Second Thoughts

Nebraskans get 10 reasons to root for UA

New York Mets manager Mickey Callaway (36) in the first inning during a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Sunday, June 17, 2018, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
New York Mets manager Mickey Callaway (36) in the first inning during a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Sunday, June 17, 2018, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville athletic department took out a full-page advertisement in the Omaha World-Herald giving 10 reasons why Nebraskans should root for the Razorbacks baseball team in the College World Series.

The advertisement, which features the Razorbacks logo and the team's dog pile after their NCAA Fayetteville Super Regional Game 3 victory over South Carolina, was in Saturday's World-Herald.

Here are the top 10 reasons the Razorbacks said Nebraskans should root for the Hogs:

• "1. We call ourselves the OmaHogs."

• "2. Dave Van Horn became a legend in your state."

• "3. You can wear your Nebraska gear and blend in with the sea of Razorback red."

• "4. Yes, Calling the Hogs is as fun as it appears."

• "5. Ribby the Razorback and Herbie the Husker played on the same Little League team."

• "6. We're the closest CWS team by far, which technically makes us neighbors."

• "7. You won't have trouble meeting fellow fans since we led the country in postseason attendance."

• "8. One Razorback. One Husker. Come on, it only makes sense."

• "9. This is our ninth trip to Omaha."

• "10. We share a common bond rooting against burnt orange."

Arkansas played in its first game of the College World Series on Sunday against former Southwest Conference rival Texas, xxxxx the Longhorns XX-XX.

Coach meld

New York Post columnist Mike Vaccaro has compared first-year New York Mets Manager Mickey Callaway to former New York Giants Coach Ben McAdoo, calling him Calladoo.

McAdoo took the Giants to the NFC playoffs in 2016, but he was fired 12 games into the 2017 season. The Giants finished 3-13.

Meanwhile, Callaway led the Mets to an 11-1 start but now is XX- and in fourth place.

"Both were first-time bosses when they were hired, whose appeal was their past proficiency on one side of the sport -- McAdoo on offense, Callaway on pitching," Vaccaro wrote. "Both had curious public debuts -- McAdoo with his Talking Heads press-conference suit, Callaway with his odd declaration that he and his staff would 'care more about the players than anyone ever has before.'

"Both had some early speed, too: McAdoo, hard as it may be to remember, did lead the Giants to an 11-5 record and the playoffs in his first year on the job, and by now there isn't a single reference to the 2018 Mets, public or private, that doesn't include the notation '11-1.'

"And both, almost in a flash, moved from that early magic to looking overmatched [at first] in the job and then, ultimately, overwhelmed. Their teams -- both saddled with preseason expectations -- quickly became not just bad but unwatchable, replete with head-scratching decisions and cliques of vast underachievement.

"Still ... it's getting late early, as a manager who once lasted all of 16 games into a season once said. Of course, by then, Yogi Berra was already a member of the Hall of Fame. Calladoo has a little work left to get there."

He said it

From Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times:

• "Secretariat's combined time for the 1973 Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes -- 6:16.4 -- is a whopping six seconds faster than the next-fastest Triple Crown winner, Affirmed at 6:22.4. Or as fans of Big Red like to call the stunning disparity: Secretariat's Spread."

• "Ex-MLB pitcher Kevin Brown caught two men stealing from his mailbox in Macon, Ga., and kept them at gunpoint until police arrived. Elias Sports Bureau statisticians alertly credited him with a hold."

• "Broadcaster Jim Gray was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. On his plaque, we assume, he'll be credited with the LeBron James decision."

SPORTS QUIZ

What SEC school did New York Mets Manager Mickey Callaway play college baseball at?

ANSWER

The Germantown, Tenn., native played at Ole Miss.

Sports on 06/18/2018

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