REPORTING FROM ... FATHER'S DAY AT THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

Ryan McGee

No better place to spend Father's Day than Omaha, Nebraska.

There is no earthly way that there was a better celebration of Father's Day anywhere on the planet than the one rolled out along the banks of Missouri River on Sunday. Day 2 of the College World Series felt like a living, breathing Hallmark card from the dugouts to the grandstands to a tiny high school field seven miles south of Rosenblatt Stadium.

When Fresno State head coach Mike Batesole woke up on Sunday morning, he shook his sons and told them they were going on a walk. They strolled a few blocks away and sat in on his pregame meeting with ESPN (exciting stuff if you're a boy), then rode to the ballpark with their Pops to watch the Bulldogs upset Rice 17-5.

Sitting in the dugout with Batesole was 62-year old assistant coach Mike Mayne, who gave Batesole his first college coaching job in 1988 and whom he refers to as "a Dad kind of guy to me my whole adult life". Sitting next to Mayne was his grandson Noah, the unofficial team mascot and son of former MLB catcher Brent. "I can't believe how special this is," the old ball coach said, his arm around the nine-year old. "Twenty years ago today my son was in college, playing out here playing on this very field."

In the stands, fathers and sons seemed to make up the vast majority of the crowd, including Omaha businessman Jack Diesing Jr., president of CWS of Omaha, Inc. the team of local volunteers that has kept the College World Series in town since 1950. The founder of that group was Jack Diesing Senior, who started bringing his son to Rosenblatt in the 1960's. Now Jack Jr. brings his son and grandchildren.

Florida State head coach Mike Martin spent Sunday afternoon at a civic club barbecue held in his team's honor, where he went elbow deep into some fried steak (don't knock it until you've tried it) with son and FSU assistant coach Mike Martin Jr. Sitting alongside the Martins were the Delmonicos. Volunteer assistant coach (and former Tennessee head coach) Rod Delmonico is referred to by Martin as "one of my other sons", and his son, all-ACC shortstop Tony, spent Saturday night leaning on his father for support after committing two crucial errors in a 16-5 loss to Stanford.

Later on Sunday afternoon, while UNC and LSU slugged it out at The Blatt, another team smarting from an upset loss was taking BP in the nearby town of Bellevue, on the surprisingly plush field of the Bellevue East Chieftans. The Miami Hurricanes, the #1 team in the land, were going back to high school. Behind the batting cage stood Charley Stobbs, VP of JUGS (the folks that make all the pitching machines and radar guns), who had his two young boys honed in on the 'Canes as they took their cuts, "See that, boys? See how he keeps his hands up?"

Ryan McGee

"Hmm, where is the funnel cake?"

Up above the Stobbs boys, no less than seven pairs of fathers and sons sat in the Bellevue bleachers laughing and talking baseball. Meanwhile, 405 feet away another half-dozen duos were perched along the outfield wall waiting on long balls, the Dads boosting their boys up to the top of the wall to get a better view.

At any minute, I expected Roy and John Kinsella to come walking out onto the field and start reenacting their game of catch from the end of Field of Dreams. That scene always makes me think of my Dad, and it always leaves me misty-eyed.

So did Sunday.

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