Having grown up in the Carolinas, the Gamecocks were always the team with the passionate fans who loved to hoot and holler but never had anything substantial to back it up with. Sometimes they call themselves Carolina even though everyone else thinks first of the University of North Carolina and other times they refer to themselves as USC even though everyone else thinks first of Southern California. They're athletic history in the 3 major college sports was one that usually was associated with men's title futility. They had a national title in women's track and field in 2002 and while that is a lofty accomplishment, it is not one beholden to the common fan. Their multiple titles in women's equestrian made that their most successful sport in terms of banners. I am not sure where you hang an equestrian banner but I have never heard a South Carolina fan use them in a sports discussion.
The signature of South Carolina in major college sports became high expectations meets inevitable letdown. Whether it was believing the Old Ball Coach would lead the football team to the promise land, the basketball team getting Fang Mitchelled, or the baseball team falling just short of and in Omaha it appeared the Gamecocks could never get over the hump. That all changed last night when Whit Merrifield hit an RBI single in the bottom of the 11th to capture the national title in baseball. The final game ever at historic Rosenblatt Stadium. So hold your heads high and puff out your chests South Carolina fans, today you are known for more than selling hats and shirts that say "Cocks" on them, today you really are a school for champions. Just be prepared for the comedown when football season gets here.
South Carolina edges UCLA to win school's first baseball title [USA Today]
photo via AP
Wednesday, June 30
Cocks of the Walk
Friday, April 2
Links Heading Into The Weekend
A few drips dew on the vast sports interweb as we head toward a warm spring weekend. This metaphor working for you?
Al Pacino slated to play Pat Riley in an upcoming film about the "Showtime" Lakers. [Flicksided]
Shaun Rogers is a big man, with a loaded gun. [Freep]
So it turns out the ocean floor is actually just like Starship Troopers, look at this bug! [YBNBY]
A run-in with Greg Oden in Bloomington in which he conducts himself in the manner opposite of a Pittsburgh Steeler. [Rumors and Rants]
A look at Final Four MOPs that went on to become NBA greats. Miles Simon did not make the list. [Sportige]
Could Tom Izzo go to the Nets if he cuts down the nets in Indy? [Midwestsportsfans]
It's down to Seinfeld and the Simpsons in the Sitcomology title game. This is like the UNC-Kentucky of sitcom battles. [Sparty and Friends]
Monday, March 15
Tournament Time: Midwest Region
The weather has gone from figid and icy to cool and moist here in the northeast. It is a small change from the cool and windy to mild and saucy weather of my former home in North Carolina. Speaking of North Carolina, no Tar Heel this year. You may ask what is Catfish to do? Don't worry has his rooting interest; seeing Duke go down. No Arizona either, or UConn, or UCLA. The last few years have provided a lot of chalk when it comes to the brackets so naturally most predictors are calling for things mostly to hold to form. I prefer to think that the element of chaos will devastate many brackets this year. Many believe a few teams have seperated themselves at the top, but I saw nothing over the past weekend to convince me that the regions will hold true to seeding.
You can see my picks from last year (where I did not do so well) here, here, here, here and here. The first region of picks after the break.
1st Round
1 Kansas over 16 Lehigh: I always wonder what the actual, behind closed doors mentality of these 16 seeds are. We know they are riding high from their conference tournament win but they are facing one of the top four teams in the country. Yet Lehigh is not just facing a top team, they are facing the highest ranked team in the tournament. How high is the Hoosier underdog reinforcement pumped? Do they just prepare like any other game? Do they revel in just "being there" when they get flown to OKC and interviewed by the media? I know Western Carolina and East Tennessee St. have had those anything is possible moments but Lehigh has as close to no chance of winning as you can get. In the media they will be throwing out cliches but I wonder what is really going through the minds of the players and coming out the mouth of coach Brett Reid.
9 Northern Iowa over 8 UNLV: Is it not amazing that the Runnin' Rebs are not held in the same esteem as other 90s powerhouse programs? You may point out the sancitons and the Tark but it's not like Kentucky and Syracuse never had sanctions. Despite a strong performance in the MWC tourney, I think the Lon Kruger (no one talks about him except when he brings UNLV to the tournament again) led Rebels get bounced early. Northern Iowa was in last year and while UNLV plays tough defense, so do the Panthers. Northern Iowa has beated people soundly and have only faltered 4 times this year.
5 Michigan State over 12 New Mexico State: It's funny to me that everyone points out how you cannot count out Tom Izzo come tourney time, yet people want to dismiss the Spartans. Others are saying they would like to completely dismiss MSU but the Izzo factor is the only thing that helps them. The Spartans are just one of the riddles to be solved this week, but I don't think they fall to the Aggies here. Too much pride.
4 Maryland over 13 Houston: Look how many points they score! They have the nation's leading scorer! Plain and simple fact is Houston does not play defense and Maryland has superior players headlined by Vasquez. The one thing that made me twitch about this pick was the fact that Memphis rolled Maryland last year in a somewhat similar match-up of styles. But like I said Houston can only win if they put the game genie on and hit over 60% of their shots and Maryland lays an ostrich egg.
6 Tennessee over 11 San Diego State: A lot of people are picking San Diego State here. But before I endorse a Steve Fisher-led run for the Aztecs, I have to say Tennessee has been playing better without Tyler Smith. They are no juggernauts and it has been my rule not to trust Bruce Pearl and Tennessee in the tournament, but I think they escape with this one.
3 Georgetown over 14 Ohio: Georgetown went from early contender to midseason pretender to late season contender. I really liked the fire Greg Monroe was playing with in the Big East tourney, they were just too worn down to keep up with W. Virginia. Four straight games at MSG with Big East competition gives you little shot to take it home, but the Hoyas should be happy with how they came away with it. The Bobcats shocked Akron to take home the MAC title, but will Gary Trent, the Shaq of the MAC be in attendance?
10 Georgia Tech over 7 Oklahoma State: The Jackets remind me very much of the Michael Beasley led Kansas State team from a few years ago. Derrick Favors is a beast down low, but Georgia Tech does not feed him the ball enough and often turn the ball over before they ever get a chance to. The Cowboys were terrible away from Stillwater this year outside the game where K-State had a let down.
2 Ohio State over 15 UC Santa Barbara: I'm sure alum Jim Rome would tout the Gouchos as phe-nomiNAL but Ohio State will end this one early.
2nd Round
1 Kansas over 9 Northern Iowa: The dream run ends early for the Panthers. I am guessing Kurt Warner will make an appearance at some point though.
5 Michigan State over 4 Maryland: This is where I think Izzo rises up and gets the very best out of his team. Despite Roe being hobbled I think Izzo inspires Lucas to outduel Vasquez. Maryland has shown a very streaky characteristc throughout the year which is understandable with General Greivis running the show. The hard part about predicting how a hot and cold team will do is that you cannot predict in what games, against what team, and in what part of the game they hit a streak.
3 Georgetown over 6 Tennessee: I think this would be a hotly contested game, especially with the Chism-Monroe match-up. Ultimately I think Georgetown scores at will and rolls into the Sweet 16.
2 Ohio State over 10 Georgia Tech: Another place where some people are looking for an upset. I don't see it. Tech has enough talent to be sure, but their inconsistent and sloppy play is the reason they are a 10 seed in the first place. Turner will run circles around them and Lighty is the difference because he is a point guard who can handle.
Sweet 16
1 Kansas over 5 Michigan State: In a rematch of a solid Sweet 16 meeting last year, Kansas runs through Michigan State. The Spartans are a shell of what they were last year while Kansas is a version of themselves last year on steroids.
3 Georgetown over 2 Ohio State: The small rotation Ohio State is running could end up hurting them in a game like this. There is always a danger if you run with a 6-7 man rotation even if it has brought you success. The obvious problem is foul trouble and if a couple of your guys are struggling big time, you cannot find multiple players to replace them. In-game fatigue is not a huge factor because of the lengthing of time outs during the tourney, but the wear over time of a 40+ game season (the Big Ten tourney could have used up some legs) could have some of the players break down. I like the Hoyas.
Elite 8
1 Kansas over 3 Georgetown: To take the drama out now, I don't feel confident putting any team down to beat Kansas. Doesn't mean it won't happen, but they are the most complete team in the tourney. As long as Bill Self keeps them focused on the brass ring, the Hoyas would not be able to keep up with them down the stretch.
*these picks are made for entertainment purposes only, seriously I am not a part of any pools whatsoever.
Monday, June 8
Weekend Recap
I have decided job searching is only as stressful as you allow it to be. Therefore I welcome my oncoming unemplyoment in a little over 3 weeks, it will give me a chance to do some figurative and literal housecleaning. I hope your weekend out there was enjoyable. I can't decide what the highlight for me was, witnessing cookie-tossing at Waffle House at 2:30am, or the girl being carried out An Officer and A Gentleman style from the bar and the EMTs flowing in soon after.
Tiger Woods won a golf tournament yesterday, consider yourself warned. [Rumors and Rants]
I thought this girl winning the Texas state title in Track and Field was impressive, but Catfish was quick to point out, "It's only class A, isn't that the worst division?" [Deadspin]
I get the feeling the Stanley Cup Finals may be over tomorrow night after the way the Wings looked with Datsyuk back. [Yahoo]
Where was the security at Roland Garros on Sunday? [TBL]
Now I just think the Nationals are doing this stuff on purpose. [DC Sports Bog]
Ian Kinsler gets my vote for best player on a good team no one is talking about. [Dallas Morning News]
Southern Miss defeated Florida to advance to the College World Series. The Noles lost too so a win-win this weekend as far as I'm concerned. [CBSSports]
I have a feeling that the Courtney Lee missed lay-up is going to be the most memorable moment from the finals this year. Now where did I put my broom? [Ball Don't Lie]
Tuesday, May 26
The Road To Omaha Is One To Watch
The attention paid to the 65-team college baseball tournament is minuscule compared to its basketball counterpart, but the same elements exist in both. Last year, Fresno State became the lowest seed ever to win the NCAA Championship during an improbable run just like Villanova did in 1985. There are the familiar powerhouses in the tournament: Texas, UNC, Florida State, Arizona State, Rice and Cal State Fullerton. They are akin to the UCLA, Kentucky, Carolina, Duke, and Michigan State of hoops. There are incredible streaks similar to Arizona's long run in basketball; the University of Miami is in the tournament for a record 37th consecutive year.
The action begins this Friday at 8 regional sites. In each regional 4 teams play a double-elimination tournament. The 8 hosts of the regionals are:
1. Texas (41-13-1)
2. Cal St Fullerton (42-14)
3. LSU (46-16)
4. North Carolina (42-16)
5. Arizona State (44-12)
6. UC Irvine (43-13)
7. Oklahoma (41-18)
8. Florida (39-20)
You can see the full bracket here. Many shun the college game because of the PING! factor but the games are just as entertaining as any baseball playoff and perhaps even more so. I can admit that I do not follow much of the regular season in college baseball but this time of year my eye always turns to the road to Omaha. It has always been on my list to travel to Rosenblatt stadium and see a CWS and those that have gone have told me it is well worth the trip. I was fortunate enough to work the regional last year hosted by Coastal Carolina in South Carolina and the energy of the teams and fans was unbelievable. Coastal is the Davidson of college baseball if you will out of the Big South Conference. They made it to the Super Regionals last year but fell short to North Carolina. The Chanticleers will start their quest to become the George Mason of college baseball in Chapel Hill as the two seed as the Tar Heels host the regional.
Among the many story lines is the story of San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg, the projected number one pick in the upcoming MLB draft. Some scouts are touting him as the "best baseball prospect ever" and he has already signed with Lucifer Scott Boras himself. Strasburg leads the nation with a 1.34 ERA and 174 strikeouts in 94.3 innings pitched. It is also reported he can hit 102 on the gun but as a co-worker of mine wisely said, "They said the same thing about Todd Van Poppel." The Nationals have the number one pick but considering their horrible team, attendance, spelling ability, it will be hard to fathom them successfully signing Strasburg. Aztecs manager Tony Gwynn (Tony Gwynn folks!) has not said for sure whether he will pitch Strasburg Friday against Virginia, who just won the ACC tournament, or he will rest him until the likely match-up with regional host UC Irvine. The Anteaters are the favorites to move on so it might behoove Gwynn to rest Strasburg but if they do not beat UVA they face elimination. It is all part of the strategy of baseball which takes on a new dimension when it comes to the college game which is part of the reason it makes it so captivating to watch.
Just like basketball, a field of 64 teams (after the opening round game) that will be narrowed down to one after a long hard-fought battle of blown calls, great plays, role players becoming stars, and a little bit of good fortune.
Texas grabs No. 1 baseball seed [ESPN]
