Fun Off the Field in Omaha.

Looking back on my time in Omaha, there are so many things going on that you, the viewer on TV, can't see that make this place so much fun. Example: There are so many beach balls being bounced around in the outfield that in between innings they often fall on the field. At which time, a security guard will race as hard as he can to grab it and pop it (before one of the players can run over and throw it back up in the stands), with a shower of boos being rained down on him from the crowd. This tug of war goes on the whole game, with balls being bounced all around throughout the outfield stands, as the people laugh and cheer when the frustrated security guards just can't quite seem to grab the ball before it bounces back into the crowd, or booing crazily when they do somehow manage to catch one.
Another fun feature of Rosenblatt is the ballgirls behind the plate (again, something you can't see on TV). When a foul ball goes back, it will more often than not (unless it goes over the roof and outside the stadium) roll back down the protective netting and fall back onto the field. If you look carefully on TV, the ballgirl is inside a door right behind the plate. As soon as a ball is fouled back, she will race out of the door and run full-speed to where she believes the ball will fall. At which time, people in the front row will start pulling on the net to change the trajectory. Needless to say, in front of 25,000 people, wearing no glove, on a full sprint, with people pulling the net, this is not an easy task. However, as a fan, it is so much fun to watch! The girls will make routine catches to a nice golf clap, but more often than not, they will miss the ball, and get booed and teased incessently by the fans as they make their way back to the door behind the plate. Side note: During the LSU game, one ballgirl made a running one-handed catch just in front of their on-deck circle and it drew the greatest applause of the night! There is no doubt, it would have made the Top 10 Plays for that night on ESPN!
Finally, and who knows how this tradition started, but during the games, one group of outfield stands will begin to compete with the other to see who can tell the other group which one sucks the worst. Left field will yell, "one, two, three, RIGHT FIELD SUCKS!!!" At which time, right field will regroup and yell even louder, "one, two, three, LEFT FIELD SUCKS!!!" And this goes on the entire game. In fact, there are some times when they yell, it catches you by surprise because it is SOOO LOUD!!! There are even T-Shirts for sell in the souvenir stands that you can buy that read "Left Field Sucks" or vice versa. All the more fun if you are there.
I hope all of you readers who have read these blogs get a chance to one day see these things for themselves. There is no doubt I consider myself lucky to have had a chance to experience Omaha and Rosenblatt for myself, so tomorrow, I will give you some tips on travel should you ever get a chance to see the College World Series for yourself. Until then.