Linklater's Inning By Inning World Premier at the Paramount

World Premier of Inning By Inning: A Portrait of a Coach
Tuesday, June 3rd
Paramount Theater (713 Congress Avenue)
Tickets Start at $10, 7PM
[info] | [tickets]

Having lived within 20 minutes of Disch-Falk Field our entire lives (now UFCU Disch-Falk—hooray for sponsored renovations!), with no professional baseball team within the comfort of our family truckster's reach (wood paneling barreling down I-35), the UT Longhorns became our Big Show. With Americana oozing from our burnt-orange baseball caps and ballpark nacho cheese spilling onto our well-oiled gloves, we charged the somewhat uncomfortable seats at the Disch like a recently beaned batter would the mound. When Head Coach Cliff Gustafson resigned in '96, he was the winningest coach in Division I history and we weren't sure what to expect from his replacement, until we found out that it was to be Cal State Fullerton ace Augie Garrido.

Then we knew what to expect: Championships.

The year prior to his inaugural season with the Longhorns, Garrido had led the Titans to their third NCAA Division I Championship under his tutelage, after which he was named the National Coach of the Year. In 2002 after a couple of "rebuilding" years and close calls, Garrido and his Horns gave us ballpark junkies something that we hadn't had since 1983—a National Championship of our own. And thankfully, he didn't stop there. Garrido has gone on to surpass Gustafson as the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history, and the only coach to lead teams from separate schools to 500 wins apiece.

On Tuesday night, the Austin Film Society presents this giant of college baseball's story through the lens of hometown filmmaker (and sometimes Longhorn batting practice participant) Richard Linklater, in his new documentary Inning By Inning: A Portrait of a Coach. The film features practices, team meetings and usually-unheard conversations between Garrido and his players, as well as commentary from the likes of Roger Clemens, Deloss Dodds, and Joe Jamail. Each out, each pitch, each at-bat, Garrido has guided and groomed his ballplayers to not just focus on the end game of winning, but also how to deal with inevitable defeat, teaching them along the way that if you leave everything on the field, then you are a champion no matter what the scoreboard says.

With special guest appearances by Linklater, Garrido and Mack Brown, this is definitely an experience you won't want to miss. Throw in the fact that the proceeds from the screening benefit the programs and services of the Austin Film Society and the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Capital Area, and you've got a home run of an evening. (Sorry, we couldn't help ourselves.)

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By oh, steph in Arts & Entertainment on June 2, 2008 7:05 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

oh steph

Well, it seems to me that a pattern would require something happening more than once. I am not aware of any other instances of misconduct on Coach Garrido's part, but then since I got a day job back in '03, my outings to the Disch have waned. Trust me, I completely remeber the shit-storm that hailed down on the team after this happened in '04, and I was disappointed with their behavior, but I would like to think that it wasn't intentional. I believe people should be allowed to make mistakes, even if they are big, public ones.

But I don't need to be right. Feel free to hate on!

ccosart

Um, no. "Optional" meant "well, we can't make you go". And all teams previous and since had the class and sportsmanship to go, including the runners up in Auggie's previous championships. Or the year before when Stanford lost in the final game for the second year in row - I suspect they were disappointed too - but they showed up for the awards ceremony for Rice.

Pretending they didn't understand they were supposed to be there is pure BS. They NEVER truly owned up to this classless act. The reason people keep bringing it up is because it fits a pattern of behavior.

oh steph

ccosart - now I can't speak to what happened in Omaha that day, but I believe that Garrido apologized for the misunderstanding and for not showing up to the "optional" runner up trophy ceremony. The head coach of Cal State Fullerton even defended Garrido, so I say let bygones be bygones.