re: Omaha: "I miss LSU"

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There's something missing at the College World Series. But it has nothing to do with architecture or corporate tents. It has everything to do with tradition, color and jambalaya.

I miss L-S-U.

And not just Skip Bertman and the Tiger fans with their beads and crockpots. I miss the idea of an LSU. I miss the CWS regular. Parity is all well and good, in doses. But I like the powers, the past champions who strut into Omaha and do it again and again. The game is always better with at least one titan, love 'em or hate 'em, and most people around this town usually loved the Tigers.

Bertman was here so often he had his own table at Omaha Prime, which he visited frequently and you could always see him telling stories after the red meat was devoured and the cigars were on the table.

The Tigers had their following and they all hung out together at the LSU bar. The CWS helped make LSU baseball, but you can also say it was the other way around, too.

Rod Dedeaux. Ron Fraser. Augie Garrido. On and on. The legendary coaches and their teams were part of the town. You could find them every year, same table, at Big Fred's, Mr. C's, Lo Sole Mio, Anthony's. Some of them could have been voted mayor.

For years, we had the same regulars at the table here, and while you could say it was too much, the past 10 years have suddenly swung the other way. We've been introduced to Rice, Oregon State and Fresno State. But before we could get acquainted, they went away. Cinderella always rents, never buys.

Now, LSU won it all two years ago. But even LSU isn't up to being LSU anymore.

Texas has been here a bunch. But the Longhorns are so unpopular now, misguidedly so, for other sins. It's hard to see Texas being Omaha's team anytime soon.

What about you, South Carolina?

Hmm. Southeastern Conference big boy? Check. CWS regular? Check, five times since 2002. CWS ring? Yes, just last year.

Wild and crazy fans? Check. They come here in droves. High profile in the community? Check. The Gamecocks got a lot of attention this week for their trips to youth hospitals. They adopted a 13-year-old cancer survivor who hangs out with the fellas.

Characters and color? Check. There aren't a lot of Tiger tails or “Geaux'' T-shirts or pots of crawfish. But last year some guy from South Carolina brought a live Gamecock — a “fighting rooster” — and was walking around with the thing perched on his shoulder.

Finally, mostly, there's the coach. Ray Tanner has found his seat at the table, and it's down at The Drover. He goes there so often that they're going to have to name the whiskey filet after Tanner.

All it would take is a championship series win over Florida this week and the Gamecocks will be elevated to CWS Premier Status.

Alas, Tanner is skeptical that another LSU dynasty can happen.

“It will be real hard,'' Tanner said. “I'm not saying there can't be. Maybe (Florida) will be that team. But the parity in college baseball is better than ever, and I think it's great that it is, because that means there's a bigger commitment by a lot of schools. Connecticut was one of the better teams we saw all year.

“It's just harder. Coach Bertman won five national championships in 10 years, if I'm not mistaken. Really? That's incredible. And maybe it will be done again. But I just can't see it with the landscape of college baseball.''

Tanner was head coach at North Carolina State from 1988 to '96, when Bertman was doing his thing, but got a close look at Gorilla Ball when he went to South Carolina in 1997. And also while assisting Bertman on the 1996 USA baseball team.

The styles are different. The Bayou Bengals bashed while the Gamecocks peck. But there's a lot of similarities between the men. It goes to their laid-back, yet supremely confident manner. It goes to their ability to will victory.

The thread that binds them is motivation. Tanner preaches confidence, tenacity and resilience. Sound like any of those LSU teams that won two CWS crowns in the bottom of the ninth?

“He (Bertman) was a tremendous influence on me,'' Tanner said. “Number one, Coach Bertman was a great motivator. He spent as much time (in 1996) motivating me as a coach as he did telling a guy how to throw a slider or how to hit.

“There is adversity. It's a game of failure. A lot of things go wrong in baseball. The numbers are against you, really. You have to respect that. If you can get 27 outs, you still got a crack. That's the mentality we have when we get down. It doesn't always work out, but if you have that mind-set, you chances are better.''

Indeed, when the Gamecocks are down late, it's like a light comes on. They lost their pitching rotation from last year. They lost Jackie Bradley Jr. for a while. And here they are.

“These guys have been able to survive,'' Tanner said. “One of the things we have in our program is ‘Win anyway.' There may be a negative comment or some adversity. That's when we say ‘Win anyway.'' It's 42 degrees and the wind's blowing out. Win anyway.

“Never let a game go away. I've been criticized for pitching Matt Price in a certain situation, maybe the seventh. The mentality is, we're going to try and win it here. The ninth might not be when you win it.''

The Gators are going to be a tough out. The only thing they don't have is proof: a trophy. This CWS could produce a dynasty, either way. Once Florida wins one of these things, the Gators may not stop. But the first step is always the hardest.

Harder still with Tanner and the Gamecocks in the way.

“Coach Tanner doesn't give you anything,'' Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. “He has set the standard in the SEC. We want to get to where an LSU or South Carolina is.''

Do they belong together in the same sentence? We'll soon find out.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com

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