Monday Night Baseball

On Monday night, Katie and I went to a College World Series game...our last at Rosenblatt Stadium.

The men's NCAA Division I College World Series is held in Omaha every year. (Perhaps you've heard the phrase 'Road to Omaha' in the context of college baseball.) It has been played in Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium for the past 60 years. Unfortunately, Rosenblatt is being replaced by a new stadium next year. It is still in Omaha...but it's just not the same. It seems like the city is divided - some of the residents are happy about the new stadium in its new downtown location, and some are disappointed to see a piece of Omaha history go. I have to say, I'm pretty sad about it. Plus, the new stadium is so close to my house that traffic will be a nightmare when the CWS is in town. :/

There is no alcohol allowed/served at these games, which I knew but still found surprising somehow. I mean, beer is a big part of baseball! However, they are allowed to serve nachos.

Unfortunately, I have to count shredded iceberg lettuce, olives, pickled jalapenos, and salsa as vegetables at the ballpark. Totally worth it.

We had pretty good seats along the 3rd baseline. Since it was an evening game, the sun was setting behind us so we had a good view of the field and we weren't hot at all.

Farewell, Rosenblatt! You will be missed!!

Monday night was the first of the championship games. They play best of 3, and South Carolina had a strong win. I was routing for UCLA, but only because  I have friends studying there. In fact, these friends couldn't care less about baseball and probably had no idea UCLA had made it to the end and were playing in Omaha! Anyway, neither of the teams had won a CWS before, so it was exciting because I LOVE underdogs!

On Tuesday I went to the gym for a run and was surprised that the 2nd championship game was still being played at 10:00pm. I picked a treadmill in front of a TV showing the game, and churned out 5 miles at a 9:15 pace while the game went into extra innings. South Carolina ended up with another win - for the trophy - in the bottom of the 11th inning. Pretty exciting...and great entertainment for an otherwise boring treadmill run!