Reminder about today

It's 10:30 in the morning. The Box is almost empty right now, but it won't be for long.

Game 3 of the Mississippi State-LSU series is Game 36 of the season.

Will it be the last game at The Box? We've been preparing as such for a long time, and even LSU has a sign on the outfield wall with the number 1 -- as in 1 game left at The Box.

It starts a little after 1 o'clock today.

My primary assignment today for The Advocate is to write a column for Monday's editions about this historic game. For about 47 of the 51 games so far this season, I've been able to do two jobs at once -- cover the game and keep the blog updated.

Today, I have to keep my eyes and ears open to everything around me and soak up as much atmosphere as possible. I can't do that with one eye on the game and one on my laptop computer. So, I'm going to keep blogging to a minimum until this evening, after the game, so I can give readers of The Advocate the best possible coverage in Monday's paper.

I hope you understand, and as I promised last night, I promise again today I'll give you a recap this evening or tonight.

I also wanted -- out of respect to Alex Box and his family -- to keep today's section of the blog somewhat reserved for the stories of him and the rest of the Box family. I want family members to be able to find those posts easily, and I think it's fitting on this special day I leave a special place for him to again receive a small part of the recognition he deserves.

There is plenty of Alex Box history, and lots of anecdotes on the post marked More on Alex Box, to keep you busy until I get back to you with a game recap. I hope you enjoy learning new things about Alex and, perhaps, revisiting things you already knew. I've heard this morning from people who lost family members in World War II, including in the same region where Alex died, and I know stories like these open up some emotions in people. Trust me: Working on these stories did so for me.

Take care, have a great Mother's Day, and I'll see you soon.

CD