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The Back Nine comes at you after a weekend that hasn’t ended yet.
10. And that’s a good thing because once tonight’s game is over we are done with college sports until late August. You want to be playing in the last game of the academic season because that means you have a chance to do something special. But in a way, I am ready for it to be over because my wife and daughter have been in Omaha for almost a week. We had a long talk about whether I would go, but somebody had to watch the dog, I’ve already been eight times and they had not experienced it and I didn’t want to be around LSU baseball fans. Case closed.
11. No matter what happens tonight, this has been a special season. The most wins in school history, records broken all over the place and it has been especially heartwarming to watch a bunch of guys who really like playing together and understand their roles.
12. It also doesn’t hurt that Florida is getting all of this incredible exposure on television, even if Gator fans feel the announcers are biased against UF. They are just doing their jobs. I would advise you all to take my advice and watch with the sound muted on one TV and a sitcom or a movie on another TV. It’s less stressful. But the real benefit is that a lot of really good players are lining up in the portal to come to UF. Kevin O’Sullivan may be baseball’s version of Lane Kiffin (King of the Portal) by the time this is all over.
13. Really happy that Jac Caglianone won the home run title. Here was a guy playing his first full season of college baseball and the pressure came at him with its full force. He became the biggest celebrity on a team full of them and you can see how that would wear on you.
14. And once tonight is over, we need to think about two things – taking vacations and how Florida is going to be good in the two biggest sports. Now, I say that wondering out loud if gymnastics and baseball have passed men’s basketball in terms of interest. It’s up to Todd Golden to fix that and it appears he is re-routing the ship and has it headed in the right direction. But we’ll see. It’s not like everybody else in the league quit recruiting.
15. I still would go with this list – 1. Football, 2. Men’s basketball (barely) and then we can argue about baseball and gymnastics. I will say that this season’s Condron crowds have been more intense than ever and I think people have settled into what the new ballpark is and can be for them. Of course, nothing gets people more interested than winning. That is a constant that will never go away.
16. One of the appeals of the Traveler’s following the U.S. Open is that the course is set up so easy with the flat greens it attracts a nice field because these guys are ready for an easy course after playing one that grew progressively more difficult every day. That’s my theory and I am sticking to it. I’m sure Keegan Bradley enjoyed it.
17. There is a lot going on in MLB right now including the Braves becoming the second team to 50 wins (Tampa Bay was already there) and the Mets sinking to a new low and Arizona leading the NL West. I’ll start paying attention later this week.
18. The music was flowing this week and it helped me get a playlist together:
* “For Your Soul” by Josh Ritter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWpvDddreaA
* “Body” by Briston Maroney
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOspNmJaxGc
* And for an old one, “I’ll Never Find Another You” by The Seekers.
