Surely, I’m not the only one walking around this morning, randomly getting lost in thoughts and surprising myself with that welling of emotion that starts somewhere in the stomach and quickly pushes itself upward until it reaches the tear ducts. I keep pushing back, tamping the emotion down, but anyone connected to Mississippi State – whether they even consider themselves a fan – has experienced some level of that same wonderment and awe in the last 24 hours.
It happened. It actually, really, finally happened. Mississippi State, National Champions. At long last, the confetti fell for the Bulldogs, and the team wrapped in Maroon and White lifted the trophy at the end of the last game of the season. The Diamond Dawgs are winners of the College World Series.
Eight years and a few days ago, I remember having a similar feeling, sitting in the lobby of the team hotel in Omaha around 2 a.m. writing about the season’s final contest. Sure, MSU had lost that game, but joy and grief – much like love and anger – are similar emotions, affect people in similar if not opposite ways. Even still, the feeling of pride is the same. The title I came up with for that story was a simple one: The Best Season In MSU History Comes To An End In Omaha.
This is a different chapter, but the headline still reads exactly the same. The best season in MSU history did just come to an end, and for the first time, it was the Dawgs on top of the pile.
The emotions running through the world of State-dom are many: overwhelming elation, deeply-held pride, a near-cataclysmic joy. But perhaps the most unexpected one is the absolute blissful state of relief in every house, hotel room and bar where State fans were gathered on the last night of June.
It can be hard to detect beneath all the “Oh my god, it happened!” and it starts to peek through in every iteration of “We did it!” But it’s there, permeating and soothing, smoothing out the wrinkles like a fresh sheet. The emotion is explained in one word: finally. Finally, there’s no more holding your breath, no more trying not to jinx it. There’s no more anxiety, anticipation, or letdown. It happened. It’s real.
I think it’s because everyone involved feels like this is something they worked for. The players and coaches, obviously. Their work was well documented, and it was their work that we all watched together in Omaha, Starkville, and elsewhere.
But somewhere in the hearts of everyone in the world of MSU is a sense of having not only waited for this, but truly toiled for it. Be it through years of cheering, through donations to the school, or even sharing some sausage off the grill with an outfielder or three, this was something that everyone was in together. From John Grisham and Dak Prescott to Dudy Noble and Jake Mangum, Bulldogs for generations have been working toward this moment.
There’s a reason that the first thing Tanner Allen did when he got the championship trophy was to head straight for the all-Bulldog crowd, pointing into the stands, sharing the moment with those who had his back since his first day on campus.
After all, it was Dak himself who said that Mississippi State doesn’t have fans; it has family.
And to finally break through, to finally win that prize, brings an overwhelming sense of relief. It’s as if every player who ever wore a practice jersey, every fan who ever watched a game, every person who ever found themselves somehow connected to Mississippi State baseball, all of them, arm-in-arm, had felt the pressure building behind them. They felt the tide moving their direction, and finally, in one night, the dam burst, the river broke free and the ocean of momentum finally crashed through.
It happened. Mississippi State won the National Championship, victors of the 2021 College World Series of Baseball.
It’s appropriate that the first team National Championship in school history came through baseball. Not that State fans aren’t passionate about other sports. That much was made clear when the women’s basketball team played in the title game in back-to-back years, both times in front of what felt like a home crowd for the Bulldogs. And ears are still ringing from the fall of 2014 when Dak and the Dogs took down Auburn to become the No. 1 team in the country.
But there’s something different about baseball at Mississippi State. Something special and uniting. Announcers, analysts, pundits and personalities all say the same thing – you have to experience it to understand it. And MSU has been experiencing it for decades.
Generations of Bulldogs have made this baseball program special. And that win was for them. It was for the moms and dads, grandparents, uncles, family friends – whoever it was in your life that first introduced you to Mississippi State. It was for every player who so much as practiced a single day, for all the sweat equity built by decades of Maroons, Aggies, and Bulldogs. It was for Paul Gregory, Ron Polk, John Cohen and Chris Lemonis. It was for the oldest living alum, wherever they are, who waited longer than anyone to celebrate this moment.
It was for C.R. “Dudy” Noble, not only the namesake of Dudy Noble Field, but the man who first established that at Mississippi State, baseball takes precedence. He could have been world-class on the track, and his football career easily could’ve led to stardom. But he chose to expend his energies on the diamond, relegating the others to mere hobbies in his spare time.
Noble was classmates with Don Scott, for whom Scott Field at Davis Wade Stadium is named. It’s fitting that the legends played together, as a win for the baseball team is a win for the entire school. Man, if they could see the place now. It took more than 100 years, but the legacy they began has finally culminated in the ultimate prize.
The National Championship Trophy is coming back to the same grounds that now bear their names.
Today welcomed the first dawn of a new era at Mississippi State. The Title Years have arrived in Starkville.
So bask in the moment. Celebrate the joy and embrace the relief. Because starting today, there’s only one thing left.
Let’s do it again.
It happened. It actually, really, finally happened. Mississippi State, National Champions. At long last, the confetti fell for the Bulldogs, and the team wrapped in Maroon and White lifted the trophy at the end of the last game of the season. The Diamond Dawgs are winners of the College World Series.
Eight years and a few days ago, I remember having a similar feeling, sitting in the lobby of the team hotel in Omaha around 2 a.m. writing about the season’s final contest. Sure, MSU had lost that game, but joy and grief – much like love and anger – are similar emotions, affect people in similar if not opposite ways. Even still, the feeling of pride is the same. The title I came up with for that story was a simple one: The Best Season In MSU History Comes To An End In Omaha.
This is a different chapter, but the headline still reads exactly the same. The best season in MSU history did just come to an end, and for the first time, it was the Dawgs on top of the pile.
The emotions running through the world of State-dom are many: overwhelming elation, deeply-held pride, a near-cataclysmic joy. But perhaps the most unexpected one is the absolute blissful state of relief in every house, hotel room and bar where State fans were gathered on the last night of June.
It can be hard to detect beneath all the “Oh my god, it happened!” and it starts to peek through in every iteration of “We did it!” But it’s there, permeating and soothing, smoothing out the wrinkles like a fresh sheet. The emotion is explained in one word: finally. Finally, there’s no more holding your breath, no more trying not to jinx it. There’s no more anxiety, anticipation, or letdown. It happened. It’s real.
I think it’s because everyone involved feels like this is something they worked for. The players and coaches, obviously. Their work was well documented, and it was their work that we all watched together in Omaha, Starkville, and elsewhere.
But somewhere in the hearts of everyone in the world of MSU is a sense of having not only waited for this, but truly toiled for it. Be it through years of cheering, through donations to the school, or even sharing some sausage off the grill with an outfielder or three, this was something that everyone was in together. From John Grisham and Dak Prescott to Dudy Noble and Jake Mangum, Bulldogs for generations have been working toward this moment.
There’s a reason that the first thing Tanner Allen did when he got the championship trophy was to head straight for the all-Bulldog crowd, pointing into the stands, sharing the moment with those who had his back since his first day on campus.
After all, it was Dak himself who said that Mississippi State doesn’t have fans; it has family.
And to finally break through, to finally win that prize, brings an overwhelming sense of relief. It’s as if every player who ever wore a practice jersey, every fan who ever watched a game, every person who ever found themselves somehow connected to Mississippi State baseball, all of them, arm-in-arm, had felt the pressure building behind them. They felt the tide moving their direction, and finally, in one night, the dam burst, the river broke free and the ocean of momentum finally crashed through.
It happened. Mississippi State won the National Championship, victors of the 2021 College World Series of Baseball.
It’s appropriate that the first team National Championship in school history came through baseball. Not that State fans aren’t passionate about other sports. That much was made clear when the women’s basketball team played in the title game in back-to-back years, both times in front of what felt like a home crowd for the Bulldogs. And ears are still ringing from the fall of 2014 when Dak and the Dogs took down Auburn to become the No. 1 team in the country.
But there’s something different about baseball at Mississippi State. Something special and uniting. Announcers, analysts, pundits and personalities all say the same thing – you have to experience it to understand it. And MSU has been experiencing it for decades.
Generations of Bulldogs have made this baseball program special. And that win was for them. It was for the moms and dads, grandparents, uncles, family friends – whoever it was in your life that first introduced you to Mississippi State. It was for every player who so much as practiced a single day, for all the sweat equity built by decades of Maroons, Aggies, and Bulldogs. It was for Paul Gregory, Ron Polk, John Cohen and Chris Lemonis. It was for the oldest living alum, wherever they are, who waited longer than anyone to celebrate this moment.
It was for C.R. “Dudy” Noble, not only the namesake of Dudy Noble Field, but the man who first established that at Mississippi State, baseball takes precedence. He could have been world-class on the track, and his football career easily could’ve led to stardom. But he chose to expend his energies on the diamond, relegating the others to mere hobbies in his spare time.
Noble was classmates with Don Scott, for whom Scott Field at Davis Wade Stadium is named. It’s fitting that the legends played together, as a win for the baseball team is a win for the entire school. Man, if they could see the place now. It took more than 100 years, but the legacy they began has finally culminated in the ultimate prize.
The National Championship Trophy is coming back to the same grounds that now bear their names.
Today welcomed the first dawn of a new era at Mississippi State. The Title Years have arrived in Starkville.
So bask in the moment. Celebrate the joy and embrace the relief. Because starting today, there’s only one thing left.
Let’s do it again.
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