When College Baseball Fans Die...

...they go to Omaha. Or so I'd like to believe.

My friend Alex and I made the trek to Omaha last Friday morning with some fellow Dawg Fans. The group was a motley crew fused together by our love for Georgia baseball and the trip marked a historic unification of the "Left Field Lounge" and the "Right Field Guys" as we've recently been titled. 

We arrived Saturday morning after a night in St. Joseph's, Missouri and were greeted by several players at their (and our) hotel in Omaha. Though our room was not ready immediately, we made ourselves at home without hesitation. 

We checked our bags and made our way to Famous Dave's for a bite to eat before heading out in search of an illusive tailgating location. If you have yet to make the visit, Rosenblatt Stadium is set on the ledge of a grass hill in a residential neighborhood outside of the city's downtown. 

For five dollars, we parked in a field behind a local home and promptly started the festivities. Little did we know the Bulldogs would make the trip worthwhile less than 5 hours later. The team won its opening game over the CWS's #1 seeded Miami Hurricanes with late inning heroics and impressive bullpen performances by Alex McCree, Dean Weaver, and Joshua Fields. 

Sunday morning came after a night on the town in the Old Market District. I looked at Alex and mumbled, "I can't believe we beat the Hurricanes" and without hesitation he agreed. 

The Dawgs had one foot in summer vacation and wood-bat leagues when they trailed Louisville in Athens a mere two weeks before. Now they sat--with Stanford--atop Bracket 1 in the famed 'Blatt. 

The day passed oh so quickly as we relived the day before with players, their parents and other Bulldog faithful. By 7pm, the only thing left to do was eat dinner and sport our red and black around town for another night. So, as we were in Omaha, we went out for a steak that lived up to its billing with several of the players and their families.

This experience alone made it a trip for the ages. Rarely does a fan get to spend quality time with the individuals who perform on athletic stages such as the one in Omaha. We told some of our stories and heard even more of theirs. We described our emotions during the regional and super-regional rounds and they let us into their world as Division I baseball players.

Monday evening and our victory over Stanford will go down as a memory to share with the grandkids. We sat with friends and guests of the team behind the Georgia dugout and we were amazed at the way Omaha had embraced our Bulldogs. 

It is Rosenblatt tradition to measure the support of each team before the game. The announcer came over the loudspeaker and explained the tradition before asking, "so let's hear it from our Stanford fans...". Applause and cheers scattered from around the stadium before the announcer asked for the same from the Georgia fans. 

Standing, the Georgia section around us exploded in yells and applause. Suddenly, however, our noise merely served as motivation for the baseball fans who chose Georgia as their team for the evening. Several players told us after the game that they would remember that moment for the rest of their careers.

--before going on further I should explain that our matchup with Miami won the hearts and support of Nebraska fans in the stadium. One yearly visitor to Rosenblatt stated it best when he told me, "we don't really hate Miami...we just want them to lose every time they take the field." Alex and I joked about football rivalries and how they never died. This fact played out in our favor in Omaha.

We as Georgia fans now sit back in Athens with our Diamond Dawgs in the drivers seat. They are 2-0 with fresh bodies for their Friday evening matchup against the winner of the Miami/Stanford game Wednesday night. The way our pitchers are throwing and our bats seem to hit at opportune times, it will be a challenge for either of those teams to beat us the necessary two times in order to send us packing.

I'll leave you with two challenges:

1. Make it to Omaha for the CWS once in your life whether UGA is playing or not.

2. Tune in (in person or on TV/Radio broadcasts) Friday to see this team in action. They truly are making a magical run.

Above are some photos I took throughout the trip. There will be more to come later in the week but these are the only ones on my computer at the moment. 

Go Dawgs!