Not many people would consider the Great Plains the premier summer destination.But LSU students and fans will forsake beaches, mountains and foreign lands this weekend for Omaha, Neb., and the No. 1 LSU baseball team’s 15th trip to the College World Series.”If I take a vacation, it’s to go to Omaha,” said Jim Burke, an LSU alumnus. “If I don’t go to Omaha, I don’t take a vacation.”Burke and his son, Clint, are two of many LSU fans who started making the trip during the Tigers’ run of seven College World Series trips during the 1990s.”I started going in 1997, right after Warren Morris’ home run in 1996,” Burke said. “I wished I had gone the year before — I came close but didn’t, and it’s just a heck of an experience.”The tradition of trekking to Omaha dates back further for many.Chris Guillot, an alumnus and the team’s unofficial cheerleader at every game, started going to the College World Series in 1989.”I called my brother and told him I wanted to go to Omaha, and he said ‘You must be on crack,'” Guillot said. “But if you think love is hard to describe, that’s baseball. It’s my passion.”Guillot has gone to Omaha every year since — regardless of whether the Tigers make the trip — making friends with residents, bar owners, umpires and Major League Baseball scouts along the way.”Basically it’s a home away from home,” he said. “When my son was born, I got boxes of chocolates from Omaha.”As Guillot and any seasoned veteran can attest, LSU fans are welcomed as World Series royalty upon arrival in Omaha.”When you get to Omaha in purple and gold, they welcome you like a king,” Guillot said. “They roll the red carpet out because they know we bring style, excitement and we don’t just watch the game, we make the game.”The LSU fanbase has earned quite a following during the past two decades in Nebraska. Some Omaha residents and establishments have chosen the Tigers as their favorite team when the Nebraska Cornhuskers don’t make the tournament.Karen Barrett, owner of Barrett’s Barleycorn Pub and Grill in Omaha, has seen her share of purple and gold since “adopting” LSU as her bar’s team in 1991. “My sister met some LSU fans at a hotel and brought them down here, and now it’s just kind of intermingled,” she said. “[LSU fans] like to party, and they like to eat. So basically they like to do all the things we like.” One of Barrett’s managers even went as far as to marry a Tiger fan and move to Baton Rouge. The bar, situated “about 10 minutes” from the World Series’ home in                 Rosenblatt Stadium, is adorned year round with LSU banners and flags sent from Louisiana.”Over the years people just send me stuff,” Barrett said. “They call me to let me know how the team’s doing, if it looks like they’re going to make it [to Omaha] … I was literally just in my basement digging out more LSU stuff to hang up.”Sadly, many LSU fans won’t get to see Barrett’s banners, or any of Omaha for that matter. A trip to the College World Series spans 972 miles, and 11 days if your team wins the national championship or a minimum of four if it’s eliminated early.”If my boss would give me time off, I’d go,” said Beau Leibner, a Baton Rouge native. “With the format the way it is now, you need about two weeks off to do it.”LSU students run into similar road blocks, even if they can find the time to slip away.”I’m leaving Friday, but we’re sleeping in a tent because we’re broke … I guess we’ll get a fan,” said Eric Bastoe, business sophomore. “But even then, we’re only going for the weekend. We can’t afford to stay up there for 10 or 11 days.”To Guillot, these are all minor details. LSU is going to Omaha, and the Tiger faithful will follow.”I graduated in engineering from LSU. I’ve faced harder problems than getting off to go to Omaha,” Guillot said. “Life’s too short. Go.”—-Contact David Helman at [email protected]