fiu33
Juvenile Panther
Posts: 89
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Post by fiu33 on May 19, 2007 20:46:08 GMT -5
Another coach bites the dust under the Garcia regime as Coach Price has been let go by FIU. While the program has been going downhill the last several years...it is sad to see him go. I wish him the best.
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Post by FIUMAN on May 19, 2007 21:08:36 GMT -5
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Post by FIUBlue82 on May 19, 2007 21:09:32 GMT -5
A good guy lost his job. As nice of a man as he was off the diamond, the time has come for a new direction. www.miamiherald.com/416/story/112587.htmlFIU fires longtime baseball coach Price BY PETE PELEGRIN ppelegrin@MiamiHerald.com Florida International University baseball coach Danny Price was dismissed Saturday evening shortly after the Golden Panthers were eliminated from qualifying for the Sun Belt Conference baseball tournament, FIU athletic director Pete Garcia confirmed. FIU lost 11-10 to Florida Atlantic on Saturday afternoon in Boca Raton and finished the season 26-29. The Golden Panthers were 12-17 in the Sun Belt and finished in 10th place in the conference. Only the top eight teams qualify for the Sun Belt tournament. Price, who coached FIU for 28 years, finished his FIU career with a record of 1,086-597. He had just three losing seasons, including this year. But the Golden Panthers, who were regular participants in the NCAA postseason during the mid-to-late 1990's, missed the postseason for the fifth consecutive season with Saturday's loss. Besides the shoddy record, other factors led to Price's dismissal. In the latest NCAA Academic Progress Report, the FIU baseball team posted the worst APR score (850) among FIU's athletic teams and lost one scholarship. Attendance at FIU home games has steadily decreased the past five years as the Golden Panthers have struggled to draw 500 fans per game.
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Post by The OC Panther on May 19, 2007 23:16:40 GMT -5
I wish him well, great guy lets name the field after him...
Now lets get somone to get us to Omaha or at leat beat freakin' FAU
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Post by MaXx on May 19, 2007 23:57:24 GMT -5
It was time for change, but he was a great person. I hope he is successful where ever he goes and we should never forget that for a long while he put FIU baseball on the map. Good luck Coach Price.
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Post by MiRi on May 20, 2007 0:24:00 GMT -5
He is the only coach who has ever personally went out of his way to approach Max and I to thank us for coming out to the games. He's a class act. I wish him the very best!
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Post by gpantera on May 20, 2007 8:29:58 GMT -5
As an FIU sports fan, I’ve struggled with the GPC for 11 years. I'm tired of the loosing. The "but he's been here a long time" argument is stale and doesn't provide any relief. The winds of change are upon us and it is time for a changing of the guard. I will agree that more tact could have been used to end the era of DP, but we don't know what occurred behind closed doors. Perhaps DP didn't want to accept "retiring" because he wanted to add fuel to the PG fire and force the headlines to read, "PG fires DP." Who knows?
The only thing that is certain is that if we kept doing what we were doing, we were going to be getting what we've been getting...and the only thing consistent about FIU sports has been mediocrity.
Moreover, some are concerned about the PG-UM ties, those ties are the reason we hired PG. He has ties to a winning program. I realize UM is a rival, but from a business/performance perspective, it makes sense. The formula: remove current under-achievers, insert leader whose overseen successful program and start winning. It may be painful to the old guard establishment but it is clearly not complicated.
GPC, the dismissal of DP hurts from an emotional POV. But no one is going to miss the loosing FIU baseball has endured the last 5 seasons. Let's not forget, we're all members of the GPC and we all root for the same team.
As always, Go G-Panthers!
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Post by FIUPantherFan on May 20, 2007 8:30:11 GMT -5
Well, it was going to happen, I'm glad it happened this early. There's a lot of talent, especially hitting wise. If we get a decent pitching coach we could actually have a quick turnaround. You know then only person I was upset to see go is Karl, however, I think my new theory is that Pete told him that the support for men's soccer would not be there and Karl didn't want to deal with it any more, so he retired.
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Post by FIUBlue82 on May 20, 2007 8:47:38 GMT -5
Updated Herald Story: www.miamiherald.com/588/story/112819.htmlPrice, Golden Panthers part ways Danny Price was let go as the baseball coach at Florida International University after his third losing season in 28 years. BY PETE PELEGRIN ppelegrin@MiamiHerald.com Florida International University baseball coach Danny Price was dismissed Saturday evening shortly after the Golden Panthers were eliminated from qualifying for the Sun Belt Conference tournament, athletic director Pete Garcia confirmed. FIU lost 11-10 to Florida Atlantic on Saturday afternoon in Boca Raton and finished the season 26-29. The Golden Panthers were 12-17 in the Sun Belt and finished 10th in the conference. The top eight teams qualify for the Sun Belt tournament. Price, who coached FIU for 28 years, finished his career with a record of 1,086-597. He had just three losing seasons, including this year. When reached by phone, Price said: ``I'm not making any comment until Monday.'' While there will be no shortage of candidates for the FIU baseball head coaching job, Garcia said he did not want to comment at this time about possible replacements. ''I want to thank Danny Price for his lifelong contributions to FIU baseball,'' Garcia said. ``This is a program he has built and sacrificed for, for nearly 35 years. I wish him the best. It is time to take FIU baseball to a new level.'' Price's assistant coaches, Tony Casas, Chris Holick and Lou Sanchez were released, but were told by Garcia that they could interview with the new head coach for positions. The Golden Panthers were regular participants in the NCAA postseason during the 1990s, but missed the postseason for the fifth season in a row after Saturday's loss. Besides the poor record, other factors led to Price's dismissal. In the latest NCAA Academic Progress Report, the FIU baseball team posted the worst APR score (850) among Division I college baseball teams and FIU's athletic teams. FIU baseball had to forfeit one scholarship. Attendance at FIU home games has been virtually nonexistent the past few years. The Golden Panthers averaged just 276 spectators this season. In 2006, FIU baseball had an average crowd of 462, and it was 310 in 2005. University Park Stadium capacity is 2,000. Since 2003, the Golden Panthers have compiled a 6-20 record against local rivals, the University of Miami and Florida Atlantic. FIU is 2-8 against UM and 4-12 against FAU. This year, the Golden Panthers lost both games to the Hurricanes when they had the lead in the final inning. On April 4 at UM, FIU took a 9-7 lead after a two-run home run by catcher Luis Bautista in the top of the 10th inning. But UM rallied for a 10-9 victory in the bottom of the 10th. One week later at University Park Stadium, the Golden Panthers held a 7-6 lead in the top of the ninth inning, but the Hurricanes rallied for four runs and won 10-7. The only series FAU and FIU played this season concluded Saturday as the Owls swept the Golden Panthers. ''It's not about this year anymore,'' Price said following his team's loss to FAU on Saturday. Senior center fielder Chris Dunn did all he could to change the end result, going 4 for 5 with four runs scored. ''We kind of wanted to prove people wrong [in reference to Price's future] and we felt that sometimes the administration feels differently than how the team feels,'' Dunn said after the game but before Price's dismissal was made official. ``They don't see the things that go on day-to-day when we're lifting and practicing four hours a day. So when you see the rumors floating around you feel like you're kind of being slighted . . . and that's what makes it hard.'' Miami Herald correspondent Andy Kent contributed to this report.
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Post by FIUBlue82 on May 20, 2007 9:16:02 GMT -5
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Post by FIUFan on May 20, 2007 10:06:35 GMT -5
It is now time to say good-bye to an institution which is Coach Danny Price. He has led the baseball program to many great triumphs over his many years of service to FIU. We all owe him a sincere debt of gratitude for his dedication and devotion to our Alma mater.
It now, however, appears that Danny is in a state of denial given his only quoted comment in the Herald; "I'm not making any comment until Monday". Danny appears to be having trouble 'seeing the forest for all of the trees'. Sure your team may have 'worked hard' but Athletics is a results oriented endeavor, there's no hiding from a 10th place Sun Belt finish. There's no hiding from the chronic losing to our local rivals these past few seasons. Sure you've done some good things for this program (some might argue great) but you seem to have lost your way from the dominating teams of the 90's which won on speed, defense and pitching. The pitching has been especially abysmal, sure we've scored a bunch of runs, but what difference does that make if you can't hold a lead.
Thank you Danny for your contributions to FIU and the excitement your teams have brought to the University and best wishes with the next chapter of your life.
We all hope that you will remain an active voice and advocate for FIU Athletics for many, many years to come.
Go Panthers !
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Post by FIUFanatic on May 20, 2007 11:26:07 GMT -5
Also wanted to share with the appreciation FIU fans should bestow upon Danny Price, as he was alwaysa true FIU man. I also agree it was time for a change, as our teams have gone backwards the last several years....
Danny...thanks for your enthusiasm, dedication, and teaching to FIU kids......Good luck in whatever endevours life gets you to....
Go FIU!!
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Post by FIJIGabe on May 21, 2007 12:47:47 GMT -5
having known danny, sat in his office many times, and talked to him, not only about baseball, but life in general, i know the man, his wife, and the rest of his family, deserve better than what he got. i understand his team underperformed this year, and for several years, but the way Pete Garcia got rid of him is insulting and degrading. Danny Price was an institution at FIU. second to Karl's 96 soccer team, no other FIU athletic team has made it farther into NCAA postseason competition than Danny's baseball teams. However, with that said, i agree with the rationale behind the move. Let's get all avenues of FIU athletics moving in a positive direction. However, give the guy the dignity to "retire". Give him the same dignity given to Karl, who at least got a chance to leave FIU, as opposed to being kicked out. Danny's gonna land on his feet. You don't win that many games, then leave the game to nothingness. He'll probably land a job in North Carolina, and we'll probably see him coaching against FIU in some of the early season games. However, i will sorely miss him walking the grounds at FIU, on the Field that Price BUILT
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Post by FIUBlue82 on May 21, 2007 13:46:36 GMT -5
I've been told that Danny was offered a chance to resign after last season. He refused and decided to coach on. If that is true, then the exit with dignity had been offered to him. He is the one responsible for not taking it, again, if that's true.
Regardless, we owe him a great deal. He was FIU baseball - period. But now the time has come for change. The fact is, Danny being as great of a guy as he is, did not put together the product FIU SHOULD have being located in South Florida - a hotbed of talent for all sports.
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fiu12
Juvenile Panther
Posts: 56
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Post by fiu12 on May 21, 2007 17:22:46 GMT -5
It is a disgrace that Danny was not treated better than this. The baseball team has struggled quite frankly after Coach Casanova left a few years ago. I feel for Danny, his wife, and son. They are great people. Its funny how they bring up APR because baseball teams always have a bad APR. Players who are good leave after their junior years. Even if a player leaves and is still eligible, you take an RPI hit for non retention. Its been a rough few years for Coach Price but the guy deserves to at least go out on his own. He was NOT given that opportunity.
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