Random Observations From A Nebraska Baseball Game

I had the pleasure of attending the first game of the Nebraska- Loyola Marymount Series here in Los Angeles (My current home, until my dreams are fully and completely crushed, getting closer every day). It was my first Nebraska Baseball Game and in fact, my first college baseball game ever in person. Rather than write a blow by blow account of the game I thought I'd just share a few random thoughts. You may be asking yourself "what's the use of this article"? To which I will respond "In a universe that is over 4 billion years old, the average lifespan of a human being is so infinitesimally small that it barely registers, so what's the use of any of it"?
Now, on with the observations.

-First off, if you are reading this, it isn't news, but Nebraska fans are just about the best fans of any team, anywhere. On a cool Friday night in Los Angeles, CA the Husker fans easily outnumbered the home crowd, which is unheard of for most fan bases, and truly incredible when you consider that Lincoln is 1500 miles away from LA and the population of Los Angeles is over 5 times that of the ENTIRE STATE of Nebraska. Of course not all of these people are Loyola Marymount fans but in today's world any good journalist knows that stretching the truth to make your point is totally worth it.

-Nebraska football is, was and likely always will be the king. As I arrived at the park the first thing I saw was 5 or 6 Nebraskids (can I trademark this?) tossing the football around. I may have even spotted the starting quarterback for the Huskers 2022 squad. She's about 5 feet tall, rifle arm and possesses more knowledge of the quarterback position and love of the game than Jay Cutler. There were at least 6 Abdullah jerseys in the crowd (I know they aren't really Abdullah jerseys, just #8- keep on pretending you run an Amateur enterprise NCAA). As I spoke to several of the fans at the game the conversations always circled back to football. I was wearing a press pass (Thanks again CORN NATION) so some of the fans at the game were asking me questions as if I knew what I was talking about. As you surely realize by now, I don't.

-People in Los Angeles HATE being on time. These photos were taken 10 minutes before first pitch.

Nebraska side

Loyola side

By game time, our side was full and remained so till the end, despite the crappy (for here) weather and the fact that Nebraska was getting killed (we lost 7-1). Loyola had a decent turnout, but not until the 3rd inning or so. This socially acceptable chronic lateness is one of the worst things about living here. Then again I described a February night as being "crappy weather" when it was 63 degrees, so it could be worse.

-Page Stadium (Loyola's home field) is a really great place to watch a game. It's a beautiful field with a "blue monster" in left field that is a better version of Fenway parks "Green Monster", mainly because it isn't in Boston (full disclosure: I am a Yankees fan and having attended games in Fenway I can say with full confidence that it is OVERRATED!!). If you want to watch a game in an old park, go to Wrigley.
Another one of the nice things about watching the game here was the lack of between inning fireworks and assorted bullshit that permeates most professional sporting events. Baseball is a game that you should be able to relax and watch.

The Blue Monster!

-The secret to my egg salad is that I add smoked Paprika (I told you these would be random thoughts)

-Loyola Marymount costs over $50,000 a year to attend. This is not unusual for a private college. I have two children. They had better get REALLY GOOD at something really soon or I need to start buying a LOT MORE lottery tickets (a much better plan than working hard and saving, right?)

-Nebraska has a SAND VOLLYBALL team. Home games must be tough.

-NEBRASKETBALL is a much better word smash then NEBRASEBALL

-There hasn't been any good music since a long time ago. Even though the Loyola crew kept the stadium nice and quiet during most of the game they still play a song for each home player as they come to bat. I didn't recognize one note and hope to never hear any of those songs again in my life. I realize this comment means I have officially become an old man.

-I actually heard a young woman sitting next to me use the phrase "hashtag O my God" while talking on the phone. We are doomed, and I continue to become and older and older man.

-I hate to include any actual analysis in this piece, but what the hell. Ryan Boldt, the Huskers sophomore centerfielder is a BEAST! He scored the only Nebraska run, after hitting a mammoth double to the opposite field off of the "blue monster". (I took a crappy, not-zoomed-in-enough picture of it, below) It's the kind of shot you only see a guy like David Ortiz hit, except Boldt isn't filled with bull testosterone. I would apologize to any Red Sox fans reading this, but we all know Red Sox fans can't read. 

Baseball Action!

-The game was two hours and thirty-six minutes long. There were 8 runs scored and several pitching changes. Why MLB can't figure out how to keep games under 3 hours is beyond me, but they should because they are losing ground to SOCCER.

-California is the perfect place to watch a baseball game. Colorado and Washington (State or DC) are also acceptable places. If you don't know why I say that just wait a few years, cause it's coming to your state soon.

-I have a great respect for the people who take pictures of the games. Also, I am a horrible photographer. My brother was supposed to come to the game with me to take pictures. He didn't want to spend $100 on a babysitter though and I don't blame him, but it left me behind the camera and I took about 100 pictures, most of which I deleted immediately. Here are a couple that made the cut.

BACK!!!!