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" College baseball is kinda like jambalaya: Southern in its roots, messy by nature, often undercooked, and only occasionally satisfying. A far cry from the collegiate hardwood (top teenagers now actually have to go to school, where they sweat the most hard-earned sweat in sport) or gridiron (a breeding ground for the NFL, sure, but the most competitive breeding ground we know in this country), the pre-professional diamond remains, even once you get past the corrupt international scouting and onto the NCAA level, haunted by its pro league&amp;#039;s worst qualities: a dissipation of talent, a lack of parity, and, it is no surprise to learn, steroids. But the last week in June feels different, even when it feels and plays more like April. The College World Series always shines bright in Omaha, Nebraska. Just when the major-league disabled list is competing with Wimbledon for Boring Sports Headline of the Year, undergraduate hardball drops its humdrum high-school feel and pops up on ESPN with all the high-scoring, bench-clearing, superstar-making fervor of basketball&amp;#039;s Final Four. And with its SEC powerhouses, its Wyeth-worthy backdrops, and its late-inning heroics, this year&amp;#039;s CWS has seen amateur baseball grow an identity beyond its signature, sickening acoustics: the ping of a metal bat hitting yet another single to left-center. So tune in tonight at 7 p.m. EST as top-seeded Texas and top-ranked LSU offer the last win-or-go-home team championship game you&amp;#039;re likely to see \u2014 if the Sox keep playing like they are and the Cavs get Shaq \u2014 for another six months. And try this jambalaya recipe if there&amp;#039;s the rain delay. RELATED LINKS:  WHAT I&amp;#039;VE LEARNED: The American Pastime  THE ENDORSEMENT: Going to Spring Training "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a6019/college-world-series-2009-score-062409/>