It’s Hug-A-Hawkeye Week. Sell them your tickets. Heck, buy him breakfast on Wednesday.
The SEC baseball tournament comes to Omaha in June, coincidentally, during the College World Series. This week, the Big Ten takes over TD Ameritrade Park.
And there’s only one small problem.
Nebraska is taking this year off. Great timing, right?
This is the first of five straight years that Omaha will host the Big Ten baseball tournament. The league chose to anchor it here for two obvious reasons.
One, it’s the home of the CWS. Two, Nebraska fans will help push attendance and make the event look awful good on TV.
Now the Big Ten’s hope is that several thousand Husker fans will come out to see Minnesota play Michigan State.
Iowa fans, we need you.
Yes, I know we’ve had our differences. Hey, you’ve won the last three football games. Bring the Heroes Trophy. Bring play-by-play announcer Gary Dolphin. He can do a stand-up routine between games.
Come take over the bars and restaurants around the stadium and downtown. It’s time for Iowa money to come to Nebraska. There are some terrific places to eat and drink in our city. And I promise, not all of them have posters of the 1997 Huskers in frames.
However, I can’t promise that folks you run into won’t be talking about Scott Frost. But I don’t believe you will run into Frost. At least I don’t think so.
We need you, Hawkeye fans. On Monday there were just over 5,000 all-session tickets sold for the week. That’s not bad, especially considering the season Darin Erstad’s crew had. But nobody knows how many of those are Husker fans who may decide to sit this one out.
I think some Nebraska fans will still make it out to a few games. The Big Ten is improving all the time and this year’s league champ Minnesota looks like a team that will host a regional and could go deep with the right matchup. There’s a lot of civic pride here to make big events work. We’ll see.
The Kansas basketball team isn’t here, are they?
Come on, Hawkeyes. You can do it. Just like two years ago, when you shocked us by showing up on that Sunday of the 2016 Big Ten tournarment championship game against Ohio State. Iowa fell short, but the sight of just over 10,000 Hawkeye fans in TD Ameritrade Park left a big impression.
Coach Rick Heller’s program keeps climbing. The Hawkeyes won the Big Ten tourney last year. This year, they are on the NCAA tourney bubble, needing a big week. Your team will need you, too, Hawkeye fans.
And they’ll need you early. Iowa opens the Big Ten tournament against Michigan at 9 a.m. Wednesday. Breakfast dogs for everyone.
This week will test the mettle of the Big Ten-Omaha relationship. The league’s tourney has been here twice before, and crowds were good — with NU here both times. The Nebraska vs. Indiana/Kyle Schwarber final in 2014 drew more than 20,000.
Fans here will come out for good college baseball, which makes Omaha unique to a lot of cities. Much of that is our CWS history. Can the Big Ten tournament be a solid warm-up to the CWS, perhaps even a moneymaker?
For years, I saw Oklahoma City embrace the Big Eight and Big 12 tournaments. Officials would usually try to schedule the Oklahoma State and Oklahoma games at night, if possible, and large crowds would show up after work and dinner. Those two were virtual locks to not only make the tourney but be there all week and win it.
I’m sure some of the same thinking went into the Big Ten giving Omaha a long-term deal. And when we saw all those Hawkeye fans two years ago, a light came on. What if Nebraska and Iowa could both be here, and even play each other, deep into the week? How much fun would that be?
We’ll have to wait until next year to find out. This week, it’s up to you,
Hawkeyes.
http://www.omaha.com/sports/plus/sh...cle_9466dc04-669f-5911-a933-f6c92346ae62.html
The SEC baseball tournament comes to Omaha in June, coincidentally, during the College World Series. This week, the Big Ten takes over TD Ameritrade Park.
And there’s only one small problem.
Nebraska is taking this year off. Great timing, right?
This is the first of five straight years that Omaha will host the Big Ten baseball tournament. The league chose to anchor it here for two obvious reasons.
One, it’s the home of the CWS. Two, Nebraska fans will help push attendance and make the event look awful good on TV.
Now the Big Ten’s hope is that several thousand Husker fans will come out to see Minnesota play Michigan State.
Iowa fans, we need you.
Yes, I know we’ve had our differences. Hey, you’ve won the last three football games. Bring the Heroes Trophy. Bring play-by-play announcer Gary Dolphin. He can do a stand-up routine between games.
Come take over the bars and restaurants around the stadium and downtown. It’s time for Iowa money to come to Nebraska. There are some terrific places to eat and drink in our city. And I promise, not all of them have posters of the 1997 Huskers in frames.
However, I can’t promise that folks you run into won’t be talking about Scott Frost. But I don’t believe you will run into Frost. At least I don’t think so.
We need you, Hawkeye fans. On Monday there were just over 5,000 all-session tickets sold for the week. That’s not bad, especially considering the season Darin Erstad’s crew had. But nobody knows how many of those are Husker fans who may decide to sit this one out.
I think some Nebraska fans will still make it out to a few games. The Big Ten is improving all the time and this year’s league champ Minnesota looks like a team that will host a regional and could go deep with the right matchup. There’s a lot of civic pride here to make big events work. We’ll see.
The Kansas basketball team isn’t here, are they?
Come on, Hawkeyes. You can do it. Just like two years ago, when you shocked us by showing up on that Sunday of the 2016 Big Ten tournarment championship game against Ohio State. Iowa fell short, but the sight of just over 10,000 Hawkeye fans in TD Ameritrade Park left a big impression.
Coach Rick Heller’s program keeps climbing. The Hawkeyes won the Big Ten tourney last year. This year, they are on the NCAA tourney bubble, needing a big week. Your team will need you, too, Hawkeye fans.
And they’ll need you early. Iowa opens the Big Ten tournament against Michigan at 9 a.m. Wednesday. Breakfast dogs for everyone.
This week will test the mettle of the Big Ten-Omaha relationship. The league’s tourney has been here twice before, and crowds were good — with NU here both times. The Nebraska vs. Indiana/Kyle Schwarber final in 2014 drew more than 20,000.
Fans here will come out for good college baseball, which makes Omaha unique to a lot of cities. Much of that is our CWS history. Can the Big Ten tournament be a solid warm-up to the CWS, perhaps even a moneymaker?
For years, I saw Oklahoma City embrace the Big Eight and Big 12 tournaments. Officials would usually try to schedule the Oklahoma State and Oklahoma games at night, if possible, and large crowds would show up after work and dinner. Those two were virtual locks to not only make the tourney but be there all week and win it.
I’m sure some of the same thinking went into the Big Ten giving Omaha a long-term deal. And when we saw all those Hawkeye fans two years ago, a light came on. What if Nebraska and Iowa could both be here, and even play each other, deep into the week? How much fun would that be?
We’ll have to wait until next year to find out. This week, it’s up to you,
Hawkeyes.
http://www.omaha.com/sports/plus/sh...cle_9466dc04-669f-5911-a933-f6c92346ae62.html
