Owls or Hurricanes, what do I do?
Man, oh man, this is a great time for sports fans in general and baseball fans in particular. Why, you non-sport goobers may ask? Because the NCAA collegiate baseball tournament got underway this weekend, that's why.
In addition to the 12 Division I college regional tournaments being played out across America, the Division II, JUCO (Junior College), and women's softball championships are also underway (Florida Southern won the NCAA Division II title Saturday). But it's Division I where all the interest lies and quite frankly, where the best collegiate baseball is played. Teams will battle each other in round-robin elimination at each regional to earn the right to participate in the NCAA College World Series held each year at Rosenblatt Field in Omaha, Nebraska.
The dilemma
But I may have a problem. The Coral Gables Regional pitted Mississippi State University (MSU), the University of Miami (UM), Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), and Florida Atlantic University (FAU) against one another. Miami defeated MSU and FAU defeated VCU on Saturday. Since the Miami Hurricanes were the number one seed in the regional, they get a bye while the Fighting Burrowing Owls of FAU play MSU in an elimination game today (VCU was eliminated).
If Mississippi State wins and FAU is eliminated, no problem; its root, root, root for the Hurricanes when they play MSU. But if the Owls win out against MSU and then must play Miami for the regional championship...
You see, I've been a Miami Hurricanes fan for the better part of 40 years because so many of my friends and a few relatives attended university there, I live in South Florida, and because I have been a season ticket holder for UM football and baseball. The Canes are my college team, with one small exception -- whenever they play the FAU Owls, in any sport.
I am an alumnus of FAU and when I attended, it was a very small, upper-division (junior and senior classes) school that had just begun its four-year education program; they had no athletic programs to speak of. Since the time of my graduation, however, FAU experienced boom growth, is now one of Florida's larger universities, and fields men's and women's Division I athletic programs in all major sports.
The choice
Aye, and there's the rub...who the heck am I supposed to root for in today's elimination game, the Owls or the Hurricanes? My alma mater or my lifelong adopted sports school? In other years, I would logically pick the team that had the best chance to win it all in Omaha, but quite frankly both schools suffer from having only moderately good teams this year - a championship ain't gonna happen.
I've given this some thought and have decided based upon the following: UM's hated in-state rivals, the University of Florida and Florida State University, are also hosting regionals. They both play in elimination matches today against their respective opposing teams. So...
I'll watch one of their games on the Florida Sports Network today with the high, high, hopes that both rival schools are eliminated. But what about the battle between the Owl and the Hurricane? I don't want to know about it, hear about it, or see it until it's over. I'm gonna take a pass and then jump on the bandwagon of the winner. It's a cop-out, but one I can live with.
(PS: Miami has won five national championships, FAU none...Go Owls!)