2011 NCAA Baseball

As Brandon showed you in a previous post I had knee surgery. So despite the amazing weather outside, today I'll be chilling in front of the tv. Thank goodness for playoff baseball. Oh, and espn3 so I can watch every game.

Today the Regional round of the 2011 NCAA baseball season kicks off. With 64 teams dreaming of Omaha, Nebraska.

Yes, having lived in Nebraska for a while Omaha isn't much to dream about. However the city is home to the College World Series.

When I was living there I did attend a few of the College World Series games. And it was a blast! Especially cause the team I was there watching, Fresno State, won it all from underdog status.

Here is the official bracket for the entire event.

Regionals June 3-6 (double elimination)
Super Regionals June 10-13 (best-of-three series)
College World Series June 18-25 (double elimination)
Championship Series June 27-29 (best-of-three series)

You can also follow the College World Series on twitter and on the official College World Series site.

So the question is, of the 64 teams, who are you rooting for?

I personally am looking for the University of Maine Black Bears to upset the number 3 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels.

Where are all the college baseball fans?

Football and basketball rule the pocketbooks of universities, and rightly so, they attract thousands upon thousands of fans.

But what about college baseball?

It's been relegated to a status lower than minor league baseball even though it has produced some of the game's brightest stars.

I would assume that college baseball hasn't quiet earned the respect that football and basketball have because:

1. Minor and major league baseball tickets are much more affordable than their football and basketball counterparts, and games are much more frequent, so why go to a college game when you can usually find the pros playing in a town near you (Seriously, they have a minor-league team in Missoula, that means there HAS to be a town near you.)

2. Think it's bad now in college basketball with kids going one and done? The much less-important MLB draft has a pretty strong mixture of high school and college prospects. And here's the catch - probably the most talented kids go directly to the minor leagues but that doesn't necessarily mean that they'll be a success in the pros - but the risk could prove to be a huge payoff. So college baseball loses some of its best young prospects to the draft and then the college kids who get drafted, usually end up in the minor leagues and once they actually make the big leagues you've forgotten they've even played in college.

3. It's baseball, there's no big singular game like football that causes Lou Holtz to spit out his dentures. It's a season-long process and no one pays attention until Super Regionals and the College World Series.

So for the most part, college baseball takes a back seat and that's why some major schools don't even have baseball programs. Which is a shame - I remember feeling cheated when EWU didn't have a NCAA baseball program after being a Pac-10 member in the 1980s.

Perhaps its this feeling that has caused Casey and I to go baseball crazy. Casey is interested in the University of Oregon's baseball team, and I'll definitely keep you updated with the Cougs, Zags and Whitworth.

And don't forget the Spokane Indians and Riverhawks too. We'll cover them with weekly updates as well.

A trip to KC

This past weekend I decided to take a trip to Kansas City. Yes, Kansas City. The city home to the worst sports teams in the nation. The last place Royals in MLB, the last place Wizards in MLS and the last place Brigade in AFL.

But despite this I went anyway.

The trip started with heading down I-29 into Iowa. Coming to the border some lady in a booth made me pay $1 to enter the state. On the return trip she charged me $10 to leave. Yeah, got to love the midwest.

But the trip was great. I saw the world's largest shuttlecocks at the Kansas City Sculpture Park.



Some headless dudes in the park.





And a huge waterpark called Oceans of Fun. It was a great weekend in a city that is TERRIBLE at sports.

(yes, the Royals lost while we were in town)

So, coming back to Omaha we decided to catch some real baseball as the College World Series was going on. The game last night was great! Fresno State beat North Carolina 6-1 and made it look easy. I guess we now will see which of the Bulldogs (Georgia or FS) can get it done in the end.