College World Series -- Believe It Baby!!

Well, it's mid June. That can only mean one thing. (No, not that...)

It means that the mighty Rice Owls are once again heading to Omaha for yet another College World Series (CWS). I know that most of my 3 readers don't really follow college baseball, and that's OK. It's not really a blockbuster sport. However, for REAL baseball fans such as myself, college baseball is where it's at. Even if you love MLB, I am sure I could get you to embrace college ball -- it's cool, it's fast (aluminum bats!), and it's the place where pitchers can also be great hitters. Or, hitters can be great pitchers (just look at Rice's all-America Joe Savery!)

Rice is boasting an incredible 54-12 record coming into this years' CWS. They are the #1 seed, and currently ranked #1 in NCAA Division 1! The Owls will face off against Louisville on Friday, 15 June at 1pm. What makes this so cool is that I will be in the USA for the entire CWS this year!!!

Most of you are yawning. I am so sorry. Maybe teams like Florida make it to the Final Four every year. Maybe schools like Michigan are expected to be in a BCS bowl game every year. But Rice is different. 100% different. It's an Ivy League-type school tucked in the NCAA's toughest division (Div 1 / Div 1A football) with an incredibly small student body (3,000 students) and acedemic credentials that nary a university in the entire country can match. (Yes, I'm being a bit puffed up right now....sorry.... I'll exhale...)

Rice Baseball is the one "sports" thing that every Rice alum can be proud of. The team is periennially strong, and has now made four of the last six College World Series. As you know, Rice won the national championship in 2003. That was then. However, this is 2007, and the team looks like it is peaking at just the right time. How good have they been lately??

** Won last 22 home games (31-3 home record in 2007)

** Won 28 of last 29 games

** Conference record of 22-2 in 2007

** Read about their last game: Just last Saturday

SO, if anything -- with this post I'd like to enlist others who will join me in cheering for the Rice baseball team as they continue their march to (hopefully) another national championship. It's fun, believe me. And how often can you cheer for a college sport not tainted by controversy, massive national TV contracts, or crazy bowl money. Hey, at Rice, the players are actually students too -- and they're pretty smart. Love it!

greg