Love those Vandyboys!

Finally--I have pictures!! (Yes, I know they are out of order. Since you already know the outcome, I think it's okay.) I'm about a week late in sharing these and recounting my experience from the Super Regional, but we'll call this timely since it's the day before our first-ever CWS game. I don't follow baseball like I do other VU sports, but I wouldn't have said three months ago that this was finally going to be our year. I'm so used to the Vanderbilt curse that I may not believe we're in Omaha until George Bush throws the first pitch on Saturday.


I'm sad to report that I won't be going to Omaha. After planning my personal life around Vanderbilt athletics for the better part of five years, I planned a trip to Vegas for next weekend back in January without the slightest thought of post-season baseball conflicts. I mean, there are only so many times you can plan your Christmas vacation around bowl games and be certain to keep the Sweet 16 weekend free and end up sitting at home watching other teams play. I finally gave up...the ONE time we actually MADE IT! It's okay though...if the Dores are still playing next Friday, you can be certain I will be at a casino sports book watching on a big screen. Hell, I might even bet on the game (can you bet on college baseball?).

As for tomorrow...find a TV...put on your black and gold...and watch Vanderbilt sports history! GO DORES!

(As for the title, I'm not sure that "Vandyboys" is grammatically correct, but that's what the teams (and fans) calls itself on Twitter (yes, I'm a stalker). Therefore, if the name is good enough for the players, it's good enough for me!

A low stress weekend of VU athletics...can you believe it?!

On the day of the first-ever Super Regional hosted by Vanderbilt, some thoughts to share:

1) I can only hope it goes the same way as the regional last weekend. A friend asked about my experience, and I told him it was the strangest thing. You know the sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for the fumble, missed field goal, bad call that changes the momentum, home run hit by the freshman walk-on, I could go on and on with examples from my 13 years of Vanderbilt fandom. The crazy thing is, the regional DIDN'T feel that way--not for a second. There was no sudden gust of win that stopped the ball dead in the air (Arkansas), no travel that wasn't called (Georgetown), no roughing the punter penalty (UT). Instead, the whole weekend just felt calm and as though Vanderbilt was actually going to win. Forget blood pressure medicine--give me a weekend like that every time I step in Memorial, Dudley, or Hawkins Field, and it would work even better to reverse the cumulative effect of being a Vanderbilt fan on my life expectancy.

2) We set the SEC record for the most baseball players drafted. You know you've got a good thing going when several players were drafted whose number I don't even know. Shame on me, I guess. I need to get a baseball roster ASAP. I thought only knowing the starters and some of the bullpen was enough--not even close.

I'll post more after this weekend...and hopefully share that it too lowered my stress level like last week. We shall see...if we are in such complete control and nothing happens to ruin it again, I may have to double check to make sure I'm on the right campus watching the correct team play.

GO DORES!