Baseball Heaven: Why Every Sports Fan Should Experience Omaha

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I have no clue how, why, or when this glorious tradition got started, but it is without a doubt one of the most enjoyable sporting rituals I have ever seen in my life.

5) The game is tied at two going into the top of the ninth. A kid from ASU hit a two-out triple down the right field line to make it a 3-2 ballgame. ASU got the first out in the ninth, and then the Texas catcher, Cameron Rupp came up to the plate.

The guy dropped an absolute bomb.

It was a fastball, out and over the plate and Rupp got his arms extended, and absolutely murdered the ball over the wall in center, tying the game at 3.

After ASU got another out, the ninth hitter in the order came up to the plate and hit a two-out, walk-off homerun over the left field wall to send Texas to the finals of the College World Series.

It was absolute pandemonium in the stadium, and as I stood there watching the kid round the bases, I was grinning from ear to ear.

Sixteen years I had waited to come to these hallowed grounds and watch a game in the College World Series, and I just saw two of the most storied college baseball programs play an incredible ballgame, that ended with a come-from-behind walk off dinger.

You see, it's not just the baseball that made me want to make the pilgrimage so bad, it was all the other things—the little things that make an event like the CWS so special.

It's the stadium, the fans, the city, the passion, and the atmosphere. The combination of all these variables is what makes the event so great. 

It's these things that take the CWS and transform it from a baseball tournament into a destination. Before this trip, when I would ask other people who had been to the College World Series what it was like, and they would say "You just have to be there;" I didn't understand. And now that I've been there, I realize why.

I have done my best to explain it, but there is only so much of a picture that words can paint. If you really want to know what the College World Series is like, it's plain and simple…you just have to go.

I can't finish this column without once again extending my gratitude to the gentleman who provided me tickets for this game. Patrick, words cannot express how thankful I am for the seats, and I owe you.

Also, I would like to thank Katie and Jenny; two wonderful women that we met while carousing downtown Omaha on Saturday. My buddy Bill and I had the distinct pleasure of meeting these two when we were imbibing in some spirits at local Omaha watering hole, O'Connors (where both Katie and Jenny happen to work).

They treated us great, took us out to another local bar when they got done with their shift at O'Connors, and were our drinking liaisons for the evening; telling us where to go and where to avoid.

Thank you both very much, I look forward to a beer and a shot of Jameson at the LB during the CWS next year. The 2010 College World Series starts June 19 of next year—only 348 days from now.

My calendar has already been marked.

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