Sports this 'n' that

 As the field is pared to the final 8 for the 2023 College World Series, one of the most lopsided games of the year took place earlier today.

Alabama is known mostly for their ridiculous football program, which netted coach Nick Saban an endorsement deal with AFLAC a few years back. Baseball, though, is another story.

The Crimson Tide, representing the SEC, got blown off the field by Wake Forest (ACC) earlier, 22-5. The Demon Deacons went homer happy during the game as the ball was flying out of the ballpark. To their credit, Alabama got in on the act early, but Wake Forest pulled away, and there was no mercy rule in this game. The Deacons advance to the CWS later this week.

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Yankees radio announcer John Sterling may need to be checked for a concussion before tonight's game vs. the Boston Red Sox.

In Saturday's game, the 80-something Sterling was hit in the face with a foul ball hit by Boston's Justin Turner. Turner grounded out, and Sterling finished the game, which the Yankees won.

File photo courtesy Yahoo!.

Sterling has called more than 5000 games for the Yankees, and has been doing road games remotely of late, where his advanced age has betrayed him, miscalling foul balls as homers, and vice versa. Sterling has also been an announcer for the NBA's Atlanta Hawks during his career.

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The late Joe Garagiola titled one of his books, Baseball is a Funny Game. These days, in youth baseball, some parents are taking things a little bit too seriously.

While I haven't heard of too many incidents in the 518, else there might've been something written up over at Tri-City SportsBeat, there've been reports in New England about umpires refusing to work little league games because of parents and coaches getting a little too aggressive, and getting too physical with the arbiters.

This isn't just because certain parents think their kids are getting the shaft by not playing, oh, no. They think the umpires are screwing their kids with bad calls, just because they see their favorite pro teams get similar calls on TV, and they get paranoid.

It's just a game. If you think you can do a better job as an umpire, well, try out for the gig, and I don't mean just show up and audition, either, effendi. Learn the trade, as if it were just another job. Umpires and referees are not perfect. However, they are human, and need to be treated with respect like the players.

Former President Harry Truman said it best. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen, or, in this case, get out of the ballpark.