SxSE: Athens, GA

Photo by Josh Hallett flickr.com

Our next stop on our South by Southeast virtual road trip is Athens, Georgia, the home of the Georgia Bulldogs.

♦ Athens is the 9th closest SEC town to Columbia, 734 miles away (606 air miles).  Georgia is in the SEC East Division.

♦ There is an active Atlanta/Georgia Chapter of the Mizzou Alumni Association

♦ Fun Facts about Athens, GA:

• 2010 Population: 115.452 (Metro area: 192,541)
  
  
• One of Athens' most cherished landmarks is The Tree That Owns Itself.  The Tree even has its own Facebook page.

♦ A person from CoMo wandering around Athens, GA, may excused if they jump to the conclusion that everyone at UGA loves Sparky's Ice Cream.    Alas, no, but they do love their Uga.

♦ The SEC Guide to Georgia's Home Turf provides an overview of the best food and fun spots in Athens:

You have to go ring the Chapel Bell. Walk by and take a picture by the Arch, but DO NOT walk under it. Only UGA Alumni get that privilege. Walk on the bridge on Sanford Drive right in front of the stadium. BEAUTIFUL sight of the stadium. Go enjoy a drink at Broad Street Bar and grab some pizza at Your Pie. It is THE best. Walk up and down Milledge Avenue (Greek Row). Some of the nicest Greek houses you'll see in the country (especially the KD house, it is HUGE). If you like tennis, hit up the Dan Magill Tennis Complex for Bulldog match and explore the NCAA Tennis Hall of Fame! The Butts-Mehre building is also extremely nice.

R.E.M.
Distinguished UGA alums

♦ There are 5 Chik-fil-a locations in Athens

♦ HolyTurf.com's SEC Bucket List: Athens

# 46 Downtown Athens: On the other side of the legendary Arch is Downtown Athens. “DT,” as many students refer to downtown, represents lots of things for lots of people.

There are plenty of coffee shops for the morning route to class or work. Restaurants are at every turn for a great lunch. And, of course, there is a nightlife which includes 96 bars and a few great music venues. Music and art are coddled and bred on the streets of downtown Athens. The B52s, REM, and Widespread Panic all got their starts in Athens. The 40 Watt and the newly rebuilt Georgia Theatre are probably the two most famous music venues in Athens.

#61 Georgia Arch: Located on the University of Georgia’s historic North Campus is one of the most recognizable symbolic figures and literal landmarks in the state of Georgia. The UGA Arch is located on Broad Street and is the main entrance to the campus. The iron structure helps separate campus and downtown Athens. It was installed in the 1850′s when the front of campus was enclosed with an iron fence. Meaning, the Arch was initially installed with two iron gates within it, but those were removed shortly thereafter.

Legend has it that if a freshman walks directly under the Arch, they will never graduate from the University. That phobia to this day still haunts undergraduates. After graduation, there is always a line from the Arch of new alumni seeking to finally walk under the hallowed structure. The stairs around the Arch are indicative of students’ fear to walk under it. The stairs under the Arch are pristine and appear in incredible condition. However, the stairs to the outside are trodden and worn from generations of students navigating around the Arch to avoid prevention from graduating.

Georgia Arch
Photo by Jonathan Hinkle flickr.com

Who's on First: B1G Men on Campus

The 2012 Fall Roster includes five players plucked from Big Ten Country:

Dane Opel

♦ Senior OF Dane Opel, Edwardsville, Illinois

• 2012 Stats: .283 BA, 204 AB, 39 R, 58 H, 12 2B, 2 3B, 11 HR, 46 RBI, .522 SLG, 23 BB, 8 HBP, 58 SO, .372 OB%, 2/5 SB
• Opel is expected to be one of the key leaders in the middle of the Tiger offense in 2013.
• Opel will join Brannon Champagne as senior veterans in the outfield.

Brandon Platts

♦ Sophomore RHP Brandon Platts, Mason City, Iowa

• 2012 Stats: 12.27 ERA, 0-1, 5 APP, 2 Starts, 7.1 IP, 13 H, 12 R, 10 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO, 4 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, .382 Opp BA
• Platts saw limited game time in 2012.  The Tigers will be looking to see a return to the great numbers he put up in his prep career so he can be a productive member of the pitching staff.

Nick Moore

♦ Sophomore INF Nick Moore, Benet Academy, Downers Grove, Illinois

• 2012 Stats: .182 BA, 11 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 1 2B, 0 HR, .273 SLG, 2 BB, 5 SO
• Moore will be trying to increase his offensive consistency in order to earn more playing time in the middle infield
• Spent the summer playing with the Quincy Gems

Tyler House

♦ Freshman (redshirt) LHP Tyler House, Mt. Carmel HS, Richton Park, Illinois

• Tyler House has been nagged by injuries during his time at Mizzou and will be working toward a healthy season and a chance to contribute on the pitching staff.

Alec Rash

♦ Freshman RHP Alec Rash, Adel, Iowa

• Alec Rash was drafted late in the 2nd round by the Phillies this past June, but chose to come to Mizzou instead
• The Tigers have delayed putting Rash on the mound in fall practice, giving him a chance to rest his arm after the Iowa prep baseball season, which continued well into the summer.
• Rash has a lot of expectations riding on his shoulders, as the highest drafted recruit to play for MU in a long time.  His rolle - starter or closer - will be determined by how quickly he develops and adapts to D-1 college ball.
• 2012 Stats: 1.70 ERA, 5-3, 10 Starts, 12 APP, 57.2 IP, 14 ER, 22 BB, 103 SO, 14 HBP, .146 Opp BA

Mizzou in the Majors: Max slated for Game 4

News reports Sunday say that Jim Leyland plans to stick with his usual pitching rotation, with Max Scherzer pitching 4th in the order.  This would mean Max will not pitch in his home town of St. Louis, whether or not the Cardinals make it to the World Series.  Because the National League won the All Star Game, the NL team will have home field advantage, hosting, games 1 and 2, then 6 and 7, if needed.  Game 4 will be in Detroit.

♦ Fister, Sanchez, Scherzer to follow Verlander (mlb.com)

Tigers manager Jim Leyland was asked Sunday if the National League pennant winner would influence how he ordered his rotation. He responded by putting his rotation in order.

"There's no secret to my rotation. My rotation is going to be [Justin] Verlander, [Doug] Fister, [Anibal] Sanchez and [Max] Scherzer," Leyland said. "There's no secret to that, unless they're scouting this simulated game."

It's the same order the Tigers used in their American League Division Series against Oakland, and a similar setup to what they used in the AL Championship Series to watch the innings on Scherzer after his shoulder scare last month. Once again, Scherzer would be the only one of the four guaranteed not to get a second start.

If that order sticks, a potential Game 7 start would fall to Sanchez, who would be eligible for free agency just a few days later.

Verlander, whose rough inning in the All-Star Game has been blamed by many for the NL having home-field advantage, will start Game 1 in the National League city and potentially Game 5 in Detroit.

SEC Fan's Guide to Mizzou Baseball: CoMo Culture

♦ The We Always Swing Jazz Series is the brainchild of Jon Poses, an enthusiastic fan of both Jazz and Baseball, a twin love he expresses in the name of his corporation:  National Pastimes Productions.  The Series has brought dozens of internationally known jazz artists to CoMo's performance venues.

Columbia also has a year-round jazz scene, centered on a great restaurant called Murry's.

♦ Columbia also has a a taste for the Blues . . . and barbecue.  Local blues bands like Chump Change, along with national and internationally known blues acts can often be heard at CoMo venues like MoJo's and The Blue Note.

Richard King, the owner of both MoJo's and the Blue Note, is the power behind Thumper Entertainment, which puts on the occasional 9th Street SummerFest concert series and the annual Roots n Blues n BBQ festival every Fall in downtown CoMo.  The festival is two days of acts from blues to rhythm & blues to bluegrass.  The Blind Boys of Alabama, Ana Popovic and Fitz & the Tantrums entertain tens of thousands annually.

At the west end of the festival is Barbecue Alley, where the annual BBQ Contest takes place.

“The Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival continues to be one of the finest events anywhere in the world. If you like music and barbecue put this one on the top of your list to attend”
—Mike McMillen, Kansas City Barbeque Society

RNBNBBQ is not the only time Columbians love their barbecue, though.  Being just down the road from the capital of barbecue, Kansas City, CoMo has developed a barbecue tradition of its own.  Buckingham's BBQ and Smokin' Chick's can compete with any big city BBQ stand for great taste and great atmosphere.

♦ CoMo has several other music venues in town, including The Bridge.

♦ The Ragtag Cinema is a locally owned and operated "art house" theater, with a cafeteria included in the package.

The same people who operate Ragtag host the annual True/False Film Festival. The

For four days, downtown Columbia, Missouri is transformed into a small-town Midwestern utopia. Most films come freshly discovered from Sundance, Toronto and other festivals, others appear mysteriously before their official premieres elsewhere. Sandwiched between the nonstop movies, we throw parties, host debates and field trips, and challenge local filmmakers to reimagine the possibilities of nonfiction filmmaking.

True/False has received accolades from national media, including South by Midwest: Dispatching True/False and SXSW (cinemascope.com, March 2011)

This being my first trip to True/False and Columbia, I was impressed by the enthusiasm for film in a small town two hours from both St. Louis and Kansas City. At the centre of Columbia’s film culture is the Ragtag Cinema, a fully functioning café, bar, and two-screen theatre that projects arthouse fare year-round. What started as a peripatetic film society is now a brick-and-mortar institution, but jammed as it is into an old Coca-Cola bottling factory, and with its small screening room filled with mismatched, well-worn couches and sitting chairs, it still retains an ad hoc spirit. Before every screening at the Ragtag, as well as at other venues like the two-tiered, sticky-floored Blue Note (one-time home for the Ragtag) and the aforementioned, majestic Missouri, local young folk musicians played earnest half-hour sets as cinemagoers found their seats. Contrast that pre-show programming with the eclectic montage of vintage music videos, low-rent institutional propaganda and sketch-comedy skits before screenings at Austin’s Alamo Drafthouse, a movie theatre/pub franchise that started the same year as the Ragtag (1997), and you can see the cultural shift from True/False to SXSW—two festivals that are separated by three days, 800 miles, and a vast difference in scale and focus.

♦ Check out The CoMo Collective to get a taste of life in Columbia.

Mizzou Baseball in the Minors: Kyle Gibson video

Kyle Gibson pitching in the Arizona Fall League:

Mizzou in the Majors: Max Scherzer leads Tigers to World Series

That's a headline I've been wanting to post for a long time.

Max Scherzer celebrates
Detroit News

♦ Scherzer makes Tigers Series favorite (ESPN)

Against the Yankees, Scherzer said he "really had my changeup and slider going. When I can combine that with my fastball, that’s what really make me effective."

Scherzer reminds me of a pitcher from the 1930s, the way his cap fits on his head and that three-quarters, slingshot delivery. He gets great movement on his fastball but still manages to keep his walks under control. And the stuff is electric; he was second to Verlander in strikeouts in the AL and first in the league in strikeouts per nine innings.

To me, Scherzer is a big reason the Tigers will be World Series favorite, no matter which team comes out of the National League. Whether or not he slots in as the No. 3 or 4 starter, he's pitching like an ace right now.

♦ Grading the Tigers: Max Scherzer takes no-hitter into sixth inning, helps send Tigers into World Series (MLive)

STARTING PITCHING: A

Max Scherzer took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and held New York to one run over 5 2/3 innings. It was another dominating start for Scherzer, who was in complete control of his slider and a four-seamer that were used to strike out 10. He only walked two, but his pitch count was an issue early as Yankees batters did a solid job of grinding out at-bats.

Truthfully, even if Scherzer didn't give up the leadoff triple to Eduardo Nunez in the sixth, it would've been very unlikely he could've pulled off the no-no, simply because his pitch count was too high. He entered the sixth having already tossed 84 pitches.

Is it possible Scherzer started to fatigue in the sixth inning? Possibly. Three of the five batters he faced reached base and he wasn't able to spot his fastball as efficiently. That said, his velocity never -- at any point -- fell below 93 mph.

♦ Terrific Scherzer caps rotation's ALCS brilliance (MLB.com)

It was Max Scherzer on the hill last year in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, when the Tigers were ultimately sent home by Texas just two wins shy of the World Series.

So it was only fitting this year, with the Tigers needing one win to sweep the Yankees and reach the World Series for the first time since 2006, that Scherzer was back out there battling to help Detroit earn its 11th AL pennant.

"I just used that as motivation," said Scherzer of the loss to the Rangers, when he got pegged for six runs in 2 1/3 innings. "If I ever had a shot to pitch in the ALCS again, I would do it and win. And sure enough, I was able to do it, and we're going to the World Series."

Scherzer not only pitched well, he dominated. He fanned 10 over 5 2/3 innings, allowing just two hits, as the Tigers completed the sweep with an 8-1 victory in Game 4 of the ALCS on Thursday. And for five of those innings, Scherzer held the Yankees hitless.

♦ Fevered pitching carries Tigers to World Series (Detroit News)

"He's enjoying it, and it's fun watching him," Brad Scherzer said, smiling at the scene and talking about his son's stellar performance down the stretch — 14-5 with a 2.54 ERA since the end of June.

"He just took off on his own," his father added. "He went and did his thing. I always kept saying, 'Max, do your thing.' And that's what he did. He got it in that zone and kept going."

♦ A resounding sweep by the Tigers (Detroit Free Press)

Sweeping Beauty.

How about Scherzer? Pitching after Justin Verlander easily can leave you overlooked. But Max's strikeout ability is fantastic (he had 10 on Thursday in 5⅔ innings) and he certainly seems over whatever health hiccups he had late in the year. He took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. And he exited to a standing ovation.

Scherzer was one of so many heroes from this short-but-sweep series. There were other obvious stars, like Young, with two homers, six RBIs and a .353 average (the series MVP) and Verlander, who took a two-hit shutout into the ninth in Game 3.

Mizzou Baseball in the MLB Playoffs: Max Waits

♦ Rain? Really? Tigers will go for sweep vs. Yankees today (Detroit Free Press)

Max Scherzer stood in the Tigers' locker room, looking all-too refreshed. He was supposed to pitch Game 4 on Wednesday night at Comerica Park. Now he was pulling on a sweatshirt. His dream deferred, he was going home -- even though he was yet to see a raindrop.

"Have you ever been rained out of a game when it didn't rain?" someone asked him

"Yeah. Last year in the ALCS, actually. We were in Texas. They called it at 3 o'clock. It never rained."

He smirked.

"And I was supposed to pitch."

♦ Pitchers will be unchanged for Tigers-Yankees Game 4 (Detroit News)

The starters — Scherzer for the Tigers and CC Sabathia for the Yankees — remain the same.

Scherzer said the postponement will have "absolutely no impact" on him. He didn't even warm up Wednesday.

"We all wanted to play, but MLB wanted to cancel it, so it is what it is," he said. "The forecast was rain and it never came. That's the weather for you.

"We have a chance to go to the World Series tomorrow. That's the exciting part."

SxSE: Florida Gators Baseball, 1912-2012

Florida has very clearly become a College World Series program, one that everyone expects to reach Omaha every year.  They are not yet a CWS Finals program, like South Carolina.  Most of all, though, they've become a program with an obsession that labels anything short of a championship as Failure.  Some people will applaud that approach, but to my mind it's an obsession that does not tolerate patience and will inevitably undermine the program.  Florida's average W-L record over the past 10 years has been 45-23.

Florida fielded its first intercollegiate baseball team in 1912.

The Gators had 14 different head coaches from 1912 through 1947, and saw little success during those 36 seasons.

Dave Fuller took over in 1948 and stayed on the job for 28  years.   the Gators baseball team for twenty-eight seasons. Fuller won SEC championships in 1952, 1956 and 1962, and made appearances in the NCAA tournament in 1958, 1960 and 1962.

Jay Bergman continued that level of success from 1976-1981. His teams reached the NCAA Regionals in 1977, 1979 and 1981.

Joe Arnold led the team from 1984 to 1994 and advanced the progress of the program another step. He made the NCAA Regionals in 7 of those 11 seasons and took the Gators to the College World Series for the first time in 1988 and again in 1991.

Andy Lopez took over the program in 1995. From '95 through 2000, Lopez took the Gators to 4 Regionals, and, in 1996, the Gators won 50 games and went all the way to the CWS semi-finals. By this time, though, the expectations for Florida Baseball had grown along with the program, and he was let go after the 2000 season, having compiled a record of 278–159–1 (.636) during his tenure at Florida. This is the same Andy Lopez who had won the College World Series with Pepperdine in 1992 and whose Arizona Wildcats won the 2012 College World Series.  Not good enough for the Gators.

Pat McMahon had been the head coach at Mississippi State prior to coming to Florida in 2001. In 2003 and 2004 the team made the NCAA Regionals, and then in 2005 the Gators had their best season ever, losing to Texas in the College World Series final.

The Gators missed the NCAA Regionals in both 2006 and 2007, after which McMahon was fired with an overall record of 202–113–1 (.641), and a trip to the championship game in Omaha.

You should be seeing a trend here.

Kevin O'Sullivan took over the job in 2008, and is still there (last time I checked). In 2008 his team had a 34–24 record and made it to an NCAA Regional. In 2009 they were 42–22 and made it to a Super Regional. In 2010 they had a 47–17 record and made it to the College World Series. In 2011 they were 41–15 and lost to South Carolina in the CWS final.

In 2012 the Gators were the consensus preseason #1 pick, and were 40–16 before going 2-and-Q at Omaha.

Based on Florida's history, don't be surprised if they fire Kevin O'Sullivan if he fails to win it all in 2013. After which they'll hire some other top coach and O'Sullivan will go on to win the CWS with some other school.

Notable Florida Gator ballplayers

• Harry Coe
• Doug Corbett
• David Eckstein
• Haywood Sullivan
• Burt Touchberry
• Brad Wilkerson
• Dale Willis
• John Burnett
• Rob Murphy
• Randy O'Neal
• Mike Perez
• Herbert Perry
• Al Rosen
• David Ross
• Mike Stanley
• Robby Thompson
• Brad Wilkerson

Florida Gators Baseball in 2012

In 2012 the Florida Gators were a consensus #1 preseason pick by nearly every college baseball poll and pundit.  They were projected to not only repeat in the College World Series finals, but to win it all.  They finished with a 47-20 record, 18-12 in the SEC.  They won their Regional, they won their Super Regional, and went on to the College World Series, where they fell flat on their face, going 0-2 vs.o South Carolina and Kent State.

♦ O'Sullivan: 'We're not going anywhere' (GatorSports.com)

For this year's team, the expectation level was a burden. For next year's team, it will be about living up to the legacy left behind.

“They've been great players, but more importantly, they've been a great representation of what we want in this program,” O'Sullivan said. “I think they've done the right thing both on and off the field. I've been awfully proud of the way they've played and the way they've represented our program. They've set a standard that following teams will have to live up to.

I'm awfully proud of what they've been able to do.”
. . .
“We're going to be different,” he said. “But we're not going anywhere.”

♦ The Silver Lining: “Failure” is not a dirty word (OnlyGators.com)

It appears to be difficult for some to say these words but considering they are neither profane nor mendacious, they will be published right here: Florida baseball failed.

It really is as simple as that.

“Failure” is not a dirty word or an insult to effort. It is a factual result.

When someone or something does not meet a set objective – in the Gators’ case that was bringing home the program’s first national championship (read: title or bust) – they failed in their mission. That’s what happened on Monday – whether you like it or not.

“Failure” a word you use to describe a circumstance such as when the most talented and consensus No. 1-ranked team in the country for the preseason, much of the regular season and heading into the postseason not only gets swept out of the College World Series in two games but also falls short of capturing either their conference regular season or tournament crowns in the same year.

It is how you characterize a season that was supposed to change the shape of the program forever (making national titles an expectation, not an aspiration) but instead provided yet another depressing memory on the sport’s biggest stage.

♦ Gator Baseball: A Look Inside (Inside the Gators)

. . . In the past, this section would highlight some of Kevin O'Sullivan's prized signees. This year, O'Sullivan was unable to lure his higher-grade signees to Gainesville. Many of his coveted recruits that were primed for immediate impact at the college level, like Lance McCullers, Jesse Winker and Lewis Brinson, decided to begin their professional careers.

With only two returning outfielders, and holes to fill in the infield, there could be freshman starters on opening night 2013, but the likelihood of that took a significant blow as signee after signee inked minor-league contracts.

For the first time since the start of the 2010 season, Florida will not have the target on its back. O'Sullivan has recruited well, but no team can lose nine players to the MLB draft and expect to pickup where it left off. If the season were to start tomorrow, seven of nine spots in the batting order could be accounted for. The heir to Preston Tucker in right field and the designated hitter situation will likely be solved in fall and winter practice.

With Crawford and Whitson back in the rotation, the Gators can stay competitive in the SEC, but nobody's making reservations for Omaha just yet.

Mizzou Baseball in the Minors: Arizona Fall League

♦ Gibson causing giddiness (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

The former first-round draft pick, ranked by Baseball America as the game's 34th-best prospect before a 2011 season that saw him tear his UCL, turned in another sterling performance in the Arizona Fall League on Tuesday, allowing just one run on six hits over five innings while striking out eight and walking none. In two starts for the Peoria Javelinas, the right-hander is now 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA and 16-to-0 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 10 innings. Those are fantastic numbers in a traditionally hitter-friendly league.

Combining his AFL performance with his three-level minor-league rehab stint that stretched from July to September this season, Gibson has tallied 49 strikeouts and six walks in 38 1/3 innings since returning to pitching competitively about nine months after surgery.

♦ Top prospect Kyle Gibson continues to dominate Fall League (ESPN 1500)

Per Pitch F/X data, Gibson's fastball sat mostly between 93 and 95 miles per hour. Seven of his eight strikeouts came via off-speed pitches.

According to one baseball person in attendance, "His off-speed worked for him today when he kept it down in the zone, and plenty of hitters were chasing balls in the dirt. Another decent outing against, in my opinion, one of the better hitting clubs in the league this year."

♦ Tyler Clark gets shelled (Motor City Bengals)

Tyler Clark (1.0 IP, 27.00 ERA, 8 TBF, 25 K%, 38 BB%, 0 HR%)

Clark was the first reliever out of the pen for Mesa, but he didn’t have a good outing. He did strike out two hitters, but also allowed three runs on two hits and three walks.