NMSooner'80
7/4/2010, 11:40 AM
http://www.ardmoreite.com/sports/x22...es-of-memories
By Erik Horne, Sports Writer
The Ardmoreite
Posted Jul 04, 2010 @ 08:00 AM
Ardmore, OK — Ardmore resident Phil Atkinson (AHS '74) and his family usually vacation in Florida during the summer. But Oklahoma baseball and the College World Series threw a memorable monkey wrench in his plans.
Bye bye beaches. Hello baseball.
“We’ve wanted to go for years,” said Phil, an OU alum, of traveling to the College World Series and fabled Rosenblatt Stadium. “I’ve always said when OU makes it, we’ll talk about it. I thought it was something we’d better go do.”
The kids had already seen Disneyworld, so Rosenblatt was even better than the Magic Kingdom. Dillon, 15, and Abbi, 9, are as avid Sooners fans as their dad. They were on hand for the Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City and were there for every one of OU’s heart-stopping wins in the Norman Regional. Along the way, the Atkinsons got up close and personal with the team, getting everything from autographs and pictures with players to chats with coach Sunny Golloway about life in Ardmore. The Atkinsons built relationships with the players and coaches, enough to where Dillon and Abbi were getting recognized at games.
So, when OU routed Virginia in the Charlottesville Super Regional, the kids reminded their dad of the promise he made. Dillon asked if they could go to the Super Regional only to get shut down by his dad. No way they were going to Virginia.
But what about the College World Series?
What if OU defied the odds, beat the then-No. 1 team in the nation and made it back to Omaha?
“I said ‘I’m not gonna promise, but let’s see what happens,’” Phil said.
That was all the kids needed to hear. If OU goes to the College World Series, so do the Atkinsons. At the time, Phil was only half serious.
“When we decided to go it was kinda almost last minute,” he said. “(Dillon) was away on a church function. (Abbi) was signed up for OU softball camp. I thought, if it takes ’em (OU) another 15 years, who knows where the kids will be. It might be a once in a lifetime experience.”
So the Atkinsons, along with Dillon’s friend Drake Harper, packed up to see OU in its first College World Series in 15 years.
The trip was a treat. They were witnesses to the Sooners’ edging to within a game of the final, Dillon got autographs from his favorite player, Caleb Bushyhead, and the Atkinsons became acquainted with the family of freshman outfielder Max White, a Durant native whose father graduated from Lone Grove. And rain delays that totalled 12 hours didn’t seem so bad thanks to oversized trays of curly fries and taking pictures of lightning across the Nebraska sky.
But the highlight for the kids was meeting John Whitaker. Whitaker’s son, Mitchell, died in 2007 from Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia at the age of 8. After Mitchell’s passing, the Whitakers created a goal of raising $1 million for blood cancer research, and the OU baseball team contributed to that earlier this year with a check for $1,825 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Oklahoma in honor of Mitchell, an avid OU baseball fan. The Sooners donated $25 for each home run hit during the season.
The Atkinsons also got to see the send off of Rosenblatt Stadium. Next year, the College World Series will move to downtown Omaha’s $128 million TD Ameritrade Park. Rosenblatt Stadium hosted the College World Series every year since 1950.
Both Dillon and Abbi said this was their best vacation ever. With all the memories taken from the trip, Phil said it won’t be the last time the Atkinsons go to the College World Series.
“I remember sitting in the stands thinking ‘This is an awesome Father’s Day,’” he said. “We’ve already talked about it. We’d like to do it every year as a family vacation.”
Boomer Sooner. So much for Florida.
Lone Grove’s Turner takes in Rosenblatt
The Atkinsons weren’t the only locals at the College World Series.
Lone Grove baseball coach Jeremy Turner went to Omaha, too, soaking up the final year of Rosenblatt with longtime friend J.C. Yeatts.
Turner and Yeatts stayed for five days, catching two of OU’s games and the ends of some others. During rain delays, Turner was bombarded by nostalgia from his younger years, as images of games past played on the Rosenblatt Stadium big screen.
Turner called it “a carnival-like atmosphere,” one he’ll share with his players at Lone Grove. A poster from the College World Series hangs in his office.
“I told every one of them if they’re a baseball fan, they need to go experience it,” he said. “It’s like OU/Texas without the hostility.”
Between sightings of ESPN celebrities Orel Hershiser and Erin Andrews and OU football assistant coach Cale Gundy, Turner visited the new stadium and marveled at the celebration of the college game. He also said a youth baseball tournament was going on with kids from all across the United States.
“It was just crazy how many college baseball fans there were,” Turner said. “It was just a huge, week-long baseball fest. It’s indescribable until you experience it first hand.”
And what will he tell his players at Lone Grove about the Omaha experience?
“What I’ll explain to my kids is how much bigger baseball is than where we’re at in Lone Grove,” Turner said. “A baseball fan enjoys seeing baseball no matter who is playing. Baseball is a worldwide thing.”
Erik K. Horne
221-6522
By Erik Horne, Sports Writer
The Ardmoreite
Posted Jul 04, 2010 @ 08:00 AM
Ardmore, OK — Ardmore resident Phil Atkinson (AHS '74) and his family usually vacation in Florida during the summer. But Oklahoma baseball and the College World Series threw a memorable monkey wrench in his plans.
Bye bye beaches. Hello baseball.
“We’ve wanted to go for years,” said Phil, an OU alum, of traveling to the College World Series and fabled Rosenblatt Stadium. “I’ve always said when OU makes it, we’ll talk about it. I thought it was something we’d better go do.”
The kids had already seen Disneyworld, so Rosenblatt was even better than the Magic Kingdom. Dillon, 15, and Abbi, 9, are as avid Sooners fans as their dad. They were on hand for the Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City and were there for every one of OU’s heart-stopping wins in the Norman Regional. Along the way, the Atkinsons got up close and personal with the team, getting everything from autographs and pictures with players to chats with coach Sunny Golloway about life in Ardmore. The Atkinsons built relationships with the players and coaches, enough to where Dillon and Abbi were getting recognized at games.
So, when OU routed Virginia in the Charlottesville Super Regional, the kids reminded their dad of the promise he made. Dillon asked if they could go to the Super Regional only to get shut down by his dad. No way they were going to Virginia.
But what about the College World Series?
What if OU defied the odds, beat the then-No. 1 team in the nation and made it back to Omaha?
“I said ‘I’m not gonna promise, but let’s see what happens,’” Phil said.
That was all the kids needed to hear. If OU goes to the College World Series, so do the Atkinsons. At the time, Phil was only half serious.
“When we decided to go it was kinda almost last minute,” he said. “(Dillon) was away on a church function. (Abbi) was signed up for OU softball camp. I thought, if it takes ’em (OU) another 15 years, who knows where the kids will be. It might be a once in a lifetime experience.”
So the Atkinsons, along with Dillon’s friend Drake Harper, packed up to see OU in its first College World Series in 15 years.
The trip was a treat. They were witnesses to the Sooners’ edging to within a game of the final, Dillon got autographs from his favorite player, Caleb Bushyhead, and the Atkinsons became acquainted with the family of freshman outfielder Max White, a Durant native whose father graduated from Lone Grove. And rain delays that totalled 12 hours didn’t seem so bad thanks to oversized trays of curly fries and taking pictures of lightning across the Nebraska sky.
But the highlight for the kids was meeting John Whitaker. Whitaker’s son, Mitchell, died in 2007 from Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia at the age of 8. After Mitchell’s passing, the Whitakers created a goal of raising $1 million for blood cancer research, and the OU baseball team contributed to that earlier this year with a check for $1,825 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Oklahoma in honor of Mitchell, an avid OU baseball fan. The Sooners donated $25 for each home run hit during the season.
The Atkinsons also got to see the send off of Rosenblatt Stadium. Next year, the College World Series will move to downtown Omaha’s $128 million TD Ameritrade Park. Rosenblatt Stadium hosted the College World Series every year since 1950.
Both Dillon and Abbi said this was their best vacation ever. With all the memories taken from the trip, Phil said it won’t be the last time the Atkinsons go to the College World Series.
“I remember sitting in the stands thinking ‘This is an awesome Father’s Day,’” he said. “We’ve already talked about it. We’d like to do it every year as a family vacation.”
Boomer Sooner. So much for Florida.
Lone Grove’s Turner takes in Rosenblatt
The Atkinsons weren’t the only locals at the College World Series.
Lone Grove baseball coach Jeremy Turner went to Omaha, too, soaking up the final year of Rosenblatt with longtime friend J.C. Yeatts.
Turner and Yeatts stayed for five days, catching two of OU’s games and the ends of some others. During rain delays, Turner was bombarded by nostalgia from his younger years, as images of games past played on the Rosenblatt Stadium big screen.
Turner called it “a carnival-like atmosphere,” one he’ll share with his players at Lone Grove. A poster from the College World Series hangs in his office.
“I told every one of them if they’re a baseball fan, they need to go experience it,” he said. “It’s like OU/Texas without the hostility.”
Between sightings of ESPN celebrities Orel Hershiser and Erin Andrews and OU football assistant coach Cale Gundy, Turner visited the new stadium and marveled at the celebration of the college game. He also said a youth baseball tournament was going on with kids from all across the United States.
“It was just crazy how many college baseball fans there were,” Turner said. “It was just a huge, week-long baseball fest. It’s indescribable until you experience it first hand.”
And what will he tell his players at Lone Grove about the Omaha experience?
“What I’ll explain to my kids is how much bigger baseball is than where we’re at in Lone Grove,” Turner said. “A baseball fan enjoys seeing baseball no matter who is playing. Baseball is a worldwide thing.”
Erik K. Horne
221-6522