Hello. Barrett’s Barleycorn?
Is it true there are several delivery trucks of food and drink making runs to your location in Omaha?
I’m sure you’ve heard – the LSU Tigers are returning to Omaha for the College World Series. All your favorite fans are heading for your location to lift a glass in celebration of a season full of wonderful storylines.
My 25 years at LSU has allowed me to see a lot of regionals and in later years the Super Regionals at both the old Alex Box Stadium and now Alex Box Stadium Skip Bertman Field. I know the old Box was special and goodness knows there were several amazing games played at that venerable place, but I’m in love with our present baseball home.
How about 11,000-plus in actual attendance each night? How about single-game records for actual attendance that last one night? How about most of you came back after the 50-plus minute whatever you want to call that thing that stopped the game? And finally, how about the noise on both nights?
One Oklahoma fan told one of our media staff how impressed he was with things at the new Box and how close the atmosphere was to Omaha. Now the LSU atmosphere is returning to Omaha, but at a new location, TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.
Funny, like the new box isn’t the old box and vice-versa, I’m sure there are folks in Omaha who are pretty sure the new TD isn’t the old Rosenblatt and vice versa. But the modern amenities and the need for the city of Omaha to keep the CWS in their city outweighed the charm of Rosenblatt and its legendary past.
So that will be part of the new adventure that the fans and players will get to experience on this trip to Omaha, the new ball park in downtown.
Think Omaha isn’t ready for the Tigers to get back to town. Check out Omaha.com, the website of the Omaha World Herald, and the headline on the Super Regional wrap up says it all “Geaux-ing to Omaha.” Hello Omaha. The Tigers are on the way.
And it will be by plane, car and RV with tailgating materials attached and enough food to feed an army that the LSU fans will roll and folks in Omaha are hoping they can share in the bounty as well. I’m sure fans are already checking out the RV situation around the new park. Maybe one day while in town some of the cooks will take some of the Cajun delicacies over to the old Rosenblatt neighbor and look up some of the folks who were regulars at the old place. If nothing else, take a visit to what’s left of the old place by the zoo, the “Infield At The Zoo.” There are a few memories that will be worth remembering and sharing with others.
Coach Paul Mainieri said he was tired of hearing that this senior class would have been the first not to go to Omaha if the dreaded worst had happened this weekend. But for this senior class to be here to have the last chance to go to Omaha is the story. The sacrifices and the decisions that young people had to make and the extra work they had to put in to be a part of the story of this 2013 season is what impresses me.
There was something about this team from right at the beginning that you could sense from this team. I know those of you who were there game after game saw if from the beginning as well. Good teams find ways to win. Great teams find ways to win games in impossible situations. This 2013 team has passed the good team status. The super regional win puts them in a high level of very good. Omaha could make them not just great, it could make them one of LSU’s most famous World Series teams.
I’m sure that last statement will provoke a few arguments because comparing national championship teams can be very difficult, but the chance to join the argument is right there for this 2013 team to capture.
I’m sure also every player has new friends they didn’t know they had wanting tickets and gifts from Omaha. The teams that win the World Series understand that this is a business trip. There is time for family and friends but there is a reason they are taking this trip and I know the Coach will have that discussion with the guys when the time is right.
There is a created Twitter hashtag of “Geauxmaha.” I think I’m a little partial to one on a billboard today I saw “Eauxmaha.” Both work pretty well.
Since it was written in 1999 by Todd Thibaud for the CWS and ESPN, I have loved “Back Home in Omaha.” It’s a song that captures the spirit of the game, the place and in some ways the LSU experience in Omaha. Love those lines like …
Well we took the field on a perfect day,
It was right out of a dream
Never seen a sky so crystal clear,
Never walked on grass so green
And in the stands when they clapped their hands,
Well I could feel it in my chest …
And feels so good to breath the
Air back home in Omaha
…’Cause there’s a dream in every glove,
There’s a wish on every ball
And once again they’ll make their
Name back home in Omaha
… “When it all comes down to the final round
I’ll be right here on this hill
Yeah me and the boys are gonna make
Some noise and give this crowd a thrill
So raise that flag, sing that song and
Throw me out a brand new ball
And there’s nowhere I’d rather be
Than back home in Omaha.
Congratulations guys. This is a trip to Omaha you richly deserve. Take it in and enjoy every minute. The LSU fans are coming (some are probably on the way). We are all set to be “Back Home in Omaha.”