A Tribute to Ned

Today is the day my friends. The day Ned gets his chance for payback on the U. And we would consider ourselves horrible human beings if we didn't celebrate Ned's legacy. The man, after all, stormed the field on crutches as his brothers were being beat on by the evil members of the U. We'd all be fortunate to have friends half as loyal as Ned. So here you go - a tribute to the man, the myth, the legend that is Ned. And you damn well better be rooting for FIU today.

In full disclosure, we'll link where we got each picture from. Above is Normandy Ned, who helped us win WWII, which comes courtesy of Rick at Deadspin.

Here's Ned's first campaign video for the Deadspin Hall of Hame. He was the only member of the 2007 class to be elected in.


Ned's second campaign video.


Ned's Deadspin Hall of Fame plaque.

Ned battles Willy Wonka.

Ned conquers the moon.

These next three come from Deadspin. The first is Ned leading the charge at sea to help us destroy the evil French and their love of soccer.

Ned courageously joins the fray.

And in a match for the ages, Ned singlehandedly defeated T-Rex and Kong.

These next four come from The Big Picture. The first is Ned's incredible victory over Mike Tyson.

Ned has climbed Everest by the way - without oxygen tanks.

And has even battled ancient armies just for practice.

He even had an impact on the Tour de France. That was a dirty cyclist he stopped by the way.

And last, but certainly not least, here's the picture that started it all.

God speed Ned. We'll be cheering like hell for you today.


-100%

Take me out to the brawl game, multiple times

For a more concise, and I would argue better version of this story, here's Home Run Derby's take on it.

There's nothing quite like a good old fashioned baseball fight. And if you attended the Thursday and Friday night games pitting the Kannapolis Intimidators against the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the South Atlantic League (Class A), you more than got your money's worth.

That's because first on Thursday night both entire teams were ejected after two epic brawls. A phone call had to be made to South Atlantic League president John Henry Moss, who ultimately decided along with the umpiring crew to reinstate enough players to actually conclude the game.

With two outs in the first inning, Intimidators pitcher Alberto Zazueta hit batter Logan Morrison with a pitch in the small of his back. Both benches cleared and, eventually, home plate umpire Matt Abbott ejected Grasshoppers batting coach Anthony Iapoce and issued warnings to both teams.

Logan returned to the plate in the third with two outs, and Zazueta hit Logan with a pitch on his upper leg. Abbott immediately ejected the pitcher and Kannapolis manager Chris Jones, and for a second time both teams left their dugouts for a true free-for-all.

"There were four or five brawls going on," Grasshoppers general manager Donald Moore said. "When all was said and done, each team had so many players ejected that they couldn't field a team -- there weren't enough position players left. No one wants a pitcher to play second base."

The umpires had tossed so many players that they didn't know what to do. The umps went into the clubhouse for an hour to discuss taking action before the decision was made to reinstate players.

Even after the call was made to continue the game, things weren't exactly normal.

The dugouts were empty for the remainder of the game. When not at bat, on deck or manning a defensive position, players were to remain in their clubhouses, which were protected by cops. Grasshoppers front-office personnel became messengers, summoning the sequestered players from their lockers to the field when a half-inning ended or their spot in the batting order drew near.

Then on Friday, just because two massive brawls weren't enough, the teams squared off again.

Benches cleared in the top of the third inning, after Intimidator Scotty Madsen slid into second with his spikes up. With South Atlantic League President John Henry Moss watching, players fought for about five minutes, until officials got both teams back into their dugouts.

Despite the fighting, no one was actually ejected this time.

I'm not sure what kind of suspensions are ultimately going to come down on both teams, but maybe if we're lucky all these guys will sign pro boxing contracts to fight during their down time. That's certainly get me watching boxing again.

Here's some video of the major bench clearing brawl, that would be the 2nd dust up on Thursday, in case you were wondering.


-WCK