Interested to know if you have the same Loves, Likes, and Dislikes as we do about the NCAA Baseball Tournament:

LOVE: The way the catcher picks up the ball he smothers in the dirt or the foul tip that lands at his cleated feet AND THROWS IT BACK TO THE PITCHER. Picks it up, throws it back. Even in games played on real grass and dirt. Rarely looks at it. He does not ask the umpire if he wants to see it and the umpire isn’t even paying attention. It’s a baseball: it got barely hit or dropped on the ground. It is not hurt so much that it cannot play another play. In the big leagues, a foul tip or ball in the dirt goes to the umpire’s hand and is then usually rolled toward the dugout, an seamed orphan. But the next ball might get clobbered by a Louisville Slugger, be smashed off the outfield wall, take a hop being relayed — and then go back to the pitcher. But if it had been BARELY TOUCHED and ended as a sad tip under the catcher’s thigh, it’s out of the game. DUMB!

LIKE: The setup, from the double-elimination regional to the best-of-three Super Regional. Gives you time to get to know these players and teams and is as postseason-fair as this heartbreaking game can get.

LIKE/DON’T LIKE: Don’t like the way turf looks. Miss the smell of the grass and actual dirt. BUT… at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park, the new turf has saved 10 home games in two seasons. Last year, Tech couldn’t start its scheduled 2 o’clock game against WKU because of rain that had filled half the visitors’ dugout. BUT…it started that evening at 7, no problem. No games were lost to rain this season. So, it’s hard to curse the turf, especially in the time-sensitive postseason.

DON’T LIKE/HATE: Dog pile. Really? Isn’t it getting a bit insincere and rehearsed? Please see “the wave” and ‘the forearm bump.” The Dog Pile has had its day. Now, you should be able to Dog Pile only in Omaha.

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