My 2019 ABCA Experience

As the story of many coaches in attendance at the ABCA convention in Dallas, TX, I came back home with a lot of excitement and anticipation for winter practices right around the corner.

My ABCA experience has evolved over the last 4 years of attending. At first, it was get EVERY piece of information presented. I couldn't get enough, and by the end of the day my brain was mush. Now, I am a little better at time managing, and most importantly setting aside time to get around and see my coaching friends I have developed over the years... and to hopefully meet new baseball minds with meaningful conversations. It's clutch knowing the ABCA records all presentations so we can go back and watch the ones we couldn't see due to our other obligations. The ABCA put on another incredible convention. If you are a baseball person and not a part of the ABCA, then I question how much of a baseball person you really are... The ABCA convention allows you to build on your baseball philosophy, challenges your preexisting ideas, introduces/educates you to the new fads that are consuming the game, and allows you to network and maintain relationships with many baseball people from different backgrounds. 

There are many people that we a part of my experience this convention that I want to give a shoutout to (I may have missed some people):

• First off, my good friend Seth Feldman who I’ve been going to the convention with the last 3 years. Seth is a really good catching coach who is addicted to learning. He just recently accepted a position with the Minnesota Twins as DSL Manager. 
• Tyler Gillum and Clay Cox. I have been fortunate to hang with Tyler and Clay the last 3 conventions. They are good friends who have your back and are true servants to the game. 
• Travis Akre and staff. Travis is a good friend. He looks to have a great staff with him at Ellsworth. Travis is always introducing me to his wide network of baseball friends which I appreciate. I always look forward to hanging with him and his staff. 
• JT Maguire. JT is clearly one of the best OF minds in the game right now. Being an OF coach myself, he has done a lot for my own growth. It was great to be able to talk with him briefly after the OF hot stove. 
• Darin Everson. Darin is the best. A great hitting mind who is also a great resource. Also a former assistant coach for Madison College...which is pretty sweet. What I respect about him the most is even with the great amount of success he has already had in his career, he is always looking for more. It was great to see him again. 
• Jay Johnson. One of our pitchers from last years Madison College team is now a member of Jay's Wildcats program. It was nice to chat and here how things were going. Coach Johnson seems like one of the true good guys in college baseball. I really appreciate him as a coach and a person. I hope to have more conversations with him in the future. 
• Dan McKinney. Dan was the pitching coach for Kirkwood CC last year. We got to compete against his squad in last springs NJCAA World Series in Enid, Oklahoma. Chatting about our experiences in Enid was cool. Dan is now the pitching coordinator/assistant recruiting coordinator at Akron. It is easy to see that Dan is good at what he does, and that he has a bright future ahead of him. 
• Max Gordon. Max is a Driveline hitting trainer. We got to hang out with him for a little with Gillum and the boys. We covered everything from his hilarious hunting stories, to how to make our hitting training more game like and difficult/effective. It was cool to hear his perspective from the things they do at Driveline. I hope to pick his brain more. 
• Frank Pufall, Stein Rear, and their coaching staff's. Every convention we make sure to find these guys. Frank and I were both assistant coaches at University of Minnesota Duluth before I came to Madison, and he took the head job at UW-Superior. I miss our jam sessions in the office to our country music...particularly Alan Jackson. Stein is the head coach at Carroll. These are high character people who are in it for the right reasons. 
• Kyle Trewyn. Kyle is the man. He is the hitting coach for Bradley and is heavily involved with recruiting. He has always been good to me. We have had several players go to Bradley who have enjoyed the experience. I also got to meet for the first time head coach of Bradley Elvis Dominguez. I have been wanting to meet him for some time. 
• Rick O'Dette. Trewyn introduced me to Rick. I have heard many great things about Rick over my time coaching, so I was happy to meet him. Rick is now the head coach at Saint Leo University. He is a very good baseball man. 
• Ricky Schroeder. Ricky is a good friend to the Madison College program. We always enjoy seeing him at the park. He was working the AccuSplit stand in the exhibit hall. Got to talk with him for awhile...and also bought 3 much needed stop watches. He is a scout for the Texas Rangers. 

Some of my favorite quotes (many that didn't make the list that should have": 

• "Build + Compete + Gain= You Play"- David Pierce
• "If you can't explain it simply, then you don't understand it well enough"- Jason Stein
• "Your only competition is you"- Tim Corbin
• "What's the most important thing you do as a program? Whatever we are doing at the time"- Bill Mosiello
• "When everything is falling apart, the good leader grabs a mirror and says "it's on me." When everything is clicking they deflect praise and point to the window"- Mike Matheny 
• "It's not about what you are saying, it's about getting people to buy in"- Matt Talarico
• "The complete hitters get paid the most, not the guy that only hits HR's"- Bill Mosiello
• "The cage is a laboratory not a driving range"-Eric Newman
• "The better hitter you become, the more power plays. Be a good hitter first"- Steve Springer
• "The average attention span of a teenager today is 8 seconds...a goldfish has the attention span of 9 seconds"- Clay Cox

Some other cool moments:

• Walking out of the NJCAA rule meeting, and right next door I see Dusty Baker and Chris Dickerson on stage at the High School meeting. Dusty told some great stories...some that were really funny. I am really glad I got to witness that. 
• Kainoa T. Correa came up to me and said hello because he recognized me from my Twitter and what I was putting on there. I plan on sharing some more content this year. I also dig the Friday Fielders hats. I got the black one. 
• Walking through the hotel lobby and running into Alan Jaeger. I had tried to catch him a couple times at his exhibit spot, but he was always busy talking with other people...which is no surprise since he is a popular guy to find. Had a quick convo, told him I purchased the "Complete Competitor Package" and was looking forward to integrating more of his work...he said to keep him in the loop on how it all goes, I plan to. He is a very sincere person who is so good for the game of baseball. 
• The hot stoves. They are the best. 

One thing I learned the hard way:

• Even with it being my 4th convention...I still am an idiot and don't bring food even though Sheets encourages everyone to do so on the ABCA twitter page. I'm just going to chalk it up as spoiling myself for a couple days...it's all well worth it, but I would highly advise everyone to budget yourself and to bring some food to get you by...especially the younger coaches. 

It was another great convention. It falls at the perfect time every year, leaving us all chomping at the bit to get back to work with our guys. It is clear to see that baseball is in a very innovative place. The excitement around the ABCA and what they do is bigger than ever...which is a great thing for the sport that we all love. I appreciate everyone that made the experience of this convention better than ever.

Have a good spring,
Burm