May 29, 2008
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THURSDAY, MAY 29- 1:36 AM
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Fearless February Prediction
Well, we are officially in Tempe to begin preparations for this weekend’s NCAA Regional at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium.
Right now, the weather forecast for Friday’s 4 p.m. CT matchup with Oklahoma is mainly sunny with highs close to 100 degrees (As Randy would say on American Idol… “It’s a molten hot lava bomb!”).
If you want to get an idea of what it’s like being in ‘Zona, then check out some of my photos from the road on Wednesday at the following link (with notes next to most of the photos):
VIEW WEDNESDAY’S PHOTO GALLERY
Now, coming back to the state of Arizona for the second time this season had me thinking about our first appearance at Arizona State in late February for the DeMarini Invitational. Just a day after Vanderbilt opened the tournament (and season) with an impressive 8-1 victory over two-time defending NCAA Champion Oregon State, the Commodores were soundly defeated by a top-ranked Sun Devils team that pounded out 16 hits including three homers (final score was 18-6).
Even after this lopsided loss, ASU head coach Pat Murphy was convinced that Vanderbilt would be a team to be reckoned with during the year.
In fact, Murphy made a prediction about the Commodores in front of several national media during his postgame press conference. Here’s what he had to say:
“I’m just going to tell you right now and make the prediction: Vanderbilt will play in the College World Series.
“This kind of stuff (today’s loss) is good for Vanderbilt. They went the whole year last year as number one and when you’re number one the whole time, it’s tough. … They’re a great team and I know Corbin well, so I hope he doesn’t take this loss hard. Things went our way today and and I think Vanderbilt’s got one of the best clubs in the country and you guys that are writing the polls and stuff, just keep an eye on Vanderbilt. They didn’t make it last year, but that was a hiccup. They’ll be there this year.”
Of course, those of us in the Commodore Nation hope his prediction is right.
And if in fact it is, it would mean Murphy’s ball club wouldn’t make it past the first round of the tournament.
We’ll see how it all pans out.
One stat not in our favor. Arizona State has rolled to 11 straight postseason victories on its home field and hasn’t dropped a NCAA game at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium since Texas eliminated them from the 2000 Regional.
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For those of you concerned about not seeing the action this weekend… We plan to webcast Vanderbilt’s regional games live on VUcommodores.com. Stay tuned for more information as we iron out the details.
To close today’s post… here’s another video that was submitted by a Commodore fan. This one’s from the American Gladiators (the old school version). I was thrilled to find out that Mike Adamle, AG’s announcer back in the day, recently landed back on his feet with a gig with the WWE.
As Malibu would say… “Sweet!”