This may sound a bit crazy. Send him into the clubhouse while the Birds are hitting. Let him relax or watch video of positive pitching situations he has been in. Change something to help him become more positive. Whether it be pregame preparation or during the game. Henry Ford said If you say you can or can't do something you are right.

I think the answer is quite simple. All he needs to do is wear his pants legs down to his ankles. It was cute for a couple of years, buts it's getting old now. This isn't 1940 anymore.

What about a sports psychologist?

There's a big difference between losing one's self-confidence and having clinical anxiety. If Olson does have a diagnosed anxiety disorder it can be treated with medication. Loss of confidence might need the help of a sports psychologist. Either way, I hope Olson figures it out, too. His work ethic is superb and by all accounts he's an excellent teammate.

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Pete's reply: I would think the O's have considered that.

Olsen, and Burres for that matter, should be told to dispense with the long stockings and go with long pants.They don't look like major leaguers, and they sure haven't been throwing llike it either."Dress for success"

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Pete's reply: I hope that solves the problem, but I'm a little skeptical.

I'll cut you some slack and ask you: can an average team beat the once might patriots? I wouldn't call the chiefs average and the jets are a little short of average. but a good average team like buffalo. what do you think?

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Pete's reply: I think the Bills are a very interesting team right now.

Nothing like a pay cut to motivate some one.

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Pete's reply: Don't tell my boss that.

Dave & Anonymous:
You are promoting the sloppy look that Bud Selig has let crop into major league baseball during his reign. You've apparently forgotten that the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox were named after the color of their stockings, something that you can't even see anymore on most major leaguers. For the first 75-80 years that baseball was in existence, outstanding players like Mickey Mantle, Al Kaline, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Jim Palmer, etc. and all the athletes of the pre 90's Era wore their uniforms neatly with pants worn high so you could see their stockings and high cut stirrups. Somehow major league baseball let their standards slip over the last 20 years and now we have the unkept sloppy look that today is now prevelant. I used to have a coach that used to tell his players, "if you can't play like a ballplayer, at least dress like one." So I don't think advocating that poor performing players wear their pants down is going to improve their performance. Do I have that right, Schmucker?

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Pete's reply: Pretty much, but styles have changed over the years in baseball. They didn't wear flannel knickers in Frank Robinson's day, or I suspect he would have gone into another sport.

how can he be nervous? he played in front of larger crowds in A-ball.

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Pete's reply: This is a salient point that had not previously occurred to me. Thanks.

Watch video? Maybe he just needs a good "date" the night before pitching. Changes yer whole perspective!

Olsen's problem is very simple. Just like the movie "For The Love Of The Game" he has to block out all distractions, just zone in, and just concentrate on the batter and the plate. Pitching is 75 percent mental. For assistiance in this matter just tell Olsen to do whatever the catcher say's. Have the catcher call all the pitches and pitch outs as well as going to 1st base etc.No shaking off pitches. This way it will cut down on thinking too deep, and improve his concentration, and as he gets more confindance in a couple games, then let him start making his own pitch selections. The nervousness will go away with not having to think to much at first.

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Pete's reply: So, let me get this straight, you're saying he should let Ramon Hernandez do the thinking for him?

Put Garrett Olson in touch with Kitty Kaat. There is something about Olson that reminds me of the young Kaat. I have a strong feeling that talking with Jim would really help Garrett.

What a great idea. Get rid of the pitching coach and hire a taylor for a lot less money. No one seems to have had any idea that the problems that Olson and Burres were having involves the loss of circulation in the legs caused by the tight sox. If this works we could put them in tux'es and they would throw shutouts.

i support the idea of wearing uniforms like the orioles did in the 60's and 70's rather than the pajama style of today or the high pants all black sock look. and bring back the "happy" bird for the caps.

Is Garrett Olson the next Bruce Swango? If you don't know who Swango was, LOOK IT UP! And Frank Robinson did too wear flannel knickers. They were still wearing them in 1956 when he was a rookie with the Reds. And, who edits the stories on the website? I've NEVER seen as many grammatical mistakes in anything the Sun has printed as I have in the last couple of months. They must have bought out the wrong people; that is, those who knew what they were doing on the desk.

Garrett Olson sounds more and more like a 21st Century Edition of Bruce Swango.

Swango was a bonus baby-type player from the Paul Richards era who never made it as a pro because "he couldn't pitch in front of big crowds!"

Rumor has it he may well have become one of the Knights Who Say Ni.

Maybe Olson should do what we teach our speakers to do when they get a wicked case of the stage frights- (to sorta paraphrase)- just picture the opposing team in their jocks. Works for us. Just trying to help.
Signed,
Jim from Toastmasters

Ladies, gentlemen, Ravens fans,

Stop your complaining already and just play the game whenever they tell you to play it. Shut up, show up, and watch the game. If your owner has a beef, let him complain. Much ado about absolutely nothing.

Excerpts from a speech by Jim the Toastmaster titled:
Shut Up, Who The Hell Cares? Anyway It's Another Game Just Play It
Like I Said Who Cares But It Could Be Worse You Could Be a Rams Fan

Peter, I would like to see Mike Flanagan set up a meeting for Olson and Burres with Jamie Moyer(former Orioles) maybe they could pick his brain over the winter months. They both have simular styles, think Olson and Burres could benefit. Jamie is 46 yrs. old and still baffles batters.

To quote a movie "The rose goes in front, big guy."

Peter,
I would like it if this was the last entry you ever printed with Mike Flanagan's name in it, unless it's the entry about him carrying a cardboard box filled with stuff from his office to his car for his final drive thru the gates at Camden Yards. What may I ask is some fans fascination with that guy?
Oh. maybe it's the way he helped that crafty lefty Brian Burres become even craftier. Oh, or the way he molded the team into a perennial AL East challenger.

Two words: medical marijuana.

Of all the analyses heretofore offered, I think Captive Fan has really hit on the solution.

Seriously, did it ever occur to anyone that Burres, Olson, Liz, et al just stink? And that no amount of coaching, talking, psychology, long pants, short pants, no pants, and/or other trickeration or gimmickry will make them any better? I really don't see a whole lot there to work with. The key to any successful pitcher is the ability to locate your pitches within the strike zone. Heck, these guys can't even locate the strike zone.

My advice to Garrett is the same my father used to tell me when I'd get nervous."Do your best and (expletive deleted) it." He needs to be reminded that (1) baseball is still a GAME played on a field and he should have some fun and stop worrying about giving up runs and (2) keep in mind that since he is lefthanded, he'll always have a job in pro baseball until said arm falls off. Seriously though I think Olson suffers from the same malady that afflicts many highly intelligent people--he can see all the possible ways things can go wrong (hence, ignorance is bliss) and is trying to prepare for every contingency with every pitch, thinking one, two, three batters ahead, one, two, three (if he lasts that long) innings ahead rather than thinking about what he's really doing out there on the mound which is playing a game of catch. You take the ball, you throw the ball, the catcher catches it, he throws it back. Now we all know it's a bit more complicated than that, but an undersatnding of the complicated is not this guy's problem. We need to bring this down to the basic level. Remind the guy we're all with him, we have trust in his abilities, that's why we keep trotting him out there. Now take the ball, have fun, and believe you're going to get the job done and guess what? You will. Hang in there, kid.