College World Series Tickets

As human beings, we have the opportunity to form an opinion on a subject, with the option of reassessing and even changing our belief based on new information.

This, however, is simply amazing.

Three months ago, as the concept for a new downtown stadium in Omaha was gaining ground, Mayor Mike Fahey said that part of the funding for Rosenblatt Stadium's replacement would come from a 1 percent increase in hotel taxes.

Judging from the response at that time by the Metropolitan Hospitality Association, you would have thought the end of the world would arrive if this tax increase went through. Omaha already has one of the highest hotel tax rates in the country, they said. It would drive convention business away from the city, they worried. It would make other cities more attractive to people looking to grow their business in bigger markets, they claimed.

Three months later, the Omaha World-Herald reported that the MHA had decided that the hotel tax wasn't such a bad idea after all. In fact, it was such a GOOD idea that they asked the mayor to increase it by an ADDITIONAL half-point, with the revenue from that extra increase going to the Omaha Convention and Visitors Bureau to fund promotion of Omaha as a destination point.

Good heavens -- somebody could sprain something doing a 180-degree turn that quickly. Are you kidding? The MHA has gone from being AGAINST a 1 percent increase in the hotel tax to being IN FAVOR of an increase that is actually HIGHER than the original suggestion?

Of course, the hotel tax is a good idea in that it would help eliminate the need to raise property taxes in a city that is already taxed out. People who were initially against the new stadium worried about the effect it would have on property taxes, but the stadium funding will come from hotel and car rental taxes, keno revenue and stadium revenue.

We just find it strange that an organization that was so adamantly opposed to a hotel tax increase, suddenly, is now not only in favor of it, but wants to see it raised higher than originally announced. We wonder what would cause such an immediate 180-degree turn in the thinking of the MHA.

Baseball America updated its projected field of 64 teams for the NCAA Div. I baseball tournament, and judging from their assessment it would appear some teams have moved in, while others have played their way into potential regional host sites.

One of the noteworthy changes among potential regional hosts is St. John's, who may be playing their way into a possible host site that is unusual for schools in that part of the country. Baseball America currently projects them as a No. 2 seed behind Coastal Carolina, but would get the host site as Coastal Carolina is unable to host a regional this year.

There was also a change in the magazine's projection of top-eight national seeds. Joining the group is Georgia and Nebraska, who are projected as the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds, respectively.

Baseball America's projected tournament field, with national seeds in parenthesis, is as follows:

Miami (Fla.) Regional -- 1. Miami (1), 2. Florida, 3. Houston, 4. Lipscomb

Queens (N.Y.) Regional -- 1. Coastal Carolina, 2. St. John's, 3. Virginia, 4. Stony Brook

College Station (Texas) Regional -- 1. Texas A&M (5), 2. Vanderbilt, 3. TCU, 4. Monmouth

Palo Alto (Calif.) Regional -- 1. Stanford, 2. Pepperdine, 3. UC Davis, 4. Wright State

Tempe (Ariz.) Regional -- 1. Arizona State (2), 2. Long Beach State, 3. Alabama, 4. Columbia

Irvine (Calif.) Regional -- 1. UC Irvine, 2. Arizona, 3. Kentucky, 4. Fresno State

Tallahasse (Fla.) Regional -- 1. Florida State (6), 2. South Carolina, 3. Dallas Baptist, 4. Bethune-Cookman

Baton Rouge (La.) Regional -- 1. LSU, 2. Tulane, 3. Oregon State, 4. Kent State

Cary (N.C.) Regional -- 1. North Carolina (3), 2. UNC Wilmington, 3. Elon, 4. Navy

Ann Arbor (Mich.) Regional -- 1. San Diego, 2. Michigan, 3. Missouri, 4. Notre Dame

Athens (Ga.) Regional -- 1. Georgia (7), 2. Georgia Tech, 3. Charlotte, 4. Jacksonville State

Hattiesburg (Miss.) Regional -- 1. Southern Miss, 2. New Orleans, 3. Ole Miss, 4. Jackson State

Houston (Texas) Regional -- 1. Rice (4), 2. North Carolina State, 3. Texas, 4. Texas-San Antonio

Stillwater (Okla.) Regional -- 1. Oklahoma State, 2. Wichita State, 3. Arkansas, 4. College of Charleston

Lincoln (Neb.) Regional -- 1. Nebraska (8), 2. East Carolina, 3. Oral Roberts, 4. Canisius

Fullerton (Calif.) Regional -- 1. Cal State Fullerton, 2. Cal, 3. Santa Clara, 4. Baylor

Last year they came up short. This year they're hoping to take that next step and get the folks in Nashville excited about the College World Series.

Vanderbilt had a breakout year last year, winning the Southeastern Conference title and taking the No. 1 ranking into the postseason. Their hopes for making the College World Series for the first time were derailed, though, as they were upset in the regionals by Michigan.

The Commodores were looking good heading into the 2008 season, but their hopes took a dip when two-time All-American Pedro Alvarez went down with a broken hand during an opening-weekend tournament in Arizona.

Through it all, coach Tim Corbin and his troops have persevered, and they find themselves in the conversation of teams that could make their way to Omaha this summer. They carry a 35-15 record into their final regular-season series at Florida and will be one of the favorites to win the SEC tournament title next week.

Pitching has helped keep Vanderbilt in the hunt this season, led by Caleb Cotham. The righthanded freshman is 7-3 on the year with a team-best 3.28 earned-run average and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of almost 3-to-1. They have also received some solid efforts from Mike Minor (5-3, 4.07) and Nick Christiani (5-3, 4.37), with Russell Brewer leading the bullpen with five saves and four wins in relief.

Offensively, the Commodores have managed to make up for the temporary loss of Alvarez (who has since come back to hit .322 in 29 games). David Macias leads the team with a .375 batting average, and Ryan Flaherty has been the powerhouse in the lineup with the top team marks in homers (12) and RBI's (53). Dominic de la Osa has proven to be an effective weapon on the basepaths, recording 23 steals on the year.

The Commodores recently lost a series to Georgia that should secure the SEC tournament top seed for the Bulldogs, but don't count Vanderbilt out of the hunt this postseason. They are a very solid team and are hungry to make the trip to Omaha after coming up short in 2007.

The four major rankings for college baseball are in agreement on the top two teams in the nation, and are pretty much in agreement on the top six.

Miami (Fla.) and North Carolina are the leaders in the polls run by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, USA Today/ESPN and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. After that, each of the four polls likes Florida State, Arizona State, Rice and Nebraska in some particular order.

After that, only Texas A&M and Oklahoma State are ranked in the top 10 of all four rankings. Georgia and San Diego are both in the top 10 in three of the four, while Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine earned top 10 rankings in Baseball America and the NCBWA rankings, respectively.

College Baseball Insider, which takes the composite of all four rankings to rank its top 20, has Miami and North Carolina at the top, with Florida State and Arizona State tied for third. Rice is fifth, followed by Nebraska, Texas A&M, Georgia, Oklahoma State and San Diego. The second 10 includes Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine, Missouri, Vanderbilt and Cal tied at 14, Stanford, Michigan, Wichita State, Coastal Carolina and LSU.

The top five stayed put and only one team dropped out in this week's Baseball America Top 25 rankings.

Miami (Fla.), North Carolina, Arizona State, Florida State and Nebraska still lead the way going into the final weekend of the regular season. Georgia and Cal State Fullerton both moved into the top 10 as San Diego and Stanford both fell out of the top 10.

The only new team this week is Tulane, which replaced South Carolina and comes in at the No. 25 slot.

This week's Baseball America Top 25 is as follows (record and last week's ranking in parenthesis):

1. Miami (41-6, 1), 2. North Carolina (42-9, 2), 3. Arizona State (40-9, 3), 4. Florida State (43-8, 4), 5. Nebraska (38-9, 5),

6. Rice (39-11, 7), 7. Georgia (33-17, 11), 8. Cal State Fullerton (32-17, 12), 9. Texas A&M (42-10, 9), 10. Oklahoma State (35-12, 10),

11. San Diego (39-15, 8), 12. UC Irvine (33-13, 13), 13. California (32-16, 16), 14. Stanford (29-18, 6), 15. Missouri (34-17, 15),

16. Louisiana State (35-16, 22), 17. Michigan (38-11, 20), 18. St. John's (39-11, 21), 19. Vanderbilt (37-15, 18), 20. North Carolina State (35-16, 19),

21. Kentucky (38-14, 23), 22. Wichita State (38-14, 14), 23. Coastal Carolina (41-11. 24), 24. Texas Christian (35-16, 25), 25. Tulane (36-15, NR).

One of the assumptions with building a new stadium to replace Rosenblatt Stadium has been that the Omaha Royals would play in the new stadium when the College World Series isn't in town, as they have throughout their history.

That may not be the case, though. In fact, there is concern that the Royals may leave Omaha for a new home.

Recently, the Omaha World-Herald reported that the team's management was not commenting on reports that the team has drawn the interest of suitors in the Texas cities of Sugar Land, Katy and McAllen, as well as Vancouver, British Columbia.

Team president Alan Stein told the newspaper that the only entity the team is negotiating with is the Metropolitain Entertainment Convention Authority, which will run the new downtown stadium in Omaha. They have had no formal or informal negotiations with any other city or group interested in bringing the Royals to their city.

Having the Royals as a tenant at the new stadium was part of the financial plan set forth in the new stadium agreement. How a Royals departure would affect the new stadium's plans remains to be seen, but there is always the possibility the city could lure another minor league club. They could also field a team in the American Association, which includes franchises in Lincoln, Sioux City, Sioux Falls and other area cities.

The people of Omaha can exhale now -- the College World Series won't be going anywhere until 2035.

It's hard to imagine what the game of baseball will be like a quarter of a century down the road. When you think about it, 25 years ago from now was 1983. Back then, we saw some tremendous talent play in Rosenblatt Stadium that would eventually wind up in the big leagues. Some of the guys on the all-tournament team that year are names you no doubt remember in big-league uniforms -- Dave Magadan (Alabama), Chris Sabo (Michigan), Barry Bonds (Arizona State), Pete Incaviglia (Oklahoma State) and Calvin Schiraldi (Texas) all made names for themselves in Major League Baseball after showcasing their talents at the College World Series in 1983.

The tournament will remain at Rosenblatt Stadium until 2010, when the current agreement between the city of Omaha and the NCAA runs out. In the summer of 2011, the tournament will move up 13th Street a few miles to a brand new stadium that will be built just a Bob Horner moon shot away from the Qwest Center in downtown Omaha.

There are so many memories college baseball fans have of Rosenblatt Stadium, memories that will no doubt be hard to replace even after "The Johnny" is torn down after the 2010 College World Series. As it always is, though, the memories of days gone by will be the foundation for new memories that will no doubt be created in a brand new 24,000-seat facility that will be built with this tournament's best interests in mind.

Omaha has been the perfect host for this tournament. With its central location and the timing of the season, there is no better place on this planet for a tournament as unique as the College World Series. The NCAA recognized this and went beyond its comfort zone of short-term agreements to keep the College World Series in a city that has treated the NCAA very, very well over the years.

The College World Series has also served as a calling card for the city in helping to bring other NCAA tournaments to town. Omaha hosted the NCAA volleyball tournament in 2006 and will do so again later this year. Earlier this year, it hosted an NCAA basketball regional for the first time in over three decades. Two years from now the NCAA Div. I wrestling championships will come to Omaha.

The last hurdle to the process will be approval by the Omaha City Council, and that is not expected to be a problem despite the fact there is at least one member on the seven-member board who has said he will vote against any and all stadium-related issues. The 25-year agreement the NCAA will sign later this spring makes this a done deal, and it will be great for baseball fans to continue coming to Omaha to see the College World Series well into the 21st century.