20 Mondays – Lucky No. 13

    As you guys might recall, my highlight of the weekend was seeing the first NCAA tournament spot officially get grabbed by Columbia University as the Lions took down Dartmouth in two straight games on Saturday in New York City.   But Satow Stadium remains one of the oddest stadiums I’d ever seen.

“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’.

Columbia: Champions of the Ancient Eight.

The piling is on. Columbia celebrates winning the Ivy League title in the lets-hope-no-one-gets-injured way.

“I want to wake up in that city that doesn’t sleep,

and find I’m king of the hill, top of the heap.”

- Frank Sinatra “New York, New York”

LSU Dampens Florida’s Spirits, 3-2.

Okay guys. Small apology here.

This thing is a little on the late side. But hopefully you’ll dig it either way.

Commander Cody. LSU’s Cody Glenn shown here spinning a good yarn vs. Florida on Thursday night.

I wrote most of this write up from the Thursday night Florida-LSU game at the stadium after the game. Then I went to my buddies house to finish it before hitting the rack to rest my bones. But lo and behold, there is not a reliable wireless signal there – damn him. Then, this morning I had to haul ass down to New Orleans to catch a flight to New York, so I didn’t get a chance to post this. But now as I post pictures and put the finishing touches on this thing, I’m in the middle of Bryant Park in bustling Manhattan and I’ve finally got an internet signal to finish this column.

The Weekend Preview – Back in the New York Groove

Grateful Dead-like, it’s going to be a long and strange trip this weekend. From Dingerville to Dogpiles, and Bayou Bashers to Burning on the Bowery. I hope to see some great baseball… and some rock-n-roll history as well.

I’m off to the Big Apple this weekend. Gonna go see who gets the first tux fitting for the Big Dance. And while I’m there, I hope to see some of the famous punk venues on the Lower East Side, home to places like CBGB’s, Cafe Wha? and the Bowery Ballroom. It’s Dartmouth and Columbia for the Ivy League title. A best-of-three that will take place a few stops up the A-line from where I’ll be staying in a friend of mine’s apartment in SoHo.

High & Inside. The Latest College Baseball Baldcast

Here’s the newest breath of fresh air from Eric Sorenson and Mike Rooney.

Hope you guys dig it. It’s one of the best Baldcasts in recorded history.

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A COUPLE THINGS I FORGOT TO POST.

Here’s a couple things I meant to post to my site from last weekend. I posted them on Twitter (What, you don’t follow me on Twitter? Gah!), but I’m posting them now.

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WHISKEY AT THE BIG TIDDY.

As I posted on Twitter last weekend, when the NCAA isn’t there, TD Ameritrade Park actually sells freakin’ WHISKEY! I ain’t kidding either. Here’s a picture of the booze they sell for seven bucks a shot:

Yes, you’re not seeing things. Canadian Club, Jim Beam and Jose Cuervo are for sale at the new downtown stadium during Creighton games.

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THE OLD ROSENBLATT

In case you were wondering, I stopped by the old Rosenblatt Stadium site while I was there in Omaha… it’s now mostly a parking lot with the skeleton of the old scoreboard and the fair poles still in place.

The new Rosenblatt display is in place and starting to be put together on the site of the old stadium.

20 Mondays – The Whip It, Whip It Good Edition.

Okay, imagine this being eight screens filled with college baseball images and replace the words “NFL Game Mix” with “College Baseball Bases Loaded” and replace all those 1990s college baseball scores with this decade’s 2-1 and 3-2 scores, and you get the idea for what ESPN plans to do this post-season.

You like being whipped?

I bet you do you naughty little gimp.

No. No. I’m kidding. That’s not the kind of whipping I’m talking about here. How about this instead: So during football season, do you like to go on the NFL Network and get the “whip-around” to all the big plays and exciting finishes before they happen? Then stay tuned Stitch-Heads ‘coz the Whip Around is coming to college baseball this coming post-season.

And who’s holding the bull whip, ready to give you welts on your back in the name of college baseball? Kyle Peterson.

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.

Creighton, Oklahoma State Advance to “Regional” Finals

Reagan Fowler – the tallest of the Bluejay celebration – gets a lift after his RBI single won the game for CU over Rutgers in 11 innings.

With these four teams all hovering in at-large land of the RPI, this tournament almost feels like it could be a four-team Regional field. All good teams and all playing good, competitive games. Today was a pretty cool day in The O. And sure, it was a little on the long side too, since there were three games played.

Creighton Turns Nebraska Into A Blue State

Good crowd tonight at The Big Tiddy as 8,395 fans made their way to the downtown stadium, making it the largest crowd in the country for a stadium that is two blocks off-campus this entire season.

Oh sure, it took some finagling, but I was able to make my way to The O today – via Lincoln and a one-way rental car – and got to see Day One of the TD Ameritrade Classic at the Big Tiddy in downtown Omaha.