Carolina choked, can we write it?

My boys in blue? Ha Ha Ha Ha

You really are an idiot. I don't cover Carolina, the ACC nor do I even work in the Southeast nor am I from that region. I'm the furthest thing from an ACC apologist and if you must know, frankly I'm glad Carolina choked because I think John Swofford is an arrogant prick and I hope his evil empire of greed crumbles. I want many more Florida State "five-loss" BCS teams. I want many more spring time choke jobs by ACC baseball teams (an annual rite of passage). I want to see many more Final Fours with no ACC teams and the Dookies losing in the Sweet 16, despite getting every fucking call from referees. I want to see Miami continue to crumble in its own brand of thug life football and Virginia Tech to continue to choke every time it plays a big game (oh, that's right I'm supposed to say that Florida State, with one of the worst offenses in Division I was better because they won), I want to see Carolina continue to lose guys to the draft in basketball and NC State need three months and settle on their 37th choice because nobody wants the job and Boston College continue to be slightly above mediocre and go bankrupt while trying to send all of its non-revenue teams to league games thousands of miles away.....

I also understand baseball fine. I also understand human nature and the fact that you are so touchy about your Beavers tells me you are a fan boy, not an objective observer.

 

If there was a choke with Buckner, it was the manager John McNamara for not replacing him for defense with Dave Stapleton, which was a move he had frequently made toward the end of the season. Buckner also had some back problems.

When you say something like "you could have thrown three underhanded slo-pitch softballs to him and he'd have fanned" you sound like one of the goofballs who calls sports talk radio. Like I said, you don't know baseball.

 

You obviously don't know baseball if you couldn't see that kid had no chance of getting a hit because he was shaking in his shoes. He was too scared to hit. I know the game, better than most. I played it my whole life, had an opportunity to play it after high school at some smaller colleges but opted instead to go to a big school and pursue my degree.

You watch the hitters that are clutch in the major leagues or even in college baseball or little league for that matter -- they approach the plate with the same demeanor regardless of the situation. That kid had deer in headlights and you could tell from the first pitch he had no chance of getting a hit because he was shaking in his shoes. That's a choke. Period.

 

boogerface.

 

I didn't call anyone a name and the facts have been exhausted and as usual are in the eye of the beholder. You choose one set of facts, I choose another.

But you keep them Orange and Black pom poms ready to go.

 

Of course you can call it a choke if you are writing a column, but only if you are.
The problem is that it is such a loaded term, you need to understand by using it you are making an unequivocal statement that no other explanation is relevant in a metal bat college tournament at a place where it blows 30 mph and all kinds of batspit crazy crap happens.
Must the choker be heavily favored, or can the decided underdog choke by taking a lead over the favored then losing it somehow?
In this tournament, wasn't Clemson seeded No. 1? When they go out, by whatever cause, did they choke, or are the seedings and such the currency of silliness so that we can't fairly buy into them?
I completely understand the urge of a columnist to write something muscular but this just seems a little too easy and insufficient because of the environment -- what's really predictable in a metal bat tournament with backup pitchers and all the rest?
Compare that to the Yankees gagging on 3-0 lead over the Red Sox in the ALCS -- now THAT's a choke, and I think most here would agree.
One game in metal bat baseball after each team had won one and the pretournament favorite (if we can take the seedings seriously) had already been eliminated?
Not so clearly a choke, is it?
Advice here -- go ahead and use the word, stating the obvious that some will call it a  choke, but hold off on the definitive statement

 

Learn how to read, I never called you an idiotic prep parent -- I said you remind me of them. There is a big difference.

By being so defensive about Oregon State getting their props, you show your true colors.