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College World Series Notebook: Williams in Omaha for fourth year in row
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Published: June 20, 2009
Updated: 06/20/2009 12:15 am
■ For the fourth year in a row, Coach Roy Williams of North Carolina made it to the College World Series to cheer on the Tar Heels.
This year, he came to Omaha after attending a midweek memorial in Lawrence, Kan., for Bob Frederick, a former Kansas athletics director who died last week in a cycling accident.
Williams sat in the Carolina cheering section during Thursday night's 12-5 loss to Arizona State despite being hounded by autograph seekers. UNC was eliminated with the loss
"Four years in a row to go to the College World Series is a fantastic accomplishment," Williams said. "Mike and his staff have done a great job for four years. It's been fun watching them."
Baseball coach Mike Fox said he appreciated Williams' support.
"I know he made a special effort to get out here, coming from Kansas," Fox said.
Williams got his start as a head coach when Frederick hired him in 1988.
Williams has become one of the most successful coaches in history and was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame. He coached the Tar Heels to the national championship in April.
Williams said he owed a debt of gratitude to Frederick.
"He's the finest gentlemen I've ever known in my life," he said. "It was a tragic thing for him, his family and all of the people who loved him.
"You sit back and wonder why. But Bob left a great legacy for everything he's accomplished."
■ Thursday's North Carolina-Arizona State game lasted 4 hours, 4 minutes, making it the fourth-longest nine-inning game in CWS history. It matched Tuesday's 4:04 game between ASU and Texas.
Three of the first 10 CWS games exceeded four hours. The average time heading into yesterday was 3:42, well ahead of last year's record-tying average of 3:20.
Tom Sandberg, 71, of Pickwick, Tenn., watched the first 10 CWS games with wife Sandra. An Arkansas fan, Sandberg said the long games generally don't bother him.
The number of times coaches visit the mound bugs him, though.
"In other sports," he said, "you've got controlled timeout periods. That's about the only thing that I kind of object to."
LSU fan Stephen Wyble of St. Joseph, Mo., also doesn't mind long games. Wyble, 19, drove to Omaha yesterday to watch his first game this year after watching the others at home on television.
"To be honest, I've napped through a few of them," said Wyble, whose parents moved from Louisiana to St. Joseph before he was born. "When you get here, it's a different story."
■ The first rain delay of the series came yesterday before the start of the LSU-Arkansas game. The tarp that was placed on the field overnight was rolled up about 30 minutes before the scheduled first pitch.
But a few minutes later, the tarp came back over the infield. Most fans gathered in Rosenblatt Stadium's cramped concourse, while others moved under the grandstand cover that extends from dugout to dugout.
The first pitch was delivered 21/2 hours after the scheduled start time.
■ Arizona State coach Pat Murphy picked up his 1,000th career win Thursday with his team's victory against North Carolina. He's 1,000-455-4 in 24 seasons as a head coach and 629-234-1 at ASU ... Sun Devils slugger Kole Calhoun, who hit a game-tying grand slam in the fifth inning against UNC, entered Friday's game against Texas hitting .500 (6 for 12) with three homers and 10 RBIs in three games ... Thursday's attendance of 25,001 raised the series total to 228,209.
The series remains on pace to top last year's all-time mark of 330,099.
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