R E D C L A D L O O NLOON DROPPINGS, Vol. CWS
Baseball has always had its appropriate foods -- from Baby Ruth candy bars to
ballpark franks to the inseparable peanuts and Cracker Jack. But when it came
to this weekend's Super Regional, all that came to mind was a breakfast
cereal, oddly enough. If the marketing folks at Kellogg's would only have
been thinking ahead, they would have gotten Crispix to sponsor this epic
meeting of Rice and Corn. And with a pair of history-making victories in
their unprecedented drive for Omaha, the mighty Huskers made sure this
weekend's series was cripsy -- times two. Let the feeding frenzy begin. A few takes: THE BUCK STOPS HERE: Over the last 20 or so years, Husker highlights have
been few and far between at the rickety old park that resides in the ominous
shadow of Memorial Stadium. But this season, Dave Van Horn's crew has made up
for lost time, providing enough Buck Beltzer magic to last several Strom
Thurmond-sized lifetimes. In the last week Husker hardball fans have been
subjected to more shocks than a Texas prison, from a ninth-inning rally
against Rutgers a week ago to Saturday's tenth-inning triumph to finally boot
the Hooters. Key among them has center fielder Jeff Leise, whose late-game
heroics at the plate sent the Buck out in championship form. Let's hope some
of it travels 50 miles east on Interstate 80 next week. THROWING THE GAME: The experts' rap on Nebraska was that they didn't have the
pitching necessary to reach the College World Series. In response to this
misguided supposition, Cornhusker fans can serve up a two-word response:
Shane Komine. The "Ayatollah," standing at just 5-foot-9, took no prisoners
on Friday in punching out 12 Owls and registering a complete-game shutout. I
was hoping that the local newspaper, inspired by the performance by NU's
diminutive ace, would splash "Shrimp Fried Rice" across its Saturday sports
section, but luckily cooler heads prevailed in the newsroom. And speaking of
cool cats, it was particularly gratifying to see reliever Jaime Rodrigue --
banished to the land of misfit toys earlier this year -- keep the Owls in
check for six-plus innings, giving the Husker bats a chance to (finally)
ignite. WAGONS EAST: Usually, the most exciting thing to happen to a Husker fan in
June is the national release of Athlon's College Football Preview Magazine.
Not this year, boyo. Van Horn & Co. have captured the imaginations of
Cornhusker backers from Scottsbluff to Falls City, awakening a state full of
Loons who are usually in deep hibernation at this point on the calendar. It
will be all good to see such red-clad enthusiasm flocking to Omaha this week,
but please, try to find something else to wear to the game besides that
replica Eric Crouch jersey. That "we-don't-know-nuthin-but-football"
stereotype is already bad enough, and there really is no sense broadcasting
to the whole world that you just learned Nebraska has a baseball program --
even if you just did. MONSTER MASH: For 8 1/3 innings Saturday, it looked like this series would go
the expected three games. But Rice ace Kenny Baugh, who is rumored to be part
of a top-secret government project to clone Pedro Martinez, eventually ran
out of steam. 'Course, then it seemed certain that the Owls' top reliever, a
dude named Barzilla, was going to be breathing fire in the late innings. But,
just like they've done throughout the series, NU gave the Owls a preview of
what their pigskin counterparts will see when they come to town in September
-- an overwhelming running attack. There were so many extra bags being seized
this weekend, you almost mistook it for a drug bust. Speed kills. THE BOTTOM LINE: It's worth noting that the Miami Hurricanes, along with the
rest of the usual Southern culprits, will be joining the Cornhuskers at The
'Blatt for this year's CWS. Immediately upon hearing this news, an
irony-minded Husker Nation began wringing their hands with anticipation. What
divine justice it would be if a Miami team finally has to play Nebraska in
Nebraska for the National Championship, instead of the other way around.
Wouldn't that just be a Shane... er, shame? Hey, turnabout is fair play --
and as fair as the Huskers have been playing as of late, there's no reason to
think that the Big Red Machine is going to stop anytime soon. A few
one-Hoppers through the hole and NU can Bolt to a big lead. They'll work hard
to protect those leads, too ... they're definitely not a bunch of Leise bums,
as their extra effort on Saturday showed. You Ott to send out a Stern warning
to the rest of the country -- the Huskers have arrived. Oh, my goodness, have
they arrived. Go Big RED! ==STEVE==
Nebraska 7-9, Rice 0-6
6/2/01
Red. White. Loon. Play Infuriating Husker Trivia in THE POND,
Home of Nebraska's RED CLAD LOON.
http://www.redcladloon.com