The Diary of Andrew Lane

June 12, 2003

I’ve decided that it will be easier to write these journals at the end of the night. With that said, our day started with a 9:30 am wakeup call. After a quick shower, we had our team breakfast here at the Marriott Regency at 10:00 am. At around 10:45, Jim Burt, Erick San Pedro and I decided to go to one of the malls around the corner.

As we got there, it was amazing to see how much College World Series stuff they have around here. It’s incredible to see how much a town gets into an event. I had heard that Omaha was the Mecca for college baseball, and now I can understand why. The mall is dominated with college baseball. And the best part is that there is as much Miami stuff as there is Texas, LSU or Rice.

We got back to the hotel at around 1:15 and started to get ready for practice. The bus left at 1:45 pm and headed over to the stadium. As we were driving up, I was completely amazed. The stadium is enormous. There were so many people everywhere. There were t-shirt tents all over the place, and there were families camped out all over.

Unfortunately, it was raining and practice was rained out. However, we threw and hit in the indoor cages that they had at the ballpark. We stayed there until about 4:15 pm to grab a quick shower and head back for the Opening Ceremonies, which began at 5:10 pm.

There was a nice little cheer when we were announced, but it was a roar for Texas. Jim Burt and George Huguet, who had been here in 2001, told me that this is how it was like. Fans enjoy cheering for whoever Miami’s opponent is. I guess it has to do with Miami beating Nebraska in football. Either way, we’re used to crowds being against us. Sometimes, it can be fun.

After a mini-concert by Smashmouth and a very impressive fireworks display, our bus left back for the hotel at 10:30 pm. At around 11:00 pm, George Huguet and I ordered some pizza and hung out until curfew at midnight. So this is where I leave this diary. Good night and we’ll catch up tomorrow morning.