Freaky

By now, TigerBlog is pretty sure you've seen the clip from the Little League regional.

If you haven't, you can see it here (tissues not included):

"Hey, you're doing just great"

Oklahoma little leaguer gets hit in the head and then comforts the pitcher who is shaken up afterward pic.twitter.com/hYYLiy511K

— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) August 9, 2022

That's about as good as it gets. 

The number of views from that Twitter feed was approaching 20 million yesterday. 

Prior to that, the most-viewed clip from the Little League tournament was of a crushed home run and accompanying bat flip, which is about 180 degrees from the one of the young man who was hit by the pitch and then consoled the pitcher.

By the way, maybe TigerBlog is getting a bit old, but he can remember a time when a bat flip, or anything that showed up a pitcher, would never have happened, especially when the pitcher involved was, say, Bob Gibson or Steve Carlton or Jack Morris. Or really anyone. 

Flip your bat after hitting a home run against Gibson? Well, first of all, almost nobody did. But if you did and flipped your bat? You didn't want to come to the plate the next time, that's for sure.

Now? It's a regular thing. TB liked the other way better.

TB has always been a big fan of sportsmanship, something that has been vanishing from the professional athletics landscape through the years. Perhaps the Little League clip might resonate with some of them? 

The batter's name, by the way, is Isaiah Jarvis, and the pitcher is named Kaiden Shelton. Jarvis' team was eliminated, while Shelton's team moves on to Williamsport, but some things are just bigger than winning sometimes. 

Maybe one day Jarvis will be a big-time college or pro athlete. Hopefully he gets there. And hopefully he never loses what he showed on the field the other day.

Either way, his is a name worth remembering.

Speaking of names, TB was not the only Princeton fan who was not shocked to see the name Andrei Iosivas included in a story in The Athletic entitled "College Football Freaks."

This is what the intention of the writer, Bruce Feldman:

It’s been almost two decades now since I began writing about the biggest Freaks in college football. Initially, there were 10 of ‘em. My premise was to spotlight the players who generate buzz inside their programs by displaying the unique physical abilities that wow even those who observe gifted athletes every day. The Freaks list is compiled with the help of many coaches, players and sports information directors, as well as NFL scouts from all over the nation.

Yes, that pretty much sums up Iosivas.

TB has said before that he can't imagine there's a sport that Iosivas wouldn't be able to conquer. He's pretty much the definition of an athletic freak.

The best part of the write-up on Iosivas is when his wide receiver position coach Brian Flinn talked about the pre-draft physical tests he'd have to go through and said this: "He will destroy them all."

As you probably know, Iosivas is a wide receiver who is a breakaway threat on any play and a world class decathlete who has run the fastest 60 in NCAA indoor heptathlon history. That's a lethal athletic combination.

This is from his write-up as well:

Iosivas bench pressed 370 pounds this month and has vertical-jumped 39 inches. His 60-yard dash time would, by his own estimation, translate into a 4.2-something 40.

A year ago, Iosivas caught 41 passes and averaged 17.1 per reception. There were nine players in the league who caught at least 40 passes a year ago, and of the other eight, none of them averaged even 14 yards per catch.

In fact, there was only one other player in the league who caught at least 30 passes and averaged at least 17. His name is familiar too: Princeton's Dylan Classi. 

Iosivas was one of two "freaks" from the FCS listed in the top 39, and the other is a Towson player who transferred from South Carolina. All but two of the others are Power Five players.

The entire story is HERE (subscription required).