When I first started working at ESPN I assumed there would be a giant vat of tickets available to all employees. Each night, I imagined, you could just dip your hand in and pull out tickets to your favorite sporting event.
That wasn’t exactly the case, yet luckily many of us had the opportunity to attend the best events on the sports calendar as part of the job: Super Bowls, NBA games, Home Run Derbys, the US Open, even World Cups and Wimbledon. To me, the finest, most passionate event of them all was the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City. Eight teams at the mecca of softball, home of the USA Softball Hall of Fame and host to the most rabid fans in the sport.
OKC’s Devon Park is a pilgrimage worth making if you love the game. After a $27.5 million upgrade, the facility includes four fields, a grand upper deck and a three-story press box. It has hosted Jennie Finch when she played at Arizona, Jessica Mendoza from Stanford, Cat Osterman when at Texas, and both Lisa Fernandez and Maya Brady leading UCLA. The list of legends goes on and on.
Only the BEST can compete under the amazing Oklahoma City sunsets.
My first visit was in 2019 and I was blown away by the passion in the stands, the fans who had traveled across the country to attend and the incredible level of play on the field. It was fast and it was scintillating.
I’m super excited that my teammate at Storied Sports, Erin Foley, a softball and women’s sports aficionado, is attending the WCWS for the first time this week. I told her to look out for Hall of Fame coach Sue Enquist, who’ll be rooting for her Bruins, track down ESPN’s expert on-air crew- Mendoza, Beth Mowins, Michele Smith and Holly Rowe - and find the closest storm cellar during tornadoes. (Don’t be scared, Foley!)
Please tune in to the epic action and make your own pilgrimage some day!
