Being a native of Omaha, Nebraska, I'm a big fan of college baseball. You almost have to be. Because every June since 1950, eight teams have made their way to Omaha's Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium for a week and a half long tournament known as the College World Series.

Although not as famous as football's Bowl Championship Series or basketball's March Madness, the College World Series is perhaps the most unique NCAA Championship. No other tournament has been so closely affiliated with a single city for so many years. If you ask any player on any Division I baseball team where they want to be at the end of the season, I can almost guarantee you they'll say, "Omaha."

As I kid, I started many a summer spending lots of time at "The 'Blatt". It is truly a unique experience. Most people in Omaha have no direct ties to any of the eight teams who are playing for the championship. The teams certainly bring their contingents of fans, but not enough to fill the 23,000+ seats in Rosenblatt Stadium. Yet every day during the week and a half long tournament, those seats get filled. The people of Omaha come out in droves to support teams and players they've never heard of.

And the fans really get into the games. For one reason or another, you pick your favorite teams, and you support them throughout the series. I always liked LSU growing up (probably because they had the most success of any team at the College World Series in the 1990's), so I would don my LSU Tigers hat and t-shirt and cheer the Tigers on to victory. If they lost, I wasn't too upset. I just picked another team and cheered them on to the finals. It's truly a great experience for both the fans and the players.

Part of that experience has always been Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium. The facility is now more than 60 years old, but you wouldn't know that just by looking at it. The City of Omaha has put tremendous money and resources into improving the stadium over the years, making it by far the best facility in college baseball, and probably the premiere minor-league stadium in the country (Rosenblatt is also the home of the Triple-A Omaha Royals). Still, despite the improvements, Rosenblatt remains a very traditional ballpark, the likes of Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park (although not nearly as old). And like Yankee Stadium, it seems that Rosenblatt's days may be numbered.

When entering contract negotiations in 2007 with the Omaha group that organizes and plans the College World Series, the NCAA made it clear that it wanted the City of Omaha to build a new stadium. That immediately set off a massive public protest, with nearly 20,000 people signing a petition to keep the CWS at Rosenblatt Stadium. Baseball fan and Field of Dreams actor Kevin Costner even starred in a television commercial aimed at rallying support behind the 'Blatt. But earlier this year, Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey announced plans to build a new, $140 million stadium downtown: plans that would involve the demolition of college baseball's most hallowed home.

I know that sometimes, old things must be sacrificed for the sake of progress. But I don't understand why in this case. Rosenblatt Stadium is still beautiful and functional facility that serves both its players and its fans well. Removing it would remove a landmark from southeast Omaha, and come as a devastating blow to members of the neighboring community. I'm sure a new downtown stadium would look very nice, but it wouldn't have the history or the atmosphere that people have come to associate with the 'Blatt.

The new stadium isn't scheduled to open until 2011. Before it does, I plan to make at least one more trip to Omaha: to see the tournament, and the stadium, that have formed the dreams of college baseball players for generations.