If you’re a college baseball fan like me, then you love this time of year! It’s when the 64 best teams in the nation are thrown into a slug-fest, last man standing, double-elimination battle called a “Regional” where one team moves on to the Round of 16, and the other three go home for good. And the BIG 3 from Mississippi were all a part of the show!

Congratulations to Ole Miss… who proved me wrong with their strong play and big time performances on the hill. Will Kline sure weathered the ship on Friday night against Sam Houston State! After being handed 4 runs to work with, he quickly let things slide, and the Bearkats were smelling upset thru the first half of the game. But Kline is solid, and he got it done when he had too. And how about Lance Lynn? He shut down USM on Saturday, plain and simple. He often times flies under-the-radar being the 2 man in the Rebs rotation – but he showed he can be counted on in the clutch – and that’s what you need in the Super Regional round. With the Kline-Lynn one-two punch, this team might need to make travel plans for Nebraska. And yes rebel Fan… I was wrong; Ole Miss was the best team in Oxford this past weekend. Congrats to Head Coach Mike Bianco and his team on cracking the bats at home.

USM had a great season. Corky Palmer and his team should be proud of their efforts and the way they responded in the second half of the C-USA season. Most people thought that the Golden Eagles should be left for dead, but they played with heart and passion, and sometimes in sports the ball just doesn’t bounce your way despite your strong efforts. They will be back, and better, remember that kid from Brandon named Todd McInnis who was out the better part of the year? They will be a contender in ’08.

And finally… at the expense of saying “I told you so…” and not playing the humble card, I’ll simply say this… I told you so!! The Bulldogs were the best team in Tallahassee the last 3 days and the ACC is so over-rated as a conference in every sport these days it’s really just sad. They are pathetic in football, basketball no longer dominates and in baseball the play never lives up to the hype. Florida State got shelled by the boys from Starkville, all you have to do is look at the box score. It was never even in doubt on Sunday for Ron Polk’s ball-club, and as yours truly predicted, STATE is on to the Super Regional round and might end up hosting at Dudy Noble! Imagine that, Ole Miss on the road and MSU at home in the round of 16! What a psychological turn of events.

Which leads me to this… you gotta love the grind that is college baseball because if you advance far enough to fly your schools flag at the College World Series – you have most assuredly earned it!

Congrats to all 3 teams from our state… on a job well done representing us! And lets hope this time next week we’re all on Southwest.com or Orbitz.com or why-is-it-so-expensive-to-fly-out-of-jackson.com planning our escape to the Midwest! I hear Omaha is nice in June... if you like to shuck corn, milk cows or watch college hard-ball.

Christian