Top Reasons to Be Excited About Carolina Baseball
From where I sit, the excitement level for South Carolina Baseball this year is more than the usual “through the roof” level. I usually only have to fill in to work a few baseball games per year, so like most of you, I sit in the seats at Founders Park with my son and watch the show.
As a fan, here are the top 10 things I’m looking forward to about the upcoming season, in no particular order.
We lost a legend with Tommy Moody
From where I sit, South Carolina Athletics lost an icon this week. Former baseball player Tommy Moody (1970-1972), who had also been part of the Gamecock baseball radio broadcast team since 2000 passed away unexpectedly at the age of 72.
I don’t know of anyone who didn’t love Tommy. He was kind, passionate, funny, and always, ALWAYS a gentleman. His encyclopedic knowledge of South Carolina Athletics, and baseball in particular was beyond comprehension.
Do you remember your first Gamecock Football game?
From where I sit, the first home football game at Williams-Brice Stadium every year takes me back in time. It makes me think of the first time I went to a South Carolina football game. What do you remember about your first time? Which game was it?
I don’t remember who South Carolina played in the first game I went to, so I had to look it up. What I remember most is the experience.
What's The Best Gamecock Photo of All Time?
From where I sit, a picture is worth a lot more than one thousand words. Heck, sometimes one word is enough. Photos evoke emotions and memories from a singular moment in time. You remember where you were and how old you were when you see a certain photo. I sometimes forget what I had for breakfast, but some photos can take me back in time over the span of decades and bring up a tidbit of information about that particular moment that I didn’t even know I had stored!
So, what about the most memorable South Carolina sports photos?
Which Rule Would You Change?
Do you ever watch a game and say, “I hate that rule?”
From where I sit, I say that a lot. I do. All the time. If you could change one rule, what would it be?
Whether it’s as a broadcaster or as a fan, we can all find rules in our favorite sports that we don’t love, we wish would change, or perhaps players are exploiting a rule, or maybe that rule is no longer effective.
A Graduation Speech for Student-Athletes
From where I sit, graduation from college must be pretty surreal for student-athletes. A few will have the chance to play professionally. Most won’t. That’s the harsh reality every athlete faces. At some point you have to stop playing the game. There are plenty of great speeches at graduations. I have to admit though, I don’t remember anything that the guest speaker said at my high school or college graduation. Thanks to the internet and smartphones, it’s easier to make great speeches live past graduation day.
I’ve never been asked to speak at a graduation, nor do I expect to. However, if I were asked to speak, I’d like it to be one of those practical speeches, chock full of great advice, especially if I was addressing a room full of student-athletes. It would go something like this.
What You Might Not Know
From where I sit, if you try it, you might like it …and I’m not talking about eating vegetables.
College sports are great. When you get to spend your career working in college athletics, it makes it even better. In my varying roles over the last 30 years as a broadcaster and administrator, I get to see the “other side” of sports. This not only includes getting to know student-athletes beyond what fans see on game day (a story for another day), but also the opportunity to dive into other sports that many others may be missing.
Which was the best?
From where I sit, it’s hard to pick out which South Carolina women’s basketball team is the best. It’s been quite a run for Dawn Staley since she took over the program 15 years ago. The Gamecocks have finished as the number one team in the country three times with national championships in 2017 and 2022, and South Carolina was the number one ranked team in the country heading into the postseason in 2020 when the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Which team do you think is best?
Still a Fan
I’ve had the good fortune to cover a lot of different sports in my thirty years as a broadcaster, writer, and administrator. The hard part was going to a game that I wasn’t actually covering and not doing any kind of work-related activity. I didn’t know what to do with myself if I wasn’t calling a game, doing stats, or making notes. I had forgotten how to just be a fan.
Tell Brad what you think on Twitter – @SCBrad92
