In June of 2013, Michael Boerner was watching college baseball on his iPad while at a conference in San Diego. His alma mater, Mississippi State, was unexpectedly one of the hottest teams in the country, and the Bulldogs were cruising through the postseason, already deep into a College World Series run.
Boerner, an architect for Wier, Boerner, Allin in Jackson, Mississippi, was due to fly back home as soon as the conference ended. But when his iPad showed his team win yet another game and clinch an appearance in the Championship Series – the first time MSU had ever played for a National Championship in any sport – Boerner called his associates at the firm to make a change of plans.