Momentum is Like a Scientific Element. It’s Essential.

Another day, another quadrant of NCAA tournament bids were handed out. The SWAC, MEAC, Patriot and Big West were all settled on this afternoon.   Here’s a quick recap of the highs and lows of this limited action Sunday…

Vanderbilt, you had me at “I’ll be back.”

A Terminator rises from the ashes, goes on relentless hunt for Sarah Conner and the national title. It’s name: Vanderbilt.

Okay, since they don’t like a lot of fanfare or pomp and circumstance, here are the things I like about Vanderbilt, after seeing them complete their sweep of Kentucky with today’s 10-5 runaway win in Lexington.

“Excuse me, is this heaven?”… “No, it’s Staten Island.”

The new Freedom Tower and the Manhattan Skyline as seen from the stands at R.C.B. Ballpark in Staten Island. Very inspiring. And one of the best views in college baseball.

With the Ivy League Playoffs decided in two games (on one day), it was time to finally make good on a promise from a couple years ago. Wagner baseball SID Kevin Ross has long badgered me on the merits of coming to a Seahawks game at R.C.B. Ballpark and the great views that were afforded from the facility.

Guess what? The S.O.B. ain’t lyin’.

It’s As If T. Boone Pickens Out-Dueled Warren Buffet.

If this were a battle of rich bastards who met in the middle of the street in an old Western town with their credit cards drawn, T. Boone Pickens, the famously-rich Oklahoma State alum, would have just proven his portfolio could out-perform Omaha-native Warren Buffett’s.

Now, replace the phrase “corporate billionaires club” with the phrase “college baseball bubble teams” and you’ve got an apt description of OSU’s win over Creighton, a true battle of RPI fringe teams duking it out at TD Ameritrade Park… not on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

A Sunday to Witness the Resurrection of a Stadium.

960 fans may not sound like much to most of you out there. But to Cal baseball, it’s a measurement on the Richter Scale compared to the girlfriends-and-parents crowds of 50-to-75 that used to come to Evans Diamond for games.

Drove my ’64 Rambler to the Golden Gate today. This pic was taken from the Sausalito side of the shore. Wish I coulda taken all you Stitch-Heads with me. Decided to head down to Berkeley to see Cal-Wazzu afterward.

Which begs the question: Can a dead stadium come back to life?

Is it possible for a stadium built in 1933 be one of the best fan experiences in college baseball? In THIS day and age?

At Cal Berkeley today, I found out the answer was “yes.”

You Can’t Put Lipstick On A Pig

It wasn’t exactly a thing of beauty. Sunday games rarely are, even in the all-mighty SEC. But in a battle of the not-ugly, but not-so-pretties, the LSU Tigers were able to overcome a few lulls and pull out the weekend series win with today’s 5-3 extra inning scrapfest vs. Arkansas.

Oregon State Finally Proves It’s Worth Its Salt, to me.

Big News: Oregon State returned the services of shortstop Tyler Smith in today’s 5-2 win at UCLA.

Interesting getaway Sunday in college baseball today. I finally got a chance to see Oregon State live up to its billing. I also saw a surprising Florida State team seal an ACC weekend in Coral Gables and all us college baseball fans also got a few other surprises along the way.

Let’s get it on.

Time To Cool The Jets

My view of the Cal-UCLA game. It’s never a bad day to take in a game at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Today was one of those decompression days. I ain’t exactly 20-years old anymore, so traveling gets to be a drain from time to time. After spending two days up in the Beaver state, it was nice to kick back, sleep in and then go a few exits North on the 405 freeway and catching the last few innings of the Cal-UCLA series.

“… the only variable is time.”

It was a dogpile day at Patterson Stadium as Louisville jogged-off with a 10th inning bases-loaded hit from Ty Young… who is under there somewhere.

In the words of the great former UofL football coach Howard Schnellenberger, “Louisville is on a collision course with the national championship. The only variable is time.”

Little did we know, the Hall of Fame coach was actually talking about baseball, not the pigskin.

A Disaster of Epic Proportions

The Astros College “Classic”? Nah, make that clASSic.

In one of the more horrendous days of tournament action, I got to witness three nasty blowouts in a row at Minute Maid Park on the final day of the Astros College Classic. If you were a fan of Cal, North Carolina or Baylor it was an awesome Sunday in college baseball. If not… oh the humanity!