OMAHA, Neb. — In Omaha, right around the corner from Rosenblatt Field, is an old quirky little card shop.
"I've got a ton of cards. I got over a million cards between up here and down in my basement," Stadium View Sports Cards Owner Greg Pivovar said.
Pivovar said his number one piece of Tennessee memorabilia is from the 1997 Vols football season.
"It's signed by both your coach, Philip Fulmer, and both your defensive coordinators," Pivovar said.
Lawyer by trade, Pivovar opens the store periodically—with no regular business hours. When the shop does open, you'll find consistency within a cooler on the front stoop.
"In 93', I started giving away beer. And I've given away 75,000 beers," Pivovar said.
Michael Rivera, a former Tennessee baseball player, had a brief stay in Omaha almost 10 years ago.
"I was actually fortunate enough to play in 2005 here at the College World Series in Rosenblatt, which that stadium was very nostalgic," Rivera said. "It was always our goal as players to make it to Omaha. Unfortunately for us, that year in 2005, we went 0-2."
In 2021, the first time the Vols had a College World Series appearance since 2005, Rivera visited the store and struck gold.
"So I remember we crossed the street, and I asked a gentleman, I said, 'Do you have anything from 2005?'," Rivera said. "He had our game ticket—the ticket to get into the game. So, I took that one home with me to Knoxville."
Rivera knows well how hard it is for a team to make it to Omaha.
"It's very emotional. I'll tell you what, I think I get a lot more nervous watching them play than I ever did playing myself," Rivera said.
It's the little things he remembers most.
"It's, you know, lacing up your cleats and putting on the uniforms, hanging out in the clubhouse and then just walking onto the field, and you're like, you realize you're in the College World Series, right? And you just play the game," Rivera said. "But it's everything that leads up to it—like all the six o'clock morning runs and all the lifting sessions and the study halls—everything that played into it to get to that point."