Exit 13 is Looking to Adopt! And We Need Your Help
Because Exit 13 is a small-scale, amateur publication, we don’t feel the pressure to try to present our stories in an unbiased manner like larger, national publications do. If you follow us on Twitter, you know that we didn’t hold back our feelings about the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers winning the College World Series (if you don’t follow us on Twitter, you’re missing out). You might wonder why the staff of a small blog headquartered in suburban Georgia would be so excited to see a mid-major school from Conway, South Carolina win it all, and the answer is simple: we’ve adopted the Chants.
Reading that probably popped another question into your mind: Why would Exit 13 “adopt” the Coastal Carolina University baseball team? The answer to that question is also simple: we see ourselves in them.
Much like Coastal Carolina University, the average American has probably never heard of us, but both of our local fan-bases are strong supporters. Much like Coastal’s baseball team, we produce what we believe, and what our fans believe, to be high quality content that is worthy of recognition. Much like the Chants, we believe in ourselves and what we are doing, and we don’t care about the odds against us. Much like CCU, our main color is a shade of green.
The Chanticleers’ story has inspired us here at Exit 13 to find and adopt other teams in other sports that follow the Coastal/Exit 13 model: teams that aren’t national powerhouses yet quietly churn out quality production in preparation for their big break.
College Basketball
We here at Exit 13 have already decided on a team to adopt for college basketball: the Lumberjacks of Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas.
I personally adopted the Jacks prior to March Madness 2014 (and subsequently created the hashtag #ChoppinDownTheTourney) and they rewarded me by beating 5 seed VCU as a 12 seed. SFA’s win was considered an upset, but those in the know shouldn’t have been too surprised.
The Jacks had compiled a 31–2 record coming into that game, including going undefeated in Southland conference play. The Jacks knew how to win. They also knew that the national media wouldn’t give them much attention, and they’d have to keep winning until they finally got their chance in the Big Dance. Had SFA somehow slipped up and lost to Sam Houston State in the conference championship game that year, they wouldn’t have been able to play in the NCAA tournament, despite having one of the best regular seasons in college basketball that year. The Jacks didn’t crack under pressure against VCU, another mid-major, but one with a more decorated history and stronger track record than SFA at that point.
It’s 2016 now, and SFA has continued to be a force to be reckoned with, having won three straight Southland titles, and almost reaching the Sweet Sixteen in last year’s NCAA Tournament. The Jacks know that they won’t be expected to repeat that same success this year, what with their head coach Brad Underwood taking on the same position at Oklahoma State, and their best player and seasoned leader Thomas Walkup having graduated, but the Jacks have never been a team to worry much over national opinion. They’re going to continue to do what they know how to do, and that’s win basketball games.
College Football
Loyal Exit 13 follower David Stein suggested on Twitter that we adopt the Kennesaw State University football team as one of our own, which caused Exit 13 staffer Colin Masterson to remark, “I don’t hate D Stein’s choice”, and I agree with Colin.
Kennesaw State could be a good fit for us for a few reasons. KSU is local, which means the Exit 13 staff could actually take in some of the Owls’ games if we so pleased. Kennesaw State exceeded expectations last season, posting a 6–5 record in its inaugural campaign, including a hard fought battle against Pioneer Football League co-champion Dayton, a 10-win team that made the FCS Playoffs. Considering it was the Owls’ first season of varsity-level football and they play in one of the FCS’ tougher conferences, that’s not a bad season at all. The Owls and Exit 13 also share the distinction of being new kids on the block. As the Kennesaw State football program continues to grow, we too will grow right along with them.
What are some other overlooked programs we here at Exit 13 should consider adopting? Let us know on Twitter. Bonus points for suggestions of giant killers in obscure sports, such as the Michigan women’s water polo team, or the Central Missouri women’s bowling team.
