[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12849-12850]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                COLLEGE WORLD SERIES IN OMAHA--JUNE 2005

 Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, on June 17, 2005, more 
than a half-century baseball tradition continues in Omaha, NE. This is 
the 56th year in a row that Omaha plays host to what is officially 
named the NCAA Men's College World Series. Of course, baseball fans 
nationwide know it by its unofficial name--``The Road to Omaha.''

[[Page 12850]]

  The Men's College World Series features the best teams that college 
baseball has to offer. Many of the players are the professional 
superstars of tomorrow. One has even gone on to become President of the 
United States. As a student at Yale University, President George H.W. 
Bush played in the College World Series in Kalamazoo, MI, in 1948, 2 
years before the games found their permanent home in Omaha.
  In 2001, President George W. Bush came to Omaha to throw out the 
first ball at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium. The stadium, named in honor of 
a former Omaha mayor and avid baseball fan, serves as the home ballpark 
for the Omaha Royals, which is the Pacific Coast League AAA farm team 
of the Kansas City Royals.
  Since the College World Series came to Omaha in 1950, there have been 
799 games played at Rosenblatt Stadium with 5,692,950 fans in 
attendance. The attendance shows remarkable growth from that first year 
when fewer than 18,000 fans showed up for the entire series. Today, the 
average attendance for the entire 10-day event approaches 230,000 with 
an average per-session attendance of nearly 23,000.
  Credit for this phenomenal success story goes to College World Series 
of Omaha, Inc., a nonprofit organization which has captured the 
imagination of the people of Omaha, its business leaders, city 
officials and volunteers.
  We are often asked by fans that follow their teams here and are 
attending their first College World Series, ``Why Omaha?'' The answer 
is easy. The entire city rolls out the red carpet for visiting teams 
and their supporters. Baseball fans, most from the Omaha area, fill the 
stadium for each game. They cheer all participating teams equally, 
making players, families and fans from other parts of the country feel 
welcome. Even when hometown favorites, the Nebraska Cornhuskers or 
Creighton Bluejays make it to the series, fans continue to cheer for 
teams coming from other States.
  Many Omaha supporters take time off from work during the 10-day 
event, tailgating on the stadium grounds and attending games each day. 
They will often wait in line all night to buy tickets which remain low 
in price despite sellouts and the fact that games are telecast 
nationwide on ESPN and ESPN2. A book of 50 general admission tickets 
sells for $50. Even box seats for the championship games sell for only 
$30.
  The College World Series in Omaha has become as much of a tradition 
as baseball itself. Even the name, Omaha, has become synonymous with 
championship baseball. Instead of referring to it as the College World 
Series or the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, teams competing to 
play here all refer to Regional and Super Regional tournaments as the 
``Road to Omaha.''
  In the same year that baseball returned to Washington, DC, I am proud 
that the College World Series returns to Omaha for its 56th consecutive 
year with contractual assurances that it will remain here at least 
through 2010.
  I'd like to extend a warm Nebraska invitation to all of my colleagues 
and baseball fans everywhere to come to Omaha from June 17 through 27 
to enjoy college baseball's finest tradition. You are certain to enjoy 
yourselves, and like many of the players who earn the right to 
participate in the College World Series, you, too, will find yourself 
part of the ``Road to Omaha'' experience.

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