Gator Country

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By: David aka IowaGator

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I thought I would take a few minutes and write a few things about the CWS and Omaha and link a few articles about the area and the series.

This is the second year in the new ballpark. TD Ameritrade Park opened last year with a great opening ceremony! South Carolina got the first dogpile and the last at Rosenblatt as well.

If you come to the games you are in the Central time zone. That means the games start at 4 and 8 p.m.—not 5 and 9.

Many of the people in the stands are season ticket holders. They know and love college baseball. People have held seats for 40 plus years! The waiting list for tickets is closed.

Tickets can be bought easily from others—the price may be good. Or it may not be so good. Make sure you are buying reserved seats if you are paying more than about 10 bucks. General Admission tickets are plentiful and face value is basically $8. GA requires standing in line to get a seat. The stadium is cleared after each game so you need a ticket for each session.

The new stadium holds about the same as the old. I understand the GA section in TD is better than at the Blatt but I have never done GA, so no idea.

Instant replay will be used in limited instances this year. Seems as if someone hit a homer last year that was ruled a double!!!!!  We won in spite of the call!!

The stadium is to the north of downtown and next to Century Link Arena. The arena is open, as I recall, when weather sirens go off and people want to leave the stadium. Most seats are protected from the elements in the 100 level—unless a replay of the weather during the Vanderbilt game last year happens. 

There are some places to eat and drink near the stadium. The new Zesto will be open for the series—ice cream and burgers, which was a mainstay at Rosenblatt.

The Old Market District to the south of the stadium, less than 10 blocks, has lots of food places, bars, coffee shops (including one in a bank), candy stores and shops.

If you are looking for toys for kids or animals left behind check out LeWonderment at 421 S 11th in the market. She is a customer of mine and is having a grand opening on Saturday.

If you are looking for old fashioned candy and soda pop check out a store at 12th and Jackson called Hollywood Candy. An amazing maze of a store with tons of merchandise!

Lo Sole Mio at 3001 South 32nd Ave in Omaha is a nice little family-operated Italian place.

There are three casinos on the Iowa side. Lots of hotels and places to eat as well. As always spend money in Iowa, we need the revenue!

SAC Museum, Henry Doorley Zoo, Union Pacific Rail Museum, Lewis and Clark Museum, Loess Hills, Desota Wildlife Refuge are all neat and nearby, as well.

If you want to see the old stadium you can do that this weekend:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20120611/CWS/306129974

To help the batters a bit:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20120612/CWS/706129871/-1#notes-removal-of-trees-to-help-batter-s-eye

Cinderella has arrived: (the fans will love Stony Brook)

http://www.omaha.com/article/20120613/CWS/706149963#fans-greet-stony-brook-on-arrival-in-omaha

Cinderella 2 is coming--the fans will love them as well! Nice to see another pro doing something sort of nice:

http://sports.omaha.com/2012/06/13/browns-wr-taking-kent-state-fans-to-omaha/

The weather is fun:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20120613/CWS/306149992/-1#cws-forecast-hot-temps-humidity-storms-to-lead-weekend

The Old Market area:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20120613/NEWS01/706139901#during-cws-step-up-to-the-plate-in-old-market

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