Last week, I had an LSU Baseball Close Encounter of the Paul Mainieri Kind. It was at the Paula Manship YMCA after my work out with my daughter, Erika. As we were exiting the building, Paul was walking in the door. I greeted the coach and introduced him to my daughter, who is in a wheelchair. He was very kind and gracious to both of us. But, I noticed something else. A twinkle in his eye that had to reveal how pumped he is about LSU Baseball this season.
I made the comment how he must be pleased that LSU was a Preseason #1 in a couple of college baseball polls (with the newest one-USA Today - just out Thursday). As I was saying those words, I walked it back a bit, recalling how all coaches always write off a preseason #1 ranking. I corrected myself to coach speak, saying, "of course that doesn't really mean anything, right?" Well, CONTRARY to what you see in his Friday video press conference below, Paul Mainieri told me, "OH YES IT DOES!" Spoken like a true recruiter.
Oh, and I just happened to noticed that 4 SEC teams are in the Top 10.
CLICK HERE FOR THE USA TOP 25 PRESEASON COLLEGE BASEBALL POLL.