Another quick aside from my Best of the 2000s series that you’ve been seeing here. I was assigned to work the Oklahoma-Nebraska game (that’s football, you all) this past Saturday, while also picking up a pair of Rosenblatt Stadium seats that I bought this past June.

So while there, of course, I decided to go down to downtown Omaha and check out the progress on the new downtown stadium, which will be called TD Ameritrade Stadium. So from the ground floor, here’s what the new joint currently looks like, as of November 7th, 2009…

This is the skeleton frame of the new TD Ameritrade Stadium in downtown Omaha, with the Qwest Center off to the right side of the picture.

A couple more ground-level shots follow.

As you’ve probably seen already on various sites already, here’s what the joint will look like by the time the 2011 College World Series comes around…

The model of the stadium as first put out by the architecture firm.

So in the meantime, when I went down to the construction site of the stadium, I have to admit there was much more of a buzz of activity around the stadium than I expected. As you’ll notice in the pictures that follow, there were numerous cranes, cement trucks and an endless supply of hard-hatted workers stomping around and barking orders and working like there’s no freakin’ tomorrow.

The view from across the street, from what will be down the right field foul line.

Unfortunately, when I inquired at the makeshift trailer/office about taking pictures of the stadium inside the construction site, I was told that it wasn’t allowed without the expressed written consent of MECA, the governing body that is responsible for building this incredible edifice. Still, you know me, I didn’t allow that to stop me from snapping a few polaroids – albeit not from inside the stadium. Dammit!

A shot from behind the main grandstand.

At one point I stopped and took a picture, but was quickly told by some guy named “Chuck” that I wasn’t allowed to take pictures of the stadium. So I asked him if he was going to prevent me from taking pictures from across the street and he said, “Well, no. But…” Then shut up, peon.

A young hispanic man in a hard hat then came up to me and told me, “Don’t listen to Chuck, he thinks he’s more important than he really is. He just likes to act like he’s in charge.”

Shocking.

This view is from beyond the center field stands. Note the height of the berm that they have built up to provide for the outfield bleachers. Impressive..

My theory is that the work crews are working so feverishly because in the unpredictable winters of Omaha, you never know how many days they’ll be able to put into working on the structure. But again, it seems overkill as to how many men were out there working on that fine November day. But more power to them. We’ll see how far along they’ll be when we all convene in Omaha for the final sendoff of Rosenblatt this coming June.

This is the view from behind the grandstand. Note the Qwest Center out there in straightaway center field. Not bad.

Oh, and one more thing. I’d like to propose a bigger field. In other words, let’s hope the dimensions of the new stadium are a bit more challenging than Rosenblatt’s. You know, how about a pitcher’s park once again? Like the way Rosenblatt USED to be before they shortened center field from 420 feet and the foul lines from 350 feet and turned our sport into mid-summer Arena Ball. Luckily there is no more hill the stadium will be situated upon, so that will at least decrease the effect of the strong south winds a little bit. But it’s not quite enough for me.

Suplizio Field in Grand Junction, Colorado.

On the drive back from Omaha to L.A., I stopped off to walk the dog and take this picture of Suplizio Field in Grand Junction, Colorado, which is the yearly site of the National Junior College World Series. It’s oddly jammed against the back of the grandstand of a football stadium that is home to Mesa State College. It’s a pretty cool backdrop though, having the plateaus of western Colorado off beyond the left field wall.

Okay, enough stadium talk. I’ll be back with my next installment of the highly anticipated and highly imitated, yet never duplicated, Best of the 2000s series in the next few days.

Oh, there is one more thing I need to address. I’d like to personally thank the following people:
- Ms. Sandra Conte
- Mr. Kenneth Quattara
- Mr. Young Jessen of the Switzerland
- Mr. Garry Loopy of Scotland
- Dr. Mark Lester
- Mr. Will Leaung
- Mr. George Cole of the Netherlands
- Mrs. Susan Fernando
- Mr. Stanley Cone
- Mr. William Cheng
- Dr. Don Antonio Marretti
- Mr. John Stendahl
- Mr. Martins Cerutti
- Mr. Wong Tang (IF that is your real name)
- Mr. Bernard Parker
- Mr. Patrick Chan
- Ms. Anna Ilouba
- Mrs. Helena Cole
- Mr. Matthew Dodo
- Barrister Andreaw Fraser
- Fred Phillips
- Mr. Chan Lee
- Dr. Dominic Suleman
- Ms. Kathy Vero
- Ms. Janet Gabel
- Charity (single name only, must be a stripper)
- Mr. Zhang Jianguo
- Ms. Kate Peters
- Mr. John Stendahl
- Mr. Danny P. Jeftich
- Mr. Wang Takashi Shenghai
- Mr. (or Mrs.) Noor Farizan
- Mrs. Helena Cole
- Mr. Patrick K.W. Chan
- Mr. Jose Vinals
- Mrs. Caroline Laroche
- Mrs. Patricia Miguel
- Mr. Van Hoffman
- Mr. Bohman Cole
- Mrs. Francine Edwards
- Dr. Richard Wiseman (the “Ethics Director” of Shell Petroleum, apparently)
- Mrs. Lizette Van Dendoff
- Mr. Taha Abdul Osman
- Mrs. Clarisa Fernandez
- Mrs. Ilse Smith
- Mr. Clay Links
and finally, the best of all,
- Miss Veronica Bongo Ondimba (whom I requested a picture of, no response)

Those are all the people in the past two months who were kind enough to let me know that my website or Email has randomly won me anywhere in the neighborhood of $6 million to $35 miillion. Thank you so much. I can’t wait to spend my incredible amount of money on a lear jet so I can travel to any college baseball game at a moments’ notice. Oh, and sorry for those of you on that list who had kings or queens die in order to get me my riches. They made the greatest sacrifice of all to college baseball.

G’night.