The Omaha Diaries, Day 3: The Center of the Universe

Chapelboro.com’s coverage of Carolina baseball in the Men’s College World Series is proudly presented by High & Rubish Insurance Agency.

Chapelboro’s Michael Koh is in Omaha to cover UNC Baseball as it plays in the Men’s College World Series. During Michael’s stay, he’ll publish a daily series featuring his thoughts and observations from Omaha, as well as his usual coverage of the team.

Day 1: The Venice of the Midwest

Day 2: Autographs

The lobby of the Hilton Omaha was an unusual sight Friday afternoon. I walked over to see the team send-off for UNC as it made the arduous two-block journey over to Charles Schwab Field for its game against Ole Miss later that night. I noticed a fair amount of Rebel fans around, but paid it little thought; Ole Miss fans travel well wherever they go.

But when I walked into the hotel, I saw a mix of both fanbases — as it turned out, UNC and Ole Miss were staying at the same place, and the Rebels had just had their send-off shortly before. Such is life when you hold a major sporting event in a relatively midsize city. You know what they say: “Keep your friends close…”

UNC fans were the clear minority, but eventually began to take over the place once the Ole Miss fans filtered out. I saw a few players standing around socializing: Gavin Gallaher taking selfies and Walker McDuffie seamlessly blending in with the “normal” people. The staff seemed a little more stressed; I don’t think general manager Carter Hicks ever stopped moving during the approximately 30 minutes I was at the hotel.

At last, the team made its way down the escalator and through the tunnel of adoring fans.

Head coach Scott Forbes brought up the rear, but not before high-fiving an especially rowdy group of supporters – He’s Not Here Blue Cups in hand – just to my right. That was my signal to leave and head to the ballpark.

I mentioned the short distance from the hotel to the stadium. The walk only takes about 10 minutes or so. But the heat of the Great Plains weighs on you (the weight of a backpack full of gear takes that literally). I was sweating through my t-shirt by the time I finally arrived at Gate 4 of Charles Schwab Field and ducked into the media entrance.

On the way, I meandered into the fan zone outside center field. It provided quite the spectacle: a GreatClips tent provided fans the opportunity to get their hair dyed in their teams’ colors. On a wiffle ball diamond, one young fan absolutely unloaded on a pitch and sent it over the left field wall.

Omaha truly felt like the center of the sports universe at that moment, but it’s far from it. A thrilling NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks has captured the imagination of basketball fans nationwide. Triangle sports fans can’t get enough of the Carolina Hurricanes, who are just one win away from their second Stanley Cup title.

And of course, there’s the biggest sporting event in the world. Right beside TVs playing the College World Series opener between Troy and West Virginia were TVs showing Canada facing Bosnia and Herzegovina in the FIFA World Cup in Toronto. The U.S. Men’s National Team’s opener against Paraguay kicked off at 9 p.m. later that night — during the latter stages of UNC’s game against Ole Miss.

All of those events carry a heavy weight on the sports calendar. And all of them will surely draw bigger television audiences than the College World Series.

But just walk a few blocks in downtown Omaha in the middle of June sometime. You’ll forget any other sports exist.

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Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter

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