The time I took a stuffed lamb with me to the College World Series

“Aww-w-w-w, you brought your little Lamb Chop.” This was the lady checking me in at the media security gate at the College World Series.

Busted.

I had stowed away my little stuffed lamb, Baby, in my bag with my laptop and notebooks.

Here’s the backstory to Baby:

OK, so actually, it starts with Baby and her buddy, Abbe, and their sidekicks, Charles and Eli.

I can’t remember exactly how this all got started, but back when my wife, Crystal, and I started dating, I created a little imaginary story world beginning with Abbe, a purple bear.

Crystal is a native of Minnesota, Abbe is purple – think: Prince, Minnesota Vikings.

Abbe, it was decided, loves Minnesota, and everything about it.

Crystal, not long after we’d gotten engaged, flew back home to visit her grandparents, and I sent Abbe with her, and he, of course, came back with tons of stories about life in Minnesota.

More on how he tells those stories a little later.

Baby came along at some point after Abbe.

She was supposed to be a gift to, I think this is the case, one of our nieces or nephews, or some other infant kid, something like that, but I couldn’t let her go.

I’m a sucker, as you’re beginning to learn, for stuffed animals.

Baby, over time, developed into becoming a big fan of the state of Nebraska, for some reason lost to history.

Charles, a cute stuffed dog with an unusually gruff voice, joined the family a little later on. He still hasn’t picked a favorite state.

Eli is a tiny stuffed giraffe, named after long-necked quarterback Eli Manning.

He tends to side with Baby on most things.

Charles is more neutral.

OK, so, there you go, our imaginary world.

They all talk with us (using me as their medium) – mostly about when they hear mention of Minnesota or Nebraska on the TV news or The Weather Channel.

This is all eminently logical, you see.

The rivalry between Baby and Abbe heated up, naturally, when Nebraska jumped from the Big 12 to the Big Ten a while back.

You see Baby there wearing her red hat with the N, Abbe with his Gophers hat with the M.

He got that one on our trip to Minnesota for the 2019 Final Four.

Crystal and I were walking around in the Mall of America the day after the national championship game, and came upon a Minnesota Golden Gophers team store.

I swear we could hear angels singing.

Somehow, we only walked out with the hat.

Fast forward four years, and UVA made it to the College World Series for the sixth time since 2009.

I’ve been meaning to make it out to Omaha for years, the only thing holding me back being, it can be a lengthy commitment.

If your team goes all the way, you can be there two weeks.

Of course, I packed Baby with me for the trip.

It took a bit of bravery on my part to then stow her away in my backpack when I headed out for the stadium.

I got there early for the UVA-Florida game, the first game for the ‘Hoos, and when no one was looking, I set her up beside my laptop to get the quickest of quick snaps of her gazing upon the baseball stadium.

That photo is now my screensaver on my phone.

At the airport coming back home, I bought Baby a Nebraska Cornhusker drink cup, a corn-themed shot glass (which she gifted to Abbe, who doesn’t know what to do with it) and a Nebraska-themed snow globe featuring a baby sheep.

Crystal knows that I’m a big little kid, but no one else does – or did, until now.

I can sense that this will be used against me the next time I go off on something with gravitas in print, but if that’s the case, well, so be it.

This was just Crystal’s and the lady at the security gate’s secret.

Now the whole world knows that, yes, I am certifiably nuts.