Omaha Observations - Day Four

The River City Star sets sail on the Missouri River

Sunday, June 19, 2005
By Debbie Grant

A day to relax, visit the zoo, go to a steak fry and cruise on the river. No baseball game to worry about and a victory to savor. One of the Green Wave fans from New Orleans has a great name for it—“a smug day.” But he warns that you have to be careful not to take it too far. Well said, we’ve all been on the other end of smug days.

The Omaha Zoo, which came very highly recommended, merits the accolades. It’s set up differently than the Audubon Zoo. For one thing it is much, much bigger with tons of green space set aside for picnics and strolling. Many of the exhibits I saw were inside—gorillas, monkeys and a variety of big cats. Saw a few other Greenies taking in the sights, too.

In the early evening, at 5 p.m. there was a Tulane Green Wave steak fry and riverboat cruise. The organizers expected 150 people to show up; boy were they surprised when 350 fans flooded in. Which was great news because proceeds from the event will benefit diabetes related causes. Steaks, potato salad, cole slaw, hot dogs and ice cream were on the menu.

The baseball team and coaches were, of course, the guests of honor and as such were urged to go to the head of the line to get their food first. Absolutely not, they said, they would wait in line with the rest of us. Finally, we prevailed upon them to go first, but not without a lot of coaxing. Don’t you just love these guys?

The weather was perfect for the party. There were tables and chairs set up in a little pavilion about 200 yards from the Missouri River. A slight wind was blowing and people were having a great time. Daniel Latham’s dad proclaimed it the “Best Father’s Day Ever.”

Heard about a neat thing at the steak fry. Tulane’s Yvette Jones, head of the university’s external affairs, called to say Gov. Kathleen Blanco wants to wish Coach Jones and the team good luck before the game against Texas. Great idea, but how to do it? Well Sherry Schonekas, who’s in charge of baseball operations, huddled with Coach Jones to figure it out.

Here’s the deal: at 3:45 p.m. on Monday, the Green Wave will board the bus for Rosenblatt. At 3:50 p.m. the Governor will place a call to Coach Jones’ cell phone, which can somehow magically be plugged in to the sound system on the bus. So as the Wave is rolling, they’ll be hearing “Good Luck” from the Governor.

Finally, Tulane fans have discovered that the Old Market area is the place to be. Lot of Hullabaloos echoing around the various fine establishments there. Yes, a smug day is a good thing.