Who knew there’d ever come a time when Kevin Costner and my dad would have something in common?
The Academy Award-winner (Costner, not my dad) has never been shy about expressing his love for baseball. Whenever the “Field of Dreams” star gets a chance to support America’s favorite past time he steps up to the plate—-no questions asked.
In keeping with that tradition, Costner is now appearing on TV commercials asking viewers to support a famous ballpark in Omaha, Nebraska. Rosenblatt Stadium has hosted the College World Series each summer for more than 50 years. This year alone the stadium saw more than 300,000 fans during the 10-day college tournament series. Understandably, the facility has taken a beating over the years and is in need of at least $25 million in improvements.
Costner, like many die-hard baseball fans (my dad included) is backing the decision to keep the series at Rosenblatt Stadium instead of supporting the city’s plan to build a bigger facility.
“The College World Series calls Rosenblatt its home,” Costner says in the new TV commercial, which he made for free. “It’s a tradition as strong as baseball itself.”
The problem: the stadium currently seats only about 23,000 people. What’s more, NCAA officials maintain they want the popular summer series to keep growing and suggested that if Omaha is going to spend $25 million to renovate Rosenblatt, they should consider building a brand new stadium.
The pressure from NCAA officials set the ball into motion. Omaha city administrators, who feared that NCAA bigwigs would pull the series out of their town if a new stadium wasn’t built, caved to the idea. According to news reports, Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey agreed last month to back a proposal for building a new 25,000- to 30,000-seat ballpark.
Shortly after the mayor’s announcement Costner got involved with the “Save Rosenblatt” campaign. The “Dances with Wolves” star has been to the College World Series at Rosenblatt several times to support his alma mater, Cal State-Fullerton. The commercials that Costner appears in started airing on CNN, TNT, and ESPN2 (in the Omaha market) yesterday. Organizers of the campaign hope that the star’s wattage will help their cause.
Now that they have Costner on board, “Save Rosenblatt” campaign organizers should go after Alyssa Milano.
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