[Blue Hawk (Mizzou) Card]

Stanford will be hosting a super regional for the first time since 2003!!! In 2003, Stanford beat Long Beach St in the super regional and went all the way to the CWS championship game before losing to Rice.

That loss to Rice in 2003 is ingrained in my memory and it still stings. A throwing error by the pitcher to 1st base costed Stanford a championship.

The controversial UConn/MD interference play brought that game back into focus for me. It seems like the call there, which the MD coach agreed with, was inconsistent with the call in the Stanford/Rice game. Must be a hard rule to apply. Unsurprisingly, I thought they got the call wrong in Omaha.

That game and that CWS final series was a big blow in our (i.e., Mini and yours truly) many trips to try to see Stanford win a national championship. My memory isn't very reliable anymore, but I think that Stanford won the second game, then lost big in the final game. IIRC, that was Ryan Garko's final college game. Tough one for Mini, as he was playing catcher in youth ball at the time and Garko was perhaps his favorite Stanford player of all time. We waited in the 'blatt as long as we could--I think we were the last ones kicked out of the park. Not sure why, but it seemed like the end of an era, after lots of trips to Omaha for the CWS. And Mini was hoping he would see Garko to wish him well. Of course, I probably have all of this wrong, as the human memory is very unreliable.

Mini and I finally did get to see that Stanford natty--last year in San Antonio at the women's Final Four (though it was not officially called that until this year, which was ridiculous).

It would be great for Stanford to start a new tradition of lots of trips to Omaha with a second consecutive visit. Mini's college baseball heart is torn in half this week. As a UConn PhD student, the one sport he has really embraced there is baseball. [He sat next to me screaming for TVD and the Stanford women, against UConn, in Minneapolis this year, as he will never trade TVD for Gino, no matter where he goes to school.] But he has been a Stanford baseball fan for almost three decades, including this year. I told him he should think of it this way: No matter what happens, he has a team going to Omaha.

Have never been to the new stadium. Probably won't be able to go even if Stanford gets there this year, but I haven't completely given up hope.

If UConn wins, I will gladly root for them during the CWS. Mini has rooted for my school for all his life. I will enthusiastically root for his school, as I did last week, if they end our season. But I hope they don't.

[Blue Hawk (Mizzou) Card]

Stanford will be hosting a super regional for the first time since 2003!!! In 2003, Stanford beat Long Beach St in the super regional and went all the way to the CWS championship game before losing to Rice.

That loss to Rice in 2003 is ingrained in my memory and it still stings. A throwing error by the pitcher to 1st base costed Stanford a championship.

The controversial UConn/MD interference play brought that game back into focus for me. It seems like the call there, which the MD coach agreed with, was inconsistent with the call in the Stanford/Rice game. Must be a hard rule to apply. Unsurprisingly, I thought they got the call wrong in Omaha.

That game and that CWS final series was a big blow in our (i.e., Mini and yours truly) many trips to try to see Stanford win a national championship. My memory isn't very reliable anymore, but I think that Stanford won the second game, then lost big in the final game. IIRC, that was Ryan Garko's final college game. Tough one for Mini, as he was playing catcher in youth ball at the time and Garko was perhaps his favorite Stanford player of all time. We waited in the 'blatt as long as we could--I think we were the last ones kicked out of the park. Not sure why, but it seemed like the end of an era, after lots of trips to Omaha for the CWS. And Mini was hoping he would see Garko to wish him well. Of course, I probably have all of this wrong, as the human memory is very unreliable.

Mini and I finally did get to see that Stanford natty--last year in San Antonio at the women's Final Four (though it was not officially called that until this year, which was ridiculous).

It would be great for Stanford to start a new tradition of lots of trips to Omaha with a second consecutive visit. Mini's college baseball heart is torn in half this week. As a UConn PhD student, the one sport he has really embraced there is baseball. [He sat next to me screaming for TVD and the Stanford women, against UConn, in Minneapolis this year, as he will never trade TVD for Gino, no matter where he goes to school.] But he has been a Stanford baseball fan for almost three decades, including this year. I told him he should think of it this way: No matter what happens, he has a team going to Omaha.

Have never been to the new stadium. Probably won't be able to go even if Stanford gets there this year, but I haven't completely given up hope.

If UConn wins, I will gladly root for them during the CWS. Mini has rooted for my school for all his life. I will enthusiastically root for his school, as I did last week, if they end our season. But I hope they don't.