JC baseball target should be .500

After taking last month off, I’m returning to the question-and-answer format for my final column of February.
This month there are questions about Jay County High School baseball and boys track, a perception of bias in my NFL top 10 and NBA scoring records.
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I wonder what beef you have with the Patriots. All season you gave them no love in the NFL top ten … guess my boys showed you!
—Jason McGraw,
via Facebook

In short, I have no beef with the New England Patriots. I believe your idea that I have something against them is perception rather than reality.
Let’s take a look back.
You claim that I gave the Patriots “no love” in my weekly rankings. Yet, they were in my top 10 all year.
In fact, they never dropped lower than seventh.
New England opened the season at No. 3 and was ranked as high as No. 2 — behind the then-undefeated Packers — on several occasions. It closed the season at No. 5, and was the second AFC team on my list behind Pittsburgh.
Sure I didn’t pick the Patriots to get to the Super Bowl (or to win it once they did get there), but rating them as the second-best team in the conference hardly seems like a slight.
I’m a Browns fan, and if any rankings anywhere ever placed them as the second-best team in the AFC I would be ecstatic.
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How will the JCHS boys track team fare this season?
—Blake Crouch, via Twitter

First let’s take a look back.
After winning the sectional championship with Brandon Reynard and Dexter Shreve leading the way in 2009, the Patriots have finished fourth in each of the last two seasons.
Jay County lost four seniors who scored points in individual events last season, including 300-meter hurdles champion Zach Cash. But the team returns a group of seven athletes, including five juniors, who finished among the top eight in at least one sectional event last season.
That group includes senior Brad Leuthold, who has been competing in indoor meets this winter to prepare for the coming season, and Dylan Cope, a distance runner who showed great improvement during the cross country season. Cade Price, Tyler Back, Blake Crouch, Raistlin Rice and Zane Shreve join them as a solid core that gives the Patriots a chance to improve on their 2011 sectional effort.
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What is the record for the most points in the first 25 games of an NBA career? What’s the record for most points in a rookie season?
—Nathan Miller, via Facebook

The first question is a tough one, because 25 games is kind of a random number when it comes to the NBA. The second is no problem.
The most points ever scored in a rookie season were 2,707 by Wilt Chamberlain in 1959-60. That works out to 37.6 points per game, which is the fourth-best, single-season scoring average in NBA history. (Chamberlain is also No. 1 on the list with his 50.4 average in 1961-62.)
Although I couldn’t confirm it anywhere, it’s safe to say he also holds the record for most points in the first 25 games of a career with 884, an average of 34.4.
Based on our conversation on Facebook, I know this question came up because of the spectacular run Jeremy Lin is on.
You might be interested to know that while Lin scored 20 or more points in six straight games for the New York Knicks from Feb. 4 through Valentine’s Day, he averaged just 2.4 points in his first 25 games in the NBA. Those came last season as a reserve guard for the Golden State Warriors.
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With seven seniors this year compared to two in 2011, how will this upcoming baseball season differ from last year’s?
—Chance Fuller, via Twitter

I think you answered your own question.
The difference will be that the team will enter the season with significant varsity experience.
Two years ago the Patriots had a lineup full of seniors. The result was that last season there was only one returning starter and only three players who had 20 or more at bats in 2010. The opening-day starting lineup included two freshmen. The result was a 6-18 record.
A pitching staff that was already the most veteran part of the team last season will be even more experienced this year with the return of Ty Huntsman, Andy Haffner, Chance Fuller and Landry Inman. And the lineup overall will be full of players who have a season of varsity experience, both at the plate and in the field, under their belts.
Jay County’s goal this year should be to get back above .500 for the first time since finishing 25-3 in 2008.[[In-content Ad]]