OMAHA, Neb. - The rumors that Michael Roth was taking the game seriously were completely false.
As usual.
After winning three games in around 36 hours and surviving a pulse-pounding 3-2 win over Arkansas on Friday to advance to his third straight national championship series, South Carolina's ace pitcher was asked if he ever sat back and reflected on it.
"My first comment to (roommate Adam Matthews) was, 'Do you want to order room service?,'" Roth answered. "We've been getting these sandwiches the past four days that have been absolutely just gnawing at our brains, and we're sick of pizza too. So we ordered room service."
It's not as if Roth won't pick up the Gamecocks when they need it, whenever it's his turn to pitch during the national championship series, and it's not as if he won't be 100 percent focused on the task at hand when he's toeing the rubber. But to see Roth rigid, prim and proper before the last series of his collegiate career would have been so off the mark that everyone would have wondered what was wrong.
He got to this point, as one of the most decorated pitchers in College World Series history, by being loose, relaxed, off-putting and the team's resident goofball. Why change now?
"I can't even lie to you guys -- I'm not really a fan of baseball, so I just like to play the game that we play," Roth said, pointing out that he doesn't care enough about games that he's not playing in to watch them. "So I don't know anything about the Pac-12. But obviously Arizona's doing a great job."
The Wildcats, USC's opponent in the best-of-three championship series that begins tonight, are heavy hitters. Roth, who is not expected to pitch Game 1 but would be probable for Game 2, will have his hands full.
He'll have his scouting reports, he'll know Arizona's tendencies. But Roth won't obsess. That's just not his way.
"Those guys, they have a good time," coach Ray Tanner said. "I saw a picture one night. One of my coaches came back and he said, 'I don't know if I should tell you this, but Michael and Adam were in the bathtub together when I checked the room.' And I said, 'I wish you hadn't told me that.'"
That picture, taken before the start of USC's first SEC series at Kentucky this year, had Roth and Matthews each grinning, facing each other while sitting in their hotel tub. Roth was holding up the bottle of bubble bath that he had purchased - in classic Roth-ese, it was "Toy Story 3" brand bubble bath.
"I think, to be honest, we'll be rooting for these guys just cracking jokes over here," Arizona shortstop Alex Mejia said. "I feel I should be rooting for these guys, too."
The Gamecocks and Wildcats are each staying at the Hilton, just a block away from TD Ameritrade Park, which has already caused a few good-natured run-ins. "The Hilton Hotel Battle Royale," Roth said. "That's the new name for it."
Whatever it's called, the national championship series should be a feisty battle. Arizona becomes to latest team to try to knock USC off its perch. The Gamecocks will try to nab a piece of history, with their charismatic, quotable and completely relaxed left-hander leading the way.
"We've been seeing these guys all week. We've been in different brackets, haven't had to play each other," Roth said. "And probably the worst part is at some point in this next week, somebody's going to be celebrating and the other team has to hear it. So, I mean, that's probably the only downside."
Roth paused.
"And there's no free breakfast."
link: http://southcarolina.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1378362
As usual.
After winning three games in around 36 hours and surviving a pulse-pounding 3-2 win over Arkansas on Friday to advance to his third straight national championship series, South Carolina's ace pitcher was asked if he ever sat back and reflected on it.
"My first comment to (roommate Adam Matthews) was, 'Do you want to order room service?,'" Roth answered. "We've been getting these sandwiches the past four days that have been absolutely just gnawing at our brains, and we're sick of pizza too. So we ordered room service."
It's not as if Roth won't pick up the Gamecocks when they need it, whenever it's his turn to pitch during the national championship series, and it's not as if he won't be 100 percent focused on the task at hand when he's toeing the rubber. But to see Roth rigid, prim and proper before the last series of his collegiate career would have been so off the mark that everyone would have wondered what was wrong.
He got to this point, as one of the most decorated pitchers in College World Series history, by being loose, relaxed, off-putting and the team's resident goofball. Why change now?
"I can't even lie to you guys -- I'm not really a fan of baseball, so I just like to play the game that we play," Roth said, pointing out that he doesn't care enough about games that he's not playing in to watch them. "So I don't know anything about the Pac-12. But obviously Arizona's doing a great job."
The Wildcats, USC's opponent in the best-of-three championship series that begins tonight, are heavy hitters. Roth, who is not expected to pitch Game 1 but would be probable for Game 2, will have his hands full.
He'll have his scouting reports, he'll know Arizona's tendencies. But Roth won't obsess. That's just not his way.
"Those guys, they have a good time," coach Ray Tanner said. "I saw a picture one night. One of my coaches came back and he said, 'I don't know if I should tell you this, but Michael and Adam were in the bathtub together when I checked the room.' And I said, 'I wish you hadn't told me that.'"
That picture, taken before the start of USC's first SEC series at Kentucky this year, had Roth and Matthews each grinning, facing each other while sitting in their hotel tub. Roth was holding up the bottle of bubble bath that he had purchased - in classic Roth-ese, it was "Toy Story 3" brand bubble bath.
"I think, to be honest, we'll be rooting for these guys just cracking jokes over here," Arizona shortstop Alex Mejia said. "I feel I should be rooting for these guys, too."
The Gamecocks and Wildcats are each staying at the Hilton, just a block away from TD Ameritrade Park, which has already caused a few good-natured run-ins. "The Hilton Hotel Battle Royale," Roth said. "That's the new name for it."
Whatever it's called, the national championship series should be a feisty battle. Arizona becomes to latest team to try to knock USC off its perch. The Gamecocks will try to nab a piece of history, with their charismatic, quotable and completely relaxed left-hander leading the way.
"We've been seeing these guys all week. We've been in different brackets, haven't had to play each other," Roth said. "And probably the worst part is at some point in this next week, somebody's going to be celebrating and the other team has to hear it. So, I mean, that's probably the only downside."
Roth paused.
"And there's no free breakfast."
link: http://southcarolina.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1378362