Oh, I agree. But every time I bring that up, somebody gets rankled. I could say a little more on this, but this particular board couldn't handle it. All I can say is that we changed our style of ball along in there and he was a "key" part of it.
Another question for you USC Baseball gurus.
- Thread starter Freddie.B.Cocky
- Start date
Not exactly. From 1950-1987, the CWS was a true 8-team double-elimination tournament.
Starting in 1988, the CWS format was changed to two 4-team double-elimination tournaments (brackets), with each tournament/bracket winner playing in a 1-game winner-take-all event. This change was made so that CBS could broadcast the championship game live at a specific date/time. To the best of my knowledge, 2002 was the last year CBS broadcast any CWS games.
This means that the "1 game instead of 3" did not apply during the 1975 CWS, nor to any of our pre-1988 visits to Omaha (1975, 1977, 1981, 1982, & 1985).
Pre-1988, when there were three teams left standing. they held a coin toss to determine who played first.
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USCBatgirl21
Well-Known Member
Ok. The only year it really made a difference to us with regard to the Championship was 1977. We lost twice to ASU to lose the CWS. We already had one loss in 1975.
Both were disappointing, but we were down early to Texas in the ‘75 game. That final game vs. ASU in ‘77 was a killer. Watched it here in the upstate on WSPA out of Spartanburg. I think WIS produced it & WSPA picked it up ?? (they were affiliates of different networks but...for this type of thing...it didn’t matter). Saturday night. Tied 1-1 late. Maybe 8th inning? Watching with friends. Chewing fingernails as Bob Horner comes to the plate. Huge, collective sigh of relief as he is out (I think it was a “K”, but can’t swear to it at this point). Then, the son of Oakland “A”s star, Sal Bando, comes to the plate. Boom. Right over the fence. 2-1, ASU ...& that’s how it ended. Most of our group was 17 years old & had been friends since childhood. We were so dejected we hardly said “goodnight” /“bye” to each other!!
College World Series: Of Devils and Phantoms | Sports | The Harvard Crimson
The NCAA baseball championships, or the College World Series, is held annually in the nation's college baseball hotbed, Omaha, Nebraska,
^^ previous post ^^
“he lost concentration while playing catch, and the ball shattered his nose.”
lol, no excuses back then. Great read.
“he lost concentration while playing catch, and the ball shattered his nose.”
lol, no excuses back then. Great read.
My recollection is that the broadcasts were "generically syndicated" out of Omaha; I don't recall being able to watch any game other than ones USC was in. I did not see anything like "Hughes Sports Network" or "TVS", mainstays of syndicated sports in those days. Nor did I see anything showing that the broadcasts were produced by WIS. We did watch the games from one of the Charleston TV stations, though.
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It won't be me getting rankled, it's exactly what happened. Holbrook was a big part of our run and success. He and Tanner were a really good bad cop/good cop combo. When Tanner hung it up, every other program in the country would have done what we did, Holbrook was the hottest name out there. Some guys are just not HC material, they're better as assistants. We certainly found that out, hindsight is 20/20.
2000 team hands down. They were the 2021 arkansas story. Tragic. 7 sec sweeps. Held number 1 almost the entire season. That team was a landslide to win the title that year. Still makes me sick thinking about it.
We abandoned gorilla ball on the arrival of Holbrook in 2009, it just took a year or so to adjust. Not unusual.
USCBatgirl21
Well-Known Member
We had no choice when they changed the bats in 2011.
Now that you mention it, I do recall that. Dont think things fell in to place and clicking with the new direction until 2010 also. Took a while to play better smallball. And the longer 2010 went, the better we got... the rest is history. Mindblowing Holbrook's teams couldnt play a lick of it when he became HC.
Well...you’re correct in that the only game I remember being able to watch was the final game with Carolina vs. ASU that Sat. night. Took a stab at “WIS” because...as you say...it was not originated by a well-known syndication (your example, “Hughes”, or “Jefferson- Pilot”, etc.). Thought maybe the local interest possibly involved WIS perhaps sending equipment & a crew...but, I guess not. I just remember being able to watch that single game & none other. Caught all of the others over the radio.
USCBatgirl21
Well-Known Member
They didn't change the balls (lowered the seams) to work better with the deadened bats until around 2016 (?). That was actually something I agreed with JackLegg about.
