Jimmy Raviele just spent four years living in the pressure cooker of University of Houston baseball and its mad overseer, head coach Rayner Noble (pictured). Jimmy's dad, Vinny, is none too pleased about the treatment his son received over his tenure on the Cougars pitching staff. According to the large fonts in multiple colors, Jimmy was passed over in favor Noble's preferred golden boys, even though said golden boys were not as good as Jimmy. Jimmy only got to pitch out of the bullpen and Jimmy was never allowed on the hill for longer than an inning, because every time Jimmy walked a hitter or gave up a run, Jimmy got pulled, even as other pitchers who were not as good as Jimmy got to give up way more runs than Jimmy, but still somehow got more starts than Jimmy even though they really should have been more like Jimmy. JIMMY!

If you attempt to read the whole thing, be prepared to learn more about Houston baseball than anyone has any right to know. Even the guys at Fourth and Fifty couldn't get through it and they run a blog about Houston athletics. However, I did pull out a few parts that seemed exceptionally shouty. (They were easily to identify by their blue fonts and XXL text size.)

This story is about a University of Houston baseball player whose college baseball career (2006 - 2009) was destroyed by the head baseball coach (Rayner Noble) at the University of Houston. ...

Any player or parent who reads this and even has the slightest inclination about playing baseball for Rayner Noble at University of Houston or wherever he is coaching, should really rethink their options. Please don't make the same mistake that we did. Sadly, we were told this same thing, but we did not listen. ...

Jimmy was just simply not one of Noble's Showcase Players or "Special Favorite Players." PLEASE TAKE NOTE* That being one of Noble's favorites (SFP's) has nothing to do with a players skill level. If someone is fortunate enough to be one of Noble's SFP's you are all set. They will get numerous chances to fail and still feel secure because they know they will be right back in the line up and play again the very next game or right back in the pitching rotation. ...

I honestly love every pitcher on the team and no offense to any of them, but every single one of them including my son Jimmy has been shelled at one time or another this past year. Just like all pitchers, they have had times when they pitched lights out and they had times when they got shelled. All of them!! The pitchers that ended up doing better this past 2009 season were the ones that Noble pitched more. Look at the stats. Most of these guys started off awful but were continually used and naturally they got better! ...

Why is there a different set of rules for Jimmy? ...

Still to this day, I understand that Jimmy was one of the fastest players on the Cougars. I know in his freshman year at U of H, Jimmy broke a college record by 22 seconds for the mile and a half. ...

Jimmy was doomed from day one!...

Once again they said "when Jimmy was not pitching, he will be at 1st base." BIG LIE!! (Jimmy never even stepped on first base - let alone play it) The only time Jimmy ever stepped on first base was when they used him two times (his senior year only) to pinch run! ...

TRYING TO SET JIMMY UP FOR FAILURE

After reviewing all of Jimmy's appearances above, one would think that without a doubt Noble was trying to set Jimmy up for failure. It could not be a coincidence that out of 12 appearances Jimmy just happened to face the TOP or the MEAT of the order 7 times! Jimmy only pitched part of or only 1 inning at a time! It wasn't like Jimmy was pitching numerous innings. It seems really strange that this just happened to be this way! NOBLE DID THIS ON PURPOSE SO JIMMY WOULD FAIL . . . JUST LIKE NOBLE DID TO JIMMY AT LAST YEARS FINAL GAME IN COLLEGE STATION, but Jimmy DID NOT! This year (2009) Jimmy was allowed to pitch in only 3 Conference games . . . What is the reason for this? Jimmy's ERA in Conference is 0.00 ! WHY DIDN'T NOBLE PITCH JIMMY MORE? ...

Note* Jimmy asked Noble if he could get #8 for his Junior year and Noble told Jimmy "OK." ... Much to Jimmy's surprise on the first day of school, Jimmy noticed that #8 had been assigned to another new player. Jimmy went to Coach Noble and asked why he wasn't able to get #8? Noble said that Jimmy could have it but it would cost $100.00 (which Jimmy paid him in cash)! How could Noble do this to Jimmy and live with himself?

DOES NOBLE NEED MONEY THIS BAD? - - - HE IS A SNAKE! ...

NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO PUT THEIR FUTURE IN THE HANDS OF THIS MADMAN. IF NOBLE DECIDES NOT TO PITCH OR PLAY YOU, WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT? NOTHING AND NOBLE KNOWS THIS. THE SCOUTS TOLD JIMMY THAT THEY CANNOT DRAFT SOMEONE IF THEY NEVER SEE THEM PLAY MORE THAN A FEW INNINGS ALL YEAR.

RECRUITS: TAKE IT FROM US, YOU DO NOT WANT NOBLE CONTROLLING YOUR FUTURE.

I am not just ranting, these are facts, records and stats. Please check them out yourself.

Note* Remember it is not SLANDER if it's TRUE!

NO ONE ON THIS EARTH IS GOING TO DO WHAT NOBLE DID TO MY SON AND GET AWAY WITH IT!

Sincerely,

Vinny Raviele

Emphasis not added. (I just wish I could do the font changes justice.) Anyway, I have no idea whether JIMMY! was set up to fail or what kind of coach Rayner Noble is, but actually watching someone's angry brain melt via internet rant never gets old. Also, extorting money from players for jersey numbers is an awesome kind of evil.

WHY RAYNER NOBLE NEEDS TO BE FIRED! [Houston Cougar Baseball]
Rayner Noble is the Devil or Baseball Parents Gone Wild! [Fourth and Fifty]

Houston coach Tom Penders, appearing on Houston's 1560 The Game radio this morning, claims that ESPN has inflamed public opinion against his player by "doctoring" replays of the incident; adding a graphic that claims to show where Coleman was looking when his foot came down on Budinger's noggin. I scribbled this transcript of Penders' comments on the show:

"They doctoroed it up. They put that x-ray vision thing in, as if Aubrey was looking down, which painted a very poor picture of what actually happened. We have replays of the game taken at different angles, where we have the entire sequence ... Aubrey's eyes never do anything but look straight ahead and then up and toward the ceiling ... ESPN made it look like he was looking down. I think it was a total distortion.

I've worked there, and I've seen them do that kind of thing. I called a producer I know over there, and he's pretty high up, a guy named Norby Williamson; I called him three times. And he hasn't returned my calls. So you know something's not right. ... He was tried and convicted without a jury. Without a defense."

The charge that ESPN "doctored" the replay is silly, of course; that's the wrong word. For it to be doctored, Coleman would have to have been added to the scene via green screen, when in reality he was relaxing at home watching The Simpsons. What ESPN did was add a graphic. Whether that's valid, or shows anything of intent, I just can't tell.

What I do know is what I see of the raw video. And anyone who thinks that Coleman stepped on Budinger's face by accident is either a fool, or lying. Of course Penders goes on to say that he had a sports psychologist look at the replay, and he determined that it was an accident. Quote: "And this psychologist is a guy who has worked with the New York Yankees."

Oh, well that clears things up.

Tom Penders Accuses ESPN Of Dirty Tricks [Houston Chronicle]
Houston G Coleman Suspended For Stepping On Budinger's Face [The Sports Network]

Such was the fate of Houston defensive end Phillip Hunt who absolutely lambasted Tulane QB Joe Kemp last Saturday night. This was one of those regional non-televised matchups that nobody cares about until someone gets hurt, so we didn't see it until just now. The best part is that everyone wants to blame the officiating crew—Houston received 143 yards in penalties, but still won easily—even though every player on the field not named Phillip Hunt stopped like they were supposed to when the whistle blew. (That's the problem.) Should they have blown harder?

Not that Hunt was looking to break bones, but maybe this is the one bad thing this year that we don't blame on the refs, huh? They've got plenty to answer for already, believe me.

"UH player's late hit on Tulane quarterback was ugly, avoidable" [Examiner]
No punishment for player who broke Tulane QB's collarbone [Tulane Beat]

Early in the second half, Cougars WR Patrick Edwards was overthrown on a deep route to the back of the end zone, where he abruptly met a small metal wagon that was inexplicably parked just a few feet beyond the end line. Um ... he was a little "shaken up" on the play.

Edwards is a freshman, so he'll probably, you know ... walk again, but we don't think that marching bands made any friends last night. Someone might even take a shot at another Stanford trombone player this weekend, just to send a message.

• Get The Band (And All Of Their Worthless Crap) Off The Football Field. More Importantly, These Stupid Carts [Fan IQ]

2. "The Game of the Century". Let's all take a moment to thank Hall of Fame Cougar coach Guy V. Lewis and his signature polka-dotted chewing towel. In 1968, Lewis wanted to prove to the nation that his Cougars could compete with the mighty UCLA Bruins, winners of three of the previous four national titles. The result: the first ever nationally televised regular season game, and what a game it was! More than 52,000 people showed up at the Astrodome to watch John Wooden's squad put its 47-game winning streak on the line against Elvin Hayes and the No. 2 ranked Cougars, who hadn't lost since UCLA beat them in the national semis the year before. Hayes manhandled Lew Alcindor (who scored just 15 points) and dropped 39 and 15 on the defending champs. The Cougars held on to win by 2, but the real winners are the fans who now enjoy the fruit of Lewis' labor: our daily regular-season college basketball fix.

On a sidenote, current UH coach Tom Penders pushed UCLA to schedule a 40th anniversary game on January 20 of this year, but no luck. Maybe decades of watching highlights of a game that your team lost is a little demoralizing (actually, I know it is. Thanks NC State), or maybe Ben Howland's just scared after watching the Cougars abuse Arizona on our home floor last year. Yet turnaround-artist Penders is merely looking to continue his winning ways. After revitalizing programs at Tufts, Columbia, Fordham, Rhode Island, Texas and George Washington, Coach Penders took the Cougars to their first NCAA Tourney since 1992.

3. "Hey! That was my toe!" Shasta, the UH Cougar mascot, wasn't always a college kid wearing a furry outfit and a cheerleader uniform. From 1947 to 1989, five different real-live Shastas roamed the UH campus, ready to munch on unsuspecting freshman and slow-footed professors. Well, actually, they lived in holding pens on campus, not eating anyone at all... or so we're told. Anyway, in case you didn't know, all of the major universities in Texas have a hand-signal which allows alumni to recognize each other and make fun of TCU together. This is the story of UH's hand signal.

In 1953, the Coogs played the University of Texas in football for the first time. On the way to Austin, Shasta's handlers accidentally closed the gate to her cage on her paw, severing one of her toes. When the UT faithful heard what had happened, they taunted the UH fans by holding up their hands with the ring finger and thumb folded in, making fun of poor three-toed Shasta. The Cougars folded as well, losing 28-7. But we did not forget, and we did not forgive. The next time the teams met, the Cougar fans went into the game with Cougar Paws held high in defiance, and fought the Longhorns to a 20-20 tie. Fast forward to the third-ever meeting between the teams in 1976, when the Cougars destroyed UT 30-0 in front of the largest crowd that Memorial Stadium had ever seen, and then went on to win our first SWC championship. That was the real birth of the Cougar Paw as a sign of perseverance and courage. Naturally, it's still going strong today. — Sean Frye

We're going to have to side with the refs on this one. Rules must be enforced. In fact, if it were us, not only would he get a technical, but we would have called him for traveling. And why even delay the game? As long as Penders didn't collapse in the key, the game could have proceeded — with players from both teams allowed to use the coach's prone body as a pick.

Refs Faulted For Call On Penders [Houston Chronicle]