Lucas: UNC Baseball Mailbag

June 6, 2008 | Baseball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas

By: UNC Athletic Communications

June 6, 2008

Baseball Mailbag On Internet And Radio This Week

Thanks for all the great questions this week. As usual, we received more than we could use, so if you don't see your question here, tune in this weekend (keep in mind there will be an expanded pregame show beginning 15 minutes before each game's first pitch) and we'll try to get to it then. And keep those emails coming.

One quick update about the heat. There's no question it's going to be hot this weekend in Cary. The athletic department is taking steps to try and make fans as comfortable as possible, beginning with allowing fans to bring in bottled water--not other kinds of beverages, but bottled water gets the OK for this weekend. You'll also find Cool-Zone fans set up to provide a little relief, so take some between-innings breaks to stay cool.

Sometimes, I see universities with "volunteer coaches."

Can you explain what this means? I suspect they are not paid, hence "volunteer" but I've seen people uproot their family and move to become a volunteer coach. Can anyone be a volunteer coach or is that closer to what ol' Roy used to do when he had to distribute videos and programs around the state while coaching?

Theo Wu '94
loomington, IN

You're on the right track, Theo. It's very close to what Roy Williams used to do as Carolina's third basketball assistant, because it's an entry-level coaching position intended to provide experience for individuals new to the coaching business. Like many entry-level jobs, the pay is non-existent, so coaches in that role usually try to supplement their income with camp money or a summer coaching job (current Tar Heel third assistant will serve as the head coach for the Thomasville Hi-Toms in the Coastal Plain League this summer).

In most cases, the third assistant's job is a springboard to a more permanent coaching position, as when Jason Howell moved on from UNC to take the pitching coach job at UNC-Wilmington over the summer of 2007. But sometimes you'll find more unique situations, like at Florida State, where former Tennessee head coach Rod Delmonico is the Seminoles' volunteer assistant. Delmonico has 18 seasons as a head coach in Knoxville, but chose to go back to Tallahassee after the Vols' bought him out of his contract last summer. His reasoning? He wanted to spend a season with his son, Tony, who transferred to FSU and is an important part of the Seminole lineup. Of course, it helps that the elder Delmonico had much more financial security than most candidates looking for a volunteer position, so he could afford to spend a year in an unpaid position.

I appreciated your article on Carolina's 200 wins over the last four years. I was surprised that the loss you included was not the game two loss to OSU in the CWS championship series two years ago. Given the five run (I think) early lead - such a heartbreaking defeat with a national title on the line. Surely it had something to do with the motivation to get back to Omaha last year and hopefully this year.
Craig Kocher

If Craig's name sounds familiar, it's because--among other Tar Heel Sports Network duties--he's a former member of the radio broadcast team for the Diamond Heels.

There's no question that the 11-7 loss to Oregon State in 2006 was important. Most of the attention for that championship series is paid to the 3-2 loss in game three, but the Tar Heels had a 5-0 lead in the fourth inning with stalwart Robert Woodard on the mound in game two. But the Beavers scored seven runs in the bottom of the fourth on their way to earning a split of the first two games.

But by that point, the Diamond Heels had already arrived nationally. The defeat to Oregon State certainly served as motivation in 2007, but Carolina already had the core in place to make another title run. In writing that story, the loss in 2005 seemed more important in terms of developing that core.

So, I've been wanting to put together a playlist for my son of all the songs the players come out to, whether to bat or pitch... It would also be nice to put that rap on there...

So, is there any way I can get a copy of the playlist (not the actual songs, just a list of the player and song)?

Andrew DiMeo

Some players are extremely finicky about their at-bat/on-mound music and will change it every time they hit a slump. Other players pick a song at the beginning of the year and then never give it another thought. Unfortunately, because of NCAA rules, you won't hear any of these tunes this weekend, because personalized at-bat music can't be played during tournament competition. However, last weekend at Georgia the fans on Kudzu Hill found a way around that rule and brought their own sound system to pump out the players' selected tunes. As you might remember, there's a hill beyond the outfield fence that would be perfect for motivated Tar Heel fans trying to do the same thing...

By the way, Mike Fox doesn't have a personalized song, but some of his ACC compatriots do. Every time Florida State's Mike Martin walks to the mound, "Me and My Gang" by Rascal Flatts is played over the stadium PA.

Kyle Shelton: Blow Me Away by Breaking Benjamin
Ben Bunting: Hear Me Coming by Young Joc
Garrett Gore: Sussudio by Phil Collins or Everybody Dance Now by C and C Music Factory
Zeke Blanton: Born Country by Alabama
Mark Fleury: Superstition by Stevie Wonder
Kyle Seager: Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy by Big and Rich
Dustin Ackley: Country by the Grace of God by Chris Cagle
Tim Fedroff: Watch Me by Jay-Z
Tim Federowicz: Chain Hang Low by Jibbs
Ryan Graepel: Sleep Now in the Fire by Rage Against the Machine
Seth Williams: Do You Call My Name by RA
Chad Flack: I Got My Game On by Trace Adkins or The King by T.I.
Brett Thomas: Warriors Pt. 2 by Lloyd Banks
Tarron Robinson: Big Poppa by Notorious B.I.G.
Mike McKee: You Are God Alone by Phillips, Craig and Dean
Alex White: Wake Up by Rage Against the Machine
Ryan Leach: Rock Star by R. Kelly and Kid Rock
Logan Munson: Second Coming by Juelz Santana
Rob Catapano: Till I Collapse by Eminem
Patrick Johnson: Strangle Hold by Ted Nugent
Mike Facchinei: Baywatch theme song
Tim Federowicz (pitching): He Got Game by Public Enemy
Garrett Davis: Hate Me Now by Nas
Colin Bates: Ladies and Gentlemen by Saliva (As an aside, this would have been the perfect football entrance song in 2007)
Adam Warren: No More Sorrow by Linkin Park
Nate Striz: Hillbilly Deluxe by Brooks and Dunn
Bryant Gaines: Down on the Farm by Tim McGraw
Rob Wooten: Cohcise by Audioslave
Tyler Trice: Human by Metallica
Matt Harvey: Like This by Mims
Brian Moran: The Rising by Bruce Springsteen

Of course, questions about music can only mean one thing. That's right, it's time for Jones Angell's favorite part of the Mailbag...

While sitting out in my car during the rain delay, y'all played 70 seconds of sheer brilliance. It was the Carolina Baseball Rap. I was wondering, what is the current availability of the song? Would you all be able to post a link to it? If the actual song isn't song available, can you at least post the lyrics? Jennifer Griffith
Salisbury, NC

I was all set to be nice to Jennifer until later in her email she mentioned O State Ballaz, which was the source of much discussion during some of our radio broadcasts from Omaha the last couple years. There was also a 2007 version called "Still Ballin'," but surprisingly there doesn't seem to be a 2008 edition.

That means the college baseball rap theme song mantle has been passed to Mike Copeland. You might know him as the part-time PA announcer for Carolina baseball, but he also has another title: Tar Heel rapper extraordinaire. The rap we've been playing during Diamond Heel radio broadcasts is a Copeland creation. No matter how many times people email, it's still not available (yet) for download. Mike's working on it. In the meantime, you'll have to be happy with the snippet played by DJ Jones during the radio broadcasts. And as we learned last weekend, if you blow your horn during a rain delay he might even give in and play it an extra time.

What on earth is a chanticleer? How is the rooster relevant to the Coastals?
Jay Tarheel
Williamsburg, VA

Of course you realize that over in the Coastal Carolina Mailbag, they're probably getting the same question about a Tar Heel.

Apparently, this is a very popular question at Coastal Carolina. The short answer is that a Chanticleer comes from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Chaucer (who I believe played left field on the Canterbury softball team) described it this way: "For crowing there was not his equal in all the land. His voice was merrier than the merry organ that plays in church, and his crowing from his resting place was more trustworthy than a clock. His comb was redder than fine coral and turreted like a castle wall, his bill was black and shone like a jet, and his legs and toes were like azure. His nails were whiter than the lily and his feathers were like burnished gold."

By the way, the proper pronunciation is SHON-ti-clear. At Coastal, they'll also occasionally shorten it to simply "Chants" (pronounced "Shonts).

I should also point out that the Canterbury Tales provided the source of one of the world's best-ever high school English projects, as Matt Woodard and I made up our own Canterbury Tale that included heads on sticks (youngsters, this was way before Pardon the Interruption) of various personalities including Cherokee Parks, Chris Collins, Jerry Stackhouse, and Rasheed Wallace, all set to a soundtrack that featured Montell Jordan's "This Is How We Do It," Hootie and the Blowfish's "Hold My Hand," and Warren G's "Regulate." I think it goes without saying that we got an A.

This concludes today's literary corner.

Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of four books on Carolina basketball.