University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Blogging the Plate with Kevin Coker
5/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 29, 2006: 18th blog entry live from the bullpen at The "Pete" with special guests (senior third baseman) Marc Maddox and (senior starting pitcher) Cliff Russum with collective thoughts on Coker's selection to the All-Conference team as a second team catcher, Coker and Maddox's senior season as roommates, why he received the opportunity to be the focus of the blog, the team's performance at the 2006 C-USA Tournament, the reaction to team receiving its fourth straight appearance in a regional which will be at Alabama and teammate memories.
Coker: We're coming to you live from the bullpen at the "Pete" today along with Marc Maddox and Cliff Russum.
Maddox: Let me start off by talking about Kevin making the All-Conference USA team. There probably isn't anybody as happy for him as I was. I was pumped because it was a well deserving honor for him as he finally got his justice. Congrats buddy. *Pause for an emotional moment.*
Maddox: We're actually roomies on the road, and when we found out last week that he made All-Conference, I didn't want to congratulate him in front of everybody.
Coker: We had a good hug in the room.
Maddox: We were in the room and I looked at him and said, 'Coker, I'm proud of you.' It was one of those things where he knew what I was talking about and he said for me to come in for the real thing, so we got a hug.
Coker: We're obviously not afraid to borrow a movie line or two!
Maddox: As far as being roommates, this is the first year that we've roomed together.
Coker: Marc and I are exact opposites. I'm a night owl, and he likes to sleep. I like to stay up and watch movies or play cards, and Marc likes to get his sleep. However, we've been able to compromise, and it's worked well. We've found the happy medium where we can watch the movie - and Marc can fall asleep during it - and I watch it and then fall asleep shortly thereafter.
Maddox: Being roommates has been long overdue. We've been teammates together for quite some time now, and we've never roomed together, so we figured it was time.
Coker: Coach used to randomly pick people to room together. Marc was placed with (former player) Beau Griffin during his sophomore year, and they kind of stuck together until last year when Beau graduated while I roomed with "Cutter" (former player Brad Willcutt). So this year we decided to try something new and it's worked out because we've had a good time as roommates on the road.
Coker: Now Cliff's about to come in here and we can talk about how he and I just became friends this year! Just kidding. Russum: With ya'll talking about Kevin getting All-Conference, I think it's a joke! No, seriously I think he deserves it. He came here as a freshman and to be honest, wasn't ready to play right away. However, he worked hard and I think that shows his character to go from being a very average college baseball player to second-team All-Conference USA.
Russum: Along with that, Kevin also got this blog thing this year. I didn't really want to say anything, but I was kind of mad that he got it.
Coker: Look, you had the questionnaire thing in the paper and Marc had "A Day in the Life of Marc Maddox" in the paper, so I got the "Blogging The Plate."
Russum: That's all he really ever talks about is the blog.
Coker: I love blog.
Russum: He actually owns a shirt that says "Read my blog."
Coker: That shirt came from Mrs. Ruth Best - (senior closer) Daniel Best's mom.
Maddox: He's the right man for the blog. He would probably sit down and have a conversation with the wall if it would listen, or at least if it would act like it would listen. Now while he's talked about everything and almost everyone on the blog, he's never said anything offensive about us individually.
Russum: You never called me the Greg Maddux of college baseball, did you?
Coker: I believe I may have.
Coker: Moving on to some unfortunate news, we didn't want to go out like how we did at the Conference USA Tournament (Finished 1-2). We're a lot better team then what showed up. We won the first game against Memphis (6-2), and then I think we got complacent. It's like we said, 'Okay, we have 38 wins, and based on the conference we're in, we're in a regional.' Honestly, no one said that, but I think we did that, at least as a hitting staff. We could have come out and jumped on these teams early to have made things easier on our pitching staff, but we didn't hit. We gave up five and eight runs (5-1 loss to Rice and 8-5 loss to Memphis) in those last two games, and we simply didn't show up to play in those games.
Maddox: After losing to Memphis and being eliminated from the tournament, I admit that I was a little scared that we might not get in a regional. I thought we'd get in because I felt that we had a good resume, but I wasn't as confident as I had been in the past. Our RPI was right on the bubble with around 39. We had enough wins, but I didn't know if it was enough. However, I was about 90 percent sure that we would get in, but with that 10 percent chance, I've seen some crazier things happen.
Russum: Going into it, I was confident after the Central Florida series (in which Southern Miss swept the series, 3-0) that 38 wins would get us in. However, we have to put everything behind us even though we wish we could have made some more noise at the conference tournament, but it's in the past. We're starting over with a new season now with the regional and we're ready to go up there and win it.
Coker: With us being sent to Alabama, I think we were predestined to go to Tuscaloosa, Ala. anyway. We were selected as the No. 3 seed at Alabama, but I think that even if we would have gone deeper in the tournament that we would have been the No. 2 seed and Troy would have been the No. 3 seed. Regardless, we're still going to play the same team in Troy.
Coker: Yesterday morning the team gathered in the locker room to watch the selection show on t.v. Now Cliff and I love to people watch, and as I was people watching I looked to see how everyone reacted when the first teams popped up and then how they reacted when they popped up the Tuscaloosa Regional. Now, I wasn't looking at anyone but that screen when that regional popped up, but as the morning went on I watched the freshmen. They were kind of making jokes and things like that, not knowing what was going on. I wasn't mad, but I hope they never have to have the feeling that Cliff and I had of not being a part of a regional like we had our freshman year when I was redshirted and he was a true freshman. I hope no one on this team will ever have to go through that and I'm glad that Marc never had to go through that.
Coker: Still, it was a fun morning with a mixed array of faces in there. You have some people who were wishing they were asleep, those that were nervous (which was the group that I was in) and then there were some confident guys in there too like Cliff, who was very confident. Overall, it was fun to watch everyone's reaction especially once the room erupted when they made the announcement that we were in at Alabama.
Maddox: With us continuing on in postseason play, looking back on the year, it's been nice as a captain of this team. Sometimes it included pulling someone aside to help them out, or things like that. Most of all, it's been an honor to be with these two guys (Coker and Russum) as captains and represent our team. The responsibility of being a captain has had its ups and downs. We've had times where we've need to pep the other players up and pat them on the back to tell them that they've done a great job.
Russum: As far as my leadership role, I'm not a vocal guy - I'll leave that up to Coke' because he does all that, but I try to set an example on the field by how I compete and with the intensity that I bring to the mound. I hope that's what some of the younger players take, that you have to be competitive to play this game. As far as ability, 90 percent of people out there are as good as you are, so you have to have something about you that sets you apart.
Coker: Like they were both saying, we all bring different qualities. I'm the "loud mouth." However, at the same time when we get into a huddle, Marc's the talker because I'll ramble on for days. Marc says what needs to be said and that's it. When Cliff comes in the dugout and starts screaming about something, everybody's listening. Whether it's good or bad, if Cliff makes some noise it's going to grab people's attention because he's not a "rah-rah" guy. Like Cliff said, his competitive edge certainly sets him apart. Now, the nicest guy in baseball (Maddox) to my right, has a competitive streak just as big as Mr. Russum's. I try to say that I'm the most competitive person that I've ever met, and then I run into these guys on the ping-pong table, card game or anything and see that they're just as competitive.
Maddox: If you're not competitive, then you shouldn't be playing.
Russum: Coker's by far the most vocal leader that I've ever played with, and I've been around some vocal guys.
Maddox: I think someone like him is needed because with the way he lays it all on the line, you can't help but to rally behind him and give forth the effort that he gives. If you don't do that, you almost feel like you're letting him down. He does a good job of getting people behind him, playing for him and with him.
Russum: With all three of us being good friends, if we were to look ahead about 60 years into the future, the thing that I would sit back and remember the most about Kevin would be that crooked finger of his! At that age, that finger is still going to be crooked, and I'll want to meet up with him and make fun of him some more about it!
Coker: Hey, at that age I won't even be able to move this hand!
Russum: One thing is certain, I'll be making Coach Palmer jokes for sure! That will probably be the thing that everyone remembers - telling stories about Coach Palmer.
Maddox: The only story that I can think I'll remember about Cliff is when we were at Marshall this year and a game against Northwestern State a few seasons ago. He got pulled against Northwestern and he was mad. I was sitting in the dugout next to Coker, and Cliff goes to throw his glove and right as he let it go, he hit his head on the top of the dugout. He was so mad, but all we could do was laugh! At Marshall he threw a pitch and fell. He didn't know what happened and he looks at me, still with his back to the plate, and he asks, 'Did I hit him?' And I said, 'Yeh, you got him.' As far Coker, you'll always remember the crooked finger like Cliff said because it's hard to forget about!
Coker: One of my greatest memories will be dog piling at Tulane in 2003 after we won the Conference USA Tournament. I was in the middle of the pack in that pile because if I got hurt, it wouldn't have mattered because I didn't play much at the time!
Maddox: My best memory as a team was hosting the regional in 2003.
Russum: Hosting the regional was good, but watching Kevin run poles was better!
Coker: As a note, do not sleep through regional practices! I showed up about 15 minutes late and ran from 10:15 to 11:36!
Russum: Coach Palmer even forgot that he was still running at that point! We went to eat lunch, came back, and he was still running in the outfield for poles!
Coker: I had a huge blister on my foot after that one! As far as other memories, I'll always remember Cliff's no hitter (March 13, 2004 against Eastern Illinois). It was also impressive that I didn't say the word "no hitter," knowing that it's a jinx, though I wanted to just say "no hitter" to myself to see if it would still work. It was impressive to watch him battle out there to get the no hitter. Another great memory between Cliff and I was when I was a redshirt freshman and Cliff was a sophomore, he started a lot of the midweek games and I was his personal catcher, which made me feel like his (former MLB catcher) Eddie Perez. Coach Palmer let us call our own game, and Cliff dominated those guys. I always felt like he dominated because I was catching for him.
Coker: With Marc, we played a little more together, but most of our memories were more summer bound. I remember one time, Marc and I were riding back from a summer game with the music as loud as it could go and with the windows down. I had an afro and a goatee, looking like a thug, jamming out to Good Charlotte like it's going out in style while it's on repeat! We were being idiots and were having a good time! This year doesn't have any particular memories, but we've been very close. You're seldom going to find us without each other this year at any given time. These guys are special and I will remember them the rest of my life, and wearing this black and gold with them has been a real honor.
Coker: After our playing days are over, and when we come back here to watch games, the place I'll be at is going to be The Roost. I feel that I'm not a skybox guy - I'm a Roost guy, if not a right behind the plate guy.
Maddox: I think I'll sit behind home plate, or maybe catch a game in the new press box or The Roost.
Russum: Marc's going to be in the press box and he's going to have his number retired on the wall! Me and Kevin are going to mooch off of him once he makes it to the Big Leagues. I'll definitely stay in touch with the program, hopefully stay in Hattiesburg, and support this team for a long time.
