I'm a Bit Speechless this is So Sad

This may be the saddest thing I've heard in a while. Eight Belles, the horse that won 2nd place in the Kentucky Derby today, broke both its front ankles as it crossed the finish line. the poor animal came crashing to a halt and had to be euthanized immediately, there on the track. what a tragedy.

FINAL FOUR!!!!

OK, with the exception of when MSU almost beat Memphis, i've been pulling for the Memphis Tigers all the way, all year. they are just awesom and that school deserves everything they get. They won tonight and i hope to see them win the whole thing Monday.

That said, Kansas (ugh) was beating the CRAP of Univ. of North Carolina...until now. they were being beaten worse than any team in final 4 history. UNC is within 5 now. creezus, this is AMAZING.

Let's Get This Outta the Way

I have a MEGA soft spot in my heart for Memphis. a friend of mine from HS went to U of Memphis for basketball, and i've followed them ever since. right now they are Number 1 and are playing like EXACTLY what any fan would want to see. unselfish. tough. great!

THAT BEING SAID,

Tulane is doing ok this year, beating multiple SEC teams for the first time since the 1940s(!) so i will take what i can get. MSU started out not so hot, but "HOLY MAROON AND WHITE!!"* they just beat those jerks at Ole Miss by TWENTY POINTS!! ...they are 5-0 in conference play too. best recored in the SEC. holey jamoley, creezus meezus! what goes on here!?!

either way, i like it!

*used with permission.

Can We Give this Woman A Prize?

Seriously, i feel the same about Notre Dame.

EGG BOWL WIN over OLE MISS!!!

I spent the day at my mother's house. We had a shrimp boil. as good as it was, i couldn't help but squirm. i wasn't able to watch the Miss. State v. Ole Miss game and i couldn't wait to get home and watch the Tivo. I kept checking my cell phone until i 'refreshed' it so much that i'd almost ran out of battery juice. we were losing the whole game through. I'd eat a little bit and check the cell. it was killing me. 14 to nothing and then the 4th quarter came. we ended up tying the biggest late game comeback in MSU history, winning the game 17 - 14 in the final seconds with a 48 yard kick, our kicker's personal best! the coach was in tears and ran onto the field with a Giant MSU flag. something i think has never EVER been done. we've had a long hard trip to get here. nearly a decade to finally be decent. it feels awfully nice to get to a bowl game again, especially for a kid that was lucky enough to go to MSU when we were used to winning. It feels good to be winning again. OH, here's video of the end!

Mr. Pollan Goes to DC

So, it seems i've been planning a trip to DC forever, but never actually making it happen. Originally, I wanted a trip to seattle for an extended weekend, then a long weekend in DC, then back to Jackson, MS where i'll be so tired i'd need a vacation from my vacation. I spent a lot of time on the Road this summer and it wasn't always my idea of the best summer ever. One thing that made it all better was Baseball. Each team plays roughly 5 days a week, unlike (say) football, I didn't have to wait around too long to watch my team and have a few bright spots in my day. I kept trying to find a time to fit in as much baseball as possible. wasn't there a week when Seattle, Baltimore, AND DC were all playing at home on the same week!? Sadly, whenever they were, I was tied up with work. Seattle, the place i was trying hardest to visit, was just not in the cards. DC, on the other hand, was.

Luckily for me, I know a few People in DC. People with Baseball tickets. And I had a plane ticket. Little did I know i was going to run into a few odd balls: Senator Larry Craig's Pals, some buffalo, a shark, FDR's lap, 45,000 people screaming for Teddy Roosevelt, Johnny Cash, a blueberry Guinness, and a story time at a bar that left me feeling like i was in a room full of people that had never had a grandparent (or at least a crazy uncle). I'll give you more as i put the photos together.

Diamond Dogs Do It!!

My beloved bulldogs are headed to the College Baseball World Series!! It is their second time to make it to Omaha for the CWS in 9 years. It also seems a bit of a Cinderella story as State wasn't previously ranked in the top 25 (only briefly, earlier in the season). PLUS. they had lost eight of their last 10 games heading into postseason tournaments. However, after that we've gone 5-0, beating super duper national sensation Florida State at their home in Tallahassee. This latest win marks our second come from behind/make me throw up with anxiety win against Clemson. right on!!

In other news, LAME Ole Miss collapsed in the 9th inning, unable to advance.