The Skipper’s Thoughts

Dear Copperhead Friends,

When I agreed to coach the Copperheads late last fall, I must confess that I did not know what to expect. Having never coached a summer collegiate league team before, I thought it would be a struggle for me to be involved in a much less disciplined and structured environment than I was used to after 15 years of college coaching. I figured it would be good to get back involved in baseball after a year off and that it would be a chance to see some old friends in the city in which my alma mater is located.

What I did not know, however, was that I was about to embark on one of my most positive experiences of 34 years of baseball involvement. It will also be remembered as one of the best summers of my life.

There are so many things that I am thankful for that happened this summer, and everyone involved made them possible. First of all, the staff did an awesome job, especially with all of the home games. The atmosphere made a difference for our players and your marketing and promotion efforts were by far the best in the league. Opposing teams loved to play at Bob Wren Stadium because they knew they were in for a first-class experience. Toward the end, we discovered that although Drake Bolon worked so hard and did so many good things for us throughout the year, his dancing on top of the dugout needs a lot of work before he gets drafted. But Drake and the entire staff displayed a tireless work ethic and made each home game a memorable experience. Congratulations on a job well done!

To the board members, I really appreciate your confidence in me to be the Copperheads’ coach for this past year and next year. It was so great to see George Smalley, Dave Ridpath, Tom Hodson, John Kotowski and so many others like them that I have known for 10 or even 20 plus years. Coach Joe Carbone, I thank you for all you have done for me always and for being the one who made it possible for me to even think about doing this (still takin’ care of me).

To Coach Joe Carbone, Coach Andrew See, and Coach Scott Malinowski, thank you for giving us the best stadium in the league to host our home games. Our players had as much opportunity to improve their skills as any players could ask in a summer ball situation. The facilities were in excellent shape and there is not a finer place to play college baseball in the Midwestern United States.

To the media members, including our staff, I am very thankful for the coverage that you gave us throughout the year. Keep up the great work! And to Brian Boesch and Allie LaForce, you are certainly making the Ohio University journalism school proud, no matter what that sign at Xenia said.

To our supporters, especially the DeLucas at the Red Brick and the Whartons at Broney’s, thank you so much for you sponsorship and support. The players all loved the food at your great restaurants and your generosity is greatly appreciated. Plus, you know how much I like to eat, so it meant a lot to me, too.

To Wayne, our bus driver, thank you for your support! You always got us to the games safe and sound and in a timely fashion. I really appreciate your friendship and it was great to see you at the home games, too.

To Chris, Karen, and the rest of the staff at the Courtyard apartments, the whole organization is very honored to stay at such a wonderful complex for the summer. All of your staff was first class and you should be very proud to be associated with a great place. I have a feeling that the players would agree, especially with the pool being at the complex! Thank you!

To my assistant coaches, Chris Moore and Tim Culver, THANK YOU! Your outstanding work with all aspects was critical to our success and also helped make it enjoyable for me. You guys were a lot of fun and you are both well on your way to being great coaches and I will look forward to another great summer with both of you in 2010.

To the players, I thank you for your patience with me in the beginning. This was a new experience to me and I learned to trust in you and your abilities. You rewarded us with outstanding effort on and off the field. We received compliments from many who came into contact with you throughout the summer about the class with which you carried yourselves. I thank you most of all for your unselfish attitudes and your willingness to put the team first. You saw the result your attitude created, and I hope you continue that for the rest of your baseball careers and in every endeavor you choose for the rest of your lives. Please keep in touch and let us know how you are doing.

Finally, to the fans: YOU ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE COPPERHEADS FAMILY! You are without question the best fans in the league. Your support was strong and consistent and our players drew from your energy. It was so great to see everyone involved, from our campers turning into batboys, to the Stricklins making Athens county’s greatest cookies, to all the participants in the game promotions, you made the difference between us being just another summer program and beginning to be something very, very special as far as collegiate summer programs are involved. Let’s face it, this is a business, but any business is only as good as the people involved. The people of Athens are the best! You are what makes Athens and Ohio University such a terrific place and I hope the team made all of you proud, because there is no city or university that deserves to have a great product representing them than Athens and Ohio University.

We look forward to another great time in 2010! Thank you all again for your efforts!

Sincerely,

Coach Mike Florak