University of North Carolina Athletics
Omaha Reading List June 14
June 14, 2009 | Baseball
June 14, 2009
By Adam Lucas
Finally, it's game day, which means lots of links. Let's start with the Tar Heels, who will take the field today at 2 p.m. Eastern time against Arizona State. Some of the players say they have a special feeling about this year's team. One thing is certain: they have more Omaha experience than the Sun Devils. But that doesn't always matter, as Fresno State showed last year. Kyle Seager and the Tar Heels hope it matters--here's a good feature on Seager, a player you don't hear enough about. Along those same lines, here's a feature on Garrett Gore, who wants to do two things in Omaha: win a national title and lay the groundwork for a future job. He'd be great on TV.
Wondering how the team spent the day yesterday? Several players took in some games at Rosenblatt after the regular workout at Creighton, and Mike McKee and Adam Warren had a speaking engagement. And Chase Jones is back with his Postcards from Omaha.
Now, the Sun Devils. You want to know who their starting pitcher is, right? No one knows. Phoenix-area writers have been forced to resort to point-counterpoint stories about whether they think it should be Mike Leake or Josh Spence. Maybe ASU will send the choice out in a disguise to prolong the mystery. Mystery seems to be a big part of head coach Pat Murphy's approach. For a tiny window into that program, this feature on Murphy and his wife is a must-read. The story describes Murphy as "loud and funny and profane and obstinate," and that's after an apparent dramatic transformation for the better. You won't hear about many college coaches who turn their home into a "man cave" for his players.
The Omaha World-Herald appears to be blessed with a very good local columnist, Tom Shatel. I'm not saying that because we always park next to a newspaper delivery truck with a giant photo of his face at Rosenblatt. I'm saying that because he seems to understand what people are talking about locally and how to contribute to that discussion. Today, he declares a moratorium on the whining that surrounded last year's event and focuses on the good things about the CWS.
