The Road to Omaha Starts Today

Happy Friday. I have been doing the lawyer thing all day, so that's why there hasn't been any blogging.

Today is the first day of the NCAA Baseball Playoffs, which ends in the College World Series. My Gamecocks play tonight at 7:00PM, so that's where I'll be.

Go Gamecocks!

Happy St. Patrick's Day Weekend

Happy Friday, you crazy kids.

Should be a nice weekend, weather-wise. The Five Points St. Patrick's Day Festival will be in full swing, but you'll have to pay again if you leave and want to come back. Seems like a reasonable way to cut down on people drinking off site. 

If paying $15.00 to go drinking in Five Points isn't your scene, you can go watch the USC Baseball team put their 16-0 record on the line as they step into conference play for the first time this weekend against the Ole Miss Rebels. I'm predicting the Gamecocks take two out of three.

Other than that, it's business as usual around here.

Enjoy your weekend.

The Well-Regulated Militia, Chuck Norris, and Global Warming

Happy Monday.

Glenn Reynolds (a/k/a Instapundit) has an interesting essay on the origins and decline of the militia.

Also, it's Chuck Norris' birthday today, so you better watch yourself. I kind of just figured that Chuck Norris was the militia.

To recap the weekend, USC Baseball swept Brown University to improve to 15-0 on the year. We'll see how the team handles their first SEC games this weekend when the Gamecocks play host to Ole Miss for three games. My guess is that the Gamecocks take two out of three.

In the category of things that will make you dumber for having listened to, Senate Democrats are going to hold an all night "talkathon" on Global Warming darn, I mean Climate Change.

I just don't get the Climate Change people. The earth has been warming up and cooling down in cycles for millions of years. It's just nature. Man probably cannot affect the natural warming and cooling cycles of the entire planet, and it's just folly to say that this temperature, right now, is somehow inherently the "perfect temperature" for the planet.

Anyway, that's enough for now. Everyone go to work.

Future Gamecock Recruit's Video Resume

Henry, my two year old son, has started enjoying baseball. Between his grandfather and me, Henry has attended four Gamecock Baseball games this year.

Needless to say, Henry has become a big baseball fan. Watching the "baseball guys" (as he says) has inspired him to take an interest in hitting a baseball himself. Henry was also the recipient of an actual baseball from Elliott Caldwell, who is a hard-hitting Junior on the Carolina Baseball team, so Henry has a favorite player. You can follow Elliott on Twitter here, if you're so inclined.

After watching the Gamecock hitters so far this season, Henry has decided to work on his hitting. The results are below.

Now, you're probably thinking How many takes did it take for Henry to hit the ball like that?

One.

That's right. First time. Old "One-Take Henry", that's what they called him in his Hollywood days. We'll work up to hitting live pitching soon, but until then, hitting off the tee is going pretty well.

Don't worry Coach Espo, I won't take any recruiting calls from that college up in the upstate.

2014 Gamecock Baseball Season Preview

Last night, Holbrook, Myers, and Esposito spoke at a Palmetto Club dinner to give a season preview. I took a few notes, and thought I would share with fellow USC Baseball fans. It's long, so I'm putting it below a jump.

It's Almost Baseball Season

It snowed yesterday, but baseball season is around the corner. Tonight, Coach Holbrook is giving a talk on the upcoming season for the USC Baseball team -- should be good. I'll have a full report afterwards.

We're all told at some point in time that we can no longer play the children's game, we just don't... don't know when that's gonna be. Some of us are told at eighteen, some of us are told at forty, but we're all told. 

Win or Go Home (Battle of the Carolinas)

UPDATED: 6/10/13 AT 5:11PM 
As is becoming my tradition, I go to most of the regular season games for the Carolina Gamecock baseball team, and I end up taking my vacation the first week of June, which means I miss the Regional and Super-Regionals. Fortunately, college baseball is starting to get more airtime on ESPN, Satellite Radio, and other national media which means I don't have to miss the action.

If you're looking for dramatic, hard-fought baseball games, the NCAA Baseball Tournament a/k/a the College World Series is the place to go. Even the lead up games (the Regionals and Super-Regionals) are exciting. Case in point: Game 3 of the South Carolina vs. North Carolina. Both teams have great winning traditions, and both teams are in a position tonight where they win (and go to Omaha) or they lose - and go home.

You can catch the action tonight on ESPN 2 at 7:00PM. UPDATE: The game has now been postponed until Tuesday.

South Carolina in the College World Series

I've been trying to think up a good way to explain how hard it is to defeat the South Carolina Gamecocks in the College World Series. Every time you think you've punched them right in the mouth, they hit you back twice as hard. Every time you knock them down, they're right back up. Every time you think you've killed them, they come back.

They never get tired, they never give up. They keep playing hard every pitch until you get tired and make a mistake. BAM! Then they strike.

They have the uncanny ability to turn the double play when they need it, get a strikeout when they need it, or get a hit at the right time. They're confident, loose, easy with a laugh, and calmly zen-like in their focus on the field. They're dangerous in the post-season. Dangerous, deadly, dream killers, these boys. How dangerous are they?

[Click for photo representation of the Gamecocks in the College World Series]

Gamecocks Heading to Omaha

The South Carolina Gamecocks are heading to Omaha again.

Enjoy the road, boys.

Carolina Advances to Supers (Photo of the Final Out)

Here's a nice photo of the final out from my seats:

College World Series Field of 64 Released

The NCAA released the field of 64 for the 2012 College World Series. The full .PDF bracket is here, and the interactive, updating bracket is here. The South Carolina Gamecocks are one of the top eight national seeds, so they can host a Super-Regional if they survive and advance out of the Columbia Regional. To do so, they will need to get past Manhattan, Coastal Carolina, and Clemson.

A few friends of mine were moping around when they found out that Clemson was in our Regional. They are so worried that Clemson is going to come into Carolina Stadium and stop the Gamecocks from advancing to the Super-Regional. They are worried that Clemson will be looking for revenge, and will be too much to handle.

Hey y'all...the games are being played here in Columbia. We're the #1 seed. We haven't lost to Clemson in the post-season in years. We have Clemson worried. They don't want to see us. The Clemson fans should be the ones thinking "Oh crap, we have to go to Columbia and play the Gamecocks." Stop all this negativity; it's crap.

Let the Clemson fans worry about us.

Via @JustinKing224:

I will be in Alabama helping my in-laws move this weekend, but thankfully the games will be on ESPNU.

College World Series Field Projection 5/21/12

The NCAA Men's College World Series gets underway on June 15, 2012. The only thing left between the start of the Regionals (the first round) are the individual conference tournaments. If you're interested in seeing who's in and who's out, check out Chasing Omaha. They do a great job at breaking down all the teams.

To sum it up for those too lazy to click the link, South Carolina is on the bubble for being a top eight national seed, which would guarantee home field advantage all the way to Omaha. Also of note, my law school alma mater, Valparaiso, looks like they may make the tourney.

Ever Wonder What Baseball Players Do to Pass the Time?

UPDATED: PICTURE OF THE RIFLE AND BINOCULARS.


One of my favorite parts of going to watch Gamecock Baseball is to see the players having fun in the dugout and in the bullpen. The Gamecock baseball team is currently #4 in the country, but they don't take themselves too seriously. From Michael Roth's warm-up music (Whitney Houston) to LB Dantzler's pet betta fish in the bullpen, the boys are having fun out there.

I didn't make it to the game last night against Furman because the rain delay pushed it too far back, but I did listen on the radio. Additionally, Andy Demetra conveys some of the late inning levity via twitter. If you don't follow him, you should. Last night, he had these two gems:

Christian Walker has fashioned a hunting rifle using a fungo bat, Gatorade cups, and athletic tape. That's what you do on your off night. [Link]

If anyone has a picture of Walker's rifle, I would love to see it. Not to be outdone, another Gamecock gets into the act. Later Demetra updated the dugout action with:

C. Holmes now has binoculars (w/athletic tape croakies) to match Walker's sniper rifle. Yes, they're pointing it at batters on 2 strikes. [Link]

We won the game, in case you were wondering.

LB Dantzler Enjoying Success at SEC Level

The #5 ranked Gamecock Baseball team is doing very well this year thanks to some talented freshmen starters. Additionally, newcomer (from junior college) third-baseman LB Dantzler is doing very well on the field, and fits in with the weird clubhouse vibe that the Gamecocks have with his whole "Fear the Fish" deal.

The Post and Courier has a nice story on LB's background here.

Dantzler must have listened, because he is enjoying the buzz surrounding his pet betta fish, Reptar, which he brought to Auburn late last month when his neighbor was unavailable to watch the fish. As word of the strange traveling partner hit Twitter, Dantzler smacked two homers in the series and decided to continue keeping the fish in the dugout or bullpen at games.

He even brought Reptar — which he named after a character from the cartoon TV show “Rugrats” — into a postgame press conference during last weekend’s series against Alabama. By then, “Fear the Fish” T-shirts were being sold, with a garnet betta fish at the center of the USC’s black “C” logo rather than a Gamecock. Brad bought 15 of them and gave them to friends and relatives.

 That's right. He brought his pet fish with him to a press conference. Baseball players are...different.

LB Dantzler's Pet Fish: The new Gamecock Baseball Mascot

The Carolina Cup

Since I'm old, my big priority this weekend was taming the wilds of my yard and the surrounding flower beds. Despite having to battle with my lawn mower, I was able to win anyway. [H/T Gamecock Baseball]. The Carolina Cup is my unofficial reminder that the yard needs maintenance. Summer time the hot and rainy season is officially upon us.

For all of the young beautiful people, the big hoopla of the Carolina Cup was in full swing this weekend, and I heard some first-hand reporting that it was not slowed down by the early morning rain we had. If you have any first-hand photos, let me know. Girls in sundresses get top priority. Until then, you're stuck with this:

Opening Day (Gamecock Baseball)

Spring is breaking free of winter's icy grasp: baseball has begun.

True Colors to Be Revealed on Saturday?

Andy Demetra has a good article about the way losing a valuable member of a team exposes a team's true character.

An injury doesn't strip a team of an impact player, so much as it magnifies a team's true colors. Can you rally together? Do you have confidence in your ability to get the job done? Can you play with resolve and focus, and believe as tenaciously in your goals as you did before?

He discusses how the Gamecock baseball team rallied from losing three starting outfielders in a week to come together as a team that would ultimately win the NCAA Championship. If the Gamecock football team can take a page from that book and win the next three games, it would certainly be a season for the storybooks. Lattimore won't be in Knoxville with the team on Saturday, but you know that his work ethic will be there, pushing everyone to be the best they can be. Connor Shaw will have a chance to rally the team and put his stamp on the season.

The baseball team did it last year, with all the injuries: Bradley, Marzilli, Matthews, and Walker. The question on everyone's mind is: Can the Gamecocks win anyway?

Gamecock Baseball Update

Adam at Life of a Gamecock has the latest on the USC Baseball Team and the fallout from the MLB signing deadline. Short story: Matt Price and a few other guys will be back for 2012! Full coverage here.

The Boys of Summer

The NCAA National Champs play ball with some kids. (h/t The State Newspaper)