Greetings from Omaha

I took the plunge and made the trip to Omaha for the College World Series for the first time since 1975.

I had to work past midnight at my real job Saturday night and faced an early-morning flight out of Asheville (almost $200 cheaper than Greenville-Spartanburg for a comparable flight), so I didn't go to bed Saturday night.

It was raining when we got to Omaha, but we were able to get the Rosenblatt Stadium about 45 minutes before scheduled game time.

Much of the parking around the stadium is on the street or in private yards.

Scalpers are abundant, and there appear to be no laws limiting scalping. The first guy I went up two wanted $50 apiece for two. The price listed on the tickets was $12, so I offered him $13 apiece. He declined, so I went on. I later learned he had done a trade-in upgrade so it was really a $22 ticket.

The next offered to sell me two $22 tickets for $40 apiece. I offered $40 total.

(Remember, it was raining at the time). Another rejection.

Not far away was a guy selling general admission tickets (good for any session) for face value - $10 apiece, so I jumped on that.

I'd read that the GA section very often fills up and not everyone who wants to may be able to get in, but the guy I bought the tickets from said it wouldn't be a problem on a rainy day (he was right).

Being a regular likely makes it easier to get around. We found out the hard way that admission to the GA section involves walking up a steep grass hill (it was a serpentine path, at least) behind center field. The only problem was, there was no sign denoting that and we had to turn around from the main gate and go back to the outfield.

Of course, you know the USC/Oklahoma game was delayed by rain, then interrupted by lightning. Having had no sleep, I was pretty much a zombie by the time the game ended.

On Monday, we went back to the stadium area during the FSU/Florida game and were lucky enough to get on-street (free) parking closer to the stadium than the spot I had paid $10 for on Saturday.

There's a fan fest outside the stadium -- no game ticket required -- with amusements, food, souvenirs and other diversions.

Around the stadium area are dozens of souvenir shops, as well as places to get food and drink.

There's lots of tailgating going on. Next to a Mississippi State canopy was this sign

O le
M iss
A t
H ome
A again

"1972 ... and counting"

We did see a long queue of fans waiting to get in the GA section. I don't know if they were still hoping to get in the FSU/Florida game or in line early for TCU/UCLA.

We bought two GA tickets in advance for Tuesday. I'll give you a report on the wait.

I've taken some pictures, but my laptop doesn't have the software needed for me to download it. I'll try to share a few later.