to me...miss state baseball is about listening to the games on the radio while washing the car or firing up the grill for the past 30+ years. remembering my dad taking me to watch us play Mississippi College in clinton on a frigid night in the early early 90s. i was hooked. Having a high school doubleheader on a saturday and listening to Jim on the way home and getting a kick out of how he put the emphasis on travis CHAPman, or maniSCALco, or the BOTtom of the 9th inning. staying up late to watch the SEC tournament cuz it was the first week we got out of school so bed time didn't matter, and the games weren't on tv like they are today but the tournament was!! Living and dying with the 97 and 98 runs. still holding a grudge against that tool otoole even though a couple of the most dramatic homers in program history were played out in that game in the most miss state fashion ever. Going to every home game while in college and gaining weight every spring cuz if you couldn't drink a beer an inning you were a wuss. Hanging on the fence about to die of dehydration when we somehow shocked clemson in 07. the sense of disbelief and relief when we finally sealed the deal at vandy in 18. Leaving my seat to go to the restroom every time we were on defense late in the game against notre dame in 21 cuz my blood pressure couldn't stand for me to watch. and i could go on and on and on...

the point is that there are no Kentucky fans that have that. Not even any Umiss fans my age have that. LSU...yeah sure. But as an 80s kid that fell in love with baseball in general early on, miss state baseball is part of the fabric of why i still love everything about the sport and chose coaching as a profession.

the on field results say we are an upper tier program, a historic program as someone described earlier, but there are many many folks who have the same experiences and feelings as me and to us it is an elite program. and all that goes into how expectations are different. i hope like the dickens Lemonis closes out this season with a good run and builds upon it to keep us moving upward and onward and hopefully snag a natty or two more along the way. but if next year looks like the 2 before this one then he shouldn't get the chance. the "state standard" is built on post season advancement and success much more than anything else. heck the 18 team wasn't great but they made a dang good run. and if Lemonis can't get us into the postseason every year then he can't meet that standard. whatever you choose to say that equates to...