THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

There's drama. There's a story within a story. It's good stuff.

I don't know why it doesn't generate the hype and following that NCAA basketball does. Or even college football where there's no true champion.

Friday night marked the end of the road for ASU. They finished third. It looked as if they were going to get one more shot at Texas in a Saturday game, but they fell short after taking a 1-run lead into the bottom of the ninth.

There had been drama all game, but in the top of the ninth, the home plate umpire took over. Not again; TQ's not going to go crying about the officiating again is he? Yep. With a man on third and one out with the Sun Devils holding on to a one run lead, up to bat came Kole Calhoun, the unsung hero of the CWS. He'd driven in 6 runs the night before. He hit .563 for the Series. He was Everyman. Or at least Many Men. From the looks of him, he seemed to possess no athletic ability. Heavy, short arms, no speed, but lots of heart. And he came to play on the big stage.

He had had 3 hits prior to his at bat. One more insurance run would really have helped. "Strike one," the ump called on a pitch not only low but way outside the strike zone. Two more even wider called balls. But the next two were like the first called strike, so Kole had to swing. He struck out. The next batter lined to second stranding the runner at third.

Baseball maybe more than any other sport is decided by momentum. The momentum swung when with one out, the batter was given a totally different strike zone. Not just on one pitch, but on two. So instead of him being the second out, the batter got a fat 3-1 pitch which he drove deep over the centerfield wall.

Tie game. After another out, the next hitter crushed a change up over the left field wall. Game over/ season over.

Texas vs. LSU in a 3-game series for the national championship. Was Texas better than ASU? Maybe. We'll never know though they did go 2-0 against the Sun Devils. It should be a great series. But I would loved to have seen what they had left in their tank had the umpire done his job. One game for the chance to play LSU.

Did the the umpire cost the Sun Devils that chance? I think so. I wonder if his last name was Denkinger, the Major League umpire who cost the Cardinals the 1985 World Series.