The Arkansas Razorbacks softball team made history by being the first team from the UA to win the SEC Softball Championships, then became the first team to host a Super Regional after winning a regional championship. The history book was closed on them this past weekend as Arizona State took the SR series at Fayetteville and will be the one to compete in the NCAA College Softball World Series.
The Razorback men keep rolling as they just won for the first time, the SEC Baseball Tournament Championship in Hoover, Ala., a little south of Birmingham. They are slated to host a Regional and should they win that, they will host a Super Regional as well.
For the uninitiated, baseball playoffs are much different from basketball playoffs and other sports.
The 64 teams are broken into 16 regionals, meaning there are four teams per regional. They use a double elimination format to determine the champion, and from the 16 regional champs, eight will be chosen to host a Super Regional. There are two teams in each Super Regional with the teams playing a best two of three format to determine the eight teams that qualify for the 2021 NCAA College World Series.
Arkansas has now been ranked No. 1 in the nation for more than two months running, and for good reason. Playing in the best collegiate baseball conference in the country, this year the Razorbacks became only the second team in history to win all 10 series of conference games. They played in two tournaments, sweeping through both without a loss. The first one was in Texas last March against three Top 10 teams. With half of the Top 10 teams nationally residing in the SEC, the Hogs didn't blink, going 4-0.
In Hoover, the Hogs beat Georgia 11-2 in the opener, edged Vanderbilt 6-4, Mississippi 3-2 before besting Tennessee 7-2 in the championship game. Tennessee had come into the finals having beaten Mississippi State 12-2, Alabama 11-0, and Florida 4-0 and were spoiling for a rematch with the Hogs. Arkansas played their last road series at Tennessee and beat them two of three. That series proved to be the difference in who won the SEC overall.
The teams that are set to play in the Regional at Fayetteville were announced yesterday, but thanks to their No. 1 ranking all season, they likely won't get any Top 25 teams sent their way.
Of the 13 games decided by a single run during this season, the Hogs won nine of them, proving their competitiveness. They don't have the best batting averages in the league but they score the most runs. Their best pitcher is a reliever but that reliever was Kevin Kopps, who was 10-0 with a microscopic 0.70 earned run average.
None of the Hog starters carries a .batting average of .300 but they lead the league in walks. On defense, the Hogs have turned out a bunch of gems, and catcher Opitz has been gunning down base runners on a regular basis.
More than anything, the Hogs have a team full of hard nosed competitors who don't seem to notice the pressure.
I'm betting this is the year coach Van Horn wins it all for Arkansas.
The Regional is this week, and the Super Regional is the following week. The World Series begins on June 19 at Ameritrade Park, in Omaha, Neb.
Football wokies
Here are some recent headiness being written by sportswriters who fancy themselves social justice warriors: "Football World Not Buying Old Story About Tim Tebow" and "The Intriguing Tim Tebow Conspiracy in the NFL."
Several sports announcers are outraged that Tim Tebow is being allowed to try out, calling it proof that the NFL is run by white supremacists. CNN has multiple talking heads that are out of their minds angry that Tebow is getting a chance to play NFL football.
Now was Tebow a wife abusing illegal drug taking alcoholic? Was Tebow difficult to get along, causing team dissension? Was Tebow just a bad person, working for white supremacists? No. no and NO.
Tebow has attracted all this hate and derision precisely because he isn't any of those things. He is a very good man, runs a foundation to help a lot of serving people. He has never shown anger in an athletic contest, plays clean, and everyone who has played with him was impressed with his kindness and dedication.
The big furor is about Tebow being invited to training camp for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He is one of 90 vying for far fewer positions and is not guaranteed anything. Coach Meyer coached Tebow at Florida and when he got the Jacksonville job, extended a tryout to Tebow who lives in Jacksonville.
Tebow is an avowed Christian, something people who are described as "wokies" can't stand more than anything.
Jaguar quarterback Trevor Lawrence said this about Tebow. "What I can say is that he is in great shape. He is a guy you just want to be around. Great character, super-hard worker, does things the right way."
I didn't appreciate Tebow when he played for Florida as he usually got the best of the Razorbacks. He turned Denver around into a winning team. When the Broncos got Hall of Famer Peyton Manning to join their team, Tebow was out of a job but he praised the move for Denver in getting such a talented signal caller.
When Tebow went to New York, he was put on the roster and ignored. Wokies were screaming for the Jets to cut Tebow and they got their way. Since that time, Tebow has played minor league baseball, did some time as a football analyst for the SEC. Every since his college days, he has kept in shape in the event he actually got another shot.
The most ludicrous claim that has come out recently is that is was unfair that Tebow was given a tryout while social justice warrior Colin Kapernicke was not. Actually Kapernicke was given two chances for tryouts and he rejected them both. When you are getting paid millions of dollars to play the victim, why would he want to get out there for less money and but more work. He didn't and won't.
Tebow is the kind of person to have in any organization. I hope he makes it.
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Editor's note: John McGee, an award-winning columnist, sports writer and art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, writes a regular sports column for The Times. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].