NCAA Baseball Regionals - Regional by Regional, Mascot by Mascot

As you know if you read or have read WRT, I love mascots and numbers. For the sake of this post, numbers will be excluded in order to focus on the mascots in the 64-team field. I'mm go team-by-team, sorted alphabetically by regional location.

A turquoise rooster? Go CCU! (photo credit: goccusports)

Baton Rouge, La.
The LSU Tigers--the Bayou Bengals, as they're affectionately known around these parts--look to avoid elimination at the hands of the Jackson State Tigers, who won the SWAC tournament to earn their bid. We'll also have the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns and the Sam Houston State Bearkats squaring off. Not quite sure why they spell it with a 'k' instead of the standard 'c,' but who am I to judge. A little monotonous with two Tigers and a Bearkat, but the Ragin' Cajuns spice it up. Literally.

Blacksburg, Va.
The Virginia Tech Hokies take on the UConn Huskies--I know, very similar while the Oklahoma Sooners will face the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. A hokie isn't a turkey, as their logo might suggest, in fact, it's a spirit yell coined way back in 1896. The Huskies just got a new, meaner looking logo while the Sooners are a staple in college athletics. A chanticleer is in fact a rooster. Weird.

Bloomington, Ind.
The Indiana Hoosiers had a hell of a season (43-14) as did the two-seed Austin Peay Governors (45-13). The same can't be said for the other two schools. The Florida Gators (29-28) got in solely based on their name while the Valparaiso Crusaders (31-26) took the crown in the Horizon League to earn the in-state trip to Bloomington.

Chapel Hill, N.C.
We all know the North Carolina Tar Heels but the other three, not so much. The Florida Atlantic Owls, Towson Tigers and Canisius Golden Griffins, who I highlighted yesterday, are far from household names. It's rare finding an owl as a mascot but it's cool.

Ah to hell with this, I'm gonna go through the remaining 48 teams and pick out the best mascots.

The Corvallis, Ore. site has two of the best in the field--the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos and the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners.

And come to think of it, the Rice Owls also have the nocturnal bird as a representation of who they are.

The South Dakota State Jackrabbits are kinda cool as well though I think they're likely two-and-BBQ.

Time to work. Later all.

NCAA Baseball Regionals - New to the Dance

Last Sunday at noon, the Division I NCAA Baseball brackets were revealed. For baseball programs across the nation, it's one of the biggest days of the year. The selection show is on ESPN, which has given a hell of a lot more exposure to baseball in the recent years.

For many (North Carolina, Miami (FL), Arizona State) the postseason is almost a right of passage but for many (Canisius, Binghamton, Bryant) it's the ultimate high. These smaller schools--who many have never heard of--have the chance to shock the collegiate baseball world after winning their respective conference tournament, capped off with an awesome dog pile to celebrate entry into the Field of 64.

The McRae Scowl (photo credit: gogriffs.com)

The Canisius Golden Griffins (1st appearance) come from way up in Buffalo, where they weather sucks, the field is multi-purpose and the outfield fence is made of PVC. Head coach Mike McRae, who I coached against for six years while at Manhattan, has injected life and attitude into a once lifeless program. They won 42 games this year, the high-water mark for any MAAC school--EVER. Sure they drew #1 overall seed North Carolina but you know what, I wouldn't be shocked if they won. Florida Atlantic and Towson, a program that was on life-support and only still remains a program because of donations, round out the Chapel Hill regional.

The Griffs have been a power in the MAAC for the past several seasons and finally cracked through. A school of just over 5000 students, a school that 96% of America has never heard of and an outfield fence made of PVC - you better believe they're playing with a chip on their shoulder thanks to their fiery head coach. Off the field, he's a good guy but on it, he's one of the most fiery competitors you'll come across. There will never be a smile and if my memory serves me right, might not even be a handshake after the game.

Binghamton (2nd appearance) is right on the border of New York and Pennsylvania. It's a lacrosse hotbed but baseball is at the forefront today. They travel to NC State along with Ole Miss and William & Mary.

Bryant (1st appearance) is newly minted into the Division I ranks and had a tremendous season, 44-16-1, earning themselves a 3-seed and a date with Arkansas. Kansas State and Wichita State round out the Manhattan, KS regional.

It's a good time to be a college baseball fan and rest-assured, the conference foes of these three are pulling for them right about now. A few wins in June help ease the pain of not being there--just a little.

With My 32nd Birthday Approaching...

...I thought I'd have at it creating a list of who I consider to be the best player to wear the number 32 in sports--MLB, NASCAR, NHL, NFL and NBA--I'm going to pick one from each sports in honor of my 32nd birthday.

"Lefty" was straight nasty with the 32 on his back

MLB

STEVE CARLTON. The lefty won four Cy Young Awards with the Phillies, amassed 4,136 strikeouts, was a member of two World Series champions and racked up 329 career wins. Needless to say, he's enshrined in Cooperstown. The number 32 has been widely used in baseball as a pitchers' number until recently (Josh Hamilton, Jay Bruce). The likes of Roy Halladay, "El Presidente" Dennis Martinez, Sandy Koufax have also donned thirty-two on their back.

NASCAR

RICKY CRAVEN. How can I not go with the man who has the only two wins from the #32 car in NASCAR history? The #32 has raced 715 times and won only twice--both Craven.  Ricky Craven, currently an ESPN analyst, piled up over $9.5 million in career earnings. Way back when, in the late-70's, Dick Brooks was the man behind the wheel of the #32 car. Though Brooks never won in the #32, he placed Top 5 eighteen times. Ricky Craven, not Ricky Bobby

NHL

CLAUDE LEMIEUX. This was a tough one for so many reasons but Lemieux found the back of the net 379 times during his 21-year NHL career. He also registered 407 assists and 1,777 penalty minutes. "The Grim Reaper" Stu Grimson was my next pick followed by Dale Hunter but Lemieux won out. He won four Stanley Cup championships and a Conn Smythe Trophy. His 80 career playoff goals are ninth all-time in NHL history.

NFL

JIM BROWN. Gotta go with him, right? Sure, Orenthal James (OJ) Simpson was a hell of a player but in nine seasons, Brown ran for 12,312 yards and 106 touchdowns. OJ wasn't far off, rushing for 11,236 yards but only 61 touchdowns (in 11 seasons). Then he went out and killed some people, got acquitted, then proceeded to rip some people off and then I lost interest. Brown made the Pro Bowl in all nine of his seasons and led the league in rushing eight times. Marcus Allen was considered for the mere fact that he couldn't be tackled in Tecmo Bowl for Nintendo. Guys wearing #32 now include RB Maurice Jones-Drew and FS Devin McCourty.

NBA

ERVIN "MAGIC" JOHNSON. It could have gone to Julius Erving had he not switched to the #6 late in his career, but Magic was just that. Dude won five NBA Championships with the Lakers  A three-time NBA MVP and three-time NBA Finals MVP, Johnson is the best ever to wear #32. He was as well-rounded a player as the game has ever seen. He scored, he rebounded and he dished out dimes (19.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG and 11.2 APG). His assist number place him atop the NBA's all-time assists-per-game list ahead of John Stockton (10.51) and Chris Paul (9.82).

--

Just thought I'd throw this one together to celebrate my 32nd birthday. Have a great night--here in Connecticut, it's been raining all day and it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon. 

Happy Mother's Day

Just wanted to get a quick something out to wish my wife, my mother and my mother-in-law a Happy Mother's Day!

Also, Happy Mother's Day to all the great mother's out there, because there are tons.

There are also tons like this Missouri mom and this St. Louis woman. They aren't fit to take care of themselves let alone a child.

Happy Mother's Day!

MLB: Early Season Surprises

With the MLB season just over 30 games in, some things remain the same.

Miguel Cabrera is hitting a robust .381 to go along with an MLB-high 37 RBI. The Houston Astros are as abysmal as expected in their first year in the American League with a 10-24 record and an MLB-worst -72 run differential.

"Big Game" James Shields has the Royals in the hunt early on

There are, however, some nice surprises in the early going.

• New York Mets catcher John Buck already has 10 HR's, good for second in the NL. He's halfway to his career-high total of 20, set in 2010 during his only season in Toronto. Fellow Met, RHP Matt Harvey is also off to a blistering start. He's 4-0 with a miniscule 1.28 ERA, .69 WHIP and .133 BAA. He's also fanned 58 batters in 49.1 IP.
• Somehow, the Mets are 9.5 games back of the Braves
• The big-budget, high-profile Los Angeles Angels are just 11-22 and 9.5 games back of the AL West-leading Texas Rangers. Josh Hamilton (.203, 2 HR) and Albert Pujols (.240, 5 HR) have gone bust while Mike Trout remains a legit star in the game.
• The Angels have the third-worst ERA in baseball (4.65)
• Seton Hall's own RHP Jason Grilli has 13 saves for the Pittsburgh Pirates, bringing his career saves total to 18.
• Pittsburgh has allowed the second fewest hits in baseball (240)
• The new-look Kansas City Royals are just a game behind the AL Central-leading Tigers thanks to 3.33 ERA. James Shields (2-2, 2.52 ERA), Ervin Santana (3-1, 2.36 ERA) and Jeremy Guthrie (4-0, 2.40 ERA) have anchored the staff.
• KC is 17-13 with a +14 run differential
• Atlanta Braves OF Justin Upton has found his power stroke once again, leading the league in HR's with 12. It's too bad B.J. Upton is batting only .153 with 3 HR and 5 RBI.
• The Braves are in first-place in the NL East

All these numbers have my head spinning. Time for some R&R. And maybe a ballgame.