Baseball Jones

First off, I want write something that I never thought would reach my blog: THE FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS ARE THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS.  And really, did anyone else see that coming?  Well, maybe my buddy Steve, who is a CSU Fresno alumnus and has been inundating me with email and text status updates of this improbable story.  Steve has a vested interest, but we should all take notice of some of the highlights of their fairy-tale run to the title:

• After finishing 47-31 in the regular season, they went on to beat No. 3 Florida State, No. 6 Rice, No. 2 North Carolina (twice), and finally No. 8 Georgia;
• While many of the other teams were carrying recent high MLB draft picks, Fresno State’s highest draftee (Tanner Scheppers, 2nd round) didn’t even play in the postseason; and
• In the finale, Justin Wilson (5-5 on the season) threw 127 pitches in seven innings of shutout ball and while playing with a torn ligament in his thumb, Steve Detwiler crushed two home runs and six RBIs to finish the tournament with six home runs and 17 RBIs.  

But what did their Finals win over Georgia really come down to?  Well, the powers-that-be clearly hate it when baseball teams label themselves the “Dawgs.”  Don’t they know that all of the great Dawgs in history (i.e., the Cleveland Dawg Pound, Dawg of DC Comics fame, and American mandolinist David “Dawg” Grisman) actually earned their nicknames?  These guys need to step their game up and read a history book (or Wikipedia.org).

On a side note, did anyone else find it amusing that Orel Hersheiser was the color guy for the ESPN broadcast of the Finals?  Because…Hersheiser, Fresno State, and Georgia all share the same nickname: Bulldog.

So for my buddy Steve, CSU Fresno alumni, and all grads of the CSU system (yeah, we can claim a piece of this too!), congratulations Fresno State Bulldogs on winning the 2008 College World Series!

Baseball Jones ~~ Hustling since 1980

I have a quick thought on last night's Game 6 of the Finals:

While a 39-point beat-down at the hands of the Celtics and a complete defensive collapse by the Lakers (if there ever actually was a "defense" to collapse) is embarrassing, NOTHING was more embarrassing than watching Michele Tafoya's post-game interview of Kevin Garnett. This interview gave us two adrenaline-packed, testosterene-filled gems from the elated Garnett: "Michelle, you look good tonight, girl", which was soon followed by "Anything is possible. ANYTHING IS POSSIBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!"

Now, I can't fault the guy for being stoked after completely deconstructing the Lakers en route to winning an NBA Championship, but I'm just guessing that once he got home last night, flipped on SportsCenter and saw the video of his interview that was capped by his best Howard Dean impression ("Byaaaaaah!!!"), he had to say, "Wow, that was a bad idea."

And yes, Laker fans, like any serious fans who just witnessed their team endure one of the most painful losses in recent memory, will have the memory of an elephant and should greet Garnett in his next trip to the Staples Center with chants of "You look good tonight" and "ANYTHING IS POSSIBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!"

Until then, the Lakers and I will be working on our defense.

Baseball Jones ~~ Hustling since 1980