Everything had gone so smoothly with our timing around coming to Omaha for the College World Series. We arrived on Friday to see Oregon State win their fourth straight game by beating Mississippi State in back-to-back elimination games. Just prior to the Beavers’ opening loss to North Carolina in the tournament, we had invested a lot of money in game tickets, noncancellable hotel rooms, and airline tickets. We were going to Omaha, regardless of if Oregon State was still playing, and were not feeling particularly optimistic about their chances. Well, somehow they managed to survive, and earned their spot next to undefeated Arkansas in the final best-of-three series to determine the National Champion.

Oregon State has won the College World Series twice, in both 2006 and 2007, while this is Arkansas’ very first appearance. We were feeling good about our chances of seeing the Beavers win it all again, until last night’s game. Unfortunately, it never happened…because of the rain and lightening. As a result, we will not be able to see all three games here in Omaha. My wife and I are headed to Crater Lake on Friday morning, having secured a hard-to-get cabin, so if the series goes to game three I won’t be here. To make matters worse, I might also be on a flight home, and unable to even watch. We went through all this trouble and stress to get to Omaha, and so far only the rain has gotten in our way.

We have tickets for tonight and tomorrow – weather permitting. It would take victories on both nights to secure the title in our presence. Otherwise, they’ll have to do it on their own. I’ll be feeling a bit let down if they lose one or the other and devastated if they really stumble and lose both. Can they make it six in a row? Last night during the rainstorm we were confined to the beer tent. Maybe not a bad place to be in a storm, but far from the stadium where we hoped to be watching. After the game was cancelled, there was little left to do but watch but the Cubs, who lost their fifth straight to the Dodgers. It was a frustrating night of baseball all around, and now the pressure is on to sweep the Razorbacks, a formidable challenge. The rain at least looks like it will hold off tonight. Another delay would be almost as bad as a loss, at least to fans like us that were here to watch World Series baseball, not the Weather Channel radar.