OMAHA, Nebraska — Things are good without LSU. North downtown Omaha residents are getting more sleep during this year's Men's College World Series without the sound of Zydeco streaming through their windows. And beer? There's a lot to do this summer, now that the defending national champion LSU baseball team hasn't made it to Omaha.
“This year there is a lot less cleaning than last year,” said Pat McEvoy, manager of Rocco's Pizza and Cantina, which is located about 50 steps across the street from MCWS. “It's not that bustling, no.”
Rocco's is the home of the “CWS Jell-O Shot Challenge” and last summer, LSU made the event and establishment famous. Tigers fans purchased 68,888 purple and gold jello shots during the 2023 MCWS and turned Rocco's into an 11-day party. They danced and drank as the leaderboards were updated four times a day, chanting “LSU.” They even brought in a guy who played the trumpet.
It didn't matter that last year it wasn't even a contest. Special “Jelleaux Shot Champion” t-shirts were made to commemorate the feat, even though LSU fans beat 2023 second-place contender Wake Forest by more than 60,000 Jell-O Shots.
Since 2019, fans of the eight MCWS teams have competed at Rocco's to see who can ingest the most shots, which are color-coded for each team. The Tennessee Orange returns this year and the Volunteers are number one in the country. They are also currently atop the Jell-O Shots leaderboard with 11,592 and don't seem to be slowing down with the Vols in the championship series.
Rocco's was packed Wednesday afternoon with Tennessee fans lining up at the bar's new jello shot room. Scott Van Sant, a retired Air Force general and Volunteer fan, felt compelled to try a Jell-O shot because of all the rumors.
“I was a virgin until today,” Van Sant said. “I think it's amazing.”
McEvoy said that as of Tuesday night, the eight teams' overall numbers were on pace with last year's totals. And it's much more competitive, with Texas A&M not far behind. But he admits last year's total will be hard to beat.
Todd Graves, CEO and founder of Raising Cane's Chicken, bought 6,000 drinks last year for the Tigers fan base, and Baton Rouge attorney Gordon McKernan bought 8,888.
“If Peyton Manning comes into championship weekend and decides he wants to do what Graves did…” McEvoy said, indicating that anything is possible to surpass last year's total.
LSU typically draws a legion of die-hard baseball fans to Omaha, regardless of whether their team makes the MCWS. McEvoy said he expected to see some of the Louisiana regulars, like Bruce, a Tigers fan, and a trio named Larry, Darryl and Darryl, although he assumed those weren't their real names.
This year, with LSU out, some of their fans asked the bar if they could add LSU to the shot leaderboard. But Rocco told them no, since he is reserved for the MCWS qualifiers. If LSU fans were included, they thought, then Nebraska's fan base would want in too.
So Rocco's encouraged Tigers fans to donate money to the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank. A QR code was created for donations and McEvoy said as of Wednesday afternoon more than $7,000 had been raised.
The food bank was closed Wednesday for the Juneteenth holiday and was not available for comment.
“Knowing LSU fans and our community, I wouldn't be surprised if they outperformed all the other teams,” Mike Manning, president and CEO of the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, said in a statement on the food bank's website. “We are very proud not only of our sports teams but also of making a difference.”
Every year, $1 of the $5 Jell-O shots goes to the local schools food bank. Rocco's also donates another 50 cents from every drink to Omaha charities.
The night the LSU Tigers won the 2023 Men's College World Series, McEvoy's phone rang around 12:30 a.m. He was George Crews, father of LSU outfielder Dylan Crews. The party at the team hotel was coming to an end and George and the Tigers, McEvoy said, wanted to have some Jell-O shots.
He put them in the party room and the group had a couple hundred drinks, McEvoy said. They smoked cigarettes (until management told them they couldn't) and stayed until 2 in the morning.
“So we had to kick them out,” he said. “We were like, 'Hey, we love you, but, you know, this isn't Baton Rouge.'”
