Gators and Tigers and penguins, oh my!
Mikaela and I had the opportunity to go to Nebraska over the weekend to visit some friends. The friends now live in Omaha, where they grew up, and were more than gracious enough to show us around and give us some local insights into the city.
One of the more interesting things to do in Omaha is to visit the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, which is often considered one of the best in the country, often trading places with the San Diego zoo for the top spot. Two of my favorite animals to watch originated from the African savannah. One from this section were the giraffes that, for some reason or another, were obsessed with licking everything, from the trees in their exhibit to the fencing around it to the hands of guests who paid to feed them leaves. The other was a baby elephant that loved to play around in a mud puddle, sometimes shoveling water into its mouth with its trunk only to seemingly realize that it was dirt-filled and gross and spit it back out.
Also of great amusement were the penguins, which we were lucky enough to catch at feeding time. Some would stick their beaks up at the fish the keepers would offer, but then jump into the water for a small chance at grabbing some of the krill mixture that the keepers tossed in afterwards, as if the hand-fed food was too easy and they were looking for the challenge of the hunt. For as amazingly graceful and quick penguins can be while in the water, they are equally awkward on land, a juxtaposition that makes their waddling and little jumps onto the next rock even more ridiculous to observe.
In addition to the zoo, we also got the chance to attend the first game of the Men’s College World Series finals, which is held every year in Omaha. While the 24-4 Florida victory in Game 2 and the 18-4 LSU win in the decider on Monday were blowouts, the first matchup between the two SEC standout clubs was a classic.
About 80 percent of the fans in the stadium were sporting the purple and yellow of the Tigers (my own yellow Brewers shirt seemed to fit in alright), a disparity that my friend noted as being quite unusual. Luckily for the majority LSU crowd, they had plenty to cheer for on Saturday night. In a series full of new MCWS records, Game 1 was no different. LSU’s Ty Floyd pitched eight innings for the Tigers, fanning 17 Florida batters in the process. The mark was a record for strikeouts in a MCWS game, a landmark that was super cool to witness in person, especially with the LSU fandom going crazy after every big play or punch out.
We even got extra innings after a home run from LSU’s Gavin Dugas tied the game at 3-3 in the eighth inning. A bomb from Cade Beloso in the top of the 11th gave the Tigers the final advantage and eventually the win in what would turn out to be a pivotal victory in the first game of the series.
And as cool as all of those things were, I have to say that I appreciated the time we got to spend with our friends chatting just as much, if not more. It was fun to talk about how they liked being back in Omaha, reminiscence about the old UW Credit Union days, or jokingly rage over the inherent unfairness and ridiculousness of the numerous Mario Party games we played (not to toot my own horn too much or anything, but I did win one game and take second place in the other three matches). Sometimes vacations have so much “go, go, go” energy that they hardly serve their supposed purpose; to relax. Luckily, a good balance was struck on this particular trip, which I think allows one to appreciate the planned activities even more.
Now I just have to somehow drag my head out of vacation mode, which sometimes is easier said than done. Ah well, such is the way of things.
But there is one final thing of note. Neal pointed out that it seems my power for bringing stormy weather to baseball games does not extend to Nebraska. It is an observation which I think requires further research, probably through sending me to further MCWS or out-ofstate games. After all, a sample size of one is certainly not big enough to draw any real conclusions from, and I will make the necessary sacrifice of attending as many games as needed, for the good of science.
A C ertain Point of V iew
