The Marks Post: I came, I saw, I was conquered

The hotel had curb appeal and a nice lobby and courtyard area around the pool, but the exterior was deceiving because the hotel itself can be best described as a “dump.”
There was no elevator, breakfast, or ice machine. The bathtub did not drain for hours. There was one working channel on the television, which was Pop. For some reason, Clueless and episodes of 1883 were in Spanish, but, at least, the closed captioning was in English.
Honestly, though, the conditions of the hotel did not really matter to me because it was in Omaha, Nebraska, for the College World Series.
Going to Omaha was always a dream of mine, and fellow LSN sportswriter and radio personality Raymond Partsch III made the 14-hour drive to cover the first two LSU games of this year’s series.
The experience changed my whole mindset of Charles Schwab Field, the series’ new downtown home. Ever since the stadium opened, I negatively compared it to Rosenblatt Stadium, the site where LSU won six national titles. But, basing judgments off of only seeing the new stadium on television is a disservice because it is a jewel when you see it in person.
As for Rosenblatt, what is left of it was just across the highway from our hotel. So, we went pay our respects to the hallowed ground. The foul poles are still standing, so we saw the area where Warren Morris hit the clinching homerun against Miami in 1996. We stood at home plate and saw the dome of Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo towering over the parking lot that is now there. There are also some of the original outfield bleachers and some of the original chairback seats. It was something to see for even the casual baseball fan.
Aside from covering LSU’s first two games in Omaha, we went to two Minor League Baseball games. As big of a baseball fan that I am, I had never been to a minor league game before.
On the drive up on Friday, we stopped outside Fayetteville, Arkansas, to see the Northwest Arkansas Travelers, the Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, play the Frisco RoughRiders, the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. Then, on Sunday, we made the two hour drive from Omaha to Des Moines, Iowa, to see the Iowa Cubs.
That drive to Des Moines allowed us to see two different sides of the state. Driving into Iowa from Missouri, my impression was, “This is Iowa?” The landscape was not what I pictured with mountains. But, driving east from Omaha, my impression was, “This is Iowa!” As far as the eye can see between Council Bluffs and Des Moines are rolling hills covered with corn and wind turbines.
As for the Iowa Cubs’ game against Indianapolis, I think I had more nervous excitement for that than going to the College World Series. I got to see David Bote hit an RBI-double off of the wall and got to see Matt Mervis, who has spent some time this season in the Big Leagues. While walking around the stadium, I got to see banners commemorating team legends who had success in the majors with the Chicago Cubs. There were players like pitchers, Greg Maddux, Mark Prior, Jake Arrieta and Kerry Wood; and former LSU Tigers, Mike Fontenot, Ryan Theriot, and DJ LeMahieu. There was also Kris Bryant, whose 2016 World Series jersey I proudly wore for the game.
Circling back to the Omaha experience, we also ate well. I had the obligatory Whataburger in Natchitoches on the drive up and the obligatory hot dogs in the press box on Monday. On top of that, I had a steak dinner in Omaha, a Philly cheesesteak fajita in the press box on Saturday, and a gyro lunch at King Kong, which was by the zoo. Also, I had some pounce cooked on an Ole Smokey at Stokie Fontenot and Chris Veillon’s tailgate spot.
Oh, and, yea, I helped contribute to the jello shot challenge at Rocco’s. But, my contribution paled in comparison to that of Todd Graves, who was standing not far in front of me in line on Monday. The brain trust behind Raising Cane’s bought 6,000 jello shots to lift LSU over the record of 18,777 set by Ole Miss last year. The thing is LSU would have broken the record anyway because Tiger fans consumed 12,836 jello shots before that.
I enjoyed the trip, and it was a great experience. But, I won’t do it again. Going to Omaha is a grind, and it is a young man’s game because it takes a lot out of you. Don’t take it from just me, because, apparently, other sportswriters, who have covered the series in the past, have said the same thing.
On top of that, it is a long drive. The drive there really is not bad because you are excited to get to Omaha, but, it is a different story on the drive home. The worst part of the return trip is between Texarkana and Fort Smith in Arkansas because I-49 is not complete all the way through. That stretch of two-laned roadway on U.S. Hwy 71 felt like an eternity because I was ready to come back.
I am glad we drove to Omaha, though, because we were able to see different things along the way. For instance, we stopped in Elk Horn, Iowa, to see a Danish windmill and stopped in Kansas City to see Kauffman Stadium, home of the Royals, and Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Chiefs.
All-in-all, words in this column cannot adequately describe the experience at the College World Series. It is one of those things you have to experience yourself.