The creation Cal State Omaha dates back to 2010 but the concept started in 2007 stemming from a trip to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
Originally CalStateOmaha.com was created and first published on the web as a means to sell T-shirts. Two former Cal State Fullerton Football players thought it would be fun to have shirts that said “Cal State Omaha” on the front with the years the Titans advanced to the College World Series, highlighting the the championship years, on the back. The website has since evolved to cover Cal State Fullerton Titan Baseball online and begat the 1544 Miles to Omaha Podcast. (The distance to Omaha from Fullerton, Calif. is approximately 1544 miles.)
The idea of printing Cal State Omaha T-shirts stemmed from a trip to Omaha by David Lamm in 2007 when attending that year’s College World Series, the 15th time Cal State Fullerton would play in Omaha. The CWS was still played at Rosenblatt Stadium and the ticketing protocols were different than they are today. Holders of outfield general admission could trade in and upgrade to reserved seats on the day of the game when the ticket office opened. College baseball fans would stand in line for hours prior to the office opening in hopes of gaining first pick of the available reserved seats.
The Titans were scheduled to play the second game on the second day of the 2007 College World Series vs. Oregon State. David along with his friend Mike, had stayed out late the night before enjoying the College World Series nightlife of Omaha. By the time they got to Rosenblatt Stadium to exchange their general admission tickets for reserved seats, the line stretched all the way around the stadium to center field.
Faced with hot and humid Omaha conditions in June and the daunting prospects of any reserved ticket remaining by the time they would reach the ticket office, they both began to strategize. Mike suggested starting at the front of the line and working their way back, looking for a familiar face or someone wearing Titan baseball apparel. The plan was to gain a pair of reserved seat tickets and in exchange, offer to pay for the fan’s tickets as well. The plan worked and in the process, the concept of Cal State Omaha was born.
While working their way from the ticket office through the line, Mike and David came across a fan wearing a navy blue Titans Baseball shirt. In starting a conversation, both asked questions like, “Where in Orange County are you from?”, “Are you an alumnus of Cal State Fullerton?” and “Did you fly or drive to Omaha?’. The answers were quite surprising.
The Titan Baseball fan revealed he lives in Lincoln, Nebraska and he has never been to California, let alone on the campus of Cal State Fullerton. When asked why he is wearing a Cal State Fullerton shirt, his answer was legendary.
“I’m a Nebraska Cornhuskers fan and a college baseball fan”, he said. “The ‘Huskers are not in it [CWS] this year so I always root for the home team and that’s Fullerton. The Titans have been to the College World Series so often, you should change your name to Cal State Omaha.”
At that moment, the light bulb went on and the concept of creating a Cal State Omaha T-shirt was born. It wasn’t until 2010 that David contacted his former Cal State Fullerton Football teammate that had a connection with a T-shirt printing company. Keep in mind, in 2010, getting two t-shirts custom printed was highly expensive with graphic design fees, set up fees, cost of materials, etc. A cost effective way to print custom shirts was to make a minimum run of 100 shirts in order to reduce costs. We did just that and setting up a website to sell them in order to reclaim the capital invested was the driving force in originally creating the Cal State Omaha web presence. Our focus has since shifted from trying to reclaim money spent on printed Cal State Omaha shirts to digital media coverage of Cal State Fullerton Baseball.
Since 2010, the Cal State Fullerton Titan Baseball team has visited Omaha twice (2015 & 2017) and the original run of shirts have long sold out. We continue to make the Cal State Omaha shirts due to high demand but the focus of the Cal State Omaha website has transitioned to a blog reporting on Titan Baseball. To our knowledge, Cal State Omaha is one of very few online blogs dedicated to a single college baseball team.
Our goal is to inform Titan Baseball fans about the program while remaining fair and balanced. Cal State Omaha is not affiliated with California State University Fullerton, the Cal State Fullerton Athletic Department or Titan Baseball and is an independent media outlet. Our journalistic independence allows us to be critical when necessary and offer praised when deserved. Our approach to reporting on Titan Baseball comes from journalistic integrity, fact checking, protecting sources and reporting fair and balanced stories.
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