NEU » wing a colossal 79-p

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- Oh, man. ... Can you believe this?It was Thursday night around midnight, barely eight hours after Coastal Carolina had won the College World Series, and head coach Gary Gilmore was being summoned to look out the window of the team airplane.Sure, I figured a few folks would show up to greet us when we got home, he recalled thinking. But Im not sure the Myrtle Beach airport has ever had that many people there all at one time. This was bigger than spring break.Way bigger. There were a few thousand fans, dressed in teal, waving homemade signs and chanting C-C-U! and Gar-eee Gil-more! The coach, eyes already puffy from a day of happy cries, instinctively climbed the fence to lead the cheers. He was so oblivious to what he was doing that he dang near grabbed the razor wire to pull himself up and over.There was a time when it would take us months to draw this many fans to our games, said Gilmore, who played at Coastal in 1979 and 80 and just completed his 21st season at the helm of his old team. I worked out of a pop-up trailer next to the ballpark that first year. Its a long ways from that to this. People have no idea how long.Well, most might not. But there are plenty who do.For students, alumni and fans of Coastal Carolina, Thursdays victory felt like the liberation of a small nation. This is a school that didnt even exist until 1954, founded as a community college and holding its classes at Conway High School. By the 1960s, it was under contract as an extension campus of the University of South Carolina and didnt become a four-year school until 1974. On July 1, the school marked just its 23rd year as an independent university. Gilmore was hired two years later.Thats a lot of years and a lot of history to foster an inferiority complex, living life as a so-called directional school in the very long shadows of Clemson and South Carolina. Their mascot is an extension of those feelings. When the school -- then Coastal Carolina College of the University of South Carolina -- decided to get into sports, they wanted a mascot that would honor their parent school, the Gamecocks, but was decidedly fancier. An English professor suggested the Chanticleer, a character from Geoffrey Chaucers Canterbury Tales described as such: For crowing there was not his equal in all the land ... his nails were whiter than the lily and his feathers were like burnished gold. Thats certainly no mere fighting rooster.So one can only imagine the pride Coastal Carolina fans felt when their Twitter timelines were filled with clips of Clemson football players cheering Coastals win on Thursday or well-wishes from the likes of Steve Spurrier.I can tell you this, Coastal athletic director Matt Hogue, a South Carolina alumnus, said earlier in the week. There werent many South Carolina fans rooting for Clemson to beat Alabama [in Januarys College Football Playoff title game], and when South Carolina was winning back-to-back College World Series, there might not have been any Clemson fans rooting for the Gamecocks. But I cant tell you how much support weve received from both schools during our time in Omaha.Yeah, outside of Conway and Myrtle Beach, it can be hard to find a lot of Coastal fans, explained pitcher Mike Morrison. Then he shrugged, recognizing that he needed to raise his voice to be heard over the crowd. Now it feels like they are everywhere!They were certainly all over Omaha. Many made a last-minute migration to see their beloved Chanticleers play Arizona for the championship, deciding to make the trip out for the third and deciding game. A huge percentage of those fans had to return home without having seen a single inning of baseball, unable to afford the airline change fees or to find a hotel room when Game 3 was pushed from Wednesday night to Thursday afternoon because of inclement weather.Jim McIntosh of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, was one of those people. A former CCU student, he blew up a credit card to get out there but by Thursday morning was on a plane packed with teal-wearing fans, rightfully pouting and just hoping to make it home in time to watch the game on television.Scott Chadwick of Charlotte was one of those people ... almost. The father of CCU infielder Tyler Chadwick was one of a huge group of families who worked into the wee hours of Wednesday night, scrambling for a way to stay in town for the delayed game. Already out of money because of continually extending their trip, the potential of thousands of dollars in flight changes meant that most of the families from both Coastal and Arizona would have to go on home and miss the title game. Some still did, but well past midnight, their bags packed, Chadwick and his family found a sympathetic Delta agent who helped out by finding minimal fees.Michael Pruitt of Blowing Rock, North Carolina, was one those who was going to stay no matter what and was fortunate enough to have the means to make it happen. The CEO and president of an investment firm titled Chanticleer Holdings, he is one of the past heroes of Coastal Carolina baseball. He slugged a home run that clinched one of the teams four trips to the NAIA College World Series in the late 70s and early 80s. He and a group of his former teammates made the trip out and declared, Well stay here until damn July 4 if we have to!On Wednesday night, they were at their hotel bar ready to talk to anyone but at a bit of a loss for words when asked what a national championship would mean: Its the biggest thing to ever happen to our school, they said.Just how big might not be known for a while. Coastal is a school already experiencing rapid growth. There were a little over 7,500 CCU students a decade ago. Now that number is around 10,000, with a plan in place to reach 12,500. History suggests that the admissions office is about to become very busy. After reaching the Final Four in 2013, Wichita State saw an 81 percent jump in applications. In 2010, Butlers near-national title created a 41 percent increase. After Fresno State won the College World Series in 2008, it experienced a double-digit leap in out-of-state interest.According to Joyce Julius & Associates, which monitors sports media exposure, Coastal Carolina had already received nearly 12,000 national media mentions even prior to winning the championship. In Omaha, there was little doubt as to who was also the two-week champion of merchandise sales. It was the same team that ended up becoming the actual champion. There was a lot of teal seen around eastern Nebraska in late June.On Friday, as thousands of fans lined the streets of Conway and thousands more packed still-new Springs Brooks Stadium to celebrate with their team, they all wore that same teal. No matter how hard it was to come by.You cant find it anywhere. Everywhere is sold out, said Jimmy Shepard, a longtime Myrtle Beach resident who went to the celebration. I saw a lot of people out here today that I know I saw last week wearing South Carolina and Clemson stuff. Their Chants shirts and hats all look pretty damn new. I wore the oldest shirt I had just so theyd know Im no Johnny-Come-Lately. Now I hope these Johnnys that were here today will be back here next spring.Almost as if he was taking his cue from Shepard, Gilmore stepped to the microphone to address the crowd estimated at more than 8,000. He thought about that pop-up trailer office. He thought about the old aluminum bleacher stadium that was on this site just three years ago, the one he used to have to power wash the seagull droppings off of before homestands. He looked at the sparkling national championship trophy, displayed in, of all places, Conway. And then he allowed himself, just for a moment, to try and look into the future.I want to see all of you back here in 2017, the coach challenged, once again on the verge of bursting into tears. Lets get another one of these. Washington Nationals Shirts . Terms of the deal were not immediately available. 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Meanwhile, the Oilers dealt long-time sniper Ales hemsky to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and a third-rounder in 2015. AFL considering 4.30pm GF start timeThe AFL has got in early with the announcement of the key dates for the 2017 AFL season, which will start around March 23 next year and finish on September 30.The move back to the last Saturday in September for the Grand Final was widely hailed by traditionalists after the 2015 and 2016 deciders were set down for the first weekend in October.They might not be so pleased when the starting time is announced - with the switch to a 4.30pm opening bounce, meaning a twilight Grand Final, still under consideration by the AFL Commission. It would be the latest start to a Grand Final in history.About the only fans not thrilled with the move back to the end of September were those from the Jewish community. It means a clash with Yom Kippur, their holiest and most solemn day of the year.And while Orthodox Jews would never attend any Grand Final because of the clash with the Jewish Sabbath, many non-Orthodox Jews who would otherwise attend the game, would nevertheless draw a line at being there on Yom Kippur.There has been the same clash of dates before. The Jewish calendar falls in line with the lunar calendar, so 1966 was the most famous Yom Kippur Grand Final of all. St Kildas Jewish half-back Ian Synman played that day, however hundreds of the clubs Jewish supporters who ordinarily would have been at the MCG, ended up missing the game, following instead on the radio in between synagogue services.The 1993 and 2004 Grand Finals also clashed.Heres hoping St Kilda and Carlton dont win through next year, as those two clubs have by far the largest Jewish supporter bases.Mitch makes merry to mark game No.300Sam Mitchells 300th game festivities have had the feel of a Hindu wedding - the celebrations have lasted for days.Some of it is by necessity - the Hawks play on Sunday so the media blitz started in the Herald Sun last weekend and included special comments work on 3AW and an appearance on Channel Seven.He is on the cover of the AFL Record this week as well.He also has a private box for family and friends at the MCG on Sunday.But the special celebration is taking place at an undisclosed Melbourne location one night this week. ESPN understands that Mitchell is shouting dinner for a number of his associates - past and present - that helped his journey from a thickset blond-haired kid from Mooroolbark to AFL stardom.It is a small event, but we cant imagine Mitchell celebrating his milestone without acknowledging Donald McDonald, his coach at Box Hill, long-time mentor David Parkin, senior coaches Peter Schwab and Alastair Clarkson as well as former captain Shane Crawford, who Mitchell slavishly followed when he first arrived at Hawthorn.And knowing Mitchell, one of the more cultured and erudite players in the game, the food will be great and the wine even better.Talia spoiled by brothers actionsAdelaide is counseling its gun defender Daniel Talia following another scandal to rock his family.Talia made an urgennt dash to Sydney on Sunday after learning his brother, Michael, was allegedly caught with a small quantity of cocaine in Sydneys suburb of Double Bay the previous night.ddddddddddddPolice charged Michael with possession of a prohibited substance. The Sydney utility is likely to receive a strike under the AFLs illicit drugs policy and the Swans have suspended the 23-year-old pending a court hearing next month.Talia returned to the Adelaide clubs headquarters at West Lakes on Tuesday, visibly burdened by the ordeal.The incident comes at a poor time for the 24-year-old stopper, whose second-placed Crows play the Cats at Simonds Stadium on Saturday night.The do-or-die clash could have a major bearing on the make-up of the top four.Given the closeness of the competition, a loss could see the Crows slump as low as seventh.The Crows are cautious of Talias well-being and will give him every opportunity to play in the all-important encounter.Its not the first time Michael has found himself in the headlines for the wrong reasons.Last year as a Western Bulldogs player, he was cleared of revealing sensitive game plan information to Daniel ahead of the Bulldogs-Crows elimination final.The Crows won narrowly by seven points.Michael was traded to the Swans at the end of the 2015 season. He hasnt played since seriously injuring his foot in round 1.Could Lethal be on the outer at Brisbane?Legendary footy figure Leigh Matthews unwavering loyalty to embattled Brisbane coach Justin Leppitsch could create an irreparable rift within the clubs inner sanctum.Leppitschs tenure is on a knifes edge, following a colossal 79-point loss to GWS - its seventh blowout by more than 10 goals this season.He has mustered a dismal 12-48 record in three years as senior coach, at a winning percentage of 20 per cent.And as the Lions languish with a solitary victory for the year, sacking the three-time premiership defender could trigger a fracture between Matthews and Lions powerbrokers, ESPN understands.Matthews has staunchly defended Leppitsch, which has created a division within the Lions establishment.Some club officials are circling for Leppitsch to stand down and are agitated by Matthews steadfast support for the three-time All-Australian defender he coached during the Lions dynasty.It wont be the first time a club legend has failed to get the Lions out of the wilderness.Former skipper Michael Voss was sensationally sacked during the 2013 season, despite coaching the team to two finals, and showing signs that the club was reversing its on-field fortunes.RANDOM STATS OF THE WEEK:2 - The number of career hit-outs recorded by the 177cm Brent Harvey ahead of his record-equalling 426th game on Friday night.1 - The number of games Melbourne have won at Etihad Stadium since 2008. In that time, theyve managed to lose an astonishing 24 times. ' ' '