Latest / The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert / CWS is around the corner!

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CWS is around the corner! · The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert

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Speaker 1: Right now this morning, we have Jack Deesing, who is
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Speaker 1: the chairman of the Board and CEO of the Men's
0:06
Speaker 1: College World Series of Omaha Inc. In the studio with us,
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Speaker 1: and also Lisa Deezing, same last name. I think you're
0:12
Speaker 1: related like father daughter here, who is the vice president
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Speaker 1: of Health and Benefits count executive for locked In Insurance
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Speaker 1: Brokers and a long time member of the board and
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Speaker 1: executive committee of College World Series Omaha Inc. Okay, show's over.
0:26
Speaker 1: I introduced you guys. You have a lot of titles there.
0:30
Speaker 1: And Jack also is a very excellent golfer. You were
0:33
Speaker 1: just talking to Todd Schmutter about golfing. You're a serious
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Speaker 1: golfer too, aren't you.
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Speaker 2: I'm a serious golfer, and thanks you very much for
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Speaker 2: having us. By the way, it's great to be here
0:41
Speaker 2: this morning. But I've only been playing golf. I hate
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Speaker 2: to tell you how long, but seventy two years. All right,
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Speaker 2: So I'm a serious golfer.
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Speaker 3: I think that's great.
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Speaker 1: And we're here to talk today about one of the
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Speaker 1: most exciting things that happens in Omaha all year, the
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Speaker 1: most exciting thing in the summer, and that is starting
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Speaker 1: June twelfth, through the seventeenth. The greatest show on dirt,
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Speaker 1: the Men's College World Series, is once again coming to Omaha.
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Speaker 1: And just to start out, Jack, I want to give
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Speaker 1: a little bit of the history of the tournament and
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Speaker 1: what it really means. It's the culmination of the NCAA's
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Speaker 1: Division one Baseball tournament. Starts out with sixty four teams
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Speaker 1: in the first round, and which will determine the champion
1:22
Speaker 1: of the NCAA Division one Level one College Baseball. It'll
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Speaker 1: go down to eight teams. Want to explain a little
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Speaker 1: bit about how that process works. Eight teams will come
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Speaker 1: to Omaha, how it's split into two double elimination brackets.
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Speaker 3: Explain that a little bit, and then we're going to.
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Speaker 1: Talk a lot about what we can expect in some
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Speaker 1: of the history of the College World Series too.
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Speaker 2: Well. The tournament, as you say, starts with the sixty
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Speaker 2: four teams and the qualify and then they go into
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Speaker 2: the regionals and the regionals there's sixteen fourteen regionals, and
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Speaker 2: then out of the sixteen fourteen regionals come sixteen teams
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Speaker 2: and those sixteen teams going to eight to two person
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Speaker 2: Super Regionals and right now, right start this weekend, Okay,
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Speaker 2: and so they've all qualified and we actually have some
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Speaker 2: We have at least one new team that's going to
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Speaker 2: be here this year. Troy is playing Arkansas Little Rock
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Speaker 2: in one of the super regionals and neither of them
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Speaker 2: have been here before, so that's always exciting for Oma.
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Speaker 2: So anyway, after this weekend, there'll be eight teams that
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Speaker 2: come to do Oma next week and they're traveling the road
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Speaker 2: Doma right now, and next week they'll be here at
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Speaker 2: the greatest show on dirt. So we're excited to get
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Speaker 2: things rolling. All those things have been going all year already,
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Speaker 2: but this is the culmination of an all year process.
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Speaker 3: Absolutely.
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Speaker 1: And those eight teams then are split into two double
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Speaker 1: elimination brackets of four.
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Speaker 3: Explain that, well, that's true.
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Speaker 2: They set the teams up into two double elimination brackets
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Speaker 2: of four teams each, and then out of each bracket
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Speaker 2: comes one team and then they played best two out
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Speaker 2: of three for the championship.
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Speaker 1: Okay, Now, let's talk about the history a little bit,
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Speaker 1: because I think this is amazing. The first edition of
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Speaker 1: the College World Series started I believe in nineteen forty
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Speaker 1: seven in Kalamazoo.
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Speaker 3: Is that correct?
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Speaker 2: That's correct?
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Speaker 3: And that's your history right now.
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Speaker 1: And then it moved to Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha from
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Speaker 1: nineteen fifty to twenty ten, correct, and then it moved
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Speaker 1: downtown in twenty eleven to Charles schwab Field.
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Speaker 2: That's all correct, You've got it on the right direction.
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Speaker 1: Let's talk about that move though, because you know what, Jack,
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Speaker 1: there are still people that will say, every single year, oh,
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Speaker 1: Rosenblatt just could have been redeveloped a little and remodeled
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Speaker 1: and it should have stayed there. Explain that that process,
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Speaker 1: because this was when Mike Fahe Mike Fayhee was mayor
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Speaker 1: and worked very hard at getting that contract, a long
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Speaker 1: term contract for the College World Series in Omaha. Would
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Speaker 1: it have been possible to keep it at Rosenblant.
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Speaker 2: Well, maybe I should give you a little cliff notes
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Speaker 2: version of how things got to that stage in nineteen fifty,
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Speaker 2: As you said that NJA was looking for home for
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Speaker 2: the College World Series and we had Omaha Stadium here
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Speaker 2: that just been finished in Oma, which was the stadium
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Speaker 2: used by the Omaha Cardinals at the time. And so
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Speaker 2: the Powers that b went down the the NCAA and said,
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Speaker 2: you know, we'd love to coordinate this for you and
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Speaker 2: coostest Championship. And by the way, we'll subsidize any losses
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Speaker 2: that you have in this event. And the NJA said,
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Speaker 2: that's a great idea. In nineteen sixty three, my dad
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Speaker 2: became involved and in nineteen sixty seven he created the
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Speaker 2: College World Series of OMAIK, which is the local organizing committee.
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Speaker 1: And that's Jack Deezing Senior, Jack Desh. I should have
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Speaker 1: introduced you as Jack Deezing Junior.
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Speaker 2: No, that's okay. My wife tells me that there is
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Speaker 2: no junior anymore so because I'm the only one, so
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Speaker 2: I go with what she says because she's the boss.
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Speaker 3: There you go.
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Speaker 2: And College World Series of o MI, Inc. Is a
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Speaker 2: single purpose organization responsible for fostering support facilitating efforts to
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Speaker 2: host the College World Series here. NOMAN were made up
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Speaker 2: of twenty one board members, all volunteers, and our role
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Speaker 2: is you know, mayor's change, as you might might know
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Speaker 2: city Council's change, business leaders change. And one of the
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Speaker 2: constant things has been the College World Series of OMIK.
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Speaker 2: And we built our staff and our board on based
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Speaker 2: upon continuity, experience, and passion for the event. And so
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Speaker 2: I've got a lot of institutional knowledge. The event went
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Speaker 2: on rolling one year contracts from nineteen fifty actually till
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Speaker 2: nineteen eighty nine. And what ended up happening in nineteen
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Speaker 2: eighty nine was that change was happening at the NCAA
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Speaker 2: with leadership, and my father at the time said, Hey,
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Speaker 2: I'm seventy two, I've had scene enough change in my life.
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Speaker 2: I want to get somebody else to help us through this.
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Speaker 2: And I was elected to be president and chairman of
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Speaker 2: the board at that time, So I followed my father's footsteps.
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Speaker 2: From nineteen sixty three and the NCAA wanted things were
6:00
Speaker 2: changing baseball. The NCAA wanted to do a lot of
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Speaker 2: things at Rosenblat, and they wanted to spend money in Rosenblatt.
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Speaker 2: And meeting with the mayor at the time collegeal Series
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Speaker 2: of Omayank, who's really basically responsible for facilitating the local
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Speaker 2: public private partnership and also coordinating our relationship with the
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Speaker 2: NCAA and getting our volunteers coordinated here in Omaha and
6:21
Speaker 2: selling the tickets. We met with a city and the
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Speaker 2: city at the time I was running Rosenblat and operating it,
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Speaker 2: and we said, what do you think about this, and
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Speaker 2: we all said, well, that's fine, but we need five
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Speaker 2: year contracts. So the NCAA said okay, And so we
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Speaker 2: had five year contracts from nineteen ninety to twenty ten,
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Speaker 2: which the nca had never even thought of giving to
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Speaker 2: anybody to host a championship. And during that time we
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Speaker 2: spent in excess of forty three million dollars at Rosenblat Stadium.
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Speaker 2: We had box seats, we had we improved the outfield
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Speaker 2: seats to real seats behind the fences. We had a
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Speaker 2: stadium view club, We improved the the press box.
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Speaker 1: Are these things that the NCAA were basically demanding then, well.
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Speaker 2: They were suggesting it would be a good idea of
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Speaker 2: this was done. Yeah, this was in partnership. We have
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Speaker 2: a great partnership in the nca We're all looking to
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Speaker 2: do what's best for this event, and we've been fairly
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Speaker 2: successful to date. So anyway, we spent forty three million dollars.
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Speaker 2: And during that process we had our fiftieth anniversary and
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Speaker 2: so College World Series of Oma Inc. Commissioned the Roe
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Speaker 2: Doma statue and we called it the Road Doma, and
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Speaker 2: we gifted to cost two hundred thousand dollars and we
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Speaker 2: gifted that to the city and that has become the
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Speaker 2: iconic image.
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Speaker 1: Of that big bronze statue that sits down in the
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Speaker 1: front of the everybody has.
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Speaker 3: To have their picture taken with the Road to Omaha exactly.
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Speaker 2: And then the name Road do Maha was given to
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Speaker 2: the NCAA so they could use it in their events.
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Speaker 2: At the same time, we created the opening ceremonies, which
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Speaker 2: they'd never had at any of their events, and we
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Speaker 2: thought it'd be a one year deal. Now it's a
8:01
Speaker 2: so far it's been a twenty six year deal because
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Speaker 2: they wanted to keep doing it. And we also created
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Speaker 2: the name Greatest Show on Dirt to define what this
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Speaker 2: was about. And then we had a little bit of
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Speaker 2: a problem since Barnum and Bailey Ringling Brothers was going
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Speaker 2: pretty hot and heavy at the time and we couldn't
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Speaker 2: trademark that until they weren't around anymore.
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Speaker 1: So it was in two thousand and eight that the
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Speaker 1: official name was changed to the Men's College World Series.
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Speaker 1: And in two thousand and eight it is when the
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Speaker 1: NCAA and the College World Series announced this new twenty
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Speaker 1: five year contract extension. Isn't that correct? Yes, and then
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Speaker 1: it went to twenty thirty five.
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Speaker 2: Well, actually goes through the College World Series in twenty
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Speaker 2: thirty six. Okay, all right, but what ended up happening
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Speaker 2: was just to finish the cliff notes version heres. In
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Speaker 2: two thousand and five, things were really changing college baseball.
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Speaker 2: Really the hot teams were proving their locker rooms and
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Speaker 2: proving their stadums. We knew we had to do something.
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Speaker 2: You're an almost soul to your original question about Rosenblat.
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Speaker 2: Rosenblatt had been around for fifty five years at the time.
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Speaker 2: It's like having a house you liked, but you're gonna
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Speaker 2: have to add on, make additions to your house and
9:14
Speaker 2: scruce it up, or do you buy a new house?
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Speaker 2: And essentially the long and the short of it was,
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Speaker 2: we spent two and a half years here in town
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Speaker 2: with a public private partnership coming up with an answer.
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Speaker 2: And we weren't asked to do this, by the way.
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Speaker 2: We came up with this in ourselves to build a
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Speaker 2: new home for the College World Series, and we thought
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Speaker 2: about doing it at Rosenblat, But when it came down
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Speaker 2: to it, and by the way, between me and my
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Speaker 2: father and other people on the board, we had a
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Speaker 2: lot of history at Rosenblat, So this was not an
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Speaker 2: easy decision, but to get into the future, and if
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Speaker 2: we were going to spend just about the same amount
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Speaker 2: of money to handle improving Rosenblatt as it was to
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Speaker 2: build a new stadium. If we build a new stadium,
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Speaker 2: everything was new. It was downtown. It was going to
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Speaker 2: help downtown redevelopment. But it was built for the NCAA
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Speaker 2: to be the home of the College World Series, and
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Speaker 2: it would have new concourses, new restrooms. If you ever
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Speaker 2: been to Rosenblatt and you experienced the restrooms and the concourses,
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Speaker 2: they were getting old. Yes, the nostalgia was great being
10:19
Speaker 2: of Rosenblat, but when times happened, and when we all
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Speaker 2: worked with the NCAA on this, the only way we
10:27
Speaker 2: were going to get a major extension with the NCAA
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Speaker 2: at the end of the day was to build a
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Speaker 2: new stadium.
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Speaker 1: So, and traffic down there at Rosenblatt was awful. Parking
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Speaker 1: was awful, And wasn't there only really one entrance?
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Speaker 2: The only way yes cars could get there was to
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Speaker 2: go up thirteenth Street and off the interstate.
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Speaker 3: And so they huge challenge for OPD everybody.
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Speaker 2: Well, we had the horses down there and everything, but
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Speaker 2: it was great. It was a great sixty years. I
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Speaker 2: mean it was there. It helped the College World Series
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Speaker 2: Men's College World Series get to wear Every team looks
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Speaker 2: to getting to Omaha, not getting to the College World Series,
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Speaker 2: And if it hadn't been for Rosenblatt, we wouldn't be
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Speaker 2: talking about Charles schwab Field in another twenty five years
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Speaker 2: of the championship here in Omaha. But it was the
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Speaker 2: right thing to do. It was a hard decision. We
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Speaker 2: had public hearings and there was a lot of people
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Speaker 2: that were, I don't want to say, up in arms,
11:23
Speaker 2: but had a different opinion. And we answered the questions
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Speaker 2: and I tried to help explain to everybody that there
11:29
Speaker 2: were a number of us involved that had the same
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Speaker 2: emotional feelings, emotional ties.
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Speaker 1: But absolutely remember counselman Gary Gurnett YEP was so upset
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Speaker 1: about it because that was his district down in there
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Speaker 1: in South Omaha. But now, how difficult was it to
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Speaker 1: get a twenty five year contract.
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Speaker 2: Well, as it turns out, it wasn't as difficult as
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Speaker 2: we thought it was going to be. But the answer
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Speaker 2: to financing the stadium was the local business community, and
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Speaker 2: as you're well aware with philanthropic this community is agreed
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Speaker 2: to partner with the city to build the stadium and
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Speaker 2: they they were agreed to put up twenty five percent
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Speaker 2: of it as long as there was an organization like
12:12
Speaker 2: the Oma Airport Authority run on the stadium. So that's
12:15
Speaker 2: how Mecca got involved with running the stadium. Of course,
12:18
Speaker 2: the city leases the stadium to Mecca anyway, but.
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Speaker 1: The stadium as well as Arena convention Center our city
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Speaker 1: owned property. Correct and total cost to build a new
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Speaker 1: stadium was around one hundred and thirty million.
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Speaker 2: I believe it was one hundred and twenty eight million,
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Speaker 2: twenty five percent financed, actually twenty five percent plus twelve
12:38
Speaker 2: million dollars a pay off the debt at Rosenblatz. At
12:41
Speaker 2: Rosenblatt was financed by the private sector, and a lot
12:47
Speaker 2: of people asked this question, so I'm going to mention
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Speaker 2: it on here. You know, the stadium was funded with bonds,
12:54
Speaker 2: and the way the finances were worked out was that
12:56
Speaker 2: it was going to be paid for. The bonds were
12:59
Speaker 2: going to be paid were by increase in hotel motel tax,
13:02
Speaker 2: increase in car rentals, a transfer of the Rosenblat debt
13:06
Speaker 2: service and some Kino funds, so really basically no additional funds,
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Speaker 2: and it was going to be paid out of the
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Speaker 2: That was the first thing was going to be paid
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Speaker 2: out of the revenue from the stadium and the goal
13:20
Speaker 2: in the contract negotiations. How did we get this done?
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Speaker 2: We got it done because we were proactive and saying
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Speaker 2: we'll build a new stadium for you. You didn't ask us,
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Speaker 2: we will. We had him included in the process the
13:33
Speaker 2: whole way. They saw that we were focusing on doing
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Speaker 2: what's best for this event, and we said, hey, if
13:39
Speaker 2: we do it this way and here's the way the
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Speaker 2: money flows. After the end of twenty five years or
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Speaker 2: twenty six College Old Series, you will net out of
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Speaker 2: this event two hundred and fifty million dollars. Well, we're
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Speaker 2: on target to be three hundred and sixty million.
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Speaker 3: That's amazing.
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Speaker 2: This has been successful beyond the wildest expectations.
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Speaker 1: Jack Deezing is with US today. He is a chair
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Speaker 1: of the board and CEO of the Men's College World
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Speaker 1: Series of Omaha, and Lisa Dezing is also with US,
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Speaker 1: who is a board and executive of the board member
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Speaker 1: and on the executive committee. Also, I wanted to make
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Speaker 1: sure that everybody knew who we were talking to here
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Speaker 1: this morning. So it was successful the very first year.
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Speaker 1: Let me, let's talk about the seating too. It's their
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Speaker 1: seating for twenty four thousand. There's an ability to expand
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Speaker 1: up to thirty four thousand.
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Speaker 2: Well, I wouldn't bring that to anybody's attention. We actually
14:34
Speaker 2: what ended up happening was we built the stadium to
14:37
Speaker 2: be basically the same size as Rosenblat because it was
14:40
Speaker 2: a good size for the stadium, with the potential that
14:44
Speaker 2: we could add seats if we needed to. Okay, but
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Speaker 2: I'm one of these people, and I think we are
14:51
Speaker 2: pretty well committed, and I think the NCAA is because
14:55
Speaker 2: one of the phrases they've used recently, which we agree
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Speaker 2: with is bigger is not necessarily better. Better is better.
15:03
Speaker 2: So work Folcus on making the stadium better, not bigger.
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Speaker 2: And by the way, we just added a new scoreboard
15:10
Speaker 2: this year down out and left field and up.
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Speaker 3: And at it and then which wasn't there before.
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Speaker 2: It wasn't there before, and that was built on the
15:17
Speaker 2: superstructure where additional seats might go, so there won't be
15:20
Speaker 2: any additional seats added in the near future.
15:23
Speaker 3: Okay, as far as at least as far as.
15:25
Speaker 2: I know right now.
15:26
Speaker 1: Jack, talk about when the stadium, when you were going
15:29
Speaker 1: to designing this stadium, how the decision was made, how
15:33
Speaker 1: the diamond was going to be aligned. It's aligned southeast,
15:36
Speaker 1: meaning southeast home plate to center field.
15:39
Speaker 3: How was that decision made?
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Speaker 2: Well, actually, the way it is now, I go southeast,
15:45
Speaker 2: and we did a lot of research throughout the country
15:49
Speaker 2: and basically is fifty to fifty fifty percent were northeast
15:56
Speaker 2: and fifty percent or so over southeast. And we wanted
16:00
Speaker 2: to build the stadium like a lot of like is
16:02
Speaker 2: being done in a lot of Major League ballparks, where
16:05
Speaker 2: you had the downtown as a vision as a visual
16:11
Speaker 2: from the stadium, and so you actually the stadium opened
16:14
Speaker 2: up to the downtown. So it was decided that we
16:16
Speaker 2: wanted to do the southeast. And initially we ran into
16:22
Speaker 2: the issue was there wasn't quite as much wind and
16:25
Speaker 2: air movement as there was a Rosenblat, so there weren't
16:27
Speaker 2: as many home runs, and people were wondering what we
16:30
Speaker 2: needed to do and so forth and so on, and
16:33
Speaker 2: the only thing that needed to be done was tweak
16:36
Speaker 2: the baseballs a little bit and tweak the bats a
16:38
Speaker 2: little bit. Now they're hitting home runs.
16:39
Speaker 3: So that's how it was decided.
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Speaker 1: So let's talk a little bit. You said, I'm interested.
16:44
Speaker 1: I think people are interested in the profitability of it.
16:48
Speaker 1: People ask all the time about what does it mean
16:51
Speaker 1: to the city of Omaha. Could you talk a little
16:53
Speaker 1: bit about what the economic impact is to the city
16:57
Speaker 1: when we have that Ten Days of College series.
17:01
Speaker 2: Well, thank you very much for asking that question a lot. Yes,
17:05
Speaker 2: we just because it was a seventy fifth anniversary, commissioned
17:13
Speaker 2: a new economic impact study by Ernie Goss, professor who's
17:18
Speaker 2: well known at Creighton. And so the summon substance of
17:23
Speaker 2: the economic impact study was that it is annually contributes
17:29
Speaker 2: one hundred and forty seven million dollars in economic impact
17:31
Speaker 2: the city of Omah. It creates irresponsible for one five
17:36
Speaker 2: and fifteen jobs, resulting in about forty six million dollars
17:39
Speaker 2: a pay roll and about fourteen million dollars of tax
17:45
Speaker 2: revenue to the city and the state. And this is
17:49
Speaker 2: this is each year. And the thing that isn't well
17:54
Speaker 2: to me, I've this is me speaking personally, never thought
17:59
Speaker 2: that we've done a good enough job here in Omaha,
18:02
Speaker 2: taken advantage of the fact that this event is talked
18:05
Speaker 2: about as being in Omaha for the better part of
18:08
Speaker 2: six months a year, especially the most recent three weeks.
18:13
Speaker 2: And so as an example, part of the economic impact
18:15
Speaker 2: study was that from June to from January to June
18:19
Speaker 2: last year, there was like forty seven thousand media impressions
18:23
Speaker 2: throughout the country, resulting in like over two billion people
18:26
Speaker 2: clicking on something or reading something or seeing something. So
18:30
Speaker 2: the name Omaha.
18:31
Speaker 3: And looking at Omaha was out.
18:32
Speaker 2: There a lot. And the other thing I just want
18:35
Speaker 2: to add to and maybe Lisa will have something to
18:37
Speaker 2: say add on to this, but the College World Series
18:43
Speaker 2: of womank and the College World Series is responsible for
18:48
Speaker 2: a lot of the sports that we have here in town.
18:50
Speaker 4: Now.
18:51
Speaker 2: We would never have gotten the swim Trials had it
18:54
Speaker 2: not been for the College World Series in the College
18:56
Speaker 2: World Series of womink. And you asked, why is that, Well,
19:00
Speaker 2: swimming ran all the NCAA swimming events. The NCAA was
19:05
Speaker 2: on their board, and so when Mutual was a sponsor
19:09
Speaker 2: of Usday swimming, but when they made the decision to.
19:12
Speaker 3: Come here and we set them for four times.
19:14
Speaker 2: We had them four times, and once they got here,
19:16
Speaker 2: we did a fantastic job. But in order to get
19:18
Speaker 2: them here, the NCAA made a recommendation, a referral if
19:23
Speaker 2: you will, to USA Swimming, and we had a big
19:26
Speaker 2: group that made a presentation and they decided to come here.
19:29
Speaker 2: At the same time we negotiated this contract. By the way,
19:31
Speaker 2: with the NCAA. We said to them, Hey, it's going
19:33
Speaker 2: to be here for like twenty six years. We've got
19:36
Speaker 2: a new convention Center arena that's a nice size arena
19:40
Speaker 2: that can host events. How about if we get on
19:41
Speaker 2: how can we get on your list to more regularly
19:45
Speaker 2: host volleyball and basketball over the ren soil. We got
19:50
Speaker 2: Creighton to help us, to help with help Mecca with basketball,
19:55
Speaker 2: and we got Nebraska with volleyball. So those events are
19:58
Speaker 2: here because of this and the other thing I just
20:01
Speaker 2: I want to say, and.
20:02
Speaker 3: Maybe well it put Omaha on the map.
20:04
Speaker 2: Put Omaha on the map.
20:05
Speaker 3: Definitely did.
20:06
Speaker 2: We couldn't do this without the city of Omaha. We
20:08
Speaker 2: couldn't do it without Mecca, we couldn't do it without
20:10
Speaker 2: the local business community. There's not just College World Series
20:13
Speaker 2: of Omaha Ink. But we are the facilitator of all
20:15
Speaker 2: that and so we have a great partnership in OMAHAN.
20:19
Speaker 2: I don't know if Lisa wants to add to this,
20:21
Speaker 2: but we also have a great partnership with the NCAA.
20:25
Speaker 1: Yes, Jack Deesing is with us, Chairman of the board
20:27
Speaker 1: and CEO of the Men's College World Series of Omaha Ink.
20:30
Speaker 1: Lisa Diezing is also here who is on the executive board.
20:33
Speaker 1: Jack talked just a little bit about to the naming rights.
20:36
Speaker 1: Originally TDAM or Trade and then we had a bidding
20:40
Speaker 1: for the new naming rights and now it is Charles
20:42
Speaker 1: schwab Field. How long will it be Charles schwab Field.
20:46
Speaker 2: It'll be Charles schwap Field till twenty thirty one.
20:49
Speaker 3: Okay.
20:49
Speaker 2: That's processes coordinated by MECCA and Mecca. Of course we're
20:56
Speaker 2: great partners with MECCA in that process, but the NCAA
20:59
Speaker 2: will be involved too because essentially all the revenue at
21:06
Speaker 2: the stadium, naming rights, suite premiums, club seat, premiums, ticket revenue,
21:13
Speaker 2: all of that goes to the NCAA, I mean goes
21:16
Speaker 2: into the pot to pay for the debt, service, the expenses,
21:20
Speaker 2: and then to the NCAA, so they have a key
21:24
Speaker 2: role in wanting to make sure that that continues. That
21:27
Speaker 2: we have somebody signed off on the naming rights, and
21:30
Speaker 2: so anyway, we've got another they signed when they took
21:34
Speaker 2: over tdm Ror trade. They signed on through twenty thirty one.
21:40
Speaker 1: And you know a lot of people will ask to
21:42
Speaker 1: ask me when I was mayor. But that stadium sits
21:45
Speaker 1: empty the rest of the year. Now, I know that's
21:47
Speaker 1: not College World Series. It's run by Mecca. The Creighton
21:50
Speaker 1: Blue Jays they play there, but during the College World Series,
21:54
Speaker 1: the revenue that it makes pays for it.
21:57
Speaker 3: I mean, it pays for the stadium.
21:58
Speaker 1: It pays the debt for what we need to pay
22:01
Speaker 1: for just for those that time during the College World Series.
22:04
Speaker 3: So it does sit.
22:06
Speaker 1: Empty for quite a while, but it still pays for itself.
22:10
Speaker 1: There's a waterfall.
22:12
Speaker 2: Well, what I've always said to people is it isn't
22:17
Speaker 2: a lot different than it was when it was at Rosenblatt.
22:20
Speaker 2: Why is that jack, Well, because the Royals only played
22:22
Speaker 2: there from April to August, and basically there was nothing
22:25
Speaker 2: at Rosenblatt after August. Very true, so the city had
22:30
Speaker 2: to subsidize the operations of Rosenblatt down here, it's similar
22:37
Speaker 2: except that we have right now we have the Big
22:39
Speaker 2: Ten tournament. Great and plays their games there, and there
22:43
Speaker 2: are some other things on. They have other activities in
22:45
Speaker 2: the stadium to offset expenses, you know, up in the stadium,
22:48
Speaker 2: up in the suite in club seed area during the
22:51
Speaker 2: year meetings and so forth. But the but the waterfall,
22:55
Speaker 2: which is the revenue for the state for the stadium
22:58
Speaker 2: to pay. As I said, that's service and all expenses
23:01
Speaker 2: and the rescues of the NCAA covers mecha expenses plus
23:07
Speaker 2: up to eighty five percent of expenses that aren't allocated
23:09
Speaker 2: to the College World Series. And then there is an
23:13
Speaker 2: agreement with the city where if there's a shortfall on
23:16
Speaker 2: those expenses, the city makes it up. But I would
23:18
Speaker 2: say it's nowhere near what the subsidy was when it
23:22
Speaker 2: was at Rosenblat. So is it paying for itself? I
23:26
Speaker 2: would make the argument that if the College World Series
23:30
Speaker 2: wasn't here, Omaha be a lot worse off tax wise
23:33
Speaker 2: than everything else, but a lot of being here. So
23:35
Speaker 2: in combination, yes, it's paying for itself absolutely.
23:38
Speaker 3: And you know Omaha, I mean the with the.
23:40
Speaker 1: Restaurant tax, the hotel motel tax, all of that brings
23:44
Speaker 1: so much revenue into the city. And I wanted to
23:46
Speaker 1: bring up the parking issue too, because it was a
23:50
Speaker 1: challenge when it was down at Rosenblatt, you were parking
23:52
Speaker 1: in people's front yards and backyards. I remember the first
23:55
Speaker 1: year that it was opened and we had the first
23:57
Speaker 1: games downtown.
23:59
Speaker 3: It was a sterile.
24:00
Speaker 1: I mean the whole place emptied out and was cleared
24:03
Speaker 1: out in like thirty minutes. I think OPD did a
24:05
Speaker 1: great job of controlling the streets, shutting down some streets,
24:09
Speaker 1: making someone way, and it was very It was so
24:12
Speaker 1: much safer in my opinion.
24:14
Speaker 2: Actually, you're exactly right. I mean, traffic was a problem
24:19
Speaker 2: down at Rosenblat, but everybody whined about where we would
24:21
Speaker 2: be parking, but the traffic would be terrible when we
24:23
Speaker 2: came downtown, and as it turned.
24:25
Speaker 3: Out, people were saying, I don't want to go downtown,
24:27
Speaker 3: but they do.
24:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, they do now because it's the place to be.
24:31
Speaker 2: But part as part of the partnership with the city
24:35
Speaker 2: that we work closely with OPD, as you suggested, no
24:39
Speaker 2: police department. They do a marvelous job, not only traffic
24:44
Speaker 2: control and coordinating parking. But security and the whole security
24:52
Speaker 2: process downtown is better than it's ever been, and people
24:57
Speaker 2: don't understand the security that's involved with the taking care
25:02
Speaker 2: of the safety of the fans at this event, and
25:05
Speaker 2: so in the parking between Lot B and Lot D
25:08
Speaker 2: and other places downtown lott A and where people find
25:15
Speaker 2: is more than adequate. And the traffic flows. Actually, I
25:18
Speaker 2: don't know that I've heard anybody complain about any of that. No,
25:22
Speaker 2: almost since we've been down there so for fifteen years.
25:25
Speaker 1: It clears out pretty quickly. We have to break for
25:27
Speaker 1: a commercial. Could you stay on? I have a lot
25:29
Speaker 1: of other questions to ask.
25:30
Speaker 2: Well, I'd love to and then we'll get Lisa to
25:33
Speaker 2: answer yes.
25:33
Speaker 1: Where get Lisa to answer some Well, We'll have to
25:35
Speaker 1: ask you a few questions too, because there's a lot
25:38
Speaker 1: I want to talk about yet. So we'll break for
25:40
Speaker 1: a commercial and we will be back with Jack and
25:42
Speaker 1: Lisa deezing talking about the Greatest Show on Dirt, which
25:45
Speaker 1: is going to start in Omaha June twelfth, in the
25:48
Speaker 1: city of Omaha. That road to Omaha. I keep on
25:50
Speaker 1: thinking about the statue, the bronze statue out front commemorating
25:55
Speaker 1: some amazing college baseball moment on some amazing college baseball day.
26:00
Speaker 1: And that's what it is right there, and everybody's got
26:02
Speaker 1: to have their picture taken in front of that statue.
26:05
Speaker 1: But a lot more to talk about, you know, I
26:07
Speaker 1: wanted to talk about real quickly about the teams that
26:10
Speaker 1: travel well. You know, LSU is always very very well
26:14
Speaker 1: known to come. They party, they have a great time,
26:16
Speaker 1: the jello shots. Lisa, do you want to give a
26:18
Speaker 1: comment about those those good traveling teams, Well.
26:22
Speaker 5: They make it fun for the rest of us. They
26:23
Speaker 5: We have a number of teams that travel well, but
26:26
Speaker 5: we also love the newcomers. Yes, that's one of the
26:28
Speaker 5: great things about Omaha and our local community is that
26:32
Speaker 5: we absorb and accept those newcomers and celebrate them just
26:35
Speaker 5: like some of our favorites like LSU and Mississippi and
26:38
Speaker 5: many others.
26:39
Speaker 1: And you know, talk about opening ceremony, because I did
26:41
Speaker 1: twelve opening ceremonies with y'all, and to see those new
26:45
Speaker 1: teams that have never been here before take part in
26:49
Speaker 1: that opening ceremony, so excited. I loved the barbecue down
26:53
Speaker 1: at Creighton the parade, but you have changed that now
26:57
Speaker 1: talk about opening ceremony because it was so much fun
27:00
Speaker 1: and so much fun for the team, but weather permitting,
27:04
Speaker 1: weather always affects us in Omaha. And then the teams
27:07
Speaker 1: were out late and they had to play baseball the
27:09
Speaker 1: next day. So talk about the changes with the opening
27:11
Speaker 1: ceremonies and what's going to happen this year.
27:13
Speaker 5: Sure thing, you're absolutely right that. Unfortunately with whether we
27:17
Speaker 5: lost more than we won without opening ceremonies, although it was.
27:20
Speaker 3: Always some death cloud over the stadium.
27:22
Speaker 5: It seemed like exactly we couldn't have the pair of jumpers.
27:24
Speaker 5: But one of our main focuses of this event, of course,
27:28
Speaker 5: are the student athletes and the teams. We want to
27:30
Speaker 5: ensure that we are supporting, hosting, and managing an event
27:34
Speaker 5: that they appreciate, and so we ask for their feedback
27:37
Speaker 5: every year. And one of those questions is related to
27:40
Speaker 5: that opening ceremonies. And while they felt it was celebratory
27:43
Speaker 5: of them Olympic style, as you said, they've told us
27:47
Speaker 5: there for business. Yes, ever, here for business. They don't
27:50
Speaker 5: want to be on their legs all night. They appreciate
27:52
Speaker 5: the food, the pump, the circumstance, but can we shorten it?
27:54
Speaker 5: So because of the feedback we've received, we've made this
27:58
Speaker 5: more of an intimate experience for the teams and their
28:00
Speaker 5: families alone. Last year we had our first year at
28:04
Speaker 5: the zoo. We are actually repeating that again this year. Okay,
28:06
Speaker 5: all eight teams will be going to the zoo and
28:08
Speaker 5: they have a private access to that zoo, so we
28:11
Speaker 5: will host them for dinner and then they'll have access
28:13
Speaker 5: to the park and all of the exhibits for the
28:15
Speaker 5: rest of the evening.
28:16
Speaker 3: And they really seem to enjoy that. They sure do.
28:18
Speaker 3: I remember it at two times.
28:19
Speaker 1: At the Steelhouse when it was new too, So it's
28:22
Speaker 1: nice that you're doing different things. Is get their feedback
28:24
Speaker 1: and see what they really like and what the coaches
28:26
Speaker 1: really like too. Let's talk about some changes that has
28:29
Speaker 1: happened in twenty eighteen. I remembered it was a bit
28:33
Speaker 1: controversial and the big question was should we serve alcohol
28:37
Speaker 1: at an NCAA College World Series championship game? My opinion,
28:42
Speaker 1: there's nothing better than a cold beer and a hot
28:44
Speaker 1: dog at a baseball game. But talk about that a little,
28:47
Speaker 1: because there were pros and cons. I think the pros
28:49
Speaker 1: were it was very profitable, and the cons were are
28:53
Speaker 1: there going to be a lot of intoxicated people that
28:55
Speaker 1: are going to interrupt the games?
28:57
Speaker 2: Well, that was something we talked a lot about back
29:00
Speaker 2: in around the twenty eighteen area or era, and we
29:05
Speaker 2: looked at the pros and cons and what the study
29:10
Speaker 2: and the information suggested was a couple things. This event
29:15
Speaker 2: not only is for the student athletes and making the
29:17
Speaker 2: best it can be for the student athletes, but also
29:19
Speaker 2: making it fan friendly and making a bucket list item
29:23
Speaker 2: for the fans. And what was happening across the country
29:27
Speaker 2: in baseball stadiums elsewhere was that including college campuses, was
29:33
Speaker 2: that beer and alcohol of some sort was being made
29:38
Speaker 2: available during games. What we studied here was in an
29:44
Speaker 2: effort to take us into the future and to make
29:47
Speaker 2: sure that we're making this a great thing for not
29:51
Speaker 2: only the current but the future fans was what are
29:54
Speaker 2: they enjoying at home? What can they enjoy at a bar,
29:58
Speaker 2: and how is that different from what they can enjoy
30:00
Speaker 2: at the stadium. Well, a couple things. One was they
30:03
Speaker 2: can't enjoy any alcoholic beverages at the stadium, and the
30:07
Speaker 2: other was the replays situation was not very good. We've
30:11
Speaker 2: we've taken care of both of those. So it was
30:13
Speaker 2: decided that to offer a beer in the stadium and
30:16
Speaker 2: then eventually up on the club and suite levels only
30:21
Speaker 2: you have availability of other alcoholic beverages. And it's actually
30:26
Speaker 2: worked out extremely well as you might expect, and for
30:30
Speaker 2: the most part in Nebraska, and it's going on and
30:34
Speaker 2: down at the Nebraska Football Stadium. There's no issues. And
30:38
Speaker 2: it's financially it you know, certainly it's it's been a
30:41
Speaker 2: boon to the concession. Sales at the stadium has been
30:44
Speaker 2: very good. It was another source of revenue. But it's
30:48
Speaker 2: been a win win for everybody. It's a win win
30:50
Speaker 2: financially and but uh and for what's available for funds
30:55
Speaker 2: to pay expenses and for the NCAA. But it's a
30:57
Speaker 2: win win for the fans to I mean, they enjoy it.
31:01
Speaker 2: And I'm not aware of one complaint frankly, and actually
31:06
Speaker 2: I haven't heard of too many complaints about too much
31:09
Speaker 2: alcoholic consumption and pick up by the police downtown either.
31:13
Speaker 1: Now, I was going to mention that because I kept
31:14
Speaker 1: track of that with OPD and you know, there wasn't
31:17
Speaker 1: a lot of problems and there wasn't a lot of
31:19
Speaker 1: arrest made because of people being intoxicated. And I have
31:22
Speaker 1: to give a kudos to OPD during the College World
31:24
Speaker 1: Series too, because they run a tight ship. People don't
31:28
Speaker 1: realize that there's SWAT teams on the roof, there are
31:30
Speaker 1: swat teams.
31:31
Speaker 3: Across the street.
31:31
Speaker 1: They are all there to protect the fans and make
31:35
Speaker 1: sure things run really, really smoothly. Lisa, talk a little
31:38
Speaker 1: bit about now the future of the College World Series.
31:41
Speaker 1: What can we look for? First of all, I want
31:43
Speaker 1: to ask you when will that bidding start? We have
31:46
Speaker 1: ten more years. When will the bidding start? And talk
31:49
Speaker 1: about things in the future as far as where we're
31:51
Speaker 1: going to go with the College World Series.
31:53
Speaker 3: Sure, well.
31:53
Speaker 5: A common theme you've heard from us today is we
31:55
Speaker 5: are very keen on being proactive. I want to be
31:58
Speaker 5: proactive and intentional. We have an incredible seventy six year
32:02
Speaker 5: history to celebrate and build.
32:04
Speaker 3: Upon, and that's amazing. It is it is.
32:07
Speaker 5: We can't lose sight of that, and so again I
32:09
Speaker 5: appreciate you having us here to share help us share
32:11
Speaker 5: this story today. But when we look to the future,
32:14
Speaker 5: our organization has gone through a strategic plan over the
32:17
Speaker 5: last two years because we want to start thinking differently.
32:20
Speaker 5: We can't build another new stadium in a twenty five
32:22
Speaker 5: year contract, but how can we enhance what we already
32:26
Speaker 5: have available Within that strategic plan as well, we've developed
32:29
Speaker 5: a succession plan because while we have a lot of legacy,
32:33
Speaker 5: a lot of institutional knowledge, we want to make sure
32:36
Speaker 5: those of us that will be on the board in
32:37
Speaker 5: the future have an understanding and some creativity in delivering.
32:40
Speaker 3: That as well.
32:41
Speaker 5: In order to be successful, we want to focus on
32:45
Speaker 5: maintaining and increasing that relationship with the NCAAA. We know
32:49
Speaker 5: we've got to lean on our local partners here in
32:51
Speaker 5: the city at Mecca and also with our business partners,
32:55
Speaker 5: and we've got to figure out how to again enhance
32:58
Speaker 5: this experience. So that's for the student athletes and for
33:00
Speaker 5: the fans. This is again why we ask for that
33:03
Speaker 5: feedback on an annual basis. With all of that said,
33:06
Speaker 5: while we don't have specific ideas right now, we intend
33:09
Speaker 5: to dig into that and have some solutions in mind
33:13
Speaker 5: in twenty twenty seven to start those conversations because in
33:16
Speaker 5: our current contract it is written that we need to
33:19
Speaker 5: have a look in discussion every five years. So we
33:21
Speaker 5: have had a number of those. They've all gone very well,
33:24
Speaker 5: very favorably, and we look forward to what will come
33:27
Speaker 5: out of this starting in twenty twenty seven, and.
33:29
Speaker 1: With us having that contract for another ten years, when
33:33
Speaker 1: does that biddings process start. I've been asked that a
33:36
Speaker 1: lot by people. Should we be negotiating now? Not yet?
33:40
Speaker 3: Correct?
33:41
Speaker 5: Well, that's why we're going to have ideas. In twenty
33:43
Speaker 5: twenty seven, I can start feeding the NCAA. Here's what
33:46
Speaker 5: we're thinking. Or maybe improvement. That's part of the improvements
33:49
Speaker 5: in the stadium.
33:50
Speaker 1: Yet other things, Okay, talk about the cost of the
33:53
Speaker 1: seating too. I mean, there were there's always people saying
33:55
Speaker 1: I love those bleacher seats, that could buy those books
33:58
Speaker 1: of love bleacher seats.
33:59
Speaker 3: Why don't you have that anymore?
34:01
Speaker 5: We hear that a lot as well. And I don't
34:03
Speaker 5: mean to be a repetitive, but this too goes back
34:05
Speaker 5: to the feedback we hear directly from the fans. Those
34:08
Speaker 5: general admission ticket books were a phenomenal thing while they lasted. Yes,
34:13
Speaker 5: we heard numerous stories that folks appreciated standing in that line,
34:16
Speaker 5: making friends, having fun before getting into the stadium.
34:19
Speaker 3: Part of this experience.
34:20
Speaker 5: It sure was, It sure was. But after COVID and
34:23
Speaker 5: the move to all digital tickets. The feedback we started
34:27
Speaker 5: to receive from fans is we don't want to wait
34:29
Speaker 5: in line anymore. We would rather have a reserve ticket.
34:32
Speaker 5: So because of that feedback, we changed all of those
34:34
Speaker 5: outfield seats to reserve tickets. They are still an affordable price.
34:39
Speaker 5: We keep them at the box office at an affordable price.
34:41
Speaker 5: This year it'll be fifteen dollars depending on game, so
34:44
Speaker 5: it's been a little bit of an increase from that
34:46
Speaker 5: ten dollars per book, but we try to keep it
34:48
Speaker 5: fan friendly and family affordable.
34:50
Speaker 1: And you mentioned COVID. There has been one time in
34:53
Speaker 1: history that the College World Series had been canceled and
34:56
Speaker 1: that was in twenty twenty because of COVID. I want
35:00
Speaker 1: Jack to give his honest opinion right now. Go ahead
35:05
Speaker 1: and let me have it.
35:05
Speaker 3: Jack.
35:06
Speaker 1: I just see in the College World or the Omaha
35:08
Speaker 1: World Herald streetcar construction to close downtown midtown streets right
35:14
Speaker 1: before the College World Series. Tell me, honestly, what you
35:17
Speaker 1: think about with the construction of the streetcar. Is that
35:21
Speaker 1: going to is that going to cause major concerns for
35:25
Speaker 1: the fans during the College World Series this year? Are
35:27
Speaker 1: you are you having are you having nightmares about this?
35:30
Speaker 2: We'll have my politically correct statement and then.
35:33
Speaker 3: You don't have to be correct with me.
35:36
Speaker 2: Lay figure out a way to get down to the stadium,
35:39
Speaker 2: and I think they'll get They've been maneuvering through all
35:43
Speaker 2: the traffic issues and construction zones for a long time
35:48
Speaker 2: and they'll figure it out. And they figured it out
35:53
Speaker 2: when we had the swim trials here when we had that,
35:56
Speaker 2: so we can do two things at once, and so
36:00
Speaker 2: from that standpoint, I think it'll work out fine. It'll
36:03
Speaker 2: be a little bit of a hindrance, but people do
36:06
Speaker 2: do a lot of walking. They figure out places to
36:09
Speaker 2: park themselves, and they walk to the stadium anyway, so
36:13
Speaker 2: people that drive to the statement park don't necessarily come.
36:17
Speaker 2: The main way they come is off fourteenth Street or coming,
36:20
Speaker 2: so that won't be too affected. So I mean, I
36:23
Speaker 2: think from the standpoint of the construction, yeah, it'll be
36:26
Speaker 2: an issue, but I think we'll find a way. We
36:29
Speaker 2: we Nebraskans find a way to get through things and
36:32
Speaker 2: be able to enjoy the experience, and I think that
36:34
Speaker 2: will happen this time too.
36:36
Speaker 3: You answered that without hurting my feelings, Lisa, what.
36:38
Speaker 1: Did you I was just going to nobody could hurt
36:41
Speaker 1: my feelings anymore about the streetcar at Lisa, what were
36:43
Speaker 1: you going to say?
36:43
Speaker 5: I just wanted to add that our partners at the
36:46
Speaker 5: city have also been understanding of this impact and they've
36:50
Speaker 5: been assured us. Yes, they've assured us they will open
36:53
Speaker 5: as many streets as possible to make that transfer as
36:55
Speaker 5: simple as possible for fans, student athletes, and.
36:58
Speaker 3: All of that experience.
37:00
Speaker 5: For what it's worth, we will continue to have updated
37:02
Speaker 5: maps on our website so all of that access will
37:05
Speaker 5: be a bit And.
37:05
Speaker 1: Just think in twenty twenty eight when the street cars
37:07
Speaker 1: that's running, it's gonna be so great. For the College
37:10
Speaker 1: World Series, Jack and Lisa Diesing are here with us today.
37:15
Speaker 1: It's starting June twelfth through the seventeenth. Is the College
37:18
Speaker 1: World Series, the greatest show on dirt in Omaha. I
37:21
Speaker 1: thank you both for being here today, and I think
37:23
Speaker 1: it's time to play ball.
37:24
Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you very much Jeane for having us.
37:26
Speaker 2: And we're looking forward to getting the College Rules Series
37:28
Speaker 2: started and seeing the kids have successfully traveled through real Domah.
37:32
Speaker 1: And I can't wait to be there myself. Thanks for
37:34
Speaker 1: being here.
37:34
Speaker 2: You bet, thank you very much.
37:36
Speaker 3: Thank you. It's your host of the show, Jean's author.
37:38
Speaker 4: I'm Peyton high Lock, and we had quite a few
37:41
Speaker 4: questions last week on the show.
37:43
Speaker 3: Gene. You were not here last week, but we had
37:45
Speaker 3: Chip us on vacation.
37:46
Speaker 4: Yes, we had Chip Maxwell on and we had Gary
37:49
Speaker 4: Sadelmeyer and Jim Rose fill in today and a wonderful listener.
37:53
Speaker 4: Ruby asked a few different times. And the luxury of
37:57
Speaker 4: having somebody like you on the show, Jean, as you
37:59
Speaker 4: always can get to the bottom of it and find
38:01
Speaker 4: an answer. So Ruby was asking about a variety of
38:05
Speaker 4: red dots that were on the glass windows outside of
38:09
Speaker 4: the City Hall building.
38:10
Speaker 1: Yes, okay, Ruby, I have an answer for you. Those
38:14
Speaker 1: big red dots have been on those windows at City Hall,
38:18
Speaker 1: which is the city County building, for a long time now,
38:21
Speaker 1: and really all they are are on big glass windows
38:24
Speaker 1: to warn people that there's a large pane of glass
38:27
Speaker 1: there to keep people from walking into on face first.
38:30
Speaker 1: So that's all the reason that they are there. They're
38:33
Speaker 1: big panes of glass. It's nothing political. Red dot, blue dot.
38:37
Speaker 1: Don't think that Mayor John Ewing would let big red dots.
38:41
Speaker 3: Covers of that would be big blue dots if he
38:44
Speaker 3: had his choice. I don't think he even noticed.
38:46
Speaker 1: But that's all they're there for is to you know,
38:48
Speaker 1: sometimes with a big paint a window, they put up
38:50
Speaker 1: a butterfly sticker or something. They're just big red dots
38:53
Speaker 1: to warn people that it's a big glass window.
38:55
Speaker 4: That's not a very exciting answer.
38:57
Speaker 3: You know.
38:57
Speaker 4: We had Chim Maxwell in the show last week and
38:59
Speaker 4: his his whole pushes let's turn this blue dot red.
39:02
Speaker 4: So I was thinking to myself, Wow, well Chip's really
39:05
Speaker 4: made an impact days on the radio.
39:06
Speaker 1: Not gonna happen at City Hall this day and age.
39:09
Speaker 1: But you know, having said that, I wanted to really
39:12
Speaker 1: thank Chip Maxwell for filling in for me while I
39:14
Speaker 1: was on vacation. You know, Chip has a great radio voice.
39:17
Speaker 1: He just has that voice. I don't my radio. I
39:20
Speaker 1: don't have a radio voice.
39:21
Speaker 3: He really does nice and deep and rounded and he
39:23
Speaker 3: just and he talks real eloquently. So I really want
39:26
Speaker 3: to thank Chip.
39:27
Speaker 1: And Rosie and Gary covered one day doing the comment
39:30
Speaker 1: line are you still recovering? And did you have to
39:31
Speaker 1: go out for a drink afterwards?
39:33
Speaker 4: I'm okay, it was. It was a good time. I
39:35
Speaker 4: didn't have to do much over here. I mean, they're masters,
39:37
Speaker 4: they're pros.
39:38
Speaker 3: Did Rosie let Gary talk? Oh yeah, okay, oh yeah right.
39:42
Speaker 4: You know, actually Rosie was watching the clock and he
39:45
Speaker 4: was getting us out, and I was like, whoa, what's
39:48
Speaker 4: going on here?
39:49
Speaker 3: That's good. I'm glad.
39:50
Speaker 1: Thank you both, all of them for covering for me.
39:52
Speaker 1: I had a good time. I was in Arizona for
39:55
Speaker 1: about a week and then we came home for like
39:58
Speaker 1: half a day, repacked our clothes, and into Baltimore for
40:01
Speaker 1: my husband's class reunion. So we had a good time.
40:03
Speaker 1: I really want to thank Omaha Police Chief Tod S.
40:06
Speaker 1: Matter for being in the studio yesterday. So much to
40:09
Speaker 1: talk about, and you know, I really wanted people to
40:12
Speaker 1: get to know him too, because whenever he is on
40:16
Speaker 1: the media, and he is so good with the media
40:20
Speaker 1: that you know, it's never like, oh, this is a
40:22
Speaker 1: good day in Omaha. Let's have TOADJ. Schmater on to
40:25
Speaker 1: talk about something positive. Let's talk about flowers or something.
40:28
Speaker 1: Tod Schmoter is always on the radio or in the
40:30
Speaker 1: media when there's bad things happening, because he's the police chief,
40:34
Speaker 1: and Toad Schmoter is a fun guy to be around.
40:36
Speaker 3: He's got a great personality.
40:38
Speaker 1: I'm really glad that, you know, he was on the
40:39
Speaker 1: show and we got some time to spend with him
40:41
Speaker 1: talking about the City of Omaha. And you know, also
40:44
Speaker 1: the problem that we had that the rest of the
40:47
Speaker 1: country was having with a low number of people applying
40:50
Speaker 1: to be in law enforcement. That has really taking a change,
40:54
Speaker 1: and a lot of the things that we instituted while
40:56
Speaker 1: I was still mayor, especially the one issue that I
41:00
Speaker 1: didn't mention yesterday, and that was that the City of
41:04
Speaker 1: Omaha is now going to be at least five percent
41:08
Speaker 1: higher in their salary than any other law enforcement agency
41:11
Speaker 1: in the state of Nebraska. And we felt like that
41:13
Speaker 1: would just stop this trying to top each other out
41:16
Speaker 1: all the time, because we would settle a contract in
41:19
Speaker 1: the summer, we would be the highest, and then somebody
41:21
Speaker 1: else would settle a contract in September and they would
41:23
Speaker 1: be the highest, and people were flipping back and forth.
41:26
Speaker 1: And now we said Omaha will always be the highest paid,
41:28
Speaker 1: and I think that'll stop that back and forth. But great,
41:32
Speaker 1: We've had a good time with Chief Schmatter yesterday. Great
41:36
Speaker 1: conversation Jack Deezing and his daughter Lisa with the College
41:40
Speaker 1: World series greatest show on dirt.
41:42
Speaker 3: I love that phrase.
41:43
Speaker 1: It's going to start in Omaha on June twelfth, so
41:46
Speaker 1: we got a lot going on in Omaha and that's
41:49
Speaker 1: going to be it for us today. Thank you for
41:51
Speaker 1: spending this hour with us, Thanks for listening, and we'd
41:54
Speaker 1: love for you to join us again tomorrow. I am
41:57
Speaker 1: Jean Stothard and this is eleven ten Fabee