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All Summer in an Update
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| Doak Campbell Stadium, Florida State University, June 7, 2003. 4:55 p.m.
It's raining. This comes as no surprise to me, since it was raining when I left Texas the day before, and it rained on me across all 5 states on my ~850 mile drive East. I am not amused. So why is Mike smiling? Beats me. Mike lives in Florida. Maybe his warped sense of humor finds the fact that the first game of the NCAA South Super-Regional has been canceled funny. At any rate, the weather in this picture summarizes my entire trip to Florida. Whether or not I will ever willingly return to the Florida panhandle in my life remains to be seen. |
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| After one of many breaks in the weather on June 8, Chuck Morris and the FSU Ground Crew pull back the tarp covering the infield at Dick Howser Stadium for the 6th time that day. | |||||||||
| The rain eventually let up for long enough to play 2 games, which was all the Longhorns needed to eliminate the #1-ranked Florida State Seminoles. All the smack-talking in the world on the part of the FSU fans couldn't save their beloved team, though that certainly didn't stop them from trying (on the contrary, rather). | |||||||||
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| Head coach Augie Garrido and first baseman Tim Moss celebrate the Longhorn baseball team's 6-5 victory over the FSU Seminoles in game 2 of the NCAA Super-Regionals. | |||||||||
| The Longhorns' victory was met with cheers not only from the Texas fans, but from one Floridian AP photographer who shall go unnamed, because it meant that the long-delayed series was finally over and we could all go home. Helen Montoya and Clint Hale from the Daily Texan, who had slugged through the series with me, joined me in a very welcome trip back to Texas.
Hey, I'm back home, right? I get to rest, relax, put me feet up on the couch, and watch South Park, right? Wrong. |
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| Rosenblatt Stadium, Omaha, Nebraska, June 14, 2003. 4:11 p.m. | |||||||||
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| The Longhorn baseball team arrives at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska on Saturday, June 14, 2003 at the start of the College World Series. | |||||||||
| What happens when you win the Super-Regional? Why, you go to the College World Series! While this is a good thing, it makes life rather inconvenient when you're covering the team on a college budget (no airfare). You see, the Super-Regional was in Tallahassee, FL. The College World Series is in Omaha, NE. Somewhere in the 4 days between the two, we had to get back to Texas and on to the next stop. Thus begins the story of how I drove through 10 states in 2 weeks. | |||||||||
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| He slices, he dices, he makes julienne fries! Maybe not, but he can at least return beach balls and hit home runs all in the same game. That's right folks, New Braunfels native #11 Eric Sultemeier can play some serious baseball. And he's a nice guy, to boot. His two run shot in the 2nd inning helped the 'Horns smack the Miami Hurricanes 13-2 to make a good first impression at the College World Series. | |||||||||
| Mapquest says that I drove 3,421 miles covering these two events. To be quite honest, I had lost count. Dad was nice enough to let me use his Yukon XL, which was just barely big enough to hold all of our collective junk (photographers are incapable of travelling lightly). Helen couldn't make it to Nebraska, so the intrepid photographer Ben Sklar joined Clint and I on our seemingly endless journey to cover the Longhorn Baseball team's post-season. | |||||||||
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| Mike McDowell chows down with a group of Longhorn fans from Des Moines, IA on Saturday, June 14, 2003 at the start of the College World Series. McDowell and his friends attended high school with Alan Bomer, who pitched for Texas last season. | |||||||||
| If College World Series fans share a common love of anything, it's tailgating. I have never seen a see of tailgaters quite like the one that surrounds Rosenblatt Stadium. The music is loud, the people are louder, the school colors are flying, and the aromas of everything from hot dogs to cajun food (LSU fans) creates an atmosphere not unlike the one at your local county fair. | |||||||||
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| Rice outfielder Chris Kolkhorst slides into 3rd base as Texas' Huston Street misses the catch during the 6th inning of Texas' 12-2 loss to the Rice Owls on Monday at the College World Series. Kolkhorst went on to score on the play. | |||||||||
| If the Longhorns looked good after trouncing Miami, they looked reeeeeally bad after getting equally trounced by Rice. 12-2, to be exact. Clint (The Texan's sportswriter) had been saying all week that Texas didn't have the pitching depth to make it all the way to the championship, and I was starting to agree with him. Texas did enjoy one last hurrah before it all went south, however: | |||||||||
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| Pitcher Huston Street (center) smiles as he watches the 9th inning of Texas' victory over the Miami Hurricanes on Tuesday night at the College World Series. Street recorded his 14th career save, and his 5th at the College World Series. | |||||||||
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| Shortstop Omar Quintanilla is narrowly missed by a pitch during the 5th inning of Texas' victory over the Miami Hurricanes on Tuesday night at the College World Series. | |||||||||
| In Game 3, the 'Horns looked like they might turn it around. The Miami Hurricanes were dispatched for the second time, which sent them packing. Freshman Sam LeCure put in a clutch pitching performance, and Huston Street came in to seal the win as reliably as he had all season. This did nothing to improve Clint's outlook on our chances of winning the series, and as it turns out, he was right. | |||||||||
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| Center fielder Joe Ferin holds his head in his hands after the Longhorns' 5-4 loss to the Rice Owls on Wednesday evening at the College World Series in Omaha, NE. Texas' season was ended by the loss. |
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| Poor Joe Ferin. The 'Horns, facing elimination in Game 4, were tied with Rice in the bottom of the ninth, with the winning run on second. Star reliever Huston Street gave up a hit, which dropped into shallow right field, and right towards Joe's steaming charge. Everyone was poised for a dramatic play at the plate, as the winning run rounded third. Then, heartbreak to end all heartbreak: Joe missed the catch. The run scored, Rice won, the ball continued on into right field. After the game, the 'Horns made a hasty departure from the dugout, their season over.
Of course, you can't possibly blame it all on Joe -- he just made one mistake in a series of many that the team committed that night -- but you have to feel bad for the guy. I certainly did when I had to shoot this picture. Omaha ended up being pretty much the opposite of Tallahassee -- the sky was blue, the temperatures were mild, and it didn't rain all the time. In fact, I wouldn't mind going back there. Before we left, we did make time to check out Omaha's famed Henry Doorly Zoo, which made for some photos that certainly don't look like they were taken in the middle of the Heartland. |
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