Media Darlings

One summer morning, I was just hanging around the computer when I read about a Groundbreaking Ceremony for the new Omaha Royals stadium, just up the road here.

With no other plans for the day, I decided to take my boy, so that in years hence, one of the tall tales I embellish for him would be about how he was there when they started building the stadium or something. At this point, I thought anything having to do with the Omaha Royals or the Rosenblatt Replacement Stadium might become memorable.

The event was taking place in a cornfield that was just a straight 3-mile shot up the highway from our house. A mile closer was Michael's future High School, where shuttle buses were provided to ferry people since there was No Parking in the cornfield. Impressive buses. VIP Limousine's buses weren't the most efficient in terms of people-loading capacity, but they had nice big seats and a number of large flatscreen TVs showing the Cubs game. It was a nice ride— for a mile.

When we disembarked at the cornfield site, there was a big revival-type tent set up. We found free "baseball fare" set out in warmers, but these warnt no Quarter Pound All Beef Royal Dogs; these were some giant super dogs of a like I've not seen before. Michael was hungry, but after eating half of one he stated that if he finished it, his stomach would explode. Of course, I was able to help him out.

There were cans of Coke products in ice... Everyone else had taken all the real Cokes; which I decided was God's way of telling me I needed a Diet Coke 'cause I'm getting fat, and Michael needed a Coke Zero 'cause caffeine & kids don't mix.

There were various dignitaries there, cornered by Channel 3 guy Dave Roberts...

Warren Buffett is part-owner of the O-Royals. The other partners were there, too, along with all the Omaha Royals board, upper management, and front-office staff. Bigwigs from the parent Kansas City club, along with the Pacific Coast League, were there. Public officials from the city, the county, and the state were there. But the visible stars were Hall-Of-Famers Bob Gibson and George Brett.

I saw Jennifer's favorite local reporter, Todd Andrews from Channel 7, and took a picture for her even though he had his own camera guy. And while the VIPs were all speechifyin', Michael played around in the corn. He later said he had a good time, which I found a pleasant surprise. I thought the event was hot and boring.

But later on, while we were watching the Channel 6 news, I caught a glimpse of him, on the TV! And they used the same footage on their website.

Sure, Michael knows he is an awesome dude... but he didn't get interviewed by the Omaha World Herald as we were leaving. And I got a speaking part in the paper! Now I can say I was quoted in the same article as Warren Buffett! Jennifer asked if I said anything pithy. I said, "Nothing real great, but a lot of it." Of course, my wild ramblings were heavily edited. But since my snarkiness is at the end of the article, that proves you gotta save the best for last.