I wasn't sure where you were going with that since I didn't know that there was that quick of a trigger for posting "Bring back ISU baseball." I do remember seeing a thread where it was clear that it's a tired argument with the current ISU financial situation.
Heller is a hell of a baseball coach, and EIU is his dream job, he is going no where. He started at Upper Iowa, then moved to UNI, when they dropped the program, he moved to S. Illinois I believe before EIU hired him.
Corvallis average high in February is 53 degrees with a low of 37. They average 13 days of rain in February.
With an average of 15 dry (or drier?) days in February in Corvallis, it seems like that may make for more playable weather than the upper midwest which may have some warmer days, but not enough.
Iowa City averages 4 days of rain. I didn't have data on how many days of snow. East Lansing averages 5 days of rain. So precipitation would probably have a similar affect on being able to play in the upper midwest.
Oh yeah, an 18-20 degree difference at those temperatures is huge. I just remembered there were a few warmer than average days in Ames where you could maybe play baseball when I was in Ames. But those were far outnumbered by the colder days.
Rick is a good guy. Known him for years
I always thought it was kids growing up in warm weather states could play year round, more than a college competitiveness issue. Most high schools and club teams up north don't have comparable conditions to being able to play outside year roundish.
I doubt many schools have a sufficient indoor baseball facility, but I don't know everything that goes into that.
I wish I had these numbers when I called into a radio show and was trying to explain how even though Oregon State was northern, it didn't deal with the harsh winters that you get in the midwest and in the northeast. The host kept saying that it was a "northern" issue and I didn't have a good response to that since I thought maybe the rain in Oregon made it just as hard to play baseball.
There is enough talent in the state to put a very Competitive team out of the field, not national championship level, but a lot better than what we have been producing until lately.
Don’t bad mouth Heller, he’s as knowledgeable and dedicated to the game as anyone I‘ve ever met. Rick puts a well prepared smart product on the field. Probably a matter of time before he gets poached by a bigger better program.
I have a friend that played for him at UNI. He can't speak highly enough about the guy. Heller knows how to coach baseball as well as anyone as far as I'm concerned.
