Omaha, NE

Kevin Costner could be just the push fans of Rosenblatt Stadium need to help keep their park. When talking to the Omaha World Herald, Jason Smith (who is an organizer for the Save Rosenblatt campaign) said, “Short of Babe Ruth, he’s kind of the ultimate superstar as far as baseball.” The group is hoping Costner will appear in a commercial designed to sway voters towards saving the stadium and renovating it rather than tearing it down for a rebuild in the NoDo area.

Whether the group actually gets Costner or they find some college and pro players to help with the cause, the group has to move fast, as the official NCAA response to a stadium downtown is expected next month.

This weekend I was lucky enough to get to a College World Series game, and had a great time. It’s nice to live in Omaha, because many businesses give tickets to employees, and many families and friends buy season tickets to the two-week event, so there’s always a way to get out of sitting in general admission (and standing in that horrid line to get in). I went to the Miss St vs. Carolina game, and while it was super hot, the breeze was nice and i got to take a few decent pictures.

Any attempt to park close to the stadium is insanity, so most people who have been to a game once or twice know to find parking in the neighborhoods surrounding the stadium. And if you park to the north, chances are you’ll see the above sign as you walk towards the stadium.

The afformentioned general admission line. Now, I went on a Friday night, but if you go to a game during the week during the day, the line is nowhere near this bad.

Finally, this statue is a constant reminder to all those in Omaha of the tradition that oozes out of this stadium. After these two whirlwind weeks, when all the college baseball fans head back home with fond memories of Rosenblatt and Omaha, we are left to go back to our minor league games. But we’ll always have this statue, just outside the front gates, to remind us of our two weeks of baseball glory every year.

College World Series, baseball, Rosenblatt, Omaha

CWS Day One!

And that photo at the top? It’s a great picture of the fireworks, taken last night from the rooftop of one of the downtown apartments!