COVERITLIVE.COM

12:38

Kevin Spain, T-P - Hello everyone and welcome to the Tulane chat. We'll be going live with Times-Picayune reporter Ted Lewis around 1 p.m.
Go ahead and start sending in your questions.

1:01	Kevin Spain, T-P - OK everyone, we're going live with Ted and taking your questions.

1:01	[Comment From Greenwaiver] The baseball team seems to need "timely hitting." So what can they do to get it?

1:03

Ted Lewis, T-P - Hello everyone.
Greenwaver, I would think it would be the same way you get to Carnegie Hall - practice, practice, practice. The team finally came through in the final game against Central Florida on Sunday. It was the first come from bheind win after seven innings in about three years. Perhaps that will be a confience builder.

1:03	[Comment From Greener] So, Ted what was the big turnaround for the baseball team last weekend? Did you see something in them that makes you think they've turned a corner?

1:05

Ted Lewis, T-P -

Like I just said, coming from behind on Sunday was signficant, although you've got to remember that Central Florida's pitching was by far the worst ijn the league and that on Friday Tulane scored only two runs, had 12 strikeouts and left 11 or 12. Tonight agianst Southeastern, a team they've already lost to twice, and this weekend agianst No. 23 East Carolina will be more telling.

1:05	[Comment From Charlie Kermit] Give me something good about the football team. Anyone standing out in the spring so far?

1:08

Ted Lewis, T-P - They had a good day of practice.today and injuries have been minimal. Jeremy Williams seems to be completely recovered from knee surgery and is catching everything thrown his way. Alan Mitchell also has been impressive there. The defensive front looks to be a strength, just as it was last year. Today, defensive coordinator Steve Stanard mentioned tackle Cedric Wilson as being particularly impressive. You've got to like what you see out of Alex Lauricella at safety, too. At quarterback Ryan Griffin is getting as many reps as Joe Kemp and Kevin Moore, so that should be an interesting competition over the last couple of weeks.

1:09	[Comment From John coleman] With the sweep by Rice University, where can Rick Jones go with his complaints concerning high tuition and being hindered by NCAA recruiting rules?

1:11

Ted Lewis, T-P -

John, I haven't researched it as closely as I should have but Rice's financial aid situation is apparently somewhat better than Tulane's The new rules may catch up to Rice some day but right now they seem to have been able to deal with them. Just because a school is private doesn't mean all conditions are equal.

1:11	[Comment From Gary King] ECU seems to be in a tailspin. What will the Wave have to do to win the series this weekend at Turchin?

1:14

Ted Lewis, T-P -

I don't know if I would call losing two of three to Rice a tailspin, but Tulane has traditionally played the Pirates well. ECU is batting something like .361 so not only does Tulane's pitching have to hold up, which it seems capable of, but you've got to produce some runs. It comes down to timely hitting, and I'm not sure if doing it against UFC means Tulane has turned the corner in that department. You are seeing people like Allain and Bruno come around however.

1:15	[Comment From KMAN] How much longer do you see Rick Jones as head of the Tulane Baseball program and do you think he has aspirations on the administrative side?

1:17

Ted Lewis, T-P - I think this season may be wearing on Rick a litlte bit, but we talked last week about retooling some things in the type of players he recruits, etc. in order to adjust to a different set of circumstances than existed before Katrina, so I would say his enthusiasm about coaching in the future is high. We've never discussed the administrative part, so I really wouldn''t know how he feels about that.

1:17	[Comment From Green Goblin] I'd like to hear your take on who the breakout candidates on the football team this fall are going to be.

1:19

Ted Lewis, T-P - Like I said earlier, Alan Mitchell has been impressive catching the ball. He is much more consistent than a year ago. Nate Austin's move from running back to linebacker looks like it's going to work out well. Everybody likes Alex Lauicella's nose for the football. I've also seen some good things by Cody Sparks at tight end.

1:19	[Comment From Gary King] The Wave's last three football games are at home. Is Dickson that hamstrung that he can't negotiate a favorable schedule with more home games toward the end of the season?

1:22

Ted Lewis, T-P - First off, Tulane can never play at home on Thanksiving weekend because of the Bayou Classic. The schedule originally called for the season to end a week earlier with the last two games on the road, but because of a mixup the SMU game will be played on Thanksgiving Saturday instead of Sept. 26 as both schools wanted to do. The conference office makes the schedule, but I honestly don't know enough about the inner workings to tell you why Tulane winds up with some many games away from home at the end. It's worth trying to find out about though.

1:22	[Comment From Greenwaiver] What is the news with Fogelman Arena renovations/ improvements?

1:23	Ted Lewis, T-P - The news is there is no news. I would think if anyone at Tulane had anything to say about progress on the situation, they would. But we're not hearing anything.

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