Rank by Signees: Baseball season is closer that you may think and before long, we will begin turning our attention to the 2009 campaign. Starting in January, Diamond Prospects will rank every classification, every team, every conference and every graduating class…but if you are looking for a cheat sheet of numbers that may mean everything (or nothing at all), search no further than DP! It is often said that talent and seniors give you a chance at a quality season. Today we present our ranking of high schools by the number of seniors that they have slated to play at the next level. For what it’s worth, here you go:  Signed/Committed  High School  5  Dorman  4  JL Mann  3  Mauldin  2  Belton-Honea Path  2  Bishop England  2  Blythewood  2  Boiling Springs  2  Brookland-Cayce  2  Byrnes  2  Conway  2  Dutch Fork  2  Gaffney  2  Gilbert  2  Hanahan  2  Hillcrest  2  James Island  2  Lake City  2  Landrum  2  Laurens  2  Laurens Academy  2  North Augusta  2  Northwestern  2  Pinewood Prep  2  St. James  2  South Aiken  2  Spartanburg  2  TL Hanna  1  38 Schools Tied Note: These figures are as of November 23, 2008

Tentative Schedule for January 25, 2009 12:00            Check-in at Brookland-Cayce High School 12:45            All players report to the playing field 12:55            Stretch 1:00              Event Begins 4:00 PM         Event Ends (time is approximate depending on number of participants) 4:00                 Recruiting Seminar (45 minutes) *Note-A concession stand will be available throughout the day, courtesy of BCHS. ——————————————————————————- Diamond Prospects Hit, Run & Throw Application Please PRINT the following form neatly. Detach this section and mail back with payment to: Diamond Prospects : PO Box 1262 : Conway, SC 29528 **Stay tuned to TheDiamondProspects.com in the days leading up to the event for hotel information, directions, rosters, last second announcements, etc. Name ____________________________________ High School ___________________________ Grad Year _________ Address ___________________________________ City __________________________ State ______ Zip __________ Home # _______________________ Cell # ______________________ Email _________________________________ DOB __________________ Fall/Summer team ___________________________________________________________ DP Members Only: User name______________________________ (Please subtract $5.00 from your event tuition) Medical Waiver: I waive and release Diamond Prospects, its staff and/or Brookland-Cayce High School officials from any injury that may occur during the camp to the above-mentioned camper, on site or involving travel to and from the event. I also take responsibility for any expenses that incur during the camp due to necessary treatment of injury. I also give permission for emergency treatment if needed. I understand by signing this waiver, I give consent to participation in the event and assume all risk arising from it. Parent/Guardian Signature: _________________________________ Date ______________ Recruiting 101: If you wish to attend the Recruiting Seminar, please check the corresponding box below. _____ Yes, I would like to attend the Recruiting Seminar. In my family, _____ person(s) will attend. Please include an additional $25 to your event tuition. Be sure to pick up a seminar ticket at the check-in table. ——————————————————————————————————— Fee: $50 * Registration Deadline: January 23, 2009 Please make checks payable to Diamond Prospects Note: DP Members receive a $5 discount. Players who are one of eight from the same high school receive a $10 discount-Please mail your applications in together. Due to insurance, site fees and other expenses involved that are paid-in-full prior to the showcase, this event is NON-refundable. Note: Event application and tuition must be received, not post-marked, by the posted deadline. Total amount enclosed: $_______________ www.TheDiamondProspects.com Diamond Prospects                        PO Box 1262                        Conway, SC 29528

  Diamond Prospects Hit, Run & Throw: A Pre-Season Skills Contest Brookland-Cayce High School * Sunday, January 25, 2009   You’ve heard of football’s Punt, Pass and Kick contest…On January 25th at Columbia’s Brookland-Cayce High School Diamond Prospects is having a skills contest baseball-style! Do you think you can hit, run & throw? Then you are invited to participate in our statewide pre-season All-Skills event. ——————————————————————– Participants will compete individually in: ^        Homerun Derby ^        Arm strength competition ^        Throwing accuracy contest ^        60-yard Dash ^        Baserunning contest Each player will compete in every event. You may sit out a contest if concern exists over an injury. ——————————————————————– We will also have two team events, the "4 Corners Drill" and "Rocket Relay." Players do not have to be in the same grade or from the same high school to participate. ——————————————————————– So who is the state’s top homerun hitter? Who has the most speed in the Palmetto State? Who has the best arm in South Carolina? Who has the quickest set of hands? On January 25, we will find out! Signed and un-signed seniors will be present and, of course, Diamond Prospects will chronicle the entire event on TheDiamondProspects.com. Winners will be given trophies and Diamond Prospects apparel for every event in every grade level. We will also crown an overall champion for each class. This event is open to every player in grades 9-12. Please wear your high school hat in case we take your headshot. Diamond Prospects will use this day to take pictures of prospects to have on file for the upcoming spring and future stories, a "media day" of sorts. The Hit, Run & Throw event will also allow lesser-known players to be identified by Diamond Prospects. The cost of the event is only $50. Discounts: DP website members receive $5 off. If 8 players from the same high school team attend, you will receive $10 off (please send applications in together). The event will be held at Brookland-Cayce’s High School athletic complex on Sunday, January 25. Check-in will begin at noon. This is not a showcase, although some college coaches will attend. It is a day to promote high school baseball in South Carolina! Please stay tuned to Diamond Prospects for details. In the meantime, round up your buddies and plan on spending a day with us! ——————————————————————– Bonus: Following the Sunday workout, Diamond Prospects will provide you with the option of sitting in on "Recruiting 101", a crash-course on the recruiting process. We will take approximately 45 minutes to counsel you through the maze that is often very confusing for players and their families. For more information on aspects that we will cover, please go to TheDiamondProspects.com and click on Recruiting 101. The cost for the seminar is $25 for the entire family. Payment details are on the second page.

By: Al Hudson-November 12, 2008 If you can believe the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig, financial woe is about to hit the sport as never before. But isn’t it interesting that the Los Angeles Dodgers recently offered free agent slugger, Manny Ramirez, a reported contract worth over $23 million dollars a year for 2 or 3 years. This would make the enigmatic slugger the second highest player in the game on a yearly basis. Personally, I wouldn’t infect my club with anyone who had blatantly quit on his team, but temporary success can blind many an executive. Contrary to Selig’s prediction of doom and gloom, Major League Baseball produced the highest total revenue in the history of the sport in 2008. Don’t expect significant changes to the structure of the game. The greedy owners will cut payroll to make more money, and claim fiscal responsibility is the reason. Some owners will smell an opportunity to achieve that elusive trophy and championship to add to their triumphs. They will spend what they feel is needed. I liken them to John Paul Jones, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" NASCAR is another sport extolling sensibility practices. I can see their problem more clearly. The major automobile companies have experienced catastrophic losses recently, with more of the same predicted. However, more people attend the events than any other sport in this country, and that won’t change significantly. In addition, an enormous chunk of money comes from sponsors who still want their name in front of those fans. Don’t even say football will suffer. At least in the South, where football is more important than Mother, religion, and presidential elections, fans will continue to attend pro and college football. If Tennessee and Clemson can afford the buyouts to fire their coaches, the money tree still blooms. Sadly, sports will take a hit where we need it the most. High school sports are on life support in some areas of the country. In almost every high school, football is the cash cow that supports everything else. Basketball is a minor revenue producer, and in most cases it takes care of itself. Non-revenue sports such as baseball, soccer, golf, track and field, wrestling, bowling and others are at the mercy of the football program. The same applies to college programs, but the revenue from football is much larger than at the high school level. Shortage of funds means one thing, some programs have to be cut to balance the budget. Before I make the next statement, I am not opposed to women having the same opportunity as men to participate in sports at any level. But Title IX has caused men’s programs to be axed so that an equal number of women can participate. The reason, there just isn’t enough cash to support the total package. High school athletic directors have literally had to beg their communities for funding to support high school athletics. One of my pet peeves is that some black colleges have abandoned baseball due to the afore mentioned reasons. Major league baseball has been mystified as to why the percentage of black athletes in the big leagues is at an all-time low. Common sense will tell you that football and basketball will command the attention of most of the top high school athletes because a football or basketball scholarship has been decreed to be a full ride scholarship. Baseball scholarships are limited to a percentage that equals about one third of the team. Therefore, when a college baseball coach awards an athletic scholarship, it is normally a partial scholarship. Simple economics will tell you that players will be more attracted to a full ride opportunity. Title IX has forced schools to put money in women’s programs at the expense of men’s non-revenue sports. I would like to see Major League Baseball take a more pro-active role in subsidizing high school and college baseball programs. All of which brings us back to Bud Selig’s "Cry Wolf" syndrome. It is so sad that this country has abandoned fiscal responsibility. The "Microwave Generation" has crippled themselves with their "I want it now" attitude. We, as parents, are as much to blame as anyone. I have heard and uttered the phrase, "I want my kids to have more than I did as a child!" If we had limited that to educational opportunity, the whole country would be better off. But no, we had to provide cars, televisions, clothes, money and love to a greater extent than we received from our parents. A noble plan, but we had to earn what we had as kids, and our children didn’t learn the true value of a dollar. We have given them a sense of entitlement that we never had. For every child with economic responsibility, there are seven over their head in debt. This leads to discontent at home, which leads to family ruination. Bankruptcy and divorce apply to more homes than not. The problem is not what we can do about the economy of sports, but how can we regain control of our families? Questions and comments should be sent to: [email protected]

By: Sonya Young-November 5, 2008  I never played sports, I never really enjoyed watching them and when I went, it was more of a social event. The hours I saw the athletes practice and sweat I just didn’t get it. Then one day I turned around and I’m a mother of three boys. It began to change. The first moment you hold your son, you realize what life is all about. This past weekend was one of great revelation. On Saturday I experienced the worst and best moments of my life. My oldest son was injured while playing baseball. At the hospital we were told without an emergency removal of his spleen, he would die in less than two hours. Then two hours later he is out and it is almost like the moment of his birth, only better because I know this person. Over the next 48 hours I understand the bond of sports. Non-baseball friends wonder in amazement over the time and passion of watching a ballgame. But I know this simple game of baseball is not about a white ball and bat on a green diamond, it is about the bond we create. It’s not just your team, a player is family. We received calls from players we have played with and against. Team lines were put aside and the love and prayers poured in. The friends that we have made duning this simple game are life-long. These are the people that understand why you get up at five in the morning to drive three hours for a ten o’clock game that is over by twelve. These are the people that don’t wait for a call when you need help. These are the people that text you, email and call you to check on your family. These are the people that come to sit with you while you wait for the surgeon to come and tell you your child will live. These are the people that come to the hospital after five hours of playing to make sure your child is ok. These are the people that listen when you cry. These are the people you share your life with. These are baseball people. These are my friends. To everyone for every little thing you did, it was enormous. Riding home from a really hard weekend, all I have is thanks and gratitude for the love, prayers and general support you have given our family. Todd, Sonya and TJ Young