Missing College World Series as a rite of summers past

By Ed Daniels, Sports

A colleague and I were headed to a pair of high school football workouts last Friday when I had a recollection of a place that seemed so far away.

This was the day for practice for the College World Series (CWS) in Omaha. Play was scheduled to start on Saturday.

In March, as sports shut down due to the coronavirus, the gravity hit home when the NCAA canceled the College World Series. There were still three months before the CWS happened, but it was gone.

Omaha had become a regular spot in many of my summers. In 1984, then UNO baseball coach Ron Maestri smoked a victory cigar in front of the scoreboard at Privateer Park.

It said simply: “College World Series bound.” Nothing else needed to be said.

You go to Omaha, you have had a special season.

“You will love it there,” said Maestri to a young reporter.

He was right. In 2017, our last trip, the weather in southeast Nebraska was cool and crisp. The steak restaurants were still very good and very inexpensive.

And, the local establishments were happy as can be. LSU, and its rabid fans, were back in Omaha.

The CWS has changed over the years. When the event moved from Rosenblatt Stadium to downtown, it seemed that tradition was gone, along with home runs.

Rosenblatt was in a neighborhood. A fabulous ice cream place was no more than a few hundred yards from home plate. King Kong burgers were across the street.

Every year, when I go back, I go back to the spot of the old park. I can still look down the right field line in the miniature stadium and see Warren Morris’ home run reaching the first row of seats to beat Miami in 1996.

It was Morris’ first home run of the year.

Omaha made many legends over the years, but none more than Skip Bertman. He was five for five in single-elimination championship games at Rosenblatt.

The Skipper was Omaha. If you needed to get to the front of the line at a certain Omaha steakhouse, mention his name. The door to the magic kingdom suddenly opened.

Over the years, the NCAA made the event longer. Because of the double-elimination tournament, teams could be in Omaha two weeks to win a title. That is too long.

In 2009, LSU and Texas played a three-game title series. I arrived home to realize I was gone long enough for chinch bugs to about eat my entire front lawn.

In 2017, the two weeks in the perfect weather flew by. Omaha was not only fun, it was normal.

On Sunday morning, I had my routine. Get up very early, get a walk in and head to the same Catholic church downtown. St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church is a beautiful, welcoming place. It was almost like I was a parishioner.

As a College World Series devotee and exile, three years away seem like a very long time.

Ed Daniels is sports director of ABC26 WGNO. He can be reached at [email protected].