Chapelboro.com’s coverage of Carolina baseball in the Men’s College World Series is proudly presented by High & Rubish Insurance Agency.
Chapelboro’s Michael Koh is in Omaha to cover UNC Baseball as it plays in the Men’s College World Series. During Michael’s stay, he’ll publish a daily series featuring his thoughts and observations from Omaha, as well as his usual coverage of the team.
I’m not a huge fan of flying.
But when the local baseball team clinches a trip to the Men’s College World Series in Omaha in dramatic fashion, one feels compelled to follow them.
I touched down “somewhere in middle America” at approximately 2:30 p.m. Central time Wednesday. Omaha’s Eppley Airfield lies right on the banks of the mighty Missouri River, which serves as the watery border between Nebraska and neighboring Iowa. But in one of those interesting tidbits of geography which seems distinctly midwestern, a slice of the western bank of the Missouri – that is to say, the Nebraska side – is actually part of Iowa. This is the tiny town of Carter Lake, population 3,655. According to the town, a massive flood of the Missouri in 1877 quite literally changed its flow and created an oxbow lake, which was named Carter Lake.
Whether the town belonged to Nebraska or Iowa became a long dispute, one which eventually went all the way up to the Supreme Court of the United States. The 1892 case of Nebraska v. Iowa went the way of Iowa. Still, Carter Lake did not become its own town until 1930, when it had to secede from Council Bluffs — the larger town on the Iowa side of the river.
The media hotel for the College World Series has an Omaha address, but a close inspection of the map reveals it actually resides in Carter Lake. So, hello from the Hawkeye State.
I spent some quality time recovering my bearings in my hotel room after my long morning of flying. Then it was time to hit downtown Omaha. The city was steeped in preparations for its biggest event of the year: barriers being erected on various streets, a fan zone going through its final touches, some dedicated supporters already arriving (though, conspicuously, none wearing UNC colors). As I chowed down on my dinner at the delicious M’s Pub on South 11th Street (I recommend the pesto fettuccine), the bartender joked that several native Omahans (I’m just guessing at that one) had already fled the city for calmer locales.
I’m reminded of when I first visited Omaha in 2024, also to cover the Diamond Heels. Nebraska gave me a true Great Plains welcome: an incredibly intense storm which seemingly materialized out of nowhere, the local coverage of which superseded ABC’s broadcast of the NBA Finals. Instead of seeing the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks duke it out, I was treated to repeated descriptions of just how big those hailstones really were.
No such squalls Wednesday, though there are chances of storms later in the week. The good weather for my first night allowed me to walk about town after enjoying M’s. Local reviews recommended Centi, a local gelato shop just across the street, for dessert. As I walked up, a sign outside described Omaha in a way I never could have imagined: “Basically the Venice of the Midwest!”
Outside the Centi gelato shop in downtown Omaha, NE. (Image via Chapel Hill Media Group/Michael Koh)
Why Omaha would want to be compared to that notoriously crowded tourist trap, I’ll never know. The gelato was good, though.
As I sat outside to savor my cookies & cream, a street performer on the other side of the intersection was drawing attention. It was easy to hear why: he was absolutely crushing a cover of Phil Collins’ smash hit “In the Air Tonight.” When it came to that part (you know the one), all of his rapt listeners vigorously hit the air drums.
The song seemed appropriate on this day of preparation, both for the city and the teams which arrived there Wednesday.
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord. I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord.
Omaha is taking a deep breath. And after what seems like an interminable amount of waiting, the city is about to hit those air drums.
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Featured image via Chapel Hill Media Group/Michael Koh
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