Or perhaps "Dawg Day", hopefully. And I suppose it's really more of an evening thing, but, either way, we've got an all Bulldog College World Series Championship Series coming up tonight at 7:00 ET (ESPN 2). Georgia and Fresno State, Vegas' two long-shots to win it all, have defied all odds this tournament. Fresno State has been particularly surprising. No Regional 4 seed had ever made it to Omaha, let alone the Championship Series, but I'm sincerely hoping their luck starts to run out tonight. On top of that, I'm not sure anyone could have predicted the "Big Browns" Miami, North Carolina, and Florida State dropped on us this CWS. I certainly didn't, but then I'm obviously not saying I'm all that disappointed either.
For various reasons, seeing my Dawgs take down the Heels would have been a bit sweeter, there's no denying that, but then I naturally have to like Georgia's chances against Fresno better. Despite how hot both of these teams are right now, it's inevitable that something's got to give, and the law of averages suggests it should be the "Underdogs to Wonderdogs" from out west. How many "superior" opponents can they continue to best? We'll see...
Even simultaneous instances of such. Great catch, Kyle, but at what cost? At least this play, which I'm officially nominating for Face Plant of the Year, basically guarantees that Kyle Shelton will be seen on Megatrons in baseball parks around the country for the foreseeable future. Kyle Shelton and the San Diego Chicken: Joined for eternity. You're a utilitarian hero in that sense, Mr. Shelton. That wall may have simply left a mark on your face, but you and your brazen approach to tracking down foul balls have left a mark on the baseball universe, and that's something...even in the context of a 6-1 loss and being eliminated from the College World Series. God bless you, Kyle Shelton.
You better be. I know I am, and there's really no excuse for any sports fan not to be. Between the NBA Finals, College World Series, Euro 2008, and today's U.S. Open showdown between a couple guys named Tiger and Rocco, what more could one really ask for this time of year? So yeah, today would have probably been a nice day to call in sick. We've got Rocco and Tiger at noon ET, Miami and Florida State, the 1st and 3rd favorites respectively to win the CWS, in an elimination game at 2:00, and Germany and Austria for a spot in the Euro Quarter Finals at 2:45. Time your lunch appropriately. If you had the foresight to Tivo this stuff, good luck avoiding the scores/updates today at work. If you had no such vision, well, be mindful of the visionaries around you. At least we should all get to enjoy seeing two potential CWS cinderellas square off in Georgia vs Stanford tonight at 7:00. College Football should be taking notes...
Flordia State and Standord open things up tomorrow at 2:00 pm ET, while Georgia and tournament favroite Miami occupy the night game slot at 7:00. Both games can be seen on ESPN, and you can find the complete College World Series TV schedule here courtesy of Rivals. You can also find team breakdowns, hisotry and analysis here.
I'll obviously be pulling hard for my beloved Dawgs, who'll be seeking their 2nd Baseball National Championship, but it sure as hell isn't going to be easy for them to taste glory this time around. Hopefully Miami will pull a "Big Brown" tonight, or maye Georgia can at least carry the momentum from their Super Regional win against N.C. State over to Omaha (Chuck Amato...?). Prospects like the Dawgs' Gordon Beckham (.401, 26 homers and 72 RBIs), the #8 overall pick in this year's MLB Draft to the White Sox, and Miami's Yonder Alonso (.367, 23 homers, 71 RBIs), who went 7th overall to the Reds, should make this game enjoyable even for the neutral spectator.
Oh yeah, Miami had two other guys taken in the first round as well: Jemile Weeks, Rickie's little brother (#12 overall, Oakland), and reliever Carlos Gutierrez (#27 to the Twins). No wonder they're favorites to win it all. Georgia actually had another 1st rounder this year in closer Josh Fields (#20 to Seattle). I just hope they get a chance to use him. A couple other first round picks to check out are Florida State catcher Buster Posey (.460, 26 homers, 92 RBIs (!), #5 to the Giants), and Stanford's very own backstop, Jason Castro (.379, 13 homers, 69 RBIs, #10 to Houston). The draft talent obvoiusly runs much deeper than the first round too, so the names mentioned here are really just the tip of the iceberg.
Fresno State, the other Bulldogs making their way out to Omaha, could present a nice little storyline as well. Having become the first Regional 4 Seed to reach the College World Series, it should be interesting to see how they fare now. Of course, if you follow the general idea that Vegas knows best, at least more often than not, things don't look particularly good for either squad of Bulldogs this year...
Some slight differences there I suppose, but it's clear we should be expecting, as unfortunate as it is, a Miami vs UNC championship game. Of course, in College Baseball, with metal bats, kids high on emotion, playing for glory instead of money, etc., etc., etc...you never know.
Georgia needed two big wins on Sunday to keep their College World Series hopes alive, and they got them in convincing fashion. First up was an afternoon revenge game against Lipscomb. As you may have heard, the Dawgs took quite a "dump" against the Bison in their opener, losing 10-7 despite home field advantage. This time, however, the "dump" was on Lipscomb as the Dawgs piled up 21 hits on their way to a 14-3 victory/reenactment of the hunting scene from Dances With Wolves.
Next up was, of course, the all too convenient rivaly matchup with the Yellow Jackets. Given the way the Dawgs had played of late (Read: the Regionals, SEC Tournament, and last 1/3 or so of the season in general) my hopes weren't particularly high for this one, but I was obviously happy to seem them prove me wrong. You know, a win would have been fine, I would have been more than happy to admit I'd sold my Dawgs short at that point, but Georgia pitcher Nick Montgomery decided he needed to rub it in. Montgomery gave up just 4 hits to Tech on his way to a complete game shutout, the first time Georgia had blanked the Jackets in nearly 40 years. I'll take it.
Hopefully the Dawgs will decide to rub it in a little more tonight around 7:00 pm (don't worry Dawgs, I can handle it), when they'll need to hand Tech its 2nd Regional loss in order to advance to the Super Regionals against a hot N.C. State club. Unfortunately, I won't be able to help pull them through on the tele, so I guess I'll just have to keep passively watching College Softball (Read: staring at/searching for hot Softball players). It's not all bad out there, you know...
I don't think the above logo is at all official, but it works nonetheless. Regional action is slated to begin this afternoon in the 2008 NCAA Baseball Tournament. My eyes are fixed primarily on the Athens (go dawgs), Raleigh, Cary, Conway and Tallahassee Regionals. May even catch some of those games in person. There are a lot of nice Super Regional pairings as well, but a Georgia-NC State matchup would be particularly enticing. I'll likely find myself on the road to Athens if that one happens to pan out
As for the Tallahassee Regional, well, as fate would have it, I actually have quite a few Water Lizards in my family (sad but true), and one of them happens to grace the mound for the Gators on a regular basis. That said, though it pains me so, I'll naturally continue to be a Florida baseball fan for the time being (at least until they face my Dawgs again).
You can examine the rest of the Regionals and Super Regional pairings here, and a complete schedule/scoreboard for all the Regional sites is here. If you're looking to get a feel for who the winners and losers will be from Vegas' perspective, check out this page. I promise the Tournament will be more intriguing than your run of the mill, Pre-All Star break MLB series (hopefully).
Step aside Peyton, otherwise Mr. Ankiel might take your head off. If you didn't catch Rick "Wild Thing" Ankiel's assists from last night against the Rockies, do yourself a favor and check out the videos/links below. For a guy that probably couldn't hit a catcher's mitt from 60'6" to save himself from castration, he sure does have an uncanny knack for nailing runners at 3rd; from, ohhh, say 300'-350'. Ironic I suppose, and yet oddly ammusing, not to mention jaw dropping. I mean, Taveras isn't exactly Adam Dunn running the bases out there.
The YouTube video is simply here for effect. MLB.com has a much more crisp, full flavored version. I recommend the latter. Enjoy.
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