No game Monday as rain puts a damper on game one of the NCAA Division I Baseball World Series

Contest postponed until Tuesday, but rain is again in the forecast, and Arkansas and Oregon State just want to play

By Arnie Leshin 

Nothing new, but when it rains in Omaha at this time of the year, it’s pouring all over the biggest stage in college baseball. Out comes the tarpaulin, the expected capacity crowd scatters for cover, and this is not exactly what they came here for.

Nothing you can do about it. Before the old Rosenblatt Stadium was replaced downtown by the new TD Ameritrade Park in 2011, the skies emptied there, too. But that’s what happens when the NCAA Division I Baseball Championships remained in the Nebraska city.

And who knows if anyone remembers when Arkansas played at Rosenblatt Stadium way back in 1979. Was there rain in the then-one-game World Series? ​

No matter, the current Beaver fans have been getting a wet, nasty, windy doze of these elements. So are the Oregon State fans. Even before they postponed game one after a one-hour wait, the wild wind was giving the infield dirt a ride, even sending it into the stands as those remaining covered up.

Wonder how many brought raincoats, umbrella were brought? No doubt the local fans knew how to stay dry, and if it rained so hard, it wouldn’t let up, some of them drove home.

But this is common here. Even occurs every year in Oklahoma City where the NCAA Women’s Softball World Series is played. There’s been the postponements, the delays, the fans getting rained on, but aside from the elements, OKC and Omaha are great sites. The hospitality is five-star there and here, the ballparks are comfortable and friendly. The food is tasty good, and to top it off, no need for security at either place.

And that is why, rain or no rain, no one is moving. ​

Both these teams must have lost some sleep with game one in their thoughts, because both were raring to go. They had seen enough rain. They felt bad for their fans who came to watch them play, and instead were running in between the rain drops.

You will find the very young and the very old at this event. Tots can be found in each section, most in mom or pop’s arms. And the old timers either from Oregon, Arkansas or from around the area as long-time baseball followers, the regulars.

It was raining like crazy at Sunrise Monday. The forecast for Tuesday calls for more rain, and if this continues, visitors will have to add another night to their motel-hotel bill. Same with flying or busing, reservations will have to change. Driving won’t offer the same problems.

And saying rain, rain go away, does not work.