Serious Journalism Alert!

So apparently our buddy Buzz Bissinger was also at the College World Series and, like Big Head, had a little trouble with the security guards. Lucky for us, Big Head's dust-up didn't involve blood...

...what happened when I tried to bring my camera into Rosenblatt to take pictures of my sons our last night there. I had done so the three previous games by dutifully showing my camera bag to security and was whisked through each time without a whimper. But the fourth time around, I was suddenly told by a security official that I had professional grade equipment and the N.C.A.A. does not allow such equipment into the games, presumably on the basis that I would take pictures and then try to sell them (no offense to my kids, but I don’t think they have much value on the open market).

I have a nice camera and some nice lenses, but they are not professional grade, nor am I a professional photographer. I tried to explain this. Blank stare. I tried to explain that I had no intention of shooting pictures of any of the players. Blank stare. I tried to explain that the pictures were for personal use only. Blank stare. I offered to let security officials keep the camera until the game was over so I could accompany my sons inside. Blank stare. I asked why had I already been allowed to enter the stadium three previous occasions with my camera. The answer back was that the enforcement of the N.C.A.A. rule had been lax. What rule? I didn’t see it posted anywhere.

An argument ensued, and I openly admit it got heated. An N.C.A.A. official in an orange shirt was called over. He had one of those little faces born in contempt, and he wasn’t happy. He curtly told me to take my camera bag back to my car. I told him I didn’t have a car since I was staying at a hotel on the Iowa side of the Missouri River and had gotten to the games by shuttle. He told me to go back to the hotel. I told him I would miss most of the game if I had go back to the hotel, not to mention the fact I was there with my sons. More heated argument ensued. More security officials arrived, excitedly smelling the scent of action. Camera alert! Camera alert! More argument. One of them got into my face. I got into his face. He pushed into my body. I pushed into his body.

I do not recommend this.

Roughly half a dozen security officials tackled me and threw me face first into the concrete, causing an ugly gash on my leg and a silver dollar-sized bruise on my arm. My glasses broke. One put me in a chokehold while another handcuffed me, all of it occurring in front of my three sons. They were traumatized. I was traumatized. Over a camera. At a sporting event, a college sporting event that likes to think of itself as the ultimate family affair.

I was told I was permanently banned from Rosenblatt. I was threatened with arrest. The gash in my leg was bleeding, a matter of concern because I am on the blood thinner coumadin (the result of recent five-hour reconstructive surgery for a clot in my leg) and one of the side effects of the drug can be unchecked bleeding.

Wow Buzz, I'm impressed. It doesn't sound at all like you're an asshole media member with a sense of entitlement or anything. Oh, wait, yes it does. How big of a douche do you have to be to get roughed up and cuffed at the College World Series? As the photo gallery can attest, we witnessed plenty of douches in Omaha that week and none of them felt the fist at the end of the long arm of the law. Congratulations Mr. Bissinger, you have received my vote for "Dickhead of the Year" for this incredibly ridiculous event.

And to use a particular turn of phrase that you seem to have popularised with the kids, "Frankly, I think you're full of shit."

Buzz Bissinger Gets His Ass Kicked At Rosenblatt (nytimes.com)

Pinging For You

Want a CWS story that you can have for a lifetime...and maybe even with tests to show that you're positive for some sort of disease? According to Craigslist's "Random Encounters" (see: Wanna fuck?), one of the CWS youngin player's is looking to bag himself a dude. Yep, you read that correctly. I'll let you insert your own "Pitcher/Catcher" gay comment here _____.

And I said 'insert your own'. Hee Hee.

The Road (Trip) To Omaha

This past weekend, I made my second annual pilgrimage to Omaha for the College World Series, joining BertFlex contributor the Biggest of Heads for the festivities. If you've never been to the College World Series, there's really three things you need to know: poon, ping, and bad jerseys. To get this post started off on the right foot, we have the obligatory poon collage below. You're welcome.

Since Fullerton didn't make it this year, there were no Kevin Costner sightings. However, there was a celebrity even BIGGER than Costner... Sulk Hogan!!! That's right, folks. Sulk Hogan was at the College World Series in the flesh. We even got a picture of him as he sat behind us in the stands. What do you mean - his name is "Hulk Hogan"? I don't think you should be messing with the Sulkamaniac like that. If you know what's good for you, you'll just take your vitamins and say your prayers... and apparently get some fresh squeezed lemonade from the concession stand, brother. I can't decide if this guy is an absolute tool or a complete bad ass for going all in on the Hulkster look. I guess if I could pull it off this well, I'd do it too.


Since I'm a moron and hate sunscreen, the tops of my hands looked like raw meat from being sunburned. Being the resourceful college graduate that I am, I decided to start a new trend at the College World Series and picked up some awesome gardening gloves to protect my hands. Depending on who asked, the joke was that they were either my Ass-kicking Gloves or my Groping Gloves. In reality they are just my batting gloves because all I do is rake. Just look at those beauties; I was beating the chicks off with a stick all weekend!

Since this is an NCAA event there was no alcohol allowed on site. I mean, obviously these college athletes would never condone something as vile as drinking, especially since some of them are under age. Luckily, the security guards and cops were pretty cool for the most part as just about everyone was walking around outside the ballpark with open containers. Big Head was among the ones partaking in an adult beverage or 5 when we were walking up to the gate Tuesday morning. Even though BH was intending to pitch the remnants of his beer before getting to the gate, Security Guard Jerkface McPartyPooper threw him out of line and took his ticket away (a general admission ticket of which we had more, mind you) before even getting to the gate. In what has to at least tie a record, Big Head was ejected from the ballpark before entering the ballpark. Bravo, sir! We walked around to the other entrance and got in with no hassle.

The Pellegrino Curse continued this weekend as I bought a Rice Owls hat and they, in the words of ESPN's Mike Patrick, were "0-2 and a BBQ" in Omaha. Last year, I bought a Fullerton hat and they too were eliminated by Tuesday and didn't even make it this year. I'm sorry Rice, I really am. Then again, you did give up 17 runs to Fresno State AND blow a 3 run lead in the bottom of the ninth to LSU so I can't really take all the blame for this one. Good thing for one Mr. Cole St. Clair that the MLB draft was the week before since he allowed six runs in 2.2 innings to lose an elimination game that the Owls led 5-0.

Big anti-dap to the Rosenblatt ticket takers for completely effing up admission to the Saturday night Georgia - Florida State game. The early game ran long and by the time everyone was leaving the park, the line for the night game was already long. Apparently the powers that be decided it would be best to start the night game on time even though there were still about 8,000 people (not exaggerating) in line waiting to get in for the premier game of the day. There were even reserved ticket holders waiting to get in after the 3rd inning. We gave up on getting in the door after the 4th since there were still probably 2-3,000 people waiting to get into the general admission section. Way to eff it up, guys. We went home and watched in on tv, then I blew Big Head up in RBI Baseball (Reggie Jackson and Dick Schofield FO' LIFE!).

Inspired by the bad food posts on Bert Flex recently, combined with that fact that I'm a fat ass, I decided to go to war with a Half Pound Hotdog. Just look at that beast! It was like a double-jumbo dog, crossed with death on a stick. I took it down in four minutes which is a pretty good time for someone who is not on the Major League Eating tour. Yes I know you could have eaten it in 30 seconds, then used the remaining time to have sex with the concession stand girl; thanks for sharing, Suck Norris.

We have a history of being highly offensive on this site, and you've got to hear what was probably the most offensive comment of the weekend. So these girls who look like they're about 12 walk by completely covered in purple body paint; on their clothes, their faces, everything, as you can see by the pic. Since Big Head and I have no love lost for LSU fans, both of us were commenting on the choice of attire/paint for these possibly under-age pooners. After a moment of quiet reflection, Big Head drops "It looks like they were all raped by Grimace." Game. Over. I knew we had to get a picture of him standing next to them. The girls were all excited to get their picture taken with an internet celebrity and radio superstar like Big Head. Too bad they had to wait until this post to find out why we wanted their picture. Thank you, ladies. You stay classy, Big Head.

The nasty jersey crew was in full effect at Rosenblatt as you can see from the collage below. Yes that IS a Stanford Mike Mussina jersey AND a Trevor Hoffman Camo jersey. The guy rocking the Columbus Clippers jersey was all too eager to have his pic taken. Thank you all for entertaining us.
Oh yeah, there was also some college baseball played. Whatever, that wasn't nearly as interesting as these great stories. If you want more awesome pictures from Omaha, come get some: College World Series 2008 Photo Gallery

**Co-Editor's note/update: Sorry Sir, I had to put this picture in the post. It is too good to be buried in our photo gallery. Pretty much sums up all Nebraska fans in one fell swoop.

-HMW

Draft Picks at the '08 College World Series

Here is a list of MLB draftees that HMW and myself will be seeing / heckling this weekend in Omaha. I only went three rounds deep because, well, that was the limit of the players I had heard of.

MIAMI: Yonder Alonso (#7, CIN), Jemile Weeks (#12, OAK), Carlos Gutierrez (#27, MIN), Dennis Raben (#66, SEA), Blake Tekotte (#101, SD)

GEORGIA: Gordon Beckham (#8, CHA), Josh Fields (#20, SEA)

STANFORD: Jason Castro (#10, HOU), Jeremy Bleich (#44, NYA), Cord Phelps (#107, CLE)

FLORIDA STATE: Buster Posey (#5, SF)

NORTH CAROLINA: none

LSU: none

RICE: Bryan Price (#45, BOS)

FRESNO STATE: Tanner Scheppers (#48, PIT)

Looks like Miami is freakin' loaded, while I'm amazed that UNC and LSU have zero draftees in the first three rounds. I'm amped about seeing Yonder and Buster but I'm down on Beckham and Castro. Can I start a petition to start calling Yonder "What light through Yonder window breaks" Alonso or is a Shakespearian nickname too dorky, even for me? Discuss.

The Road to Omaha (I-29)

Here at BertFlex, our love for college baseball has been sort of documented here. Continuing in that kinda-great tradition, I'll recap the past two weeks of the College Baseball Playoffs.

Coral Gables Super Regional
Miami over Arizona (3-6, 14-10, 4-2)

Miami was the number 1 national seed and walked through the regional round unblemished to get here. Arizona was also unbeaten in their regional, beating each of the other three teams once to advance. The Super Regional started off great for the Wildcats, beating the Hurricanes in eleven to take an early series lead. However, Miami's first loss of the playoff and only their ninth of the season seemed to wake them up as they recovered to take the next two and punch their ticket to Omaha for the 24th time.

Athens Super Regional
Georgia over NC State (11-4, 8-10, 17-8)

Georgia dropped their first game of the tournament to Lipscomb (WHO?) and I figured they were dead and buried. Shows what I know: they go 6-1 in their next seven to make it to Omaha, beating four different teams in the process. NC State cruised through their regional, winning a pair of one run games but couldn't get it done in the end. Georgia was the lowest seeded Super Regional host and I expect them to be the first ones out this weekend, even with Gordon Beckham and his amazing hair.

Fullerton Super Regional
Stanford over Fullerton (4-3, 8-5)

Stanford was another top seed that dropped their regional opener and will still play next week. Cal-Davis got them in the first round but the Cardinal have run off six straight wins since that loss, allowing only 3.5 runs a game since then. Fullerton was the #5 National seed but didn't look as strong as normal in this year's playoffs, finishing with a 4-3 record. That means we won't be hearing rumors about Kevin Costner getting hammered in an Omaha bar at 9am before a Fullerton game this year :(

Tallahassee Super Regional
Florida St. over Wichita St. (7-10, 14-4, 11-4)

Apparently getting shut out by Bucknel was the wake-up call the Noles needed as they went off in the rest of their regional, scoring 17, 24, 17, and 16 to advance, then put up 32 in three games against WSU. Led by future Giant Busta Posey, I think it's safe to say that FSU is the nation's most explosive offense right now. The Shockers blew through their regional from the 3 hole by beating host Oklahoma State twice but, in the end, were no match for the Seminole offense.

Cary Super Regional
North Carolina over Coastal Carolina (9-4, 14-4)

Another disappointing outcome for yours truly, as I had hoped to see the nasty Coastal Carolina uniforms in Omaha. North Carolina has yet to drop a game in the playoffs, though they aren't really putting it on anyone as of yet. CCU scored 10, 13, and 24 in their regional but were stymied by the Tarheel pitchers in the next round. NC may have the best staff in the nation right now after allowing only 12 runs in their last four playoff wins.

Baton Rouge Super Regional
LSU over UC-Irvine (5-11, 9-7, 21-7)

The dreams of Eater Nation were crushed in the span of two innings in Baton Rouge this weekend. After winning the Lincoln regional, including a 3-2 win over the hosting Cornhuskers, the Anteaters went into the Bayou Bengals' home and took the first game of the series. They led the second game 7-2 after seven innings, just 2 innings away from their second straight trip to the College World Series, and off came the wheels. LSU scores 2 in the eighth and 5 in the ninth to even the series at one game apiece. The Tigers then score 6 in the first inning of the third game on their way to a 21-7 beatdown and a Super Regional victory.

Houston Super Regional
Rice over Texas A&M (9-7, 6-5)

Rice is following the North Carolina plan, having not lost a game yet this postseason. The Owls have beaten four other Texas schools on their road to Omaha. A&M was looking like a considerable foe for Rice, scoring 53 runs in their four Regional games. The Owls pitchers had other ideas, holding them to just twelve in a two game sweep. Watch out for Rice, as they have only allowed 20 runs in their five games thusfar.

Tempe Super Regional
Fresno State over Arizona State (4-12, 8-6, 12-9)

The Bulldogs are looking to be the darlings of Omaha this year, coming all the way from their #4 Regional seed in one of the most loaded regionals to drawing Rice in their first game in Omaha. Arizona State and my new hero Brett Wallace looked poised to run right through Fresno after crushing their regional 36-10 in three games, then taking the first Super Regional game 12-4. However, the Bulldogs gutted out the next two games to advance and send #3 National seed ASU home. That means no Brett Wallace AND no Mike Jones in Omaha this year. Thanks for ruining all my fun, jerks.

Women's College Softball: Setting Broads Back 100 Years

I'm not what one would call a feminist. I didn't vote for Hillary Clinton in the primary -- I don't want the dreaded "3 a.m. phone call" to go unanswered because the president is at an all-night Pampered Chef party -- and Lord knows it wasn't my idea to teach the fairer sex to read. But spilled milk and all that, you know?

Even though these positions won't garner me any coatroom quickies at the next NOW convention, I feel it is my duty to point out the biggest threat to women's credibility this side of "The View:" women's college softball. Call it a sick fascination or a tremendous waste of time, but I can't help watching the Women's College World Series, currently airing on the Deuce. What gripes could I have with a sportswomanlike test of skill and desire? Here's a partial list:

1. The bases are 60 feet apart. I play vintage baseball with a bunch of middle-aged men, and we manage to truck our asses 90 feet to first base. I think college athletes probably could do the same. 
   
2. The ball is a dazzling shade of neon yellow. They're playing in daylight. Even at night, I think a white ball would stand out pretty well -- it seems to in every other version of baseball ever created.
   
3. The girls wear visors (well, some do -- others don't sport any cappage at all) and ponytails. Hell,
   even the coaches just dress in polo shirts and khakis like they're coaching their kids' soccer team. I'm not saying I want to see them all sporting a Jay Buhner, but could we at least get some adjustable caps that the girls can pull their ponytails through? And maybe they all wear the same thing, including the coaches? You're supposed to be a team, damn it. Dress like one. 
4. The high-fiving, my God, the high-fiving. I swear their was a group high-five last night after a routine ground-out. Why do they seem so surprised that they were able to pull off something as tricky as a 4-3? Act like you've been there before, ladies.
   
5. Not all teams do it, but Arizona State is wearing the helmets with the faceguards. Part of being a ballplayer is being willing to take a shot in the mouth. Wait, that didn't come out like I meant it .... or did it?
6. The sideline reporter tonight is Holly Rowe. I'm not judging, but Holly Rowe is a top comp for 75% of these girls. They don't send Erin Andrews to cover this mess.

Now, I'm not saying that these fine young ladies should find themselves a kitchen, kick off their shoes, and get all pregnafied. Far from it. I'd like to see them play -- gasp! -- honest to goodness baseball. 

Title IX was supposed to be about equality. So why are they voluntarily playing an inferior game?

The Girl From Accounting Will Probably Win This Pool Too

If you're dorky enough to follow NCAA Baseball (the real thing, not the one where Tony slaps asses), and have a compulsive gambling habit, you'd probably be interested to know that Baseball America has set up a College World Series Bracket Challenge.

You can win a DeMarini bat which can be used for future Sandlot Slams, and more importantly, perfecting the art of the bat flip.

Click here to sign up. Who you got?

College World Series Predictions

As some of you may know, I'm kind of a big deal I like college baseball. According to the powers that be, that makes me weird but that's ok. This will be the second year in a row that I'll be attending the College World Series in beautiful Omaha, Nebraska. Of course, like any good fan, I've watched zero college games up to this point. With that level of expertise under my belt, here are my predictions for who will win each regional and super regional.

Miami over Michigan*
Georgia Tech* over NC State
Fullerton over Stanford
Florida St. over Wichita St.*
Coastal Carolina over North Carolina
LSU over Nebraska
Rice over Texas A&M
Arizona State over San Diego*

*-Regional Upset

However, after last year's CWS, I'm rooting for the UC-Irvine Anteaters to make a charge. Local teams I'm rooting for but probably won't make it: Missouri, Illinois-Chicago, and Eastern Illinois. Missouri, who has been ranked as high as #3 in the nation, drew stupid #1 seed Miami in regionals. Good luck with that, Tigers. White boy Yandi Alonso is gonna eff your day up. I'd also really like to see San Diego make it to Omaha so I can watch Brian Matusz make people look silly.

I'm already looking forward to Arizona State making it to Omaha so that OF Mike Jones gets announced over the PA system again. If you don't understand what makes that funny, you don't belong here.

Tigers Unleash the Fury; Nebraska Gets it All Over Themselves

(Originally posted on Mizzourah.net earlier tonight)

A few weeks ago I wrote about seeing the Tigers in action while playing a two day series in St. Louis. That night, after losing a 2-1 heart breaker, I complained about the lack of excitement due to the teams using wooden bats. Even high profile bloggers can go around hitting bombs with wood bats...well maybe not all of them.

To make up for that poor display of college baseball, BertFlex superstar 'The Good Face' and I took a little trip to Columbia, MO to catch game two of the Nebraska/Mizzou series. With a 22-9 beatdown, we were not disappointed in the least.

In all, there were 7 home runs and 6 HBP's. This is what I came to see.

The only complaints were that 1) Kyle Gibson did not start (he came in Friday night's game to throw six pitches in the 9th), and 2) we were forced to walk up the gigantic hill to Taylor Stadium. I thought that being a prestigious Mizzourah blogger, we would have had a guy in a suit holding a "HMW & Good Face" sign, so he could drive us up the hill in one of the golf carts. I see how it is around here. (Although I was going incognito today w/ sunglasses on, that's probably why...)

Seriously though, it was a fun time and we'll have to do it again next year. We were even part of history today, as we helped set a Mizzou single game attendance record - 3,126 in the stands.

To get a better understanding of how bad Nebraska got torched, check the box score. I sent a text to Big Head saying that I wanted to start the "O-VER-RA-TED!" chant in the second inning, but it seemed like a family crowd today, so I behaved myself.

With this win, the Tigers clinched the 4th seed in the Big 12 Conference Championship. The final game of the regular season is Sunday at 3:30, on FSN.

(See the photo gallery for pics, like Oh my God, it's Aaron Crow!! and what I call "Looper Face.")

Jamie Moyer, Owner of Max Scherzer

(This was posted over at Big Head's blog - mizzourah.net - but I figured I'd throw it over here for some Scherzer analysis and Kansas hatin'. Also, if you want to hear Big Head's thoughts on the Tigers' upcoming football season click here and go to the 20 minute mark)

Last week's column about Max Scherzer may have over-hyped him a bit, but how could anyone not be excited about his 13 up, 13 down debut? Monday night was his first start as a Major Leaguer and it did not go well. He was throwing hard, but it seemed like none of his offspeed pitches went for strikes, and the ones that did were base hits. His line was 4 innings, 5 runs (2 earned), 7 hits, 2 walks, 5 K's. A quick scouting report after watching him on tv: I love the fastball (who doesn't love 98-100 mph though?), and he seemed composed after giving up some runs. The worst part of his night was that he screwed around with Jamie Moyer and gave up two hits to the 40-something year old lefty. Jamie Moyer knows what 80 mph pitches look like...don't throw that to him! Also, it would help if Max didn't have a guy behind him with the last name "Drew," since that's never good. Stephen made a bad error on a grounder in the 3rd. To his credit, at least he was out there, J.D. would have been getting an MRI on his purse.

It's not certain that the D'Backs will keep Scherzer in the rotation, since Doug Davis is coming back soon from the DL (foightin' cancah!). Either way, he's got to stay up with the big club, since he's an equally useful weapon out of the pen.

On the Mizzou front, they are now 31-16 overall after winning two of three vs. K-State. Before that the Tigers dropped six out of seven (including five in a row). It's been real yucky to say the least for Mizzou as of late.

Up next is some mid-week action vs. Creighton (tonight) and extra Mo' State (Wed), followed by the weekend at Kansas.

I was going to end it there, but I wanted to see if the KU baseball team follows the lead of their hoops and football programs by playing weak non-conference schedules. Yes, yes they do - 5 game sets vs. both Hawaii-Hilo (huh?) and North Dakota State. Throw in a LeMoyne, Tabor, Benedictine, and St. Mary (I did not make any of those schools up) and the mighty Jayhawks are 29-22. What a bunch of clowns.

Simple Math: College Baseball Minus Ping = BOOORING

The Good Face and I went over to MO'Fallon tonight to check out some college baseball action. Unfortunately, we didn't see "real" college baseball, nor did we see much action. Mizzou (#4 ranked team in the country) lost to SIU in a 2-1 pitchers duel. The teams played with wooden bats, which took away 99% of the coolness of college baseball, but it was a fun experience nonetheless.

Mizzou had plenty of chances to pull ahead - they stranded the bases loaded twice, and left a man on third in the 8th inning when Trevor Coleman was punched out on what seemed to be a strike from the 3rd base stands. He was pretty pissed, started yelling and pointing to the ump ("Your face is chocolate cake!" is what it sounded like), and got the gate.

It would have been cool to see Aaron Crow tonight, as this was his fifth day, but they must have been saving him for the weekend series at Texas A&M. Despite there being ZERO aluminum bats in the house, it was still a good time for my first college baseball experience.

A few notes:

-SIU has a guy with the last name "Crank." He did not play tonight, but I'm sure he would have hit 6 home runs. He sounds like a perfect fit for the MASH fantasy league. This is the best photo I could get from long range, and acting quickly.

-More photos can be seen at the Bertflex photo gallery.

-Not a lot of attractive females in the crowd, though the ones that were hot put on their skankiest attire for the game.

-If UMSL can afford a banner on the outfield wall, Bertflex needs to pool some money and buy one (possibly a joint venture w/ the Front Office and Mizzourah).

-A lot of well-hit balls tonight, but nothing remotely deep after the SIU home run in the second. Hmm, wonder what the problem was...oh yeah, NO ALUMINUM FUCKING BATS! Weak sauce.

-We were hoping to get a glimpse of Aaron Crow or Kyle Gibson as the players were walking by us. It probably would have helped if we knew what they looked like, though it's possible that Crow (and even Gibson) didn't make the trip if he was going to pitch on Friday. I was hoping that The Good Face could give Crow some words of encouragement by letting him know he's on his fantasy team (already) in the Hardcore League.

-It looks like FSN Midwest will be carrying the Mizzou vs A&M game Sunday Sunday Sunday at 1pm. Treadhead seats are ten bucks!

Karl Rove Hates High School and College Baseball

From Anderson Cooper's lackeys at CNN.com:

Former top Bush aide Karl Rove didn't get the friendliest of receptions at the University of Iowa Sunday, CNN affiliate KCRG reports....

Radio Iowa also reports one audience member told Rove that MSNBC's Keith Olbermann named him the "worst person ever."

"Ever?" Rove joked. "Yea, worse than Hitler, worse than Stalin, worse than Mao and worse than the person who introduced aluminum baseball bats."

Burn on Hitler, Stalin, and Mao!

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!

It's just ... it's just too horrible to type ...

PANDA WATCH! ... er, Pedro Watch

Future savior of all things holy Pedro Alvarez sat out for a second straight game Sunday.

To Mr. Alvarez, I'd like to say: "Hey! You're making me look stupid. Get out here, Pedro Jerk!"

I can only assume that he's resting up in preparation for a 2008 season that will make Brady Anderson's 1996 campaign look like Aaron Miles' 2007. Keep the faith, Pedro-maniacs.

Happy Pedro Alvarez Day!

College ain’t just about getting drunk, skipping classes, and playing Halo. It’s also about playing the grand old game (sometimes nine innings, sometimes seven) with aluminum bats and a mercy rule, to the general disinterest of 99% of the American population.

Today’s opening day for D-I schools (although my own Drury Panthers have been going at it for a week or two). Mizzou takes on Connecticut at noon. I assume that 2008 MLB draft rising star Aaron Crow will get the start.

But really, this whole season is about one man: Pedro Alvarez. Get to know him.

For all your NCAA baseball needs, go here. I assume at some point they will have a scoreboard up. If not, it’s no wonder that college baseball is far, far behind college hoops and football in the hearts and minds of the American public.