Cards Practice, Meet with Reporters at Rosenblatt Stadium
June 14, 2007 | Baseball
June 14, 2007
The Road to Omaha: Thursday Sights and Sounds
Audio Clip
- All audio files require the latest version of the FREE Real Player
OMAHA, Neb. - The No. 8 ranked University of Louisville baseball team practiced for 50 minutes and met with reporters Thursday at Rosenblatt Stadium in preparation for the program's first ever appearance at the College World Series. U of L will face the No. 2 seeded Rice Owls in the 2007 College World Series opener Friday at 2 p.m. ET at historic Rosenblatt Stadium and the game will be televised nationally by ESPN2.
The Cards opened Thursday morning with a 50-minute open practice session, the team's first opportunity to get familiar with the playing surface and the surroundings at Rosenblatt Stadium. Following the practice, the Cardinal players met with reporters and participated in an autograph session with the fans, while later in the afternoon, head coach Dan McDonnell met with reporters in the official pre-series press conference.
"We're definitely very excited to be here and it's been a very special year for the 25 players that are here, especially the 10 seniors," McDonnell said. "I really leaned on that group of seniors and I challenged them to lead our group. This is a great opportunity for the University of Louisville and we brag about the success we've had and that 17 of our 22 Division I sports have played in an NCAA post-season event this year. Our challenge to the kids in the fall was to get on board the train of success and for them to be apart of this university and this athletic department, they'd have to step it up."
Thursday evening's events at the College World Series included Fan Fest outside Rosenblatt Stadium, the Road to Omaha Jam featuring country artist Rodney Atkins and the Opening Ceremonies, which featured an Olympic-style introduction of the eight qualifying teams. The Navy Leap Frogs parachute team returned this year accompanied by music and narration. The day's activities concluded with a fireworks extravaganza.
Friday's opening day of action will conclude with No. 3 North Carolina and Mississippi State at 7 p.m. ET. The winners of Friday's game will meet on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2, while the losing teams on Friday will face off in an elimination game Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN.
U of L (46-22) advanced to Omaha with last Sunday's impressive 20-2 victory over Oklahoma State in the third and decisive game of the Super Regional. Prior to that, the Cards advanced through the Columbia (Mo.) Regional with back-to-back wins over No. 1 seeded Missouri. Rice (54-12) returns to Omaha for the second consecutive year and the fourth time in the last six years after winning all five of its game in the 2007 NCAA tournament. The Owls won the 2003 College World Series championship, the school's first NCAA team title in any sport.
Sirius To Broadcast Every Game of the 2007 College World Series
SIRIUS Satellite Radio, the leading provider of sports radio programming, broadcasting the play-by-play of more than 350 pro and college teams, announced today that it will be the exclusive satellite radio provider of every game of the 2007 Men's College World Series.
SIRIUS will air every game from Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska, starting with the opening round games on Friday, June 15 through the Championship Series on June 23, 24 and 25. SIRIUS will present all games in their entirety, carrying the broadcasts produced by CBS Radio Sports/Westwood One, with no blackouts and at no extra charge to subscribers.
2007 Men's College World Series (All times ET) Channel
Game 1: Fri 6/15 - 2:00 PM - Rice vs. Louisville - 181
Game 2: Fri 6/15 - 7:00 PM - N. Carolina vs. Mississippi St. - 123
Game 3: Sat 6/16 - 2:00 PM - Arizona St. vs. UC Irvine - 123
Game 4: Sat 6/16 - 7:00 PM - Cal St. Fullerton vs. Oregon St. - 123
Game 5: Sun 6/17 - 2:00 PM - loser, game 1 vs. loser, game 2 - 123
Game 6: Sun 6/17 - 7:00 PM - winner, game 1 vs. winner, game 2 - 125
Game 7: Mon 6/18 - 2:00 PM - loser, game 3 vs. loser, game 4 - 119
Game 8: Mon 6/18 - 7:00 PM - winner, game 3 vs. winner, game 4 - 125
Game 9: Tue 6/19 - 2:00 PM - loser, game 6 vs. winner, game 5 - 119
Game 10: Tue 6/19 - 7:00 PM - loser, game 8 vs. winner, game 7 - 125
Game 11: Wed 6/20 - 2:00 PM - winner, game 6 vs. winner, game 9 - 119
Game 12: Wed 6/20 - 7:00 PM - winner, game 8 vs. winner, game 10 - 123
Game 13: Thu 6/21 - 2:00 PM - winner, game 11 vs. loser, game 11 - 119 (if necessary)
Game 14: Thu 6/21 - 7:00 PM - winner, game 12 vs. loser, game 12 - 119 (if necessary)
Championship Series (best of three)
Game 1: Sat 6/23 - 7:00 PM - channel 123
Game 2: Sun 6/24 - 7:00 PM - channel 123
Game 3: Mon 6/25 - 7:00 PM - channel 123 (if necessary)
- Each day in Omaha members of the Cardinal Nine will be detailing their thoughts on what the experience has been like for them. On day two, a pair of Cardinal juniors chime in our their impression of the "Greatest Show on Dirt."
Kenny Barnett LHP JR Louisville, Ky./Trinity
We woke up, grabbed breakfast and got to the field around 9:00 a.m. We were greeted by hundreds of fans and signed a few autographs as we walked in. The team took a photo in front of the championship statue in our road greys, which happen to be coach McDonnell's favorite uniform. We had the opportunity to watch Rice practice a little bit and continued to sign autographs for little kids. We took the field for a 50 minute practice which was basically just batting practice. Even so, it was the most fun I have ever had shagging fly balls. The atmosphere was electric and every kid wanted every ball hit down the left field line. Skylar Meade and I signed a few baseballs for some fans that dropped them down on the field, and a generous fan gave me a handful of sunflower seeds to hold me off for the rest of practice.
We sat through a gambling seminar in the visitors locker room, and after that we had an autograph session for an about an hour on the concourse of the stadium. We were only supposed to be there for 30 minutes, but we stuck around because there were so many fans in line. It was like 4th street live the other day. There were so many people, we finally had to cut off the line, so some people had to go home empty handed. We came back and relaxed, had a bite to eat and had a nap. I saw former Reds shortstop Barry Larkin, who is working for ESPN in the lobby eating lunch - that was really cool.
We put our new polos on to go to Rosenblatt Stadium for the opening ceremonies. We ate ribs, chicken, fresh fruit and vegetables in a dinner catered for the eight teams. We had about 45 minutes to walk around, and got to see the fan fest a little bit. Then we went to the outfield and they introduced all of the teams one at a time and showed a highlight video as we entered the field. We sat down the first and third base lines. The Bluffton College team was introduced and presented with an autographed bat from each of the College World Series teams. To end the ceremony there was a phenomenal fireworks ceremony that seemed to last forever.
Greg Del George 2B/SS JR Staten Island, N.Y./Vanderbilt
It is the greatest atmosphere that I have ever experienced in my life. It is an unbelievable feeling to enter a ball park with 12,000 people and have people call your name out. You just don't realize how much support this team has, and what kind of impact we have had on a national level during this postseason run.
The team has been nice and loose, having a good time and not getting lost in the moment. I hope that we have been able to take in all that we can, for the experience we will have these next couple of days are going to be the ones we remember most when we get older. Hopefully we take this looseness to the field tomorrow, because if we do I have no doubt in my mind we can perform the best that we can.
