Cowboy baseball: CWS a real possibility
It’s been a long nine years since the OSU baseball team has been spotted in Omaha.
This year’s team could end the drought.
These Cowboys, a better pitching squad than last year’s team that came within a game of a College World Series berth, have taken series from every real contender in the Big 12. They’ve won at Missouri and Texas. They’ve beaten Texas A&M and Nebraska at home.
Oddly, all that work isn’t showing up in the national polls, which only furthers the theory that baseball’s rankings are the most unreliable of all the major sports.
Somehow, A&M, Nebraska and Missouri remain ahead of OSU in two of the three major polls.
That, my friends, is a joke.
Back to the team. These guys never consider themselves out of a game and they’ve proven a real late-inning toughness time and again. It’s a lineup with pop and clutch hitting, built around Matt Hague, Rebel Ridling, Neil Medchill and Jordy Mercer.
It’s a pitching staff that continues to evolve, bolstered by the maturing of sophomore left-hander Andy Oliver into the ace Frank Anderson envisioned when he landed the former Ohio prep star. Tyler Lyons, another lefty, has been strong, too.
And keep an eye on Matt Gardner, who’s return from an arm aneurism has been a good story that may get better if he moves into the weekend rotation.
These Cowboys are good. Real good.
College World Series good.
Travis Ford: YouTube highlights
Here are some of the YouTube treasures found featuring new OSU basketball coach Travis Ford.
UMass media reports …
As we wait for Travis Ford’s decision (we can confirm he has been offered, cannot confirm he accepted), here’s something interesting to read.
http://www.dailyhampshiregazette.com/umsports/blog/index.cfm
thinking Wednesday is going to be interesting
It’s midnight Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and there’s reason to believe the coaching search is nearing completion. Or has reached completion.
A source close to the search said he expected a hire Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. We now know Chris Lowery said no (http://www.news-gazette.com/blogs/basketblog/2008/04/15/oklahoma_state_approaches_lowery).
Mike Holder was on the interviewing trail Monday and Tuesday. A plane owned by Edward Evans flew between Oklahoma City, Northern Kentucky, Southern Illinois, and back to Kentucky. Ed and Jana Evans are No. 6 on the OSU athletics donor list.
What does it all mean? Tomorrow should be an interesting day.
names of the day
andrea cohen
On Friday, Day 11 of Operation Find A Basketball Coach, I heard two names all day long. Tim Floyd was name No. 1, and Kevin Stallings was name No. 2.
The USC coach seems like a longshot because he turned down LSU already this spring (he’s a Mississippi native and La. Tech grad).
As for Vanderbilt’s Stallings, the Nashville City Paper had a blurb on its website Friday afternoon with a Vice Chancellor saying OSU hadn’t asked permission to speak with Stallings. So if that’s on the table (and I’m not saying it is), it’s not yet in the works.
The other interesting news today was a CBSsportsline.com report from Gary Parrish (an excellent reporter with ridiculously good sources, in my experience and opinion) that said OSU contacted Washington State’s Tony Bennett (possibly at the Final Four) and said if/when Self said no OSU would pay Bennett big bucks to come to Stillwater. Bennett, who turned down a BUNCH of jobs this spring, said no.
Mike Holder said “not true” when emailed the article.
