Teddy and I have talked it over and we have come to a tough decision: We are not going to have a Designated Writers The Body edition this year.

As good as that news might be, it would be much better news had ESPN decided to do that same.

I don’t want to celebrate the naked body of any athlete or in some cases, a former athlete. I don’t care how much courage it took (talk to me about courage when they do it for free) and I don’t care what kind of statement it makes.

Please make it stop!

I got really concerned the other day when I saw the headline that “Barkley” was being featured in The Body issue. Obviously, that would be something I could never un-see. Thankfully, it was Saquan Barkley, not Charles.

I’m happy for Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens that they still look good so many years after their NFL careers have ended. I’m happy for Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe that they became the first gay couple to appear. Good for them, not for me.

I really don’t want to know about soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic butt tattoo (tattoos?).

Greg Norman? Really? (Use your favorite putter joke here.)

Every day they trot out a new athlete for us to “admire.” The thing is, every pose is the same! One leg crossed over the other for males; strategic hand placement for the females.

If there were ever an indication that we need football season to hurry up and get there, the ESPN Body Edition is it.

Be aware that Designated Writers might be considering careful placement of a typewriter in the future.

Game Two of the College World Series Wednesday night and …

Mercy.

Baseball is a very humbling game.

The first person I ever heard say that was Sam Wilkinson, All-State first sacker for the Fair Park Indians in the late 1950s, the batboy for the Shreveport Sports before that, the equipment guy for the Houston Astros after that, and finally, for 30 years, the trainer for Louisiana Tech’s athletic teams.

I had always known that but had not been able to put it into words. Besides Geez League Baseball that I played until I was 35 — our sons grew to competitive baseball stage so we had to quit — the most recent competitive baseball I’d played was American Legion for Homer in 1978, maybe 1979. We were very good. Seven of our nine starters were All-State. The only ones who weren’t were the catcher and the third baseman.

I played … catcher or third base. Depending on who was pitching.

Baseball is a very humbling game.

Wednesday night’s Arkansas/Oregon State game in the College World Series is a perfect example that Sam knows what he’s talking about.

In the best 2-out-of-3 series, Arkansas, winner Tuesday of Game One, was winning, 3-2 in the ninth and one strike away from winning the CWS title. The count was 2-2 when the Oregon State batter popped the pitch into the gray area in foul ground between the right fielder, second baseman, and first baseman. If either one of them would have been the only fielder on that side of the diamond, one would have caught it. But all three, naturally, chased it.

And…confusion.

And… it dropped.

And…the batter stayed alive and got a base hit to left to score the runner from third and tie the game. The next hitter hit a two-run bomb and made it 5-3 Oregon State and … ballgame. Arkansas could not score in the ninth and we play Game Three tonight.

Arkansas might win. I doubt it. Either way, Wednesday night’s game was amazing. A thrill. A reminder: it ain’t over til it’s over, and…and you never know. In baseball, you just never do. You can’t…You just can’t know.

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