Utah run is one for the scrapbooks

If you followed Utah's baseball odyssey all season from the start (yeah, right), or just jumped on board, you know it's been a Hollywood story — and a fairly cheesy one at that.

Through a strange confluence of events, a club that hasn't won half its games made it to the NCAA Tournament and actually won. The media has dutifully covered the story for two reasons. First, there's not much else going on. The Jazz are still weeks away from the draft and the playoffs are long gone. And second, it's a pretty compelling story.

How often does Utah get invited to the NCAA baseball regionals?

Every 49 years, as a point of fact.

Last time Utah made the NCAA Tourney, Joe Torre was a rookie.

So get your tickets for the 2058 NCAA Baseball Tournament while they last.

Then there's that other thing: They're still alive. They opened NCAA play, Friday, with an 18-2 loss to Fullerton but followed that with an improbable 11-10 comeback win over Georgia Southern, Saturday. Are the Utes actually good? They can't be. They've lost 30 games.

This whole thing reminds me of those Facebook glamor shots.

They're not nearly as amazing in person.

That's not to dismiss Utah's effort getting there and winning a game. It's an inspiring story, really, a bolt out of the blue, er, red. Ever see someone get rich or famous and say, "I never dreamed this could happen to me!" That's the Utes. They came for the popcorn and ended up becoming a part of the show.

After losing 10 straight games at one point, they claimed five of six to gain the Mountain West Conference's automatic bid. Their pre-NCAA record was a shaky 26-29.

Didn't matter.

As your mother always said, it's not what others think, it's what YOU believe.

Good thing, because who else is going to get behind the Utes?

Oh, right. Their mothers.

The reason for such skepticism is because Utah baseball — like most low priority college teams — has little chance of ever really growing. It has a minimal operating budget. Title IX — right or wrong — spelled the death of men's sports such as wrestling and track, and limited others.

Ute baseball has only a few scholarships to split among its 32 players.

Winning in cold-weather climates is difficult, anyway. No right-minded college pitcher is going to play half his games in a place where they could use space heaters in the dugout. Then there are the facilities. Utah plays home games at Spring Mobile Ballpark or Lindquist Field in Ogden.

When you don't have your own stadium, every game is a road trip.