Dahm's Contract Expires - Extend or Fire Him?

[DeanMarshall]

These dolts don't have clue one.

Keep Jack Dahm, who is a superbly classy, great guy.
Iowa should keep Jack Dahm and keep baseball, obviously

 

[bcl20]

I wish Iowa was good at baseball.

 

[papathawki]

This just solidifies it for me. 1 "good" year in almost 30! Its a wonder nobody pays any attention. Time to dump it.

No

/thread

I wish Iowa was good at baseball.

+1

 

[nationalchamps]

Respect from in state hs programs will not help iowa baseball.

You are an idiot

 

[hoffahawk]

If the program was one of the top teams in the B1G people would come they would most definitely come from all across Iowa and pay to watch games. The last time Iowa hosted the B1G tourney the stands were packed. There is no reason Iowa shouldn't be in the too half of the conference year in and year out.

 

[burky247]

My dream is to see tavern hawks in the stands at Iowa baseball games.

 

[DuffMan]

Respect from in state hs programs will not help iowa baseball.

You are an idiot

Ummm yeah.

It's not that I don't like baseball, or even college baseball. Hell I go to the college world series about every other year or so. What I don't like is BAD baseball, and that is what Iowa, as well as most of the rest of the B10 is. It will continue to be bad unless baseball is changed from a spring to a summer sport. No college prospect with options is going to chose to play ball in Iowa in March and April. Like most other sports Iowa doesn't produce enough quality players to support a team, and the best of the rest (the best sign pro contracts almost exclusively) are never going to chose Iowa over some SEC or West Coast power. Be happy our revenue generating sports (football) does well enough for Iowa to continue to fund a team (see ISU and UNI).

But yes, I'm the idiot..

 

[HawkDad]

But yes, I'm the idiot..

^^^^^^ respect this idiot.


I have met Coach Dahm on a number of occasions. He does know his baseball, without a doubt, but I question his work ethic/drive.

Often he comes off as a "good ol' boy" and seems to prefer to smooze over supporters instead of addressing the issues plaguing the program.

IIRC, Barta has stated he wants EACH program to compete for championships on a regular basis. (not just qualify in the top 6 to get into the B1G tournament every once and a blue moon).

 

[ssckelley]

There used to be some outstanding HS baseball programs in Iowa when I was a kid. I grew up in Vinton and just in Benton County we had Norway, Urbana, and Vinton all with decent baseball teams. Some of those players played for Iowa and a few played in the big leagues (Cal Eldred, Mike Boddicker, Wes Obermueller). One would think the State of Iowa could support 1 D1 college baseball program. Baseball around here seems to be a dying sport as kids will play little league but when they go on to Junior/Senior High they drop baseball to concentrate on football, wrestling, or basketball.

I do not have the answers but something needs to be done to change that, and it might need to come from MLB. But folding the Hawkeye baseball program is not an answer, there is plenty of money in the AD. With the BTN needing summer time programing B1G needs to invest in its baseball programs and I think they need to explore other options. I think if Iowa could get a new coach and upgrade the facilities you will see more interest in the baseball program. You have a chance to play on TV, why not go to Iowa? If the Waterloo Bucks can get over 2000 people in the stands to watch college baseball players play in a wooden bat league then for sure there would be an interest in Hawkeye baseball.

 

[HawkinGoferLand]

Good post ssckelley. I went to a the Iowa @ MN game a couple weeks ago in the Dome. My kids had a great time. I tend to agree with your observation that with just one D1 program in Iowa we should be able to feed Iowa enough players to compete in top half or third of B1G regularly but as Duff said the best will get pro contracts, although I think if Iowa were elite in B1G many of the kids who may otherwise go south or west to play college may choose Iowa.
One counterpoint, the Bucks sell beer at their games which really helps draw fans IMO.

 

[DodgerHawki]

It's not that there aren't good high school players or programs in Iowa...

There used to be some outstanding HS baseball programs in Iowa when I was a kid. I grew up in Vinton and just in Benton County we had Norway, Urbana, and Vinton all with decent baseball teams. Some of those players played for Iowa and a few played in the big leagues (Cal Eldred, Mike Boddicker, Wes Obermueller). One would think the State of Iowa could support 1 D1 college baseball program. Baseball around here seems to be a dying sport as kids will play little league but when they go on to Junior/Senior High they drop baseball to concentrate on football, wrestling, or basketball.

I do not have the answers but something needs to be done to change that, and it might need to come from MLB. But folding the Hawkeye baseball program is not an answer, there is plenty of money in the AD. With the BTN needing summer time programing B1G needs to invest in its baseball programs and I think they need to explore other options. I think if Iowa could get a new coach and upgrade the facilities you will see more interest in the baseball program. You have a chance to play on TV, why not go to Iowa? If the Waterloo Bucks can get over 2000 people in the stands to watch college baseball players play in a wooden bat league then for sure there would be an interest in Hawkeye baseball.

there are. That has never been the issue. The issue is that there are not enough players of high caliber in the state to let Iowa compete with the big boys in baseball. The few truly elite players in Iowa either sign professional contracts out of high school or go to play at a southern school where they will get to play a huge amount of games in good weather against superior competition. And for the truly elite player, it's hard to argue against that.

You cite some good previous Iowa players who ended up in MLB. Eldred, Boddicker, Obermueller, etc. are all great ex-Hawks, but look at the rosters of the teams in the SEC, Pac-12 or the teams that make it to the CWS. They all have that many guys who will end up playing in the major leagues on their rosters EVERY YEAR. It is simply a different level of player that the top-level schools have.

Dahm has what is regarded as the highest rated recruiting class in the B1G coming in, he has done a good job recruiting. The problem is a good amount of those guys will end up signing professional contracts and never enroll at Iowa in the fall. Every college team deals with that, but Iowa simply doesn't have access to the depth in talent like teams from warm-weather states do.

I don't believe the B1G just ignoring the CWS and playing in the summer is the answer. If B1G schools want to be complete irrelevant in baseball (more than they already are), then I suppose it makes sense. But if you aren't going to try to compete for the championship in that sport, then why not just make baseball a club sport?

 

[ssckelley]

Good post ssckelley. I went to a the Iowa @ MN game a couple weeks ago in the Dome. My kids had a great time. I tend to agree with your observation that with just one D1 program in Iowa we should be able to feed Iowa enough players to compete in top half or third of B1G regularly but as Duff said the best will get pro contracts, although I think if Iowa were elite in B1G many of the kids who may otherwise go south or west to play college may choose Iowa.
One counterpoint, the Bucks sell beer at their games which really helps draw fans IMO.

I admit, I enjoy a cold one when going to a Bucks game. But the main reason for going is to watch baseball, and take the kids out to see a live game. All of us tend to cheer a little louder when a player from the U of I gets announced. But since baseball has been on the BTN my kids have been asking me when are we going to go watch an Iowa Hawkeye baseball game. Now that it is getting warm enough to go to a game, guess what, season is over. I do not have to drink a beer to enjoy a baseball game. I love baseball, I love the Hawks, I would have a good time taking in a Hawkeye baseball game in the summer time.

To the other poster that responded, I really could care less if Iowa cannot compete with the south. I want to see Iowa compete in the Big Ten, that 2010 season started getting my interest in Hawkeye baseball when they made it to the championship game. These games are being televised, and when enough kids like mine start watching these games they are going to get interested. Even Big Ten softball is picking up interest as I found my 6th grade daughter taking in a softball game that was being televised on the BTN.

Bottom line is this, there are enough baseball fans around that if the Hawkeyes were to put a quality product on the field people would go to the games. Especially if they were to push more of these games into the summer.

 

[eyekwah]

I really could care less if Iowa cannot compete with the south. I want to see Iowa compete in the Big Ten.

I agree with your comment. I also think it would allow multi-sport athletes to be able to jump over from BBall or FB and play baseball. Danann Hughes would be a good example. Played football but was able to play on the baseball team as well. With spring football practice over, good athletes would be able to compete in baseball easier. It might actually be a recruiting advantage.

 

[bogeyman]

I agree with your comment. I also think it would allow multi-sport athletes to be able to jump over from BBall or FB and play baseball. Danann Hughes would be a good example. Played football but was able to play on the baseball team as well. With spring football practice over, good athletes would be able to compete in baseball easier. It might actually be a recruiting advantage.

See another thread about all this summer baseball stuff, but cliff notes version -as someone who played in college the players wouldn't go for this. The program would actually have a tougher time recruiting. The players want more reps and playing time. Playing conference baseball in the summer would not allow the players to play in the various summer leagues they play in to get more exposure and hone their game. And... obviously they would miss the spring season 50+ games. So basically they would get X amount of conference games in the summer against the same 10 teams and that is all. That isn't enough games and experience for the serious ones to get better. The conference wouldn't be getting Div. 1 caliber players.

The state has decent HS talent and there are several of the top players signed with Iowa right now. A few might get drafted in June though and decide to go pro. Austin Christiansen from Kennedy signed with Nebby last year, so that isn't a southern school and we still lost him.

And for what its worth, the HS coaches in the state really don't seem to be that intrigued with Dahm and staff.
Just my two cents

 

[nationalchamps]

Respect from in state hs programs will not help iowa baseball.

You are an idiot

Ummm yeah. It's not that I don't like baseball, or even college baseball. Hell I go to the college world series about every other year or so. What I don't like is BAD baseball, and that is what Iowa, as well as most of the rest of the B10 is. It will continue to be bad unless baseball is changed from a spring to a summer sport. No college prospect with options is going to chose to play ball in Iowa in March and April. Like most other sports Iowa doesn't produce enough quality players to support a team, and the best of the rest (the best sign pro contracts almost exclusively) are never going to chose Iowa over some SEC or West Coast power. Be happy our revenue generating sports (football) does well enough for Iowa to continue to fund a team (see ISU and UNI).But yes, I'm the idiot..

So you agree with my first post.

 

[hoffahawk]

See another thread about all this summer baseball stuff, but cliff notes version -as someone who played in college the players wouldn't go for this. The program would actually have a tougher time recruiting. The players want more reps and playing time. Playing conference baseball in the summer would not allow the players to play in the various summer leagues they play in to get more exposure and hone their game. And... obviously they would miss the spring season 50+ games. So basically they would get X amount of conference games in the summer against the same 10 teams and that is all. That isn't enough games and experience for the serious ones to get better. The conference wouldn't be getting Div. 1 caliber players.

The state has decent HS talent and there are several of the top players signed with Iowa right now. A few might get drafted in June though and decide to go pro. Austin Christiansen from Kennedy signed with Nebby last year, so that isn't a southern school and we still lost him.

And for what its worth, the HS coaches in the state really don't seem to be that intrigued with Dahm and staff.
Just my two cents

Agree, it would be idiotic for the Big ten to go to summer baseball.