Insider's Guide to Attending the College World Series

Every baseball fan dreams of going to the College World Series in Omaha. Here are a few insider tips to making the most of your CWS experience.

1. Stay in a team hotel.

Every year there are 8 hotels around the city of Omaha where the 8 teams stay for the College World Series. As I entered the Doubletree downtown, I saw Carolina blue everywhere, a few tables of UNC Tarheel hats and shirts to my left, the hotel staff was wearing CWS t-shirts, and little kids were rushing by to ask for an autograph of some UNC players as they passed through the lobby. Later, my girlfriend was in the workout room, riding an exercise bike, when she noticed the guy who just walked by was now on TV. It was MLB draft coverage, and the mystery man was none other than the #2 pick, UNC 1st baseman and the best hitter in college baseball, Dustin Ackley.

You might want to ask the hotel to confirm it's a team hotel before you make your reservation, but the official CWS press archive shows the same 8 hotels were used in both 2006 and 2007, so these are probably good bets.

College World Series Hotels in Omaha - confirmed 2006 and 2007

Hilton Garden Inn, 1005 Dodge St., 402-516-3120

Embassy Suites, 555 S. 10th St, 402-541-1487

Marriott, 10220 Regency Circle, 402-516-5621

Hilton Omaha, 1001 Cass St., 402-998-4290

DoubleTree Downtown, 1616 Dodge St., 402-636-4912

Doubletree Guest Suites, 7270 Cedar St.

Crowne Plaza, 655 N. 108th Ave., 402- 516-1254

Park Plaza Regency Lodge, 907 S. 107th Ave., 402-397-8000

2. Best chance to get a ball: Batting practice, first game of the day, reserved seats by the foul poles

I was shocked to see so few ball hawks. Went in to watch batting practice before Game 1 of the CWS, on the opening Saturday, and there was nobody in the reserved seat sections nearest the foul poles in left field and right field. True, more home runs are hit fair into the outfield bleachers, but the bleachers are packed during batting practice because people have to line up so early to grab a general admission seat, so to get a ball there is like winning the lottery. You just sit and hope a ball lands on you. But with little competition in the reserved seat sections just a few feet away, you can roam over rows and rows of empty seats to catch a foul ball or run and grab one that lands out of your reach.

Note: This only works for the first game of the day. On days with 2 CWS games, fans don't get to see much batting practice before the second game. The first games usually let out so late that by the time they get the stadium cleared out and let fans in for the second game, most of the pre-game warmup is over.

Oh, I almost forgot. Bring. A. Glove. My brother caught a ball. He easily set up under it with plenty of time and no competition. But it almost broke his hand, too.

3. Lower your expectations. And if you want to really see the game, watch it on TV at home.

Forget your romantic notions that everyone who goes to the College World Series must be "real baseball fans" who are so in love with the game that their undivided attention and appreciation of the finer points of the sport produces a truly special atmosphere in Omaha...and whatever else Orel Hersheiser and the rest of the ESPN gang repeatedly feed you on TV. How wrong, unfortunately.

It's more like the Super Bowl, where more people are present for the event and an excuse to party than because they're emotionally invested in the competition. My first CWS game was spent trying to block out the unintentional Rodney Dangerfield impression of a guy who left his "killer seats" behind home plate to visit a fellow blowhard out by the left field foul pole so they could try to one-up each other about how much money they make and which military officer's plane they've been invited to fly in.

Since the majority of people in the stadium aren't really rooting for one team or the other, it's pretty quiet in Rosenblatt most of the time, until something big happens and a mild buzz persists while the half of the crowd not paying attention gets a recap from their friends who saw the play. Plenty of people constantly going to and from the concession stands produce lots of empty seats. And in the late innings of the first game of the day, you'll see whole rows, even sections, abandoned when fans of a team playing in the later game leave the stadium to get in the general admission line for the later game.

4. Seeing 2 games in one day, especially on opening weekend

Everyone wants to be at the CWS for the opening weekend. It's understandable. You could potentially see all 8 teams in Games 1 through 4 on Saturday and Sunday. Many people only have the weekend off and can't stay in Omaha through the work week. And since no teams have been eliminated yet, you can bank on your favorite team still being in the mix. Unfortunately, because everyone wants to be in Omaha for the opening weekend, it's also the biggest hassle.

As CWS rookies, my group bought reserved tickets for Game 1 several months in advance. The plan was to use General Admission bleacher tickets to get in games 2 and 3 before we had to leave town. Bad move. We stayed for all of Game 1, to enjoy our good seats and to be there in case any late-inning heroics broke out. As soon as Game 1 ended, we left the stadium to join the massive GA line for Game 2. Then, after we scuffled forward in line for over an hour, frequently watching high school and college students blatantly jumping into line at various points and rushing past the uninterested "security" staff, we found ourselves among the next 25 people to be let in the stadium (and there were hundreds behind us)...when they shut the gate. No more. So angry. Grrrrr.

If you want to attend 2 games in one day on opening weekend, and you don't want to shell out $70 or more per ticket for reserved seats for BOTH games, here's the formula.

- FIRST GAME of the day - Use General Admission tickets ($10 each) and GET IN LINE EARLY, probably 10am or earlier for the 1pm game. Gates open at 11am, 2 hours before game time.

- SECOND GAME of the day - Buy Reserved Seat tickets. They'll run you $70 or more through a ticket broker, but it's worth the luxury of watching the entire first game with the comfort of knowing that you'll definitely get in the second game, without having to spend a sweaty hour battling your way through the GA line, hoping that you get in before they reach capacity.

5. Score some free food at the end of a game

Field report from Scotty B.

Went last night, Tuesday night game. Over 24,000 attendance, kind of a nut house. In the middle of the 8th inning, I left my seat in the outfield and walked down behind the bleachers to intercept the food vendors returning their unsold food and drinks to the concession stands. I just asked nicely, and I got 3 big brats (the expensive ones) and a frozen lemonade for free. I could have had up to 12 or 15 brats (they offered me the whole tray) but I just took the 3 I wanted.

Do you have more tips from your trip to the College World Series? Please share them in the comments.