- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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I knew it was probably unlikely for the Gators to pull this series but 16 Ks......woof.
Looking like a laugher.
AKAB
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May 21, 2021 04:56
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Apr 29, 2024 04:45
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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That pop up against Oregon State still haunts me I guess.
That displaced the Stoerner fumble in my pantheon of gut wrenching hog fandom
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May 23, 2021 07:41
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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I'm nervous about the Vandy game tbqh
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May 27, 2021 19:36
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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Kopps is such an absolute savage.
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May 28, 2021 05:01
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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Please stop asking Greg Sankey questions jfc
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May 30, 2021 20:54
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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Wow rude
congrats, I have no beef with Arky and y’all have a hell of a team
Thanks, you guys do too. Ferguson and Spence especially.
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May 31, 2021 03:18
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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I wanted to try to do a little deeper dive into the regionals and all that but I ran out of time with other things coming up, but I will say Kevin Kopps winning the CB POTY award is well deserved and I hope Kopps gets some real consideration for Dick Howser and/or Golden Spikes.
OK now I am just going to try to cobble some quick thoughts together about each regional, quote them and laugh when I am hilariously wrong.
Fayetteville Regional
Arkansas are 7-0 since my son has been born and I hope they push that to 10-0 this weekend. Unanimous #1 for large portions of the season with a reliever who has gone 3.0+ IP multiple times, given up only 6 ER while leading the teams in innings pitched, and has pitched in literally half of our games. You'd have to be crazy to back another horse, right? ...right? 
While I think Arkansas wins this, there's enough to give me some pause about it being a cakewalk. Nebraska are the Big 10 champ and, with them playing no non-conference games, it's hard to know exactly what that means. A fear of the unknown, right? Northeastern, from the talk I heard, would have been looked at as a dark horse in a lot of other regionals, and I suspect they will take a gamble today for the game against Nebraska and "save" their ace for Arkansas, so Chicken Little in me is very concerned about how this will all go. But... it's probably the simplest answer: Hogs win, no problem.
Ruston Regional
I'm still not sure exactly how Alabama made it in outside of "SEC SEC SEC", but hey, they made it so have to look at them. I don't know that they'll pose a lot of threat though. I think this come down to NC State vs LaTech and... gosh this is a pick em, but give me LaTech
Stanford Regional
While I don't know a lot about these teams, I do know that pitching is make or break at this point of the year. I also know chalk is boring. So give me UC Irvine! I know, I know, Stanford went 3-1, but UC Irvine has solid pitching and could have been a regional host in another world. D1 baseball had them ranked ahead of LaTech, for example. This is probably going to blow up in my face, but put me on the Anteaters train.
Lubbock Regional
This is a tough one because TTech has the better starting pitching, UCLA better relief, TTech better offense, UCLA better defense. I'm surprised that Tech got the national seed but I think they probably have enough to see this one out. I'll be excited to see Tech again in Omaha. Yuck, four regionals in and I'm taking 3 #1s.
Tuscon Regional
Hell yeah, ok, this is where it gets fun. The more I look at this the more I go "any of these teams can win this." Like... Ok, maybe not Grand Canyon? But also, why not Grand Canyon? What a story that would be, to go from "first tournament" to "regional winner". But, I dont think it'll happen. I am going to pick UC Santa Barbara though. They're hot right now, wheeling and dealing with a strong DH, strong starting pitching, and a strong defense. Really rough beat for the #5 seed but someone had to get a tough one, I suppose.
Oxford Regional
Well one to guarantee a lower seed getting through to Oxford is to stick two rough Regionals together, ha. A lot of people seem to think this will be an easy adventure for Ole Miss, but I am not convinced of that. Southern Miss and Florida State have a lot about them. I think Florida State's pitchers have had a stronger year, but I think they have more freshmen involved and, as much as I hate to say it, Ole Miss can be a tough place to play. I'll take Southern Miss and their more experienced hand.
Greenville Regional
East Carolina is down in the first inning, oh no!!!!!!!!!!! Haha. No I keep getting distracted typing this up (getting out of the NICU today  ), but yeah gimme East Carolina without much issue.
Nashville Regional
 to Presbyterian, Indiana State, and Georgia Tech. Vandy probably won't break a sweat.
Austin Regional
Well, Fairfield could have been a surprise story but they lost their best player to a freak batting practice accident (gotta feel awful for the pitcher who hit him), so I guess Texas will win it.
Gainsville Regional
Miami won 2 out of 3 against Florida earlier this year, but, IDK, I like the Gators here, give me Florida.
South Bend Regional
This is a tricky regional too. Michigan has great pitching, Notre Dame could have been a top 8 seed, and UConn are just hot hot hot right now. Uhh... I'll take UConn? No, Michigan? No, no, ok, ugh, give me Notre Dame, final answer.
Starkville Regional
Clanga
Fort Worth Regional
Oh man I forgot how tough this one, this one might be worse than the Arizona one. Oof. I don't think TCU has the pitching to survive this one. Oregon State seems like a natural choice to win it, but their offense has been struggling as of late, so give me Dallas Baptist, the #3 seed here.
Columbia Regional
 I dunno I think you could make an argument for anyone here that's not Jacksonville. But I think Virginia might have the best pitching in the group, so we'll make the super regional matchup here be a fight between two #3 seeds.
Eugene Regional
Just gonna take Gonzaga. No real reason, just feels right.
Knoxville Regional
Well, Duke is losing right now in the 3rd inning, but also I can't believe the #3 overall seed got saddled with Duke. That's really unfair. And honestly? Liberty and Wright State aren't going to be pushovers either. Wright State has a great offense and Liberty has the second best fielding percentage in the country, if you buy in to that. Man, just.... I don't know. Give me Tennessee but I don't know how you're supposed to feel good about picking out of this one.
Super Regional Prediction (bold winner)
Arkansas vs LaTech
UC Irvine vs Texas Tech
UC Santa Barbara vs Southern Miss
East Carolina vs Vandy
Texas vs Florida
Notre Dame vs Mississippi State
Dallas Baptist vs Virginia
Gonzaga vs Tennessee
Thanks for the writeup and congrats! Question though, hasn't Clanga really had the wheels fall off lately?
And as for NJIT, may their bats chip and shatter!
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Jun 4, 2021 19:46
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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Turns out an extremely injury-hit Alabama is not a very good baseball team.
In the meanwhile New Jersey Tech is leading Arkansas and while it is just 1-0 in the 2nd I think that has to count as some sort of upset.
It gets even better
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Jun 4, 2021 20:39
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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I did not have “Calling Kopps in the 4th inning” on my bingo card, gotta admit
Yeah, I mean we're going to win but at what cost
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Jun 4, 2021 21:38
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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Arkansas just blew up NJIT’s ace reliever. Dude was 8-2 with 10 saves and a 2.2 ERA.
Never in doubt etc etc
So, do we sit Kopps after one more inning?
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Jun 4, 2021 22:06
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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I forgot about Wicky and Vermillion and was starting to worry we wouldn't have anyone to start tomorrow lol
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Jun 4, 2021 22:51
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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Pigs really getting to the best mustache in baseball so far.
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Jun 6, 2021 02:54
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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Nebraska done hosed up and got the Kopps called on em
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Jun 6, 2021 04:03
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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*taps microphone*
All Kopps Are Bastards
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Jun 6, 2021 04:55
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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Kopps goes 4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K on 71 pitches to close the door and keep Nebraska on the outside. He is now 11-0 with 11 saves in what I believe is 30 appearances.
Can’t use him tomorrow so fingers crossed!
I feel like we're in good shape against either team's pitching tomorrow.
I did get a kick out of the coverage of the NJIT players watching with the fans and calling the hogs lol
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Jun 6, 2021 05:37
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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Dear Tennessee please crucify Liberty plz thx
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Jun 6, 2021 23:55
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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I love clownball
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Jun 7, 2021 02:57
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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How many walk offs can Tennessee keep relying on lol
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Jun 7, 2021 03:16
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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Goddamn Nebraska is melting down
O rly
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Jun 7, 2021 04:53
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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Yo Tennessee you got any of them walkoffs
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Jun 8, 2021 02:10
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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Go clanga
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Jun 8, 2021 18:40
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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OK so NC State at least: coming into the season they were a dark horse pick for Omaha as well as for the ACC Title, and then they promptly shat the bad for a month and weren't even in the projected fields until a couple weeks before the end of the season, once they were beating everyone.
Decades ago State was the power in ACC baseball, but their last conference crown was in 1992 so they've aged out of "sleeping giant" territory and just become a mid-tier power-conference program that will go to the tournament most years but rarely get that far. They have two CWS trips but one was all the way back in 1968; the other was 2013, one of the Carlos Rodón / Trea Turner years, and, being NC State, it of course did not go well.
This year's team doesn't have any single player as talented as either of those two, but is still pretty top-heavy in terms of talent. In particular, they have no bench whatsoever; the starting 9 all have over 200 PAs apiece; the bench has 100 or so between them, without so much as a single homer. Fortunately the lineup is pretty ferocious; the Johnny Butler - Tyler McDonough - Austin Murr trio up top means the Pack often stakes out an early lead, and Terrell Tatum, Devonte Brown, and Luca Tresh all have huge bats (though Tresh in particular is a TTO player who's slumping of late). Butler and Tatum will also steal any base put in front of them. Vojtech Mensik (a rare Czech ballplayer) is the other running threat; he's mostly a slap hitter but he will also randomly just hit an enormous homer now and then. Jose Torres is a great shortstop with gap-to-gap power; his partner up the middle, J.T. Jarrett, is mostly a glove guy but has a knack for big hits when the others don't come through.
You're gonna know right away if the Pack will be competitive in this series because they need runs, and lots of them, to keep their pitching staff anywhere near a team like Arkansas. It's gonna be Reid Johnston, Sam Highfill, and if there's somehow a game 3, Matt Willadsen. Chris Villaman will do long relief and Evan Justice will be trotted out for any multi-inning saves or damage control in a close game. If anyone else sees the field, it's probably a blowout one way or the other. The only encouraging sign is how well they've pitched the last month or so of the season, but they haven't played anything like the Razorbacks all season.
The other good thing is no one is actually expecting State to win; if they force game 3 it's already a plus, but I think mostly the Pack fans are just hoping for the team to not get blown completely away.
I'm working Friday night so if the  want to pile on em early on game 1 I'd be down.
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Jun 10, 2021 19:38
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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NC State status: not great, not terrible
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Jun 12, 2021 01:39
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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Arkansas had got to beat this freshman off the mound or they're toast.
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Jun 12, 2021 21:56
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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Arkansas had got to beat this freshman off the mound or they're toast.
Step 1 done, now on to step 2
Hitting like it's going out style
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Jun 12, 2021 22:16
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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Well, poo poo.
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Jun 12, 2021 22:55
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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If Wicky gets us out of here we really can't blame the pitching staff if they couldn't come up with more than 2 runs.
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Jun 14, 2021 01:43
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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I hope now that Arkansas has finally won the SEC tournament once that we never win a game in Hoover again, it is clearly not worth it lol. Y’all have opened my eyes.
God yes, don't even get on the bus.
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Jun 23, 2021 09:35
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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The bullshit is Vanderbilt getting to walk into the final
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Jun 26, 2021 14:55
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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It's the only way to salvage the situation imo
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Jun 26, 2021 17:10
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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One wonders uh, if NC State caught covid in Fayetteville.
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Jun 27, 2021 05:27
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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Go Clanga
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Jun 28, 2021 18:42
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Apr 29, 2024 04:45
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- tactlessbastard
- Feb 4, 2001
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Godspeed, post
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Fun Shoe
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Aww, hell. That sucks.
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Jan 21, 2022 19:33
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May 21, 2021 04:56
