Mark Bennett: Cheers to TCU fans rallying to support Special Olympics Indiana

Jun. 7—The fans of Texas Christian University's baseball program have crafted a textbook example for making the best of a difficult situation.

Especially when that predicament was happening 857 miles away in Terre Haute, Indiana.

TCU fans responded magnificently to Indiana State University's decision not to host this weekend's super regional round of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament.

Both Texas Christian and Indiana State advanced to college baseball's Sweet Sixteen by winning NCAA regionals last weekend. The next step — the super regionals — involve a best-of-three-games series at eight different sites around the country. The tournament bracket pitted the Sycamores against the Horned Frogs in a super regional series that could've been played in Terre Haute, given that ISU is seeded higher than TCU.

ISU declined to host the super regional, after the university had hosted the five-day Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and six-game NCAA regional on the preceding weeks, the latter of which drew a total attendance of 11,783 fans.

Thus, ISU and TCU will play at the Horned Frogs' home field, Lupton Baseball Stadium, in Fort Worth on Friday, Saturday and possibly Sunday.

Athletic Director Sherard Clinkscales called that decision "excruciating," citing conflicting overlap with the Special Olympics Indiana Summer Games. ISU, its staff and the city of Terre Haute have served as host site of that wonderful event — a community gem — for more than a half century, and Clinkscales said he decided ISU couldn't deliver on that standing commitment while simultaneously hosting the super regional at a level worthy of both.

That move, announced Monday, understandably sparked waves of disappointment and criticism online from the ISU and Terre Haute communities — an uproar that shouldn't continue to overshadow the excitement ahead for the Sycamores, the stellar atmosphere at Bob Warn Field for the MVC and regional tourneys, and the value of the Special Olympics.

TCU fans followed the situation from afar. They came up with their own grassroots response.

They began urging donations to Special Olympics Indiana. It caught on.

By Wednesday morning, those donations exceeded $30,000, said Carla Knapp, director of marketing and communications for Special Olympics Indiana. Those included more than 650 individual donors across 37 states, "but primarily Texas," Knapp explained.

The gesture caught the Special Olympics Indiana team by surprise.

"Absolutely, this was very unexpected," Knapp said Wednesday morning, "but we are truly grateful for the outpouring of support that we've received. That money is going to allow us to provide sports, fitness and leadership opportunities for the athletes and for programs across the state."

Those donations couldn't have come at a more important moment — just days before the Special Olympics Indiana Summer Games, which runs Friday through Sunday (the exact timespan of the NCAA super regional) in Terre Haute. "It's our signature event for the year," Knapp said.

And, it should be considered the same for Terre Haute.

The Summer Games bring 2,100 Special Olympians, more than 1,000 coaches, another 1,500 volunteers and the athletes' families and caregivers to the city. "All of these folks are going to be coming to Terre Haute for three days of competition and festivities," Knapp said.

The athletes — children and adults with intellectual disabilities — will compete at seven different venues on the ISU and Rose-Hulman campuses, as well as local bowling alleys in Terre Haute, just as they've done almost every year since 1971. The opening ceremony in Hulman Center, beginning with the Parade of Athletes at 7 p.m. Friday will draw "thousands and thousands of people," Knapp said, "to celebrate these athletes."

Incredibly, most of the donors responding to the furor on social media over super regional site decision have never seen the Special Olympics unfold in Terre Haute. They gave anyway.

The contributors include members of the Lupton Drinking Club, a small group of TCU baseball backers that enjoy a few beers and cheering alongside fellow supporters at Horned Frogs games. They emphasized, the LDC takes "zero credit" for initiating the donation effort.

"The change in super regional venue was a shock to TCU fans and quickly met with conflicting emotions," club spokesman Kyle Mulloy told the Tribune-Star via email Tuesday night. "On one hand we were thrilled because postseason baseball at Lupton is revered while also saddened that Terre Haute wouldn't be able to experience their (well deserved) opportunity to host."

They decided to help make the best of a difficult situation.

"Immediately, though, there was a sense from many Frog fans on Twitter that while a super regional cannot be replaced, we could certainly offer an olive branch," Mulloy said. "Giving back to Special Olympics Indiana was the obvious choice. And before we sent out the tweet, donations had already been given."

The LDC urged its few thousand followers to pitch in. "We thought, let's take this great idea and run with it," Mulloy said.

The team at Special Olympics Indiana got wind of the drive. "Since we've become aware of fans' social media campaign, we've been tracking it," Knapp said. "It's a huge help."

Mulloy and the LDC will be among the crowd in the two-deck, 4,500-seat Lupton Stadium when two of the hottest teams in college baseball, ISU (with a 45-15 season record) and TCU (40-22), begin their super regional series at 5 p.m. EDT Friday. Though LDC members are Horned Frogs diehards, they even expressed an admirable bit of baseball benevolence and advice for their Indiana State rivals.

"If TCU wasn't playing Indiana State, we'd be rooting hard for the Sycamores," Mulloy said. "Lupton isn't the size of a [Southeastern Conference] stadium, but it can be intimidating with the fans so close to the action. Official prediction: ISU wins a game, but frogs win the series 2-1."

Sycamore fans, who appear to have grown in number exponentially, would obviously disagree.

Meanwhile, the Special Olympians are headed for their own victorious moment back in Terre Haute.

Mark Bennett can be reached at 812-231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.