00:00There is no place like Omaha in the month of June.
00:04The 2025 Men's College World Series begins on this Friday.
00:09Yesterday, CWS Media Day.
00:11Everybody getting a look at the chuck.
00:14That is Charles Schwab Field, Omaha in downtown Big O ahead of the CWS
00:19starting on this Friday with a doubleheader of action.
00:23Two games on this Friday set to start at 2 p.m. Eastern and 7 p.m. Eastern.
00:28Two more games to open up the College World Series on a Saturday, of course, with the same schedule.
00:35We'll look at those matchups and we'll break down the Omaha Aids.
00:40So many great storylines, DRS.
00:42And, of course, college baseball is at a beautiful, beautiful spot.
00:47We see no teams for the 2024 field here in 2025 for the first time since 1957.
00:54Talk about some parity, at least in the teams that have qualified for the College World Series.
01:01We also have seven different conferences represented in the Omaha 8.
01:07That's the most that we have seen in the Big O in more than two decades since 2003.
01:13You need more SEC teams in here.
01:15You want the big names in there, Ben.
01:17We're not going to the chuck out here.
01:19We like the old stadium better than the new one they have now.
01:23Bring back old Omaha, Ben.
01:24That's when it was at its greatest year.
01:26I don't know what it's called here.
01:27I remember it was guys like Pete Incavilli going yard back in the day.
01:30Oh, Rosenblatt.
01:31Yeah, exactly.
01:32Why don't we call it the new Rosenblatt?
01:33Like the new Yankee Stadium at this point.
01:35Would have added the intrigue here.
01:37And everybody misses teams like the Miami Hurricanes, which were dominant in the 80s and 90s in Omaha.
01:40Get back to those days here.
01:42That's where we can get the ratings back.
01:44Pat Burrell and the boys.
01:45That is Charles Schwab Field right there, DRS, as you see it.
01:49A place I have graced many a times in one of the great environments in college baseball.
01:55Donnie, that is a take, by the way, that many in Omaha share.
02:00That Rosenblatt is the history.
02:02This is the 75th anniversary, by the way, of the men's CWS being played in Omaha.
02:08It is almost like Augusta to the Masters.
02:11We do not see this often in college sports, where our national championship games rotate between venues.
02:19Donnie would love the college football national championship game at the FBS level to solely be played in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl.
02:27That is the special nature of what Omaha means to college baseball and to the College World Series.
02:34Is Rosenblatt still there?
02:35I have seen it in person.
02:37Yeah.
02:38Did they tear it down?
02:39Not in a full stadium.
02:41It's almost like a historic display.
02:43It's a mini ballpark.
02:44Oh, wow.
02:44That still is going to be a historic site.
02:47It's beautiful.
02:48It is really beautiful.
02:50I believe we have some attractions that everybody who is heading to Omaha this weekend can take in around the Big O.
02:59That's still the ballpark.
03:01That's the Visit Omaha sign.
03:04That is the Henry Dooley Bridge, if I am not mistaken.
03:07Yeah.
03:09That is the actual walking path that divides the states of Nebraska and the state of Omaha.
03:15That is the skyline of downtown Omaha.
03:18Whoa.
03:18Who's that?
03:19That's a sculpture I don't know of.
03:21That's a plaque that I haven't seen.
03:24The Omaha Zoo often ranked top three in the country, along with San Diego.
03:29Oregon Trail.
03:29It's the Pioneer's Path.
03:30Wow.
03:31This is all the Pioneer's Trail.
03:32Yeah.
03:33This is all downtown Omaha DRS.
03:35That's a couple of 100 feet from where I lived down there in the Old Market.
03:41It is a beautiful, beautiful sight.
03:43Cobblestone streets, bars, restaurants.
03:46Shout out T. Henry's.
03:47A great dive bar that I would frequent often during my two years living in downtown Omaha.
03:53And, of course, the site now.
03:55This is downtown.
03:55Not there when I lived there, but right outside the ballpark.
04:00Rocco's, of course, the home to the College World Series in the Jell-O Shot Challenge.
04:05Now, I'm not going to name names, but there is another media network that does something pretty similar to what we do here from the sports betting lens that is doing some live shows at the College World Series from Rocco.
04:19Low ratings.
04:20If sports grid management is listening, maybe that's the story for the 2026 College World Series.
04:28Get Donnie Wright's side to Omaha, Nebraska.
04:31Now, see, you know what you would like to, Ben?
04:33Like, would you like to be on the spot where you had the Iowa Hawkeyes football team, the Nebraska Huskers football team,
04:39and they line up across from each other on that state line right there, and you take that photo and put it on, like, Sports Illustrated or, you know, ESPN the magazine back in the day?
04:48Like, would that get you – like, that might be the best cover you've ever seen.
04:52State line pride right there.
04:54Don't cross over.
04:55By the way, how close are we to the state line then?
04:57Like, where was that walk?
04:59It's right next to the stadium?
05:00Like, you hit a home run, you're in the next state?
05:03Not quite.
05:04It would be a very long home run.
05:06But, yes, DRS, that bridge is very close to where the stadiums are, both where Creighton plays their home basketball games,
05:13the CHI Health Center, I think it is called now.
05:16It was CenturyLink during my day.
05:18And, of course, Charles Schwab Field used to be called TD Ameritrade.
05:22Now they call it the Chuck.
05:24That is not far away.
05:25You could walk for about 15, 20 minutes from where that bridge is over the mighty Moe, the Missouri River,
05:30that separates Iowa and Nebraska.
05:33It used to be my running path as I would go out for some lovely jogs there around Omaha.
05:39It's beautiful.
05:40Again, truly, Donnie's going to bag on it.
05:43Please take this impassioned plea from me.
05:45If you can do a sports trip with your buddies, I don't think there is anything better than heading to Omaha for the College World Series.
05:54It is pure Americana.
05:55It is pure tradition.
05:57It is pure nostalgia.
05:58It is baseball in warm weather where the beers are flowing at all times.
06:04I recommend you go to Omaha and you make it a bucket list trip at some point in your life.
06:10You will not be proven wrong, and it will certainly be worth your time, DRS.
06:16That is my plea.
06:17I know you do not feel.
06:18Is he from out there?
06:19Is Warren Buffett out from Omaha?
06:20Is that where he's at?
06:21He certainly is.
06:22All right.
06:24Still lives in Omaha.
06:25Yeah.
06:25All right.
06:26Does he ever show up to the college baseball games?
06:27Come on now.
06:28I don't know if he ever goes to the college baseball games.
06:32He lives off of Dodge.
06:34I'm blanking on what the name of his neighborhood is.
06:37It's super nice.
06:38It's like downtown Omaha.
06:40Blackstone is a new area that has come along in the last 20 years.
06:45I can't think of it.
06:46Just can't get it.
06:47It'll come to me.
06:48Yeah, it's been seven years.
06:50Since I've lived in Omaha, Nebraska.
06:52By the way, the early updates for the Rocco's Jell-O Shot Challenge.
06:56At first, Murray State was in front.
06:59Now it is LSU looking to reclaim their throne from just a few years ago.
07:05A couple of previous champions in the field, that being LSU and Arkansas,
07:10both to win a College World Series.
07:12And, of course, both have won that Rocco's Jell-O Shot Challenge.
07:16And both teams, DRS, have the two best prices to win a national championship.
07:21One of the main storylines for this NCAA baseball tournament,
07:25the SEC sending a record 13 schools, getting a record 13 bids to the NCAA baseball tournament.
07:33Only four advanced to the second weekend in the Super Regionals.
07:37Only two made it to the Omaha 8.
07:40And yet both have the two best prices to win a national championship.
07:44Why?
07:45The SEC has been dominant in terms of claiming titles.
07:50Five consecutive SEC programs have won a national championship.
07:55Ten of the last 15 national title winners hailing from the SEC.
07:59Yeah, and you've got a lot of good upsets there, certainly in the regionals and the Super Regionals,
08:04which brings you this seven here.
08:05But you're right about that.
08:06The SEC plays great baseball.
08:07I take a look at Arkansas, plus 200.
08:09LSU, plus 230.
08:10They probably should be up there in the leaderboard.
08:12Let me ask you this question, though, Ben.
08:14Did we ever have any controversy with the Jell-O shots?
08:17Like, some team thought that, hey, we bought an extra couple hundred that didn't get placed up there.
08:22Have we ever had a controversy on the winner?
08:24I'm like, wait a second.
08:25We're up 1,000 shots 15 minutes ago.
08:27How are we losing now?
08:28I don't believe so, DRS.
08:31Rocco's is pretty diligent in terms of their accounting.
08:34And again, you might see some people be like, $5 for a Jell-O shot.
08:38What are we even discussing?
08:40A lot of that goes to charity, both the Omaha Heartland Food Bank and the food banks of all eight schools that are represented in Omaha.
08:48Again, a peculiar thing from the actual baseball.
08:51Starting today, our first game, Coastal and Arizona.
08:55The Shots back in Omaha for the first time since 2016 when they won the entire thing.
09:01Who do they beat in the CWS Championship Series?
09:05Arizona.
09:06Arkansas and LSU play tomorrow in the nightcap on a Saturday.
09:10They play each other to start off at the chuck and yet both have the best places to win a national championship.
