It was a warm summer night in Victorville California
on June 26th 2006 when I was working at the concession stand of the
Cinemark movie theater I was employed at. Towards the middle of my shift I
couldn’t help but ask customers “Do you know who won the College World Series?”
The customers simply shook their heads and headed towards their theater. It was
particularly slow on this night and I begged my manager to check the score for
me on the computer. But work place policy wouldn’t allow it. Suddenly the
person working box office poked her head out of the door and said “Joe, phone
call line one.” I picked the phone up and it was my mother telling me that the
Beavers had won 3-2 to win the National Championship over North Carolina. I
jumped for joy and worked the rest of the night with an even bigger smile.
Flash forward a year later, I am wearing US Army PT
cloths and sitting on a bench waiting my turn for an eye exam when the guy next
to me nudges me and points at the television. I look up at the highlights to
the Beavers repeating as National Champions. I nodded my head with approval
because I wasn’t sure what a Drill Sergeant would say or do about my
excitement. Luckily once I got my address my family and friends mailed me
newspaper clippings about the game. Now it is 2013 and the Beavers are as
resilient as they were in 2006, I recently graduated from Oregon State and it
would be nice to see the Beavers end my time at the University the way they
started it, by winning the College World Series. Go Beavers!