Cougars: Old School Mix

A mixtape is an old school work of art. In the 80’s and 90’s, making a mixtape was a labor of love that took hours to complete.

Much more than a mere Spotify playlist, the old school mixtape required cassette-to-cassette dubbing. You had to cue up the desired song by fast forwarding or rewinding to the right spot; then you’d simultaneously push “record” and “play;” finally you’d wait for the song to end so you could punch “pause” before beginning the process again for the next song.

It was also more than grouping some random songs together because, like a great batting lineup, the tunes had to flow into one another.

In the summer of 1991, a few years after chasing her in high school, Julie and I reconnected at a 16-inch softball game and began dating. That fall after a few months of dating, Julie made me a mixtape for my weekly drive from Chicago to Champaign.

On Tuesday, the Cougars performed their labor of love and opposed Old School.

We had a lineup full of hot hits and mixed it up with a couple of rock stars to fill blank space on the roster.

“You gotta kick it off with a killer to grab attention. Then you gotta take it up a notch. But you don't want to blow your wad. So then you gotta cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules.”

-- Rob Gordon (John Cusack), High Fidelity

The Cougars took this wise mixtape advice to start the game.

Kevin kicked it off by crushing a single down the right field line and Rads followed with a shot to right center to move Kev to third. Fort then beat the ball between short and third to score Kev with Rads moving to second. Martini was in sync as he punched the ball down the right field line to score Rads and push Fort to third. JD got his RBI on a hard grounder to the shortstop scoring Fort and advancing Martini to third. Li’l Rads walked and Flandog turned it up a notch by nailing the ball to score Martini.

Determined to match our tally, Old School also batted eight hitters in the inning but only recorded three runs making the score 4-3.

Over the next three innings, the volume was turned down low on both sides with a single from Pastor Ted and a double by JD but no runs for either team

We tracked three more in the fifth inning. Pastor Ted led us off with a shot up the middle. Kevin reprised his first inning hit to put men on one and two. Rads hit a ball that was hard to handle to load up the bases. Fort drove in two with a liner to left center. Martini punched the ball through the infield to load up the bases again. JD singled to drive in Rads for the third run of the inning.

In the sixth inning, our special guest duo, Sawdey and Crawford, amplified our lead. Sawdey rocketed a ball to right field, and then Crawford bashed the ball over the left fielder’s head for a double that scored Sawdey all the way from first base.

In the top of the last inning we added one with a Rads single, Fort fielder’s choice, Martini double, JD single, and a Li’l Rads RBI.

In the bottom of the seventh, Old School had their last raps and got a man on base. Then a Flandog to Fort to Li’l Rads double play got us a two-for-Tuesday double play. Fort finished the game by catching a hot hit.

Cougars win 9-3!

A mixtape is a musical love letter to your crush and the blog is a weekly love letter to the Cougars.

Are mixtapes really about the music? Are the Cougars really about the softball?

Of course! Each are compilations of greatest hits and played with all our heart.