Good Morning, Gator Country: A few thoughts as you go through this beautiful day the Lord has made:
1. JACK HAIRSTON (1929-2010): I am saddened that only in the last couple of years did I get the chance to know long-time Gainesville Sun sports columnist Jack Hairston, who passed away Saturday after a long and courageous battle. I am saddened – like his family, friends, the many sportswriters he mentored, the many athletes he chronicled – to have lost such a gentle man who was a giant in this industry and who brought so much joy to his loyal readers, many of them the founding fathers of Gator Nation. As many of his journalistic peers believe, Jack knew the true success of finding and writing sports stories came only after a lot of hard work and research. Yes, talent is the trump card, on both the athletic fields and off them, but talent only truly manifests itself when a lot of blood, sweat and tears have been expended. Shortcuts may get you where you want to be in life more quickly but you miss a lot. The journey is best experienced when you take the time to work and enjoy it. Thanks, Jack, for taking us along on some of your great journeys, many of them with the Gators. Today, there’s a lot of Orange and Blue in Heaven.
2. KEEPING PACE: Either South Carolina or Florida is going to win the SEC baseball regular-season championship as they are 19-7 heading into play today. This weekend shaped up to be a make-or-break one for both teams but they’ve kept pace with each other. South Carolina traveled to Arkansas and has 3-2 and 5-0 victories over the Western Division tri-leader (along with Mississippi and suddenly surging Auburn at 16-10). Coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s Gators, meanwhile, has a pair of walk-off 4-3 victories at McKethan Stadium against cellar-dwelling Georgia, which has played and pitched like anything but the 14-35 (3-21 SEC) team it is. Following Tuesday games at home – Florida plays North Florida at 6:30 and South Carolina plays Furman at 7 – the two teams will meet in a Thursday-Saturday series at Columbia that will be televised by Sun Sports. You couldn’t ask for a better ending to the regular season. It would surprise absolutely no one if the Gators and Gamecocks split the first two 7 p.m. games and thus decide the top-seed for next week’s SEC Tournament at Hoover, Ala., in the Saturday series finale at 4 p.m.
3. REBOUNDING NOT SO EASY: It certainly isn’t shocking that coach Tim Walton’s softball Gators would lose a game in the single-elimination SEC Tournament this past weekend at Fayetteville, Ark. After all, there are a lot of talented teams in the conference, starting with Alabama (48-9) and Florida (43-8) along with Louisiana State (44-14), Georgia (43-11) and Tennessee (42-13). Those five teams likely will receive one of 16 hosting assignments when the 64-team NCAA bracket is released Sunday night, and Kentucky (31-25) and Auburn (30-24) also should receive tourney bids as those seven teams are in the Top 33 of the most recent NCAA RPI rankings (Alabama is 1, Florida 4, LSU 9, Georgia 12, Tennessee 18, Kentucky 31 and Auburn 33). But if you are a Gator softball supporter, you’ve got to be a little concerned, particularly by Florida’s 9-1 loss to LSU, a team that Florida had beaten on the first weekend of April by scores of 4-1, 2-1 and 7-1. It’s the worse loss Florida has had on the softball diamond since Washington’s 8-0 victory last season in the opening of the best-of-three series finale at the Women’s College World of Series. Plus, the Gators’ pitching has not been as dominant as it was a year ago.
4. DO THE MATH: When ESPN reported that its Kansas City radio affiliate had learned the Big Ten had invited Nebraska, Missouri, Rutgers and Notre Dame to join, all anyone needed to know was that their addition would have brought the Big Ten to 15 teams. Remember, the Big Ten is actually the Big 11. Eleven and 4 equals 15, right?
5. AN ETERNITY AGO: When first Mark McGwire and then Sammy Sosa passed Roger Maris with their 62nd home runs in September 1998, they broke a record that had existed for 37 seasons. When Maris hit his 61 in ’61, he broke Babe Ruth’s record of 60 that had existed for 34. In 1973, Secretariat ended a 25-year Triple Crown drought that began after Citation’s 1948 sweep of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. There would be back-to-back Triple Crown winners in Seattle Slew (1977) and Affirmed (1978). Now we’re at 33 and counting after Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver finished a fading eighth (“When I asked him, he kind of just folded up. It just happens,” said jockey Calvin Borel in calling out his ride) behind Looking At Lucky.
6. IT WAS TIME: The Rays swallowed a lot of money—$9 million – when they designated Pat Burrell for assignment Saturday. The 33-year-old Burrell, who signed a two-year, $16-million contract prior to the 2009 season and hit just 14 homers and drove in 64 runs while batting .221. This season, he was batting just .202 with two home runs and 13 RBI in 24 games this season. He was just 2 for 25 in the month of May and was 1 for 19 against left-handed pitching. In his place, the team has signed 29-year-old Hank Blalock, whose once promising career has been beset by injuries. Blalock was a late-spring signing by Tampa Bay and was optioned to Durham, where he hit four homers and .349 while driving in 24 runs in 26 games. Blalock is younger and also more versatile, able to play third and first. Despite a 25-11 record that is the best in the majors, the Rays have batted just .251 (eighth in the American League).
7. MAGIC NUMBER I: In case you are keeping track, the Rays’ magic number of clinching the AL East crown over the New York Yankees is 126. (Yes, I know … I know …).
8. MAGIC NUMBER II: Better yet, how’s 111 hit you? That’s the magic number for Florida’s first game of the 2010 season against Miami. No, not Miami, Florida but Miami, Ohio. The Cradle of Coaches school that produced Earl Blaik, Paul Brown, Woody Hayes, Bill Arnsparger, George Little, Weeb Ewbank, Sid Gillman, Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler, John Pont, Carmen Cozza, Bill Mallory, Jim Tressel, Joe Novak, Dick Crum, Paul Dietzel, Randy Walker, John Harbaugh, Gary Moeller, Larry Smith, Dick Tomey, Sean Payton, Terry Hoeppner … and Ron Zook.
Well, eight is enough for Sunday, folks. Remember to say a prayer and give thanks for Jack Hairston and his family. Rest In Peace, good friend.
Later, Gators
John Fineran