the BR
Member since Mar 2007
79 posts

My weekend of depression (Posted on 4/22 at 10:26 a.m.)

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I was stoked for the Georgia series all week until I voted for the Omaha era team with my dad Friday afternoon. Seeing all those names again, made me think back to my youth. I basicly grew up at the Box. From fighting 100 other kids to stand next to Wes "Popeye" Grisham during the national anthem at the tender age of five, to standing outside the gate after games hoping to get a Todd Walker autograph, to seeing how big Eddy Furniss really was up close. As I voted I realized to quote Rick Pitino "Those guys arent going to walk through that door"

I spent the entire series at the box disinterested in what was going on on the field. I just paid attention to my surroundings. Wondering what happened to the aura of this great ballpark that housed the best college baseball program around and the fans that made it special. The sign boasting "College baseballs greatest fans" facing Nicholson is faded purple almost mocking the die hards who walk by it on the way to their seats. What happened to "The Birdman", Donnie, Willie John, etc. Mr. Gillot is still there, working harder and harder to pump up a meager crowd. Miss Anita aka "the K lady" is still there, but she doesnt have to run those steps very often anymore.
Where are the familiar faces that made the box special. Where are the players that relished the expectations and thrived in the face of the intimidator. Now they crumble underneath the title of PROGRAM OF EXCELLENCE that hovers over them like a dark cloud atop the dugout.

The box is a ghost town now, unchanged since the aformentioned glory days. The ghosts that haunt this park no longer scare the visitors. Leaving the home team hard pressed to make their own history. There will be no regional of anykind to serve as a proper send off to a place that I hold close to my heart. I can only hope the sunday game of the Miss. St. game can bring the magic back one last time. As I sit in left 2 sunday with single digits left on the last game counter and "Glory Days" playing on the PA, I come to a conclusion. The new Box will serve as a beautiful new home for a program in need of one, but the new Box nor the old will never replace the memories of the past.

I posted this the weekend of the georgia series. From then on the tigers went on a 25 game winning streak. Winning the sec tourny, clinching a regional and super regional at the box and winning them both and advancing to omaha. All the while bringing the box back to life and creating final memories that will last a lifetime. Its funny how things can change so quickly for the good and the bad. As if I havent learned from the past to be patient(warren morris, blue grass miracle, etc.) Mabey this time it will stick. Thanks to all that made the last 2 months of the season special. I will never forget