College Sports

Today is our nation’s birthday. We’re 232 years old today, and maybe we’re showing our age a little bit. But today is the day to celebrate that age and all our accomplishments. We spend today with family and friends, cooking out, on the water, playing games, whatever.

There are a lot of sports traditions that go along with the fourth. When I was a kid, my family spent virtually every fourth at an Atlanta Braves game. We’d get to the old Atlanta-Fulton County stadium, grab some hot dogs and head to our seats. After the game, we’d stay for the fireworks.

My favorite year was 1985, when a game with the Mets went into extra innings and didn’t end until after 4 a.m…. and the Atlanta brass shot the fireworks off anyway! I wasn’t at the game, but was watching it at home. When I saw that they were shooting off the boomers anyway, I just started laughing. The stadium was located in the middle of a neighborhood, hard by I-75. Can you imagine waking up to that noise? The Braves lost the game in 19 innings, a game marked by a pitcher (Rick Camp) having to hit for himself and tying the game up (again) in the 17th inning. I’ll never forget the dirty look he got from the ump as he crossed home plate.

Anyway, I digress. We all have our traditions on this day, and a great many of our traditions, and memories, involve sports in one way or another. And these memories can evoke powerful emotions. Not long after my husband and I first met, I took him to Atlanta for a game on the 4th. When the fireworks started, I couldn’t believe it… I got emotional. I remembered my dad taking me to the games, teaching me how to keep score. The July 4, 1985 games was one of his last to see before he died. He didn’t live to meet my hubby, but his love of baseball, and sports in general, now is being passed down to my little girl, through me.

So today, I think about the traditions of sport. There is a lot of bad in sport, but at the end of the day it unites us in a unique bond that transcends generations.

What’s the old ad? “Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet!” Amen!

Steve Detwiler had himself quite a night. The Fresno State slugger had two home runs and all six Bulldog RBI’s to lead FSU to its first-ever NCAA Division I Baseball National Championship. Fresno State took the title with a 6-1 victory over eighth-seeded Georgia.Detwiler hit a two-run shot in the second inning to give Fresno State an early lead, and followed that up in the fourth with an RBI double. He capped his night with a two-out, three run homer in the sixth that gave the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead.

Bulldog pitcher Justin Wilson did his part for FSU on the mound. In eight innings, he allowed one run on just five hits, and struck out nine. Reliever Brandon Burke took over in the ninth and got the final three outs. His game clinching performance included getting a double play with Georgia runners on first and second and no one out in the ninth.

Fresno State had quite a run to the title. It marks the first time a regional four-seed has won a national championship, and during the course of the tournament, FSU hade to beat the #2 national seed North Carolina twice, the #3 national seed Arizona State twice, the #6 national seed Rice once, and the #8 national seed Georgia twice.

All in a days work for a team that wouldn’t be denied and who gave us one of the most improbable runs in NCAA baseball tournament history.

Wilson and Detwiler were both on the MCWS all-tournament team while teammate Tommy Mendonca was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

Fresno State ends it’s season with a mark of 47-31, while Georgia ends up 45-25-1.

After a long, long college baseball season, it’s all come down to tonight’s game. Fresno State vs. Georgia. Bulldogs vs. Bulldogs. Big Red vs. Big Red.

Both teams have great stories. FSU fought through a region where it was seeded fourth, and became the first regional four seed ever to advance to the championship round. Georgia finished last year with a losing record, but won the SEC regular season, and became the first team with a losing record the prior year to advance to the championship round.

Tonight’s game is one of those classic matchups where you don’t want to see anyone lose. You know both teams are playing on heart as much as ability.

First pitch is just minutes away, on ESPN at 7 p.m. EDT. Catch it!

The College World Series has finally whittled itself down to two teams, and the best of three series begins tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern on ESPN 2.

Georgia and Fresno State have both battled through to make it into the Championship series. And I don’t think anyone would have picked either team to make it into the finals.

Georgia entered the tournament as an eight seed and an average won-loss record that now stands at 44-23-1. Georgia becomes the first team to bounce back from a losing season one year and advance to the finals the next.

Fresno State entered the tournament as the fourth seed… in their region! They are the first regional fourth seed ever to make it into the Championship round, and took out national #2 seed North Carolina, a finalist the past two years, in the process.

Georgia has been here before. In 1990, Georgia won the NCAA title. That season the Bulldogs had a utility infielder by the name of David Perno. Perno now goes by the title of head coach at UGa.

Did I mention both Fresno State and Georgia go by the nickname Bulldogs? Seems appropriate.

I love the College World Series. It reminds me why I like the college version of sports so much more than the pro version, and today was no different.

My hubby and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings to eat, and saw the finish of the Georgia-Miami game… and what a finish! The sixth-ranked Bulldogs were down a run, 4-3, going into their last at-bat against the top-ranked ‘Canes, but managed four runs on three hits, a wild pitch on a strike out that allowed the batter to get to first, and a throwing error on an infield grounder (by the pitcher!).

Watching the faces of the Georgia players was awesome. Their pure joy was fun to watch, and, to be corny, reminded me of a bunch of kids playing Little League. On the flip side, the devastation and confused looks on the faces of the Hurricanes was very real.

This was just day one… wonder what will happen this week? Will Miami make it out of the loser’s bracket? Who else will give us some excitement. Besides Georgia and Miami, other participants are Rice, LSU, North Carolina, Fresno State, Florida State and Stanford. All the games are carried on ESPN and ESPN2, so tune in!

Sophomore Oklahoma State pitcher Andrew Oliver was declared ineligible hours before the fifth-ranked Cowboys game with 14th-ranked Wichita State in the NCAA tournament.

Oliver, the ace of the staff, has a record of 7-2 and an era of 2.20 in 15 appearances this season. He was named first team All Big 12, as well.

In a statement, the University declared that Oliver is ineligible “for an indefinite period.” The statement goes on to say that Oklahoma State “cannot” comment further. Privacy laws most likely prohibit the university from saying anything else at this time.

According to various sources, the problems for Oliver are not academic, but rather could be related to contact with an agent, or receiving improper benefits. Oliver is still one year away from being eligible to enter the MLB draft.

According to NCAA rules, once a baseball player begins his collegiate career, he is ineligible for the draft until following his junior year. Oliver was drafted out of high school by Minnesota in the 17th round, but opted for college instead.

But here are the facts, the things we know for sure. Oliver has let down his teammates. No matter what the reason is for his being declared ineligible, he has let them down during the most crucial point of the season. OSU lost to Wichita State, 5-3, in front of a sellout crowd in Stillwater after the announcement, ending the Cowboys three game win streak. And when they faced Wichita State again two days later, the game went into extra innings and the Cowboys were forced to have position players pitching, as the ranks were depleted.

Any student-athlete that puts his/her greed (and that is what it boils down to, greed) ahead of the team, ahead of teammates, well, that person isn’t much of a teammate.

If Andrew Oliver is guilty of “extra benefits,” I hope it was worth it for him… because his teammates are paying a high price.

The Trinity College baseball team is on a roll… a big roll.

The NCAA Division III team has won 41 consecutive games, and remains undefeated. The Bantams set the D-III record for fastest start with their 34th win of the season, but that hasn’t slowed them down. Their 41st win broke the previous win streak mark of 40 that was held by Marietta College.

Trinity, located in Hartford, Conn., won the NCAA Regional Baseball title with a 10-3 win over the University of Southern Maine Huskies. The team now advances to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament in Appleton, Wisc., for the third time in the last six years.

The Bantams will open this Friday, May 23, against Cortland State. The Red Dragons are the last team to defeat Trinity, knocking them out of the 2007 NCAA Regionals by a score of 10-6 one year ago.

Streaks are nothing new to the Trinity College athletic department. The football team won 31 in a row before losing in 2006, and the men’s squash team hasn’t lost a match in more than 10 years… 10 years!

The baseball team is looking to make history. No college baseball team has gone undefeated to win a national championship. This year’s team has outscored opponents 380-103.

Pitching is getting the job done, that’s for sure. The Bantams have a team ERA of 1.86, while their opponents are at 8.61. And hitting, well, TC has that, too. The team batting average is .341, to their opponents .212.

We’ll keep you posted on how the Bantams do in the National Championship this weekend.

Ron Polk, head baseball coach at Mississippi State University, coached his last game for the Diamond Dawgs on Saturday in Starkville, Miss. MSU lost the game 15-10 to Arkansas to finish their season 23-33 (9-21 in SEC play).

The game was Polk’s 2,075th and marked the end of his first losing season in 35 years of coaching. He ranks seventh on the NCAA’s career wins list and finished his career with a combined won-loss record of 1,373-700-2 with Mississippi State (29 years), Georgia (2 years) and Georgia Southern (4 years). And he retires as the winningest coach in SEC sports history.

Polk took MSU to six College World Series appearances, most recently following the 2007 season. He originally retired from coaching at MSU following the 1997 season, but was lured back to the college ranks by Georgia in 2000. After two years with UGa, he returned to MSU when Pat McMahon departed for the University of Florida.

“Now is the right time to move on,” said Polk. “There comes a time when everybody has to do something else. There are so many memories from my time here. I want to thank the players and my assistant coaches for a wonderful ride.”

Polk has been taking on the NCAA for the last few years. In his opinion (and the opinion of many others) college baseball is being unfairly hit with caps on scholarships and other sanctions that end up punishing the student-athletes… all for the sake of Title IX.

A pre-game ceremony honored Polk for his contributions to the University and collegiate baseball. Mike Slive, Southeastern Conference commissioner, presented him with a box of cigars and a framed base and Mississippi State athletic director Larry Templeton presented the coach with a Buick. More than 80 “Diamond Dawg” players returned to take part in the festivities.

What did you do Monday?  Maybe go to work, spend some time with the family, watch some TV?Buster Posey had quite a day, the kind of day that he will file away to tell his grandkids about.Posey, who stars for the fourth-ranked Florida State baseball team, played all nine positions against Savannah State.  The Seminoles (44-8) won the game 10-0.Here is a summary of Posey’s game day:

• 1st inning: catcher
• 2nd inning: 1st base
• 3rd inning: 2nd base
• 4th inning: shortstop
• 5th inning: 3rd base
• 6th inning: left field (moved to center with two outs)
• 7th inning: pitcher (moved to right field with two outs)

(The game ended in the bottom of the seventh with one out and one on base) Oh, about his pitching debut.  He struck out both batters that he faced before moving to right field.But that wasn’t enough for Posey, a junior from Leesburg, Ga.  He proceeded to go 1 for 3 with two walks from the plate.  That one hit?  A grand slam, his second of the season, third for his career.  He went deep to right on the first pitch he saw from Tigers starter Alford Arnold.There have been four Seminole players accomplish the feat during Mike Martin’s reign as coach.  The most recent was Martin’s own son, Mike Martin, Jr., against Furman during the 1994 season.Posey used four different gloves during the game.  He said his weirdest experience was playing first base, and that he had never played that position, or centerfield.Posey is expected to be a high pick in the major league amateur draft in June.  And whoever signs him will know they are getting a guy who can (literally) do it all.