Back from Omaha

P

pike

250+ Posts
Jungmann was on our flight back last night. He signed a bunch of autographs and was really nice to all the fans. I hope he keeps that attitude when he makes it big. He will be a good representative of the university.

We had a great time. zesto was great but was unfortunately on of the main highlights of the trip!

The ballpark and atmosphere was awesome. Transportation was cheap and quick. Easy walk to the bars afterwards. No complaints about the venue change whatsoever.

The flooding is scary. I was amazed at how close the river is to the top of the levees. It is only supposed to get worse.

The only sour note I witnessed about the team was their complete lack of emotion. The Texas fans were pumped. The team seemed to expect to lose. Also JBrent cox still in the casino when I left at 2 am the night before game 2. Good thing he is only responsible for coaching and motivating the team. I'm sure he more than capable of doing that on no sleep.

pike
 
From what I could see on tv nobody was dialed in during either game. Pitching, coaching, batting, base running.

I was hoping to see a pitching change earlier in game 1 because he was missing the target and was showing no sign of recovering. The gators are just too good for a coach to rely on the percentages at that point.

And in game 2, I just don't see how a base runner on second can take off for third on that flat drive to right. His brain should be thinking freeze, especially when down by more than 1 run.
 
my observation was based on watching them after giving up the 2 early runs to Florida.From then on out It seemed like they were not talking, cheering, or even overly interested in the games.
 
Also just returned. Some observations...

TD Ameritrade - went in expecting to dislike it, but I don't. It's no Rosenblatt, but it is a beautiful park with nice atmosphere.

Parking - $10/day. 3 blocks from stadium if you didn't prepurchase parking in a Pass Lot.

Traffic around park - no problems at all. Police ready to direct traffic, but didn't need to.

Anti-Texas sentiment - PLENTY. I was informed that Texas sucks 10+ times before and after games ( even when the Horns weren't playing). After game 2 when it was announced that Texas had been eliminated, there was an eruprion of applause so loud, you'd think the home team had just hit a game-winning home run. Not knowing I was from Texas, the ticket agent at the airport expressed his pleasure in how many Longhorn fans were leaving early. Even had a couple from NY on the flight leaving Omaha with the Longhorn logo X'd out on their CWS t-shirts.

If this were my first CWS experience, I would wonder about what everybody had been raving about.

Overall - I would rate my experience a 6.5/10.
 
Much of that negative feeling is just Nebraska people. I think it is safe to say that Texas, particularly since Augie has taken over, is probably the most hated program in Omaha and among college baseball fans. It was not always that way when Gus coached. It took me a long time to understand this, but there are a number of reasons why college baseball fans don't care for our coach and many of them seem legitimate. I am not saying I always agree because I don't, but rational intelligent people can find alot to dislike about our brand.
 
The hatred really got worse after we started beating them in football. I noticed a big difference from 1993 the first time I went to 2006 the last year I went. Even the Nebraska people we tailgated with treated us differently.
 
Just back myself. It's clear that the locals' view towards longhorn fans has taken a turn for the worse. When I first came up in 2002, the local cornhusker fans were all for their fellow Big 12 school. Now? The hatred is palpable.

On the stadium: It is very well built, quality job. Every seat has a great view of the field, even the ones on the third deck, which had some of the best views in the house.

My problem with the stadium is, there's no there there. It has like 8 separate entrances all around and completely lacks focus. The ticket window is a block away from the entrance with the famous "Road to Omaha" statue. Also, there's no real neighborhood in the vicinity, just parking lots with vendors who all sell the same licensed merchandise.

What needs to happen is they need to build up a "Main Street" outside the stadium to serve as the focal point for fans coming into the game, shopping, etc.. This is what 13th St. outside Rosenblatt served as until this year. It would be nice to see actual businesses -- preferably local ones, not just the officially licensed vendors of overpriced tshirts.

For Texas fans, I also think the city needs a few years to cool down their UT hatred so they can begin to focus their anger on fans who deserve it. (I'm talking to you, Ohio State.)
 
2002 was great!! This year not so much.
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Sorry I was not clearer. I did not mean to suggest that the bug eaters were the reasonable intelligent people. I was talking about College baseball fans in general whose attitude towards Augie, and thus Texas, has really soured over the years. He has always had his detractors, but passive respect seems to have turned into contempt.
 
Like, why? Exactly what has Augie done to college baseball, besides win, and give opponents credit when they win?
 
Reading here, and having read the linked article about sagging sales around TD Ameritrade during the CWS, I think I just took the CWS off my bucket list. I know I shouldn't let the behavior of others keep me from someday experiencing the CWS, but something tells me that the way it is now is not how it was when I first really wanted to go. I don't need a trip to Bountiful.

I guess I'm just too old to put up with the boorish booing of a team that you're not even playing; too old to understand how the reiteration of fact becomes arrogance; and too old to waste my time with those who can't appreciate the game for what it is, and for what the players bring to it.

hookem.gif
 
it is still totally worth the trip imo. We have made it an annual trip for the last 3 years and don't have plans to stop now. I don't mind being hated by fans. Businesses were happy to see Texas money and were very respectful to us.

Pike
 
I had two teams to root for (Cal and UT). I noticed that during my days in blue and gold, I was treated substantially better by locals and businesses alike. It's obvious from the news articles that business owners are happy to have Texas fans (and their dollars), but that attitude doesn't necessarily translate to the staff.

I don't relish being treated like an enemy while I subsidize the local tourism industry. Next summer, when the Horns are battling their way through Omaha, I'll be enjoying the cool Colorado Rockies, where they keep their Texas hatred to themselves.
 
Very interesting to be living in OK and be treated very well even while dressed in Horn gear. No comments, no jackassery etc. My son and I went to a basketball game a few years back cloaked in burnt orange head to toe and were still invited into a Sooner season ticket holder pregame party with free booze and food. Sat down and had good fun and conversation. Mostly just occasional comments made in fun - both ways I might add. Who would have thought it possible. To hell with haters.
hookem.gif
 
Although I look forward to CWS each year I have no desire to ever visit Omaha and spend money to be around a bunch of bitter huskers and/or other haters. So what if the town "adopts" an underdog or "great story" each year and celebrates every Texas loss. Our team and coach have done nothing other than produce good, competitive baseball for many years.

I still get pissed thinking about the 2004 trophy fiasco where an assistant Husker AD shows up at our locker room door 20 minutes after we had left the field and are in the showers and asks Augie to come out and accept the 2nd place trophy in this new "second place ceremony" the dufus head just dreamed up.

I would rather sit at home and enjoy some good baseball and talk about plays and players with my sons.

They will soon enough get a taste of the occasional haters by going to in-state games and learn how to laugh it off and ignore the jackassery.
 
They'll realize soon enough how they could have had it made in the big 12. They can't seem to get away from the big 8 days of playing one good team a year. At least ou played us every year too.
 
In a few years, once the longhorn network has become entrenched enough to be grandfathered in to deals, we'll either join the Pac-X or the Big12 joins the Big10.

I'm hoping for the Pac-X but I would laugh my *** off when we get to go back to cornholing the huskers again on a regular basis.
 
I spoke to quite a few husker fans while in Omaha. They were cautiously optimistic about their chances in their new league. Some seemed to be looking in their rearview mirror.

Regarding our Horns... I will echo that they appeared to be going through the motions, particularly in the second game. Heck, they were in the game most of the way if they could just generate some offense.

Glad to hear that Jungmann was cordial with fans on the way home. He truly has been a great player for Texas and I wish him the best.

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