Up In The Nosebleeds: The HoG's Mostly Uniformed College World Series Preview

Welcome back to Up In The Nosebleeds, the HoG's semi-regular, soon-to-be-forgotten feature in which we give some attention to obscure niche sports that get pushed aside by the mainstream. Like competitive bass fishing, cow tipping and ice hockey. Think Cheap Seats, only not on ESPN Classic and without the twin brothers who bone each other.


The College World Series starts today in Omaha, Nebraska. This has always been one of those events that some people are really, really into and most everybody else is completely unaware of. I have primarily fallen into the latter category, although the last half-decade has drawn me closer and closer to amateur baseball. Most of it is armchair scouting, seeing which top-flight college players may be lighting up big league diamonds in a few years. But I’ve come to appreciate the college game for its own merits, so long as I turn the sound on the TV down (PING!).

One fellow that truly follows the ins and outs of the college game is my cousin Brian. He graduated from Cal-State Fullerton, a school you may not be aware of unless you either live in Southern California or watch collegiate baseball. Fullerton has won four CWS titles, the last in 2004, and sent a slew of players to the pros (among them Phil Nevin, Chad Cordero, Mark Kotsay, Aaron Rowand, Brent Mayne and Jeremy Giambi). Brian grew up playing ball in the same Orange County neighborhood as the baseball Boones, including ex-Angel catcher Bob, second baseman Brett, Red Sox killer Aaron and Brian’s high school teammate Matt. He’s also a staunch Libertarian and would like to encourage you to vote for Ron Paul in the 2008 presidential election.

I asked Brian to assist me in breaking down the CWS, which he agreed to do. I was unable to extract actual predictions from him—I believe his exact phrase was “I’m no Nostradamus.” He did, however, fill me in on all manner of background of college baseball, albeit hopelessly slanted toward his antigovernment SoCal stance.

Virtually every last bit of good baseball in America is played in or directly sourced from California, I learned. The kids there play it year round and the ones that don’t make it at one of their colleges end up at second-tier institutions like Arizona State. The girls are prettier, the weather better, and the residents richer and more successful than where you live.

So, I don’t know what to tell ya. I’m going to watch, and I’ve got bandwagon seats in coach for both Fullerton and Arizona State (my father-in-law’s alma mater). I hear that Rice, North Carolina, ASU and defending champ Oregon State are pretty loaded, so keep an eye out for them. And pay attention to the Comments, where some dude from Arvada will no doubt dazzle you with his new favorite team (since Long Beach State, Arizona, Kansas, Southern Illinois, Colorado, Auburn, Slippery Rock and Lamar Community College failed to qualify).

I suppose, with a gun to my head, I’ll take ASU over Carolina in the final.