FanHouse Augie Garrido

OMAHA, Neb. -- The Mainieri household went 45 years without a national title. Bouday (a Cajun term for sorrow) -- that was plenty long enough.

Paul Mainieri's LSU Tigers powered past Texas 11-4 Wednesday night to win the College World Series. When the final out was made -- fittingly on a swinging strike out that ignited a mad sprint and player pile in front of the mound -- Mainieri's emotions almost immediately began to overwhelm him in the Tigers dugout.

It was a hugfest.

OMAHA, Neb. -- Sorry, but Augie Garrido's message to his Texas Longhorns late Monday night was private. Between head coach and team. The neighborly Garrido, who can spin a life-lesson while filling out a lineup card, wanted to make sure his players knew the score.

Sure, Texas already knew that score. The Longhorns, who had made a habit of winning on walk-off theatrics in the College World Series, had to swallow a dose of their own medicine, Bayou-flavor. The LSU Tigers scored two runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 6-all and then won it two innings later, 7-6. Both hits came with two outs, and, just to slip another burr under Texas' saddle, LSU survived five Longhorns home runs to boot.

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Big-time college baseball coach doesn't carry quite the cachet as, say, big-time college football coach. Even if you've won more games than anybody in the history of the sport. In nearly 40 years on the job, University of Texas' Augie Garrido has 1,629 victories to his credit, including five national titles. And none of that mattered after an early morning arrest on drunken driving charges.

The university has suspended Garrido indefinitely, something I'm not sure would've happened to Mack Brown or Rick Barnes if they had spent the night in the drunk tank (or maybe it would and I'm just jaded). Whatever, Garrido's currently taking a mandatory vacation.