FRESNO'S BILLBOARD---
Yep, it's up already. Fresh on the heels of the 'Dogs winning the whole enchilada, here's a look at Fresno State's version of "The Intimidator" they've already erected at Pete Beiden Field on the Bulldog campus:

It's now officially been 11 days since the 4th-seeded (in regionals) Bulldogs beat the 8th-seeded (nationally) Dawgs to claim the school's second-ever national championship. So really now, has it "sunk in" with you yet? (I always love that phrase.). Since then, Mike Batesole has picked up a couple of national coach of the year honors, Tommy Mendonca has already made some incredible plays at 3rd base for Team USA and most of us stitch-heads have wished it was still college baseball season.

Fresno State is our 2008 National Champion in baseball. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one, but it's for real. The Wunderdogs rebounded from a crushing 7-6 defeat on Monday night to blitz past Georgia in two straight games, 19-10 and 6-1. So now the big brass ring is taking up residence with the pride of the San Joaquin Valley.

In the meantime, shut off the lights on the old man on the hill for another 50 weeks as the stadium known as "Mecca" closes up shop for college baseball until next June. Here are some lasting images from the final day of the (long) College World Series.

(See you next June Johnny Rosenblatt. I'll miss you.)

THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

... and that ONE is Fresno State!

(Bulldoggin' it. The Fresno players show the hardware on the pitcher's mound in Rosenblatt after beating Georgia 6-1 to win the school's first baseball national championship.)

And you thought Oregon State in 2006 was shocking.

What the bloody hell is going on in college baseball these days? Four seeds winning the brass ring? Guys that hit .256 slamming home six RBI? A starting pitcher actually going more than seven innings in the CWS? A guy that went 0-for-4 getting named the MVP?

But amidst all the chaos, let me just say this: This is Steve Detwiler's world, we're just living in it. The Sophomore from Forest Knolls, California turned this into his own main stage tonight, tearing the cover off everything the Georgia pitching staff had to offer to lead his fellow Dogs to a win on this humid, sticky night.

Oh and I guess he'd go ahead and share the world with Justin Wilson too, since the Bulldog starter threw 129 pitches, giving up just five hits and one run and striking out nine in a dominating role.

In other words, it's just one of those nights that makes legends out of student-athletes.

THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES.

It didn't look good early on - the weather that is. But once the rain began to taper off we were treated to one of the more bizarre games in this 2008 College World Series. Fresno comes roaring, and I mean ROARING, from behind to pull out a football-like, 19-10 win. So now we move on to a third and final game on Wednesday night.

(An hour before game time, the grounds crew was trying to soak up the lake that had formed on the warning track behind home plate.)

THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES.

In the words of John Candy from Planes, Trains and Automobiles, "Oh, these dogs are barkin'!"

Did I not say in my preview with Doug Kroll that there's no way you should count out the Fresno State Bulldogs? No way on Eddie Albert's Green Acre should you. These dogs are doing more than just barkin', they're bearing their teeth and frothing at the mouth now.

Late Night at Rosenblatt Stadium saw the most unlikely of teams make a rather most unlikely turnaround in game two tonight, plating six runs in the 3rd, five runs in the 4th and four runs in the 5th inning to turn what looked like a certain defeat into a laugher.

Then again, if we've learned anything from this CWS, it is that you should never count anyone out.

THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

You know it's a big event if luminaries like Warren Buffet, Nolan Ryan, Augie Garrido and Mark Richt are in attendance. So here's a handful of pics from the first day of the championship series (and what seems like the 27th day of the CWS in total):

(Warren Buffet and Nolan Ryan walk out of the hallway that leads from the press box. I think Nolan was actually there just to pick up the money trail that Warren was leaving as he walked.)

THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES:

After struggling through injuries and back-to-back games, you just got the feeling that there were only so many quality throws from the mound that Fresno had in them tonight. In the eighth inning, that proved true as the well ran dry.

For the third time in the CWS, Georgia made another comeback win a reality. The never-say-die Junkyard Dogs plated four runs in the bottom of the 8th to counter the three runs FSU had scored a half-inning earlier to pull out a W in game one of the championship series.

Do you ever wonder why, when a team gets eliminated and their season comes to an end, you always see so many pictures like this?...

It's because of scenes like this...

It might be hard to tell, but there are eight photographers in this picture surrounding the North Carolina dugout at the end of the game just looking for that teary player picture they so crave.

Here are some more pics from Game 13 at Rosenblatt.

Fresno State howls into the championship round with a convincing win.

(Alan Ahmady is pumped after sliding into home)

You can see the bad puns coming from a mile away. After Fresno's win over UNC tonight, you can just imagine all the horrible headlines with their awful puns that papers and websites will be running tomorrow.

So in that spirit, here is my top five worst Dog vs. Dog championship headline cliches you'll probably see on Monday:

1- It's Dogs vs. Dawgs.

2- It's a dog eat dog world.

3- Best in show: Dogs vs. Dogs.

4- CWS going to the Dogs.

5- It's one Dog-gone good finale.

Dishonorable Mention:
Welcome to the Michael Vick Invitational.

Let me just say that it's amazing that Fresno is sitting where it is now. After spending the entire final month of the season (five weekends) on the road, they've built up quite a callus for tough games and tough situations. Look closely people, we may be looking at one of the toughest-minded teams that's ever been in Omaha. And here's how they got there tonight.

Georgia wins and waits. While Fresno and Carolina play another great game. In the meantime, I had the shudderbug thing biting me, so here are a few more pictures from Saturday's double-header at Rosenblatt.

(Gotcha! Everytime I pointed my camera toward this little kid, he would immediately duck down behind his father. Finally, I held up a piece of candy and he emerged from his hiding place... snap! Got the picture I wanted of the young Miami fan.)