OMAHA, Neb. --
Ray Tanner and UCLA coach John Savage both believe Rosenblatt Stadium has played a big role in making the College World Series one of college athletics top events.
Tanner long refused to attend a game at Rosenblatt until he took one of his teams to Omaha. Prior to this season, he guided USC to the College World Series in 2002, 2003 and 2004.
"Before I came here as a coach, I used to think: Is it everything you dream of? Is it really?" Tanner said. "We all aspire from day one in the fall to have a team (in the College World Series).
Players want to be in the College World Series because you're used to seeing it at the end of the year.
"I thought about it many times. Then, when I got out here a few years ago, it really was. It's got to be at the top of the list for NCAA championships. I can't imagine a bowl game or Final Four in basketball being any greater than this stage. It's wonderful."
Savage was an assistant coach at Southern California when it won the College World Series in 1998 and returned to Omaha with the Trojans in 2000. This is his sixth season as UCLA's head coach and his first team to reach the College World Series.
"Every coach's dream is to coach at Omaha and coach at Rosenblatt Stadium," Savage said. "Being the last year is a dream come true for our players and our fans and our families and certainly the coaching staff.
"So, I can't probably put into words what it means. I think we'll look back one day and look at South Carolina and UCLA and say, 'Wow, I mean, that was the last series to be played at Rosenblatt Stadium.' "
False alarm
The USC team and coaches were awakened by a fire alarm early Monday at the Embassy Suites in the Old Market area of downtown Omaha.
It turned out to be a false alarm at around 1:30 a.m., but the hotel was cleared and players, coaches and their families stood outside for about 30 minutes.
Had there been a fire, relief pitcher Matt Price was there to put it out, as he has done throughout USC's NCAA tournament games.
Spurrier sighting
Steve Spurrier arrived Monday among the USC contingency that also included USC President Harris Pastides.
Spurrier joined Bob Stoops, his former assistant coach at Florida and now the head coach at Oklahoma, among the college football head coaches who have attended this College World Series.
Playing to the crowd
Prior to arriving in Omaha for the College World Series, both USC and UCLA played only one game before a crowd of 10,000 or more.
USC lost to Mississippi, 3-0, in the opening round of the SEC tournament in Hoover, Ala., on May 26 before a crowd of 12,514. It helped that the attendance was for that game's session in Hoover, and included the previous game, which featured Alabama against Auburn.
UCLA defeated Southern California, 6-1, on Feb. 28 in the Dodgertown Classic game played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles before a crowd of 14,588.
Every game played in Omaha by both teams had crowds in excess of 10,000.
