Mississippi State fan, 79, in her glory watching College World Series history

Lanie Boone, 79 years young and a lifelong Mississippi State fan, believes there will be plenty of time to sleep on the streets.

Like most Auburn people in Mississippi, she was in Omaha to watch her beloved Bulldogs win the College World Series championship with a 9-0 win over Vanderbilt on Wednesday night. It is the school’s first national title in a sport.

“I’ve been waiting for this all my life,” said Lanie. “If the Dawgs were there, we would be there because you could just tell that this was their time.”

Never mind that Lanie uses a wheelchair most of the time because of her rheumatoid arthritis, or that she and her two grandchildren drove more than 13 hours from their house in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, through Monday night, or that they were $ 3,300 at last minute for tickets via an online ticket service.

Lanie was determined to be in Omaha.

2 relatives

When their two grandchildren, 29-year-old Ben Boone and 15-year-old Justice Boone, failed to persuade their father David to go to Omaha on Sunday because of his work schedule, Lanie spoke up and said, “I will go and I’ll pay if you take me. “

Lanie joked that her grandchildren probably thought she was talking out of their heads at first, but they quickly realized that she was serious. Ben, who owns a concrete company, had to work on Monday, and after they got up at 5:30 that morning and poured 34 meters of concrete, they all hopped in the car around 8 that evening.

“And we’re gone,” said Ben. “Grams never blinked. She was more excited than us.”

They found a hotel in Clarksdale, Arkansas at around 3:30 am Tuesday and slept for four hours. Then they drove to Omaha and checked into a hotel in Council Bluffs, Iowa, just across from Omaha and TD Ameritrade Park across the Missouri River.

“It was amazing,” said Ben. “We arrive about three hours before the game and it looked like they painted the whole city auburn.”

When Ben and Justice Lanie drove to the stadium, she got a procession of high fives before and after the game. They already had tickets for the game on Tuesday evening and were sitting in the stands in the right midfield. Lanie could sit on a balcony behind her grandchildren’s seat and they paced back and forth to check on her.

“The whole experience was great being there to see the Dawgs take home the title after attending so many games (in Starkville) as a child but the special thing about being there with Grams “said Justice.

Lanie, who wore her quick smile, became a little celebrity at the ballpark. During Tuesday’s long rain delay, workers at the Dippin Dots booth had her put under her tent to keep her from getting soaked.

“I’m a sports fan, so I didn’t mind getting a little wet,” she quipped. “But everyone there was so nice and so accommodating.”

Once it became clear that Mississippi would win Tuesday night’s game, Ben jumped online at the stadium and bought tickets to Wednesday’s game. They could also get better seats, just past the first base to the right field in the sixth row.

After Mississippi State Vanderbilt ace Kumar Rocker knocked out of the game on Wednesday and the Bulldogs’ lead widened to 5-0, Lanie said she could almost pinch herself.

“I’m sitting there in this stadium and I’m like, ‘I can’t believe I’m here,'” she said.

From left, Ben, Justice and Lanie Boone from their seats at the College World Series, Omaha. Courtesy Ben and Justice Boone

But in truth, once Rowdey Jordan led the game with a single, she knew it was going to be a maroon sunset for the Bulldogs.

“That set the tone for the whole game. We weren’t going to lose,” she said.

After that final, the stadium was in chaos and Lanie got a picture of the Mississippi State team’s dog poo (or Dawg pile, as she explained). She only regretted not being able to participate in the dawg pile herself.

Then Lanie and her grandchildren made a pilgrimage to find jerseys for the national championships. The lines at the dress tents were endless, and Ben pushed his Grams in their wheelchair to get as close to the head of the line as possible. At about this time a man walked past them, leaned over to Lanie and asked her how tall she was. She told him a medium and he pulled a shirt out of his pocket, smiled and handed it to her.

“I’ve already paid for it, ma’am. It’s yours, ”said the man.

It was that kind of trip.

When the game and the evening came to an end, Lanie said that all kinds of thoughts were going through her head. She thought of her late husband, Pete, also a devoted Mississippi state fan, who died last year. Lanie still lives in the same house she and Pete bought 55 years ago.

“He was there, with me in spirit,” said Lanie.

She also thought fondly of her grandchildren and their willingness to take them to the College World Series and how deeply the Mississippi state has been woven into the entire Boone family over the years. They grew up playing soccer, baseball, and basketball games for both men and women. Lanie’s daughters, Carie and Barbara, both graduated from Mississippi State in the 1980s, and Barbara played on the golf team.

“I worked hard growing up. We all did that and I raised kids and really didn’t have the money to do that,” Lanie said. “But now I’m blessed enough to do this and my grandchildren. I told them, ‘I don’t know how many more years I have on this earth, but doing this with all of you” is worth every penny . ‘”

Lanie, Ben and Justice all proudly wore their Mississippi national championship jerseys on their drive back to Hazlehurst, Mississippi, Thursday morning.

“I didn’t get tired. I was too excited – and now I’m not tired, ”said Lanie.

Not after the trip of a lifetime.

source https://collegeeducationnewsllc.com/mississippi-state-fan-79-in-her-glory-watching-college-world-series-history/