College Baseball – The Catch 2024

Don’t tell anybody that I’ve actually been enjoying college baseball as the playoffs are doing what playoffs do — sending the inferior teams home while the best go to Omaha. Well, “enjoying” is only a half-truth because I don’t watch any entire game. Even with the pitch clock the games are soooooooOOOOOOOooooooo looooOOOOooong.

I happened to be watching Clemson vs. Florida because of what was at stake. Clemson was in a must-win situation and the game was well into extra innings when a possible game-winning hit from Florida sailed into the outfield.

Potential outcome #1: The outfielder misses and Florida wins, series ends.

Potential outcome #2: He catches the ball, the game continues and gives Clemson another at-bat to try scoring.

The outfielder tracks the ball as he’s running towards the wall. It’s clearly not a home run so the guy has GOT to make the catch to be a hero for Clemson. Take a look and you can decide if this play is one of the best in college baseball this season.

The way he cradles the ball against his body in an all-out effort to save his team from elimination, a jump and not even landing till he bounces off the outfield wall, it’s a thing of beauty and a great example of skill and athleticism!

What a catch.

The game was in the 13th inning and to say things were tense is an understatement. There were even 2 Clemson coaches that got ejected after one their own players hit a home run in one of those extra innings. Bizarre. So what does ESPN do? Switch coverage to pre-game for a Major League Baseball matchup… as if anyone needed a fresh reminder that money has ruined sports (maybe not entirely, but close!) and ESPN sucks.

Clemson lost a few innings later but that outfielder’s catch will probably be remembered for a long time by anyone who saw it, especially Clemson fans.

-Out of the Wilderness

The Gatorade Commercial – Michael Jordan, Caitlin Clark, Music by Travis Scott

Gatorade has a new basketball-heavy ad called “It Hasn’t Changed” featuring the greatest ball player of my generation, Michael Jordan. They’re emphasizing that to be great you must have the “it” factor and Gatorade is right there to help you get “it.” I won’t get into the weeds about his greatness being greater than Kobe or LeBron (but this new commercial doesn’t feature a voiceover from Kobe or LeBron… sooo……. you do the math). Check “it” out then scroll on down for more info!

The Music. The soundtrack to this ad comes from Travis Scott. The song is called “FE!N” and features Playboi Carti. Here’s the full track…

She’s All That. Current “it girl” Caitlin Clark is also featured in the ad and with her bringing in more viewers to the WNBA, I’m sure Gatorade was working hard to sign her on as a celebrity spokesperson. She has “it” and in fact, she IS “it.”

More to be seen from Gatorade but for now, share your thoughts about the ad in the comments below and if you have a second, subscribe for email reminders of my daily posts!

-Out of the Wilderness

The YouTube TV Dawn of Fan Commercial – The Music and the Big Mistake

You might have caught YouTube TV’s latest commercial if you’re watching any of the sports that are going on right now. In the ad, problems are presented and YouTube has the solution… allegedly. Take a look then scroll down for the music and more.

The Music. The song is this commercial comes from a band called Eric Burton & The Animals. Here’s the full track of “Good Times” released in 1967.

The Big Mistake. My only critique of the ad is that it doesn’t really offer a good solution to the problems we face with live sports. They present 4 scenarios in which the sports enthusiast misses important moments because of tall people in the way, an obstructed view, someone changes the channel, and a friend knocks the power cord out of the wall. How exactly does showing 4 games on screen at once solve any of the problems previously mentioned? Answer: It doesn’t.

Judges give this ad a 2 out of 10 stars and it would be 0/10 except at least they put some thought into the song choice.

What are your thoughts about the ad? Comment below…

-Out of the Wilderness

Honey, Baby

Terms of endearment. Only certain people can get away with these with strangers. Think about the cashier at your local grocery store. Customer service when you called in for help. This is one thing that’s guaranteed to make me feel welcome, my defensive walls come down, and pretty much automatically I’m in the best mood. But not everyone can use these. Think about a mechanic. Your boss. The young female teller at the bank.

In my experience, the people using these terms (honey, baby, sweetie, darlin’, etc) are older women and they’re either black or white. Every time it happens I think, gosh these women are awesome!

There’s a rare group that can actually do something even more amazing. The double terms of endearment. This has happened to me a handful of times and it goes something like this…

Me: Thanks for your help.

Person: Alright, honey. Here you go, baby.

It’s as joyful as seeing a double rainbow, a unicorn, or inserting your USB correctly on first try. Guys can’t really do this and not be considered a little creepy. But maybe the older the gentleman is, the more likely it is that it wouldn’t be totally uncomfortable (if he were saying it to a woman in a respectful way) There’s only one exception I can think of. Prince. In his song, “I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man,” he doubles up right after the second verse. See if you catch it and in the meantime, enjoy one of Prince’s best songs.

-Out of the Wilderness

0.0

It was sometime around 5th grade. Our class was assigned the task of orbiting around the school track for the entire P.E. class. It was going fine until classmate Justin Barger cut through the field so he wouldn’t have to do as many laps as the rest of us. This is my first memory of someone cheating and I can still recall the feeling I had when it happened. I didn’t know him at the time and we actually became friends later on but when I saw him do this, I was filled with anger. Now, many years later, I identify that moment as the first example of how much I hate cheating and despise laziness.

This familiar feeling bubbles up now and then and I won’t even get into how often it happens on the roadways. Wait, maybe any rage I feel on the road is just an extension of this absolute disgust for lazy cheaters. Aren’t most annoying drivers who speed, cut in front, or disregard the rules just guilty of being lazy or cheating? I think I’m making a personal breakthrough here.

Actually, the point of this post is related to cars and the silly stickers people put on their bumper or windows. We’ve all seen the ones announcing that the driver has completed a marathon or half marathon…

But have you seen the ones that boast about the exact opposite? Instead of 26.2 or 13.1, in bold fonts it reads…

Upon seeing one of these for the first time, that familiar feeling rose up within me. Someone thinks it’s funny to boast about their laziness, running 0.0 miles? Oh, this sticker was automatically bumped up to the top spot in things I hate the most! Well, at the very least it’s tied with flying roaches.

But after a little digging, my rigid hostility towards the sticker and those who use them has softened a bit. It *could be* that the person with the sticker on their car is not lazy, they just enjoy a good laugh. Maybe they like being active but running isn’t their thing. They might be a fantastic swimmer, a strong weightlifter, or they’re really into hiking or kayaking. It could be any number of activities they enjoy but running (especially a half or full marathon) isn’t it. I guess I can understand that mindset, especially because I appreciate laughter and folks’ attempt to brighten other people’s day with something that could make them smile.

I came across an enjoyable article about the 0.0 stickers. Check it out here if you have a second. It’ll help paint a picture of the thoughts behind the stickers that aren’t as cynical or confrontational as mine. Speaking of my thoughts, I share them every day here at Out of the Wildernesss, posting faithfully at 1pm central. If you’d like to get notified of new posts, sign up with your email for a daily reminder…

-Out of the Wilderness