Whenever the dual facts that I am both from
Omaha and an avid baseball fan present themselves, the immediate reaction is a
question to gauge how awesome I think the College World Series is. Much to
their surprise/dismay I inform them I’m somewhere between disinterested and
indifferent to the subject. In fact, in 7 of the last 11 years I’ve left
Omaha during CWS time to see baseball elsewhere. This is largely due to mid
June being interleague time; as someone nowhere near a team cross league play
facilitates easier travel. That said, missing the CWS is never a concern in my
mind.
There is no one reason
I’m an Omaha based baseball heretic. Aside from baseball I’m more of a college
sports fan in all arenas. I enjoy the scouting aspect of college ball and find
it fascinating looking back and seeing that some of my favorite current players
(Tim Hudson and David Ross to name a few) played ever so briefly in my home
city. But for whatever reason I can’t get in to the spectacle.
Through very unscientific introspection I’ve identified three reasons:
1) The game
15-13 slugfests between tired players featuring a dozen (mostly abused)
pitchers and the obligatory waste of an out bunts does not appeal to me. I’m
probably a snob, (ok, I’m certainly a snob) but this brand of arena baseball
does not fit within my view of quality.
There are three types of CWS fans. There are the team fans, which come from all
corners of the nation, mostly on a whim, to cheer on their native sons. They’re
awesome. Another group is the baseball aficionados who love the spirit of the
game and college athletics. Definitely the minority, but still awesome. Then
there are the remainder. The primarily young, certainly inebriated, loud and
rowdy party people that dominate the bleachers and beer lines. They’re the
biggest fan ever of (insert team name here) even though they couldn’t name a
player on said team, and in the instance of private schools (Stanford, Rice,
etc…) couldn’t locate their fave school on the map. The undying 2 week long (or
until their team is elminated, in which case they were always really fans of
"insert non eliminated team here") fandom is generally picked at
random, unless South Carolina is playing, in which case everyone is a SC fan,
because we can all giggle saying ‘Cocks! The cleatchasers are out in full
effect, as well as the bros looking to chill. The atmosphere is that of an
outdoor music festival, not like the pinnacle of collegiate athletics. If you
put two AAU teams out on the field they wouldn’t notice. I’m surely a Debbie
Downer, party pooper, and drastically stereotyping, but I feel more reverence
should be paid to the sanctity of the game.
For over 140 years, baseball was intended to be played with bats made of wood
from trees, felled by man. Not from an aluminum alloy made in a lab. Period.
So there’s that. To all my Omaha peeps, enjoy the Series. I’ll be out of town
watching better baseball.
There is no one reason I’m an Omaha based baseball heretic. Aside from baseball I’m more of a college sports fan in all arenas. I enjoy the scouting aspect of college ball and find it fascinating looking back and seeing that some of my favorite current players (Tim Hudson and David Ross to name a few) played ever so briefly in my home city. But for whatever reason I can’t get in to the spectacle.
Through very unscientific introspection I’ve identified three reasons:
1) The game
15-13 slugfests between tired players featuring a dozen (mostly abused) pitchers and the obligatory waste of an out bunts does not appeal to me. I’m probably a snob, (ok, I’m certainly a snob) but this brand of arena baseball does not fit within my view of quality.
There are three types of CWS fans. There are the team fans, which come from all corners of the nation, mostly on a whim, to cheer on their native sons. They’re awesome. Another group is the baseball aficionados who love the spirit of the game and college athletics. Definitely the minority, but still awesome. Then there are the remainder. The primarily young, certainly inebriated, loud and rowdy party people that dominate the bleachers and beer lines. They’re the biggest fan ever of (insert team name here) even though they couldn’t name a player on said team, and in the instance of private schools (Stanford, Rice, etc…) couldn’t locate their fave school on the map. The undying 2 week long (or until their team is elminated, in which case they were always really fans of "insert non eliminated team here") fandom is generally picked at random, unless South Carolina is playing, in which case everyone is a SC fan, because we can all giggle saying ‘Cocks! The cleatchasers are out in full effect, as well as the bros looking to chill. The atmosphere is that of an outdoor music festival, not like the pinnacle of collegiate athletics. If you put two AAU teams out on the field they wouldn’t notice. I’m surely a Debbie Downer, party pooper, and drastically stereotyping, but I feel more reverence should be paid to the sanctity of the game.
For over 140 years, baseball was intended to be played with bats made of wood from trees, felled by man. Not from an aluminum alloy made in a lab. Period.
So there’s that. To all my Omaha peeps, enjoy the Series. I’ll be out of town watching better baseball.
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