Friday, May 31, 2024

News to Me

For various and sundry reasons (a cross-country car trip, a multi-day festival of a wedding, coaching the youth of America, among others), I haven't seen a ton of news of late. On the one hand, I feel a bit adrift in the riptide of information that continues to mount unabated. On the other, whenever I encounter something I missed, I get the pleasure of experiencing a frisson of no mo' FOMO.

Case in point, the curious case of the Birmingham-Southern College baseball team and its quixotic run to the Division III College Baseball World Series.

The series in question starts today in Eastlake, Ohio, where seventh-seeded BSC takes on second-seeded Salve Regina. Today is notable for another reason at Birmingham-Southern. After 168 years in operation, the college closes its doors for good this evening. 

[Of particular G:TB note, I'm fairly certain that at least one Gheorghie has an ex-wife who went to BSC, and FOG:TB and noted curiosity Bo Noonan played baseball at Salve Regina after he failed to close the deal, degree-wise, at W&M.]

The Panthers of BSC were 13-10 when the school announced its intent to close. The team has won 19 of 23 games since. The players thought their careers in Birmingham were done after dropping the first two games of the Southern Athletic Association tournament, but the NCAA delivered life support in the form of an at-large bid to the Division III tourney.

BSC won a pair of games against heavily-favored Denison in the Super Regional to advance to the World Series. If only it were as simple as that sentence. Multiple Panthers suffered from norovirus during their matchups with Denison, with several players requiring intravenous fluids in the dugout and two team members needing hospitalization.

The Panthers' coach is named Jan Weisburg, but he might as well be called Job for all of the trials and tribulations he's experienced over the past several months. And now we'll see if the screenwriters' luck holds out, as BSC is guaranteed to play at least one game wearing the uniform of a college that doesn't exist. We're rooting for all the chaos. Go Panthers!

10 comments:

rob said...

read the jojo book to 100 third graders at a local elementary school today. hi-larious.

rootsminer said...

Was JoJo present? The officer buckle and Gloria book taught me that dogs boost engagement.

rob said...

alas, jojo was not allowed in the school building. maybe next time. it was really fun interacting with the kids. one of them asked me if i was rich, and if i could adopt him if we needed another pet. i love those silly bastards.

rob said...

there's a 15 year-old named asterisk talley competing in the u.s. women's golf open this weekend. she's currently tied for 11th. no word on her brother obelisk.

zman said...

Je vois que vous avez faire!

rob said...

ja, das ist richtig

Whitney said...

BSC lost to Salve Regina, 7-5. SR took a commanding 7-0 lead, but the Panthers clawed back with 1 in the 6th and 4 in the 7th. The loaded them up in the 8th and had a couple of men on in the 9th, but couldn’t pull it out.

Whitney said...

Did You Know???

2 Live Crew’s lightning rod of a biggest hit, “Me So Horny,” borrows most of its sampled music from a 1979 funk tune called “Firecracker,” the work of an act called Mass Production, who are from… Norfolk, Virginia.

Heard the original sitting in an airport bar and dug in. Music trivia nerds unite.

OBX dave said...

Birmingham-Southern still alive in D3 baseball tournament after Saturday night comeback. Three-run 8th tied it, walk-off homer in 9th won it. Play later today.

rob said...

panthers gave up six runs in the final three innings to fall to wisconsin-whitewater and end the dream.

on the plus side, 'godzilla minus one' on netflix is a really good retelling of the monster story. cgi is good but restrained, and the setting in post-war japan is really well executed.