In almost every notable sports accomplishment there is a serendipitous occurrence. In a no-hitter it may be a wall-climbing, home-run robbing catch by a rookie outfielder. In a long hitting streak there is always the check-swing bloop single on the last at-bat of an otherwise hitless day. In a tournament winning round of golf, perhaps it’s a lucky bounce off of a tree and back into the fairway on a drive headed deep into the woods.

In my quest to capture all the best that sports in this country has to offer, my stroke of blind luck has a name – Jim Winn.

See, as it happens, on the way to the NCAA World Series Super Regional game between UCLA and Cal State Fullerton, the Bird and I got “405-ed”. As in the 405 Freeway. If indeed time is money, then the 405 is not only not “free”, but instead the most expensive roadway in the country to drive. Visitors to Los Angeles are often amused when their Google Maps directions tell them that their trip is, for example 21.8 miles long and should take 28 minutes…with the addendum “1 hour 20 minutes in traffic”. Amused until it happens to them, that is. Middle of the afternoon on an unremarkable Saturday…perfect weather…no accidents…no breakdowns…no apparent reason why all of a sudden every car in L.A. County is traveling the 405. At 6 miles an hour.

So it was with growing trepidation that we approached the parking lot at Jackie Robinson Stadium right around the time that the first pitch was being thrown. And sure enough, there it was – the sign saying simply “SOLD OUT”. Hoping against hope that this meant only that the parking lot was sold out, I pulled up to the attendant. “Plenty of parking” he said. “But the ball game just sold out. You can pull over there to turn around”. As I did so my mind was racing with alternate plans, none of which were based in reality. So I didn’t even see the attendant greet the next car and turn to wave me down. But this is why God created the passenger seat, for The Bird was immediately on top on it, relaying these life-changing words: “The guy behind us has extra tickets.” I interrupted my U-turn with another U-turn, handed over the parking fee and proceeded to metaphorically lock bumpers with the black SUV that carried Jim Winn and his extra tickets.

Jim is a physical therapist and athletic trainer at The SPORT Clinic in Riverside, as well as an executive with the SPORT Foundation, a 25-year old non-profit dedicated specifically to advancing the science and application of sports medicine. He has ties to the Cal State Fullerton program and had planned on bringing the family to see the game. Except that, as is often the case with a busy family, scheduling conflicts arose – setting Jim and an unexpectedly spare pair of tickets on a collision course with your humble correspondent. And did I mention that the seats were in the third row, right behind home plate?

This was a key moment in the life of this Sports Fan. For knowing what I know now, had I missed this game I would have been bound by cultural tradition to committing Sports Fan hari-kari. Only to then be rushed to the hospital and revived – so that I could then go about slitting my wrists. This baseball game was that good and that memorable. Let me set the stage for you.

The NCAA Super Regionals are the rough equivalent to the “Sweet 16” round of the annual NCAA March Madness basketball tournament. There are eight Super Regional sites across the country. At each site, two of the teams that have advanced this far in the national tournament are matched up in a weekend best-of-three series, with the winner of each series moving on to play in the College World Series in Omaha.

While UCLA earned the right to host this Super Regional with its school-record 46 wins thus far this year, Cal State Fullerton was the favorite among those in the know. If it’s possible to be overlooked despite having the largest enrollment of any school in the California State University system, CSUF manages to pull it off. But they save up their notoriety for each year’s baseball season. In the thirty-plus years in which the Titans have played Division 1 collegiate baseball, they have never had a losing season. In fact, quite the opposite, for on four occasions the Titans have claimed national baseball supremacy, winning the NCAA College World Series. And with 16 total trips to the College World Series, CSUF has on average qualified for that ultra-elite tournament almost every other year. Those are Ruth/Gehrig/Dimaggio New York Yankee type numbers.

On the other hand, despite UCLA’s rich tradition of athletic excellence, not a single one of the school’s 106 NCAA championships has come in baseball. The Bruins have only been to the College World Series twice, with the last trip to Omaha coming back in 1997. In both visits they were sent home without securing a single win. Why such a hard time achieving success in Omaha? Well, to succeed there, you have to get there – and if you play on the West Coast, that means you eventually have to beat Cal State Fullerton. Which, going into tonight’s second game of the Super Regional, UCLA had done only 3 times in their last 22 meetings.

So why, when I settled into my courtesy-of-Jim-Winn seat did I have to do a double-take when glancing around? Conveniently located in the DMZ Zone between the two teams’ fan bases, I looked to my right and saw homemade signs, painted faces and a “pinch me, can you believe we’re here?” look to the sea of people clad in…orange? This Cal State Fullerton crowd looked for all the world like they were just gosh-darn tickled to be here, thanks for asking.

In contrast, when I turned my head to my right I was greeted by a small sea of blue and gold, resting comfortably and gazing onto the field with a look of somewhat detached confidence. Or was it a daze? For having lost Game 1 of the series the night before, every Bruin fan in attendance knew that they were one loss away from having their season ended by CSUF. Sigh…again.

And right smack in the middle of the UCLA section sat a fan wearing a bright orange T-shirt that read simply, “Cal State Omaha”. He couldn’t even get a rise out of the Bruin faithful. After all, his point was irrefutable.

To be continued…