Baseball fans of my generation tend to love the scene in Field of Dreams when James Earl Jones says, “People will come, Ray…” and then goes on to explain how baseball has marked the passage of American history. For me, it is impossible not to get chills just thinking about that speech.
In many ways, that moment in cinema serves as a condensed version of one of my favorite sports books, The Joy of Sports: End Zones, Bases, Baskets, Balls, and the Consecration of the American Spirit by Michael Novak. Although the book was originally published in 1976, I did not discover it until the 1990s. It remains one of those books I revisit whenever I become discouraged by some of the darker trends in modern sports.
Like many sports fans, I sometimes worry about where today’s sports landscape is headed. Yet last weekend provided one of those reminders of exactly why Michael Novak wrote The Joy of Sports in the first place.
The NCAA Women’s College World Series is currently underway. One of the programs missing from this year’s field is Oklahoma, a team that has become synonymous with excellence. If you appreciate greatness, you simply have to admire Oklahoma Softball and Coach Patty Gasso.
Coach Gasso’s Sooners have won eight national championships, including four consecutive titles from 2021 through 2024. In any discussion about the greatest coaches in softball history—or even the greatest coaches in sports history—her name belongs near the very top. She is unquestionably on the Mount Rushmore of college softball coaches. I have nothing but admiration and respect for what she has built.
That is why watching Oklahoma play Mississippi State in the Super Regionals last weekend was so compelling.
At first, I watched simply because I enjoy seeing elite athletes compete at the highest level. I had no rooting interest whatsoever. But as Sunday’s winner-take-all Game Three unfolded, I found myself cheering for Mississippi State—not because I wanted Oklahoma to lose, but because I wanted to see an extraordinary story unfold.
Sports fans often overuse phrases like “Cinderella story” and “David versus Goliath.” Those descriptions can become clichés. This felt different.
I wasn’t cheering for a Cinderella story. I was cheering for a great sports story—and an even better human story.
By defeating Oklahoma, Mississippi State earned its first-ever trip to the Women’s College World Series. Oklahoma, meanwhile, had appeared in each of the previous nine World Series. Adding another layer to the story, Mississippi State head coach Samantha Ricketts once played for Coach Gasso at Oklahoma. Sports always seem to create memorable moments when a former student gets the opportunity to challenge the teacher.
But the most remarkable part of the story was Mississippi State starting pitcher Delainey Everett.
In the biggest game in program history, Mississippi State handed the ball to a pitcher who had not started a single game all season. That fact alone is astonishing and speaks volumes about a coach’s trust in her player.
As someone who has spent much of his life coaching, I know there are few things more rewarding than placing your faith in an athlete and watching them rise to the occasion.
Rise to the occasion she did.
Everett threw a complete-game shutout against one of the most dominant programs in sports. Oklahoma had not been shut out since 2019—a span of 399 games. Think about that for a moment. Four hundred games without being shut out. It is almost beyond comprehension.
As if the story needed another emotional layer, Everett delivered this performance on her parents’ wedding anniversary, just over a year after losing her father.
Seriously, how can you not cheer for something like that?
There is certainly no shortage of reasons to be pessimistic about sports today. The economics of college athletics appear increasingly unsustainable. Major League Baseball may be headed toward a labor dispute after the 2026 season. Youth sports continue to struggle with escalating costs and overuse injuries.
Yet despite all of that, sports still possess a unique ability to give us moments that transcend the scoreboard.
The sustained excellence of Oklahoma Softball is a testament to human achievement. But Delainey Everett and Mississippi State remind us that sports can also become a form of human art.
Sports still have the power to surprise us. They still have the power to inspire us. And every once in a while, they still have the power to take our breath away.
As James Earl Jones reminded us in Field of Dreams:
“It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again.”
That’s the perspective this week, and hopefully we are all treated to a few more enriching moments from the world of sports as the College World Series unfolds.
Until next Friday,
Coach T
