Rich Poythress scoring the tying run in the bottom of the 8th inning.




IT WAS THE WINE!

Throughout the first game of the College World Series Championship tonight, I could not get any rhythm going with my various superstitions. No matter what I tried, we kept swinging at the first pitch and bouncing balls on the infield or popping up to the shallow outfield. There were moments when I thought I had found the combination, but then Fresno State would nullify any gains achieved. Finally after sitting in three different locations, after Fresno scored three in the top of the 8th to take a 6-3 lead, with my nerves frayed, I did something I should have done much earlier. I poured a glass of wine. For good measure, I also changed my shirt. I ditched the shirt that got us through the Miami game and replaced it with the shirt that I wore during the first Stanford game - which is an 11 year old gray Polo tee shirt that I wear to sleep.
The superstitious delicious wine of choice was 2005 Evil Chardonnay from Australia - 90 points from Wine Advocate.

If you are wondering why it took me so long to think about turning to alcohol, your point is well taken. But, I was at my son's baseball game and did not get home to watch the UGA game until the bottom of the 4th inning. Then I was eating dinner and had kids running around the house for about an hour and it just slipped my mind that I had a nice glass of wine left in a bottle that did not get finished Saturday night. Once this oversight was remedied, the Dawgs rallied for 4 runs and took the lead 7-6 going into the ninth. Joshua Fields then came to the hill and mowed down the feisty and dangerous FSU hitters 1-2-3.

Now the Dawgs are one win away from a second National Title in baseball in what has been a tremendously fun post-season. However, this is baseball and the other resilient Bulldogs are sure to put up another fight tomorrow night. Our guys will have to remain focused and hopefully play a little looser than they did tonight.

My son also has another game tomorrow night at 6:45, so I will again miss the first 3 innings or so. But, when I do get home, you can be assured that I will waste no time in pouring that glass of wine!

Go Dawgs, GATA.