NCAA® 2007 Men's College World Series - Omaha, Nebraska

College Baseball is a Pure Play for Real Sports Fans 

By Michael Braude, Kansas City Business Journal, April 14, 2006
Reprinted with permission 

Even the casual reader of this column knows that sports are an important part of my life.

Today, I want to tell you what I believe is the best-kept secret in college sports. Upon reflection, I'll amend that and say it's the best-kept secret in all sports. That secret is college baseball.

In the mid '50s, as a student at the University of Missouri, I never missed a Tiger baseball game at old Rollins Field. Hi Simmons' national championship team, which included a great pitcher named Norm Stewart, provided a lot of thrills.

Years later, I had the opportunity to attend the College World Series in Omaha, and I can attest to the fact that it is a premier event. They did not have to add a rolling roof to Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha to get the NCAA to annually have the event there.

Omaha does a sensational job of hosting it. Fans all over the country do not get obsessed with "bracketology" at the College World Series. But, take my word for it, the last few games contain all the excitement and emotion of a Final Four.

In early April, I went over to KU's Hoglund Ballpark for the Missouri-Kansas series. It was pure sports delight.

That venue, like Missouri's Taylor Stadium/Simmons Field, is a marvelous place to watch baseball. Tickets cost a paltry $6. Both at Lawrence's Hoglund and Columbia's Taylor/Simmons, the venom prevalent at KU's and MU's football stadiums and basketball arenas is totally absent. Tiger and Jayhawk fans simply enjoy, respect and applaud well-played games.

Mizzou's very capable coach, Tim Jamieson, and Kansas' equally talented coach, Ritch Price, presented skilled, exciting ballclubs. Close examination of both teams' players revealed that they surely spend more time at their respective school libraries than at tattoo parlors. That is a refreshing departure from other major sports.

If you have never attended a game, the quality of baseball at a college game will surprise you.

The Royals could have benefited from watching some of the fielding gems in the MU-KU series. Speaking of the Royals, remember that their hottest prospect and No. 1 draft choice was a University of Nebraska player last year.

Folks in our area can very easily find out whether I am correct about college baseball being such a wonderful, well-kept secret.

On April 25 and 26, the T-Bones' terrific CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan., will host the Best of the Midwest tournament, featuring both the Tigers and Jayhawks. Also in the tournament will be Kansas State, Creighton and Southeast Missouri State.

It will cost you little and involve very little hassle to go see our area teams play in that tournament.

If you choose to attend a game in Columbia or Lawrence, Mike Alden and Lew Perkins won't require you to make a substantial financial commitment to the Tiger Scholarship Fund or Williams Athletic Fund to get a good seat or a close-in parking place.

College baseball today probably is what all college sports should be. It is a low-key showcase for a bunch of talented student-athletes trying to demonstrate their ability and to audition for a career in professional baseball.

College baseball is not an overhyped, overexposed sham. Come to think of it, maybe I am making a mistake promoting it and helping create the possibility that it will become too much of a big deal. I doubt that will happen, however.

Take me out to the ballgame -- in Columbia or Lawrence or Manhattan or to the T-Bones' CommunityAmerica Ballpark on the 25th and 26th of April. I hope to see you there!

Michael Braude | lmbraude@aol.com He writes weekly for the Kansas City Business Journal.