College World Series- wow

[smmokan]

For those of you who actually watched it, you've got to admit- that was one of the best college games in a long time. From the absolutely unbelieveable pitching performances- Nickerson throwing 323 pitches over the last three days, Bard throwing 98mph in the 8th inning, Gunderson in relief after throwing 5 innings yesterday- to the steal of home that was nixed by the K, to the error at second... wow. I have no idea why more people don't watch the CWS- short of the NCAA b-ball tourney, its got to be the best tournament out there. Maybe a little better marketing would do the trick. But wow man, I love the college game.

[iceman]

Yeah it was good. Those guys pitched their asses off and it came right down to the wire. Certainly we're going to hear more from Gunderson, Nickerson and Bard (among others) in the future.

But my favorite part was Roy Williams in the stands after the game looking all dejected, that kinda made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, fuck Carolina.

[smmokan]

I concur. Living in ACC land, I can't stand those fuckers.

I think Miller is going to be a very legit pro pitcher, very soon. That guy has some sick stuff from a lefty. I can see Nickerson being a Mussina type guy in the pros too.

[Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo]

I haven't seen many other College world series but that one was sweet. And being born and raised in VA, seeing Carolina lose always make me warm and fuzzy inside.

[SkiCougar]

the problem is that you wont find more than 1000 people at most college baseball games and even in college baseball's postseason(excluding the CWS), whereas college basketball can be anywhere from 5000 to 20000. much like womens basketball, the interest is never going to be there to make it a seriously followed sport.

theyre great fun to go to and OSU has one of the most impressive and legendary ballparks around. go to a osu-stanford game there once. its pretty impressive.

[CUBUCK]

It was a great game, and the only game of the CWS I watched. It was the first time I really missed playing the game in the last six years.

[smmokan]

Actually, there's quite a few more people at college games than you realize- especially in the postseason. The Regional and Super Regional games easily draw between 5-10k people, depending on the stadium. The conference tourneys aren't like college b-ball, of course, but they still draw several thousand to each game. When we played at LSU in the regionals (and this was back in '97), there were over 10k people there.

Personally, I just think the problem is that a college star doesn't necessarily translate directly to the majors, so people aren't as interested in who's who.

[smmokan]

I know it was a bit cheesy, but you had to love watching the coaches kid get that excited and run down onto the field to his dad.

[JMan]

so when are they going to make it mandatory to use wooden bats?

[WWCD]

fuck Carolina.

And with that, I'm now a life long Iceman fan.

I played little league against Roy's son, and hearing my dad tell stories, Roy was always a dick in the stands.

edit: for name dropping.

[bio-smear]

Beavers rocked it! I'm so proud of my alma matter.

[smmokan]

so when are they going to make it mandatory to use wooden bats?

No way can they do that. The NCAA couldn't afford it, unless MLB or one of the bat companies subsidized it. Hell, when I was in college I went thru 7 METAL bats... I bet MLB players go thru hundreds of wooden bats a year. At $40-50 a piece, that's just way too much money for a college baseball program.

[Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo]

For you CO mags, you should try the JUCO world series held every year in Grand Junction. It sure ain't Division I but for some beer-drinking fun in the desert it is hard to beat. My girlfriend is from GJ and she says nothing brings out the ladies like getting to watch JUCO's

[smmokan]

True that, JJJJ. Granted, its not the same as the D-1 CWS, but there's some real talent (on and off the field) in JuCo's across the country. There's a lot of guys who are real pro prospects there.

[JMan]

No way can they do that. The NCAA couldn't afford it, unless MLB or one of the bat companies subsidized it. Hell, when I was in college I went thru 7 METAL bats... I bet MLB players go thru hundreds of wooden bats a year. At $40-50 a piece, that's just way too much money for a college baseball program.

they do it now. i play with a ton of college players and they are given free wooden bats throughout the whole year even tho they dont even use them in games. these arent even DI schools either with a ton of money. well, im not sure how you went through 7 metal bats unless you were using them to hit rocks and played mailbox baseball with them. its more like 80-120 for the mlb bats. the x bats run at low 90 and everyone uses those.

[smmokan]

The reason the college guys are given bats is most likely because their coach gets them from a pro scout or someone he knows. There aren't many college guys who get the free bats. We got a few in college just to use in the cages. I played in a wooden bat league in college during the summer and we used the wooden-composite bats- and even those cracked. Just think- over 300 D1 schools, and god knows how many D2, D3, and JuCo guys... that's a LOT of bats.

And I don't know how I went thru 7 bats either... it was before they changed the weight rule, and we were using 33/28oz bats. The walls were so thin that they were bent out of shape every month or so.

[iceman]

I know it was a bit cheesy, but you had to love watching the coaches kid get that excited and run down onto the field to his dad.

Heh, and the big fatass Sheriff challenging him as he tried to come on the field, you could see the kid mouthing, "That's my Dad!"

[JMan]

who knows, i mean theyre not getting top of the line bats from their coaches or anything, but if you use wood in the cages then metal in games, youre gonna rip the shit outta the ball. the bamboo bat is sick. 33 30 never felt so damn light.

ahh, i remember the tpx 33 in 28 oz days, the best avg i every had. they def didnt last long either, but had a ton of pop to them when they were in good condition.

[smmokan]

Hell yeah, the white TPX bats were awesome. Unfortunately (?) we were sponsored by Easton in college, so we got all those Reflex and Redline bats that weren't bad either. I used the TPX a couple times, and I think I hit a HR with them each time. I can only imagine the technology they have these days for the composite bats in college.

[JMan]

the bats now are ridiculous. i used to use the green and black tpx when my white and red tpx got busted. the redline's were pretty sick cause the handle was so damn thin it was like swinging a club. z-core is the bat to use now, formerly c-core.

[half-fast]

Hell yeah, the white TPX bats were awesome

my team had two of those-one 33-28 and one 34-29. our manager's kid used the 33-28 to drive in stakes or something and wrecked it (I think I'm swinging the 33-28 in my avatar)

my favorite bat was a 34-30 mizuno "world win" loved the handle-don't think they're available any more-I saw two new ones on ebay a few years ago, didn't pull the trigger

btw-I used a wood bat for 4 years in college-the same one- a louisville slugger mc44, a 34 I believe

[SkiCougar]

When we played at LSU in the regionals (and this was back in '97), there were over 10k people there.

yes, but thats LSU; they take college baseball more seriously than anyone else in the country.

as a Univ. of Houston alumn which has been 1 win from the CWS twice in the past 4 years and i have been to games all over the state, i can tell you that u. of texas, a+m and rice; all schools with great baseball pedigree; you can walk in on a friday night game at their ballparks and sit where-ever you want with a few exceptions(i.e. the longhorns playing the aggies).

i wish it was better supported, but U of H has gone from a doormat to a perennial top-25 team and rice is a CWS contender every year and sellouts are still rare during the season.

[The Reverend Floater]

Finally, the Beavers do something right! We'll let 'em ride that high all the way to Civil War. Then it's back into the poopy water for you, Corvallis!

[smmokan]

my team had two of those-one 33-28 and one 34-29. our manager's kid used the 33-28 to drive in stakes or something and wrecked it (I think I'm swinging the 33-28 in my avatar)

my favorite bat was a 34-30 mizuno "world win" loved the handle-don't think they're available any more-I saw two new ones on ebay a few years ago, didn't pull the trigger

btw-I used a wood bat for 4 years in college-the same one- a louisville slugger mc44, a 34 I believe

Where in upstate NY are you? And where did you play ball in college (and when)?

I grew up in Corning, and played with tons of guys in high school that went on to play at schools all over NY.

[TheDingleberry]

I don't think I would qualify it as a good game considering UNC made three errors that led to OSU winning.