OMAHA, Neb. — The city of Indianapolis has steel skyscrapers, slick presenters and the constant clatter of hardhats building the amateur sports capital of the world. Today, it juggles USA Track and Field and a dream to host the Super Bowl. Tomorrow, officials will contemplate something else, maybe the College World Series, because a bustling sports city never really sleeps.
Omaha has Jim Costello and 120 New York strip steaks.
Costello is with the Kiwanis Club, and for two weeks each summer, it’s his job to make one of the eight teams at the CWS feel special. He grills up halibut, chicken and mounds of steaks for Oregon State, and lets the boys tool around on pontoons at Chris Lake. One time, his job took him to a Laundromat at 2 a.m., washing jockstraps and dirty socks, because “it had to be done.”
“I almost try to treat them like they’re a guest in my house,” Costello says. “They’re our team. We’re Oregon State Beavers fans now.”
Indianapolis, it seems, doesn’t have a chance.
Elizabeth Merrill talks about keeping the CWS in Omaha
David Albright talks about moving the CWS
