Right place, right time

Works in sports journalism long enough and things do start to look and sound samey. The same old events come around every year or few years, athletes say the same old things, and even the controversies become old hat – most likely because they stem from the same underlying conditions or the same old main players.

Even the photos – one of the sports section's great advantages over other sections (hi, business friends!) – start to look the same after a while. So many variations on "Player X vies for the ball with Player Y", "Victorious Player celebrates triumph", "Losing Player wallows in dejection" and "High School Senior bursts into tears at the end of their athletic career". They're still good shots, of course, and are a boon to the section. It just takes a little something extra to make you go "ooh".

So when that something extra comes along, it's good to celebrate it.

They're coming to Tokyo -- Todai!

Combing the wires tonight, I saw that the NCAA baseball tournament is about to get underway. Even in years with no local interest -- like this one -- the tournament gets good coverage back in Nebraska as the College World Series has become a fixture on Omaha's calendar.

I hope people enjoy the CWS. I haven't for some years and probably won't again, due in large part to Mike Fahey earning life-long enmity for reasons detailed here and others elsewhere. Instead, I'd like to highlight another college baseball story -- one that should give a little inspiration to underdogs everywhere.

Russian Navy Seals

Does what it says on the tin.

That ship has sailed

Graphic by Scott Wooledge. (HT Joe. My. God.)