-mannered than me because he wasn't sure where their loyalties were. But, as hard as he was on outsiders, he was kind and supportive to the players and staff of the football team. From John David Crow to Johnny Manziel, they loved him. He was the guy who came to work at 6 in the morning (even after he had allegedly retired) and flushed every toilet at Kyle Field. He was at virtually every football practice, willing to provide a positive word when it's needed.
I would have liked to have had a chance to talk to Pickard. It would have been fun to hear his stories about Bum Phillips, Coach Bryant, Gene Stallings, the '75 team, Emory Bellard and the Wrecking Crew. I'll bet he had some good ones. He'd seen it all, from his time in A-Armor to seeing 100,000 people in Kyle Field. He was an Aggie when it was a small, all-male military school and he was one when there were 50,000 kids of all kinds on campus.
He was as much a part of A&M and College Station as the railroad tracks, and we won't see one like him again. It's likely no other school will either.
16-0 the right way
I'm an Orioles fan. You all know that, or you've been oblivious for the past decade-plus. The great Earl Weaver (who I DID get a chance to talk to before he passed) loved to talk about winning with pitching, defense and the three-run homer. The homers got the hype, but it's the pitching and defense that really made those teams (and last year's) so successful. There is one team left in major college baseball that's unbeaten, and that's Texas A&M. How are they doing int? With pitching and defense.
That's not to say they're not hitting -- situational hitting this year is way better than the past five, and they're hitting for more power with the newer baseballs -- but the stats from the pitching staff show how dominant they've been. Of their four starters, nobody has an ERA over 2.60. A.J. Minter has an ERA that's microscopic at 0.43. Matt Kent has walked 2 guys in 27 innings. Four guys in the bullpen have appeared in 5 games or more and haven't given up a run. Ty Schlottmann, who has appeared in 10 games already, has give up one run in 9 2/3 innings. The Aggies have been an average if not below team defensively for some time, but this year they've only committed 16 errors, or one a game, to date.
Now, naysayers are going to say they haven't faced anyone of consequence before this weekend at Minute Maid. Yeah, well they faced Baylor, Nebraska and UH (and the Coogs started the season ranked #3) -- three solid programs -- and gave up a total of 3 runs. That's impressive.
On the offensive side, Mitchell Nau and Nick Banks are getting on base (OPS of 1.090 and 1.060, respectively), and you're getting power up and down the lineup. Right now, eight guys are hitting .300 or better. That will change significantly, for sure, once SEC play starts this weekend, but if there's enough timely hitting like there was this past weekend, it'll be enough. That is, if the pitching and defense continues to perform at the level it is -- and I think there's enough depth in this rotation and bullpen to remain solid throughout the season.
I said at the start of the year in the Mailbag that A&M might be the darkhorse in the SEC this year. I may be wrong; nobody's overlooking them now.
FNL thoughts
It seems like there was a whole lot of activity at Friday Night Lights, with a lot of kids getting offers and some of the region's best talent (and yes, a bunch of California kids too) showing up. The Aggies didn't get any commits, but that doesn't mean that the evening was not an overall plus for A&M.
If you can't lock a kid down (and, at this point, a lot of kids won't commit because they want to see more), give them something really impressive to associate the program with. FNL pulls out all the stops, and it seems to help the A&M cause. Getting guys like Dontavious Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Chris Daniels and Khalil Tate (just to name a few) on campus at the same time and leaving with a positive impression can't hurt the cause. Now, it's up to the Aggies to follow through and continue to get after these guys once they've gone home. Keep the positive vibes flowing. FNL may not have closed guys out, but the responses we've seen have shown that it largely served its purpose. You've given the recruiting efforts of a bunch of your top prospects a jolt; now, keep after it.
When word came yesterday afternoon that Billy Pickard had had a brain aneurysm and was not expected to survive, I told my wife that it would be strange to go to practice today and not have him staring at me from his golf cart, wordlessly asking me what the hell I thought I was doing there.
"How could you know what he was thinking?" she replied.
"The only conversation we ever had consisted of him coming right up to me and asking me what the hell I thought I was doing there," was the reply.
It wasn't that Mr. Pickard didn't like me; he didn't know me. And I was trying to get near his football team. That's right, HIS football team. He was in 2009 the same way he was in 1956, protective of the kids wearing the maroon and white. Protective of Kyle Field. He was, in his mind, not only the equipment manager but the gatekeeper. In time, it wasn't just in his mind -- he was the overseer of Aggie football.
I've heard a lot of stories today about Pickard firing off some colorful comments at people a lot more mild-mannered than me because he wasn't sure where their loyalties were. But, as hard as he was on outsiders, he was kind and supportive to the players and staff of the football team. From John David Crow to Johnny Manziel, they loved him. He was the guy who came to work at 6 in the morning (even after he had allegedly retired) and flushed every toilet at Kyle Field. He was at virtually every football practice, willing to provide a positive word when it's needed.
I would have liked to have had a chance to talk to Pickard. It would have been fun to hear his stories about Bum Phillips, Coach Bryant, Gene Stallings, the '75 team, Emory Bellard and the Wrecking Crew. I'll bet he had some good ones. He'd seen it all, from his time in A-Armor to seeing 100,000 people in Kyle Field. He was an Aggie when it was a small, all-male military school and he was one when there were 50,000 kids of all kinds on campus.
He was as much a part of A&M and College Station as the railroad tracks, and we won't see one like him again. It's likely no other school will either.
16-0 the right way
I'm an Orioles fan. You all know that, or you've been oblivious for the past decade-plus. The great Earl Weaver (who I DID get a chance to talk to before he passed) loved to talk about winning with pitching, defense and the three-run homer. The homers got the hype, but it's the pitching and defense that really made those teams (and last year's) so successful. There is one team left in major college baseball that's unbeaten, and that's Texas A&M. How are they doing int? With pitching and defense.
That's not to say they're not hitting -- situational hitting this year is way better than the past five, and they're hitting for more power with the newer baseballs -- but the stats from the pitching staff show how dominant they've been. Of their four starters, nobody has an ERA over 2.60. A.J. Minter has an ERA that's microscopic at 0.43. Matt Kent has walked 2 guys in 27 innings. Four guys in the bullpen have appeared in 5 games or more and haven't given up a run. Ty Schlottmann, who has appeared in 10 games already, has give up one run in 9 2/3 innings. The Aggies have been an average if not below team defensively for some time, but this year they've only committed 16 errors, or one a game, to date.
Now, naysayers are going to say they haven't faced anyone of consequence before this weekend at Minute Maid. Yeah, well they faced Baylor, Nebraska and UH (and the Coogs started the season ranked #3) -- three solid programs -- and gave up a total of 3 runs. That's impressive.
On the offensive side, Mitchell Nau and Nick Banks are getting on base (OPS of 1.090 and 1.060, respectively), and you're getting power up and down the lineup. Right now, eight guys are hitting .300 or better. That will change significantly, for sure, once SEC play starts this weekend, but if there's enough timely hitting like there was this past weekend, it'll be enough. That is, if the pitching and defense continues to perform at the level it is -- and I think there's enough depth in this rotation and bullpen to remain solid throughout the season.
I said at the start of the year in the Mailbag that A&M might be the darkhorse in the SEC this year. I may be wrong; nobody's overlooking them now.
FNL thoughts
It seems like there was a whole lot of activity at Friday Night Lights, with a lot of kids getting offers and some of the region's best talent (and yes, a bunch of California kids too) showing up. The Aggies didn't get any commits, but that doesn't mean that the evening was not an overall plus for A&M.
If you can't lock a kid down (and, at this point, a lot of kids won't commit because they want to see more), give them something really impressive to associate the program with. FNL pulls out all the stops, and it seems to help the A&M cause. Getting guys like Dontavious Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Chris Daniels and Khalil Tate (just to name a few) on campus at the same time and leaving with a positive impression can't hurt the cause. Now, it's up to the Aggies to follow through and continue to get after these guys once they've gone home. Keep the positive vibes flowing. FNL may not have closed guys out, but the responses we've seen have shown that it largely served its purpose. You've given the recruiting efforts of a bunch of your top prospects a jolt; now, keep after it.
