Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Ward's new deal

As I'm sure all of you are aware of, NMSU gave Rocky Ward a new, three-year contract to remain with the Aggie baseball program through 2011.

Personally, I'm happy for Ward. He loves Las Cruces and he loves the NMSU program. I know some people wanted him gone and his record as manager here isn't sterling by any stretch. But I think it will be good here eventually.

Ward puts his heart and soul into his job. Good things happen to people who are dedicated and sacrifice for the betterment of the program. Obviously, the team needs to make major improvements in the field and on the mound. You just don't win in baseball playing sloppy defense. And the team booted the ball around the diamond last year.

Ward wants to be in Las Cruces and wants to be an Aggie. Some could argue other coaches that have been here or that are here today don't necessarily feel that way. I could be eating my words in a year or two from now if the NMSU keeps playing mediocre baseball. But I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope that the program does turn around, but I am pretty sure you will be eating your words as you have promised. What has really irritated me in the last two weeks is the completely bogus way Rocky has been claiming he was somehow responsible for Fresno State's startling run in the College World Series. Field and pitch the baseball well and maybe he could claim some responsibility for some Aggie success, none of which has happened. It is only logical for him to try to get on the Fresno State bandwagon to try to deflect notice of his poor performance.

Anonymous said...

you are right about rocky wanting to stay here. that can be good and bad at the same time. this university is used as a catalyst to get to the next job so that will give the coach an incentive to have success here. but rocky is complaicent here and happy making his mediocre salary and terrible facilities. so he doesnt have as much drive to win. i am not happy with a three year contract maybe two years. lets keep in mind in 11 years he has had two winning seasons here. 2003 being one of them but that was strictly riding his daddys coat tails! bad move boston!

Anonymous said...

Give him a chance. The WAC is tough and the program seems to be in the right direction.

The only thing I dislike about Ward is his mouth!!
The guy talks so much he puts his players to sleep! The kids are making all those errors bacause they are half asleep from Wards 1 1/2 hour pre-game speach!

I hope the new contract has a five minute clause when it comes to him running his mouth!!

Anonymous said...

Prior to nmsu being in the wac we were in the sun belt. in case you didnt know the sun belt was and still is a much better baseball conference. dont let fresno fool you. yes they are having a great season and they are in omaha but the sun belt put a couple teams in the CWS and consistently gets two or three teams to a regional every year. so we cant let "the WAC is a tough conference" be an excuse. and YES your right rocky talks WAY to much. ever been around his camps? its BRUTAL!

Anonymous said...

I agree. Rocky talks and talks and talks. Ever hear him talk to a booster group or caravan function or on the radio? Whew! He talks like he invented the game.

Yes, the Sun Belt is a better conference than the WAC in many sports.

I didn't realize he only had two winning years in 11, that sheds a different light on the subject.

But, I've said it before. NMSU doesn't pay much for baseball and Boston knew he would have to come up with much more money to hire a new guy. How about his quote of the main reason being; "Rocky has done a good job improving the APR." What the heck? You give him a new contract for that. If that's the case, Boston, I don't want to hear you talk about a coach needing to win more games.

Go Rocky!

Anonymous said...

Not only does Ward talk, talk, talk...but, he also has Dragon breath!!
His camps are brutal because he just yaks and the kids are in the hot sun for over an hour!!

Somebody please get him a muzzle and some Tic Tacs!!!

Anonymous said...

Tic tacs? That's cold!

At this point, all the posts and comments are a mute point! He has his deal and he is our coach.

How about we get the PLAYERS to buy in a little to what Rocky wants done and they all stay out of the bars and try to be focused this next year!

Anonymous said...

Now that Ward has a new deal.
Maybe he should shut his trap and let the Wins do the talking!

He seems to "Talk the talk and doesn't walk the walk."

Congratulations on your new contract. Now shut up and win the WAC!

Anonymous said...

I think it is a good move to give Ward a contract extension. With a new coach you have to start all over. Plus with our baseball facilities being pretty bad it is hard to recruit to Las Cruces. Plus baseball is not very big in Las Cruces. Baseball is not like football or Mens basketball where winning is necessary to sell tickets to keep the athletic department floating. With non revenue sports like baseball you can afford to give a coach more time.

Anonymous said...

Welcome to NMSU where an 11yr coaching commitment to mediocrity is rewarded with a 3yr.contract extention and where excuse making is ingrained and epidemic(ie.,"give him a chance"??)Boston gave him a contract extention for 1 reason,he knew that he could not get a better coach.period.For validation,refer to Mumme and Menzies.

Anonymous said...

I find it very interesting that Boston did what he did for Rocky. Boston has been "blowing" smoke at everyone about being the top mid major program in the country. Ok, that's a great goal, but then why did he bring Rocky back? "He improved the teams APR was the main reason." What is that?

So, Boston is selective in which coaches HAVE to get wins or they hit the road? Football, mens hoops, womens hoops and volleyball are the four programs who HAVE to win and all the others just need to improve their APR scores to keep jobs.

Read between the lines. Boston doesn't want to pay more for a new coach. Remember, he's still paying off that former mens hoop coach.

Anonymous said...

Theus is getting zero dollars from NMSU.