Wednesday, July 7, 2021

Sid Salter: MSU's National Championship Run Was Our "Field of Dreams" Moment

 What does winning the championship game in the 2021 College World Series mean to the average Mississippi State fan? In a word, everything.

But it’s a mixed bag – joy, relief, redemption, triumph, vindication, and celebration. More than anything, it’s admiration and appreciation for the guts and effort of the young men wearing the M over S logo and sporting maroon and white.

Like the Children of Israel wandering in the wilderness, the quest for a legitimate national championship in a major sport has been as elusive as the Promised Land – or as our marvelous radio announcer Jack Cristil often called it “the Land of Milk and Honey.”

In the lobby of the Marriott up the street from TD Ameritrade Park after the final game of the CWS, I saw retired Mississippi State University senior administrator Dr. Roy Ruby and his son, Robert, relaxing at a table over longneck beers. Robert recently retired from the FBI.

Ruby, in his early 80s, is a diehard Bulldog who has endured a lot of disappointments watching MSU athletics. But his knowledge of MSU sports lore is unmatched as is his general mastery of MSU’s institutional history and culture.

After the Bulldogs took the 2021 CWS crown and the NCAA national championship that went with it, Ruby shook his head and flashed a wry grin before muttering almost as much to himself as to me in his deep and lilting Mississippi Delta drawl: “I never thought I’d live to see it.”

The joy on Ruby’s face was also visible on the face of other Bulldog partisans, alums like retired Mississippi Court of Appeals Chief Judge John J. Frasier Jr. – now in his 90s and leaning on a cane – the Minter City native who briefly attended MSU before joining the military at age 18. As a member of a 15th Army Air Force squadron during World War II, he flew 35 missions over Europe as a turret gunner on a B-24 Liberator and was awarded the Air Medal.

One of the motivating factors that helped Frasier survive his wartime heroics was his zeal to return to then-Mississippi State College.

The Mississippi State faithful came from all over the state and all over the country to witness the Diamond Dawgs play for the national championship. More than 20,000 State fans laid siege to the greater Omaha area during the CWS. Without exaggeration, MSU fans took over the city and the baseball stadium.

The restaurants, bars and shops were filled with maroon-clad pilgrims from the church that Dudy Noble, Paul Gregory and Ron Polk built and where Boo Ferris, Del Unser, Alex Grammas, Rafael Palmeiro, Will Clark, Bobby Thigpen, Jeff Brantley, Hunter Renfroe and so many other Major League Baseball legends played their college ball.

In Omaha, Bulldog and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was perhaps State’s most visible fan along with business leader Richard Adkerson. Palmeiro was there, living and dying on every pitch and educating those around him on how hitters anticipate pitches and the strategies plotted by pitchers. Iconic Polk was there and in demand for autographs and cell phone photos with multi-generational fans.

MSU President Mark Keenum – who as a college student enjoyed the Left Field Lounge with his classmates and is a genuine baseball fan and student of the game – was in the Bulldog locker room just before the final out, helping MSU Athletics staff move the trappings of the coming celebration into place in the dugout to honor our athletes. Later, he exhibited the weary exhilaration of a man who’d completed a marathon.

There’s little wonder. Recent post-season runs in women’s basketball, baseball, and the school’s time at No.1 in the College Football Playoffs rankings during the Prescott era brought MSU millions of dollars in media exposure and contributed to enrollment growth even at a time when demographics would suggest an almost certain decline.

But those measures pale in the shadow of the parade and celebration last week in Starkville and Dudy Noble Field. Everyone in the Bulldog family and in Starkville is standing up a little straighter, with their chests out and smiles on their faces. For in Omaha, our baseball team earned the undisputed right to look friend and foe alike in the eye and say: “We’re No. 1!”

 Sid Salter is a syndicated columnist. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com.

 


17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great, great read. I concur with Salter—this championship means everything to Mississippi State University, period.

Anonymous said...

And, no matter how much shade is thrown at the cow college in east Mississippi, they are the National Champions.

Anonymous said...

#Hailstate

Wrap It! said...

Before the board gets deep into the eye-poking rivalry, I'd also like to acknowledge the many Ole Miss fans who not only pulled for the Dogs, but posted comments of congratulations on multiple social media pages and blogs.

Stuff About ZeroBear PolyBear said...

Sid, Nice homage to MSU and the Diamond Dawgs, So many of us have waited many many years for this exciting event and now can store away the memories of where we were during the events leading to the accomplishment by the team. As Coach Lemonis said, It is nice to go along for their ride.

Anonymous said...

Wow they are right up there with University of Mississippi Women’s Golf, they finally get their first recognized NCAA National Championship.

Anonymous said...

Truly wonderful read!

Anonymous said...

It was awesome baby ! Now the pressure is really on our NEW coaches in Football and basketball. The new girls b-ball coach is clearly "not the one" going forward and Mike Leach really needs 8 wins this year. Mens basketball is DOA for a few more years.

Anonymous said...

And John Cohen will run Lemonis off just like he did Vic Schaefer and Dan Mullen.

Anonymous said...

MS needs all of the good press it can get. Thanks and congrats to the Bulldogs from an Ole Miss grad.

Anonymous said...

I'm one of the many Ole Miss grads that were actually pulling for MSU.
(yes,I know that's sacrilege)

But come on Sid ... let's not compare a college baseball team to
"The Children of Israel wandering in the wilderness".

Geeze ... your "dawgs" have a long history of great baseball programs.

Anonymous said...

Too bad All the players (not just the more visible ones thanks the Supreme Court) don't benefit financially from successes like this. Or get a stipend for just playing the games. MSU sent me an order form for a framed poster for $250.00. And how much are the coaches' contacts going up?

Anonymous said...

12:33. Another UM alumnus here. I agree. They earned it and should be very proud of their championship. Long time coming. Little ole Mississippi had THREE schools in the final top 25.

MAH-ROOOM said...

You boys in East Batesville will take note that this national championship was not awarded by the Lafayette County Chamber Commerce. It's The Real Deal.

Anonymous said...

Mr John is 95 and his wife drove all the way up there and back for the entire tournament . Amazing story of determination and will. Thank you for telling that about him. He was so proud and excited

Anonymous said...

OK, State won the CWS.

Yay !!!!

Now let's hope they get to back to their basics ...(students up close and personal with a nervous cow as the poor cow gives birth to her calf).

Increasing cheese production.

And for some reason ...
thinking Starkville is close to Oxford (at any level).



Anonymous said...

What an immature, self conscious, insecure child.


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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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