Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
One thing that springtime offers is a lot additional fun
on the sports front. And joining me on the phone
line today is my good friend Marty Cordero, is the
president of the Omaha Storm Chasers and Union Omaha.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Marty, thanks so much for being on my show today, Emory.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Great to be with you again. Really appreciate being on
on this sunny Thursday afternoon.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Yeah, man, I got to tell you there's a lot
going on in your life. Can I talk about what
your days look like? What's February and March look like?
And now that you're in full fledged season mode for
both teams, how is your life changing?
Speaker 3 (00:32):
You know, February and March are the two busiest months
of the year. It's a little misconception that once the
season starts that's busier and time wise, it is, but
it's the culmination of an off season of planning and selling.
I wouldn't even call it an off season because we've
actually already started working on the twenty twenty six seasons
for most sports. But you know, it's February March is busy,
(00:54):
and we're glad to have gotten Union Omaha off to
a start in in mid March, and now the Open
Cup run is started again, and then Almaha Stormchases started
last Friday and Iowa and then you know we're in
the midst of our first home stand. We play Louisville
tonight at six thirty five right here at Warner Park.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Absolutely love that.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
So let's talk about that baseball season getting started over
at Warner an excellent place to watch some baseball, just
to the south of the Omaha city limits. And I've
actually gotten the broadcast games there. I had a chance
to go and watch plenty of different sporting events, including
of course soccer there as well. What is it like,
I know, it's just a tad bit chilly some of
(01:35):
these early season days. So there's something about the optimism
of a brand new season, especially with the team that
is fresh off of the success that Omaha had last year.
What's the vibes like in the clubhouse for the Storm
Chasers to start the.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Year that has a lot of experience and you have
twenty players back on a roster that won the International
League Championship. And then on the soccer side, you know
we have a majority of our players back year over
year as well. So the thing is, you know, most
teams end the previous season saying, well, it was always
next year, but it was pretty cool that we didn't
(02:07):
have to say that for either of our pro clubs
this year. Is they both won championships right here on
the turf here at Warm Park.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah, how awesome is that? Gosh?
Speaker 1 (02:16):
What twenty twenty four was just an insane year and
you toss in the supernovas. I know you're looking at
three different teams that you know have this going on,
just winning and winning by a lot. You mentioned that
Louisville in town. Take me through some of the deals
that people can take advantage of.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Your opening weekend, Well, tonight.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Is three dollars Thursday. You know, we've got three dollars
sixty an ounce pepsi products, three dollars beers, hot dogs, nachos,
and three dollars tickets. So if you didn't want to
brave the very strong Southern wins and cool temperatures on
opening night on Tuesday, or the colder temperatures yesterday for
(02:57):
the noon game tonight to day, come on tonight, you know,
grab grab the family, come out to the ballpark and
see your first Chasers game and have dinner with us,
and you know, with the six thirty five start.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
It's good for kids.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
You get home at a decent time for school tomorrow,
and then you know, we'll get Friday night game and
then we actually have a Saturday afternoon game. So if
you look at something to do this weekend, we're two
five both on Saturday and Sunday.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Awesome stuff. And just the season just beginning. What is
it like one hundred and forty game schedule or something like.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
That, we're one hundred and fifty now. Yeah, we used
to be one hundred and forty Emory and then once
MLB took over the end of the minor league industry,
they raised the triple A number up to one hundred
and fifty games. So there are seventy three more home
games for people to come watch the Chasers.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Wow, awesome. I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
And one thing that really stood out to me, and
we're not going to have a chance to enjoy it
until the very end of the month, Marty. But it's
Wednesday night. Any any Wednesday night home games this year,
every single one of them, the Dogs are invited, is
that right?
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Every night game? So Bark in the Park is back, Yeah,
presented by Merk and you know you can go online
to Omaha storm Chasers dot com and you could preregister
your dog. Your dog does get in for free, but
the dog has to be registered that way, we have
record of it. And then you'll check in here at
the Warner Park right outside of the Warner Park ticket
office and check in to get your dog ticket. And
(04:24):
just dog has to be on a leash, and you know,
we provide you know, water buckets and I would say
bags for when they have to do number two. That's
good out here out here at the ballpark as well.
So that first night would be Wednesday against Indianapolis, Wednesday,
the thirtieth of April. So we're gearing up for another
(04:47):
great year of barking the park.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah, you're going to be seeing me an awful lot
on those Wednesday games out there with the pups.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Now I'm shifting gears.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Marty Cordarol, president of Omaha Stormchasers and Union, Omaha Union,
Omaha Soccer back in action. I don't know how you
pull both of these jobs off at the same time, Marty,
But last night you mentioned the use up US Open
Cup going on. Defeated the Des Moines Menez which is
in a smaller league but they are full of in
this tournament, at least a bunch of former Major League
(05:16):
Soccer players and former Team USA players, and the Owls
were able to get it done last night and continue this.
So what's kind of next on the docket, because if
I do recall correctly, this is about the time that
we found out we were going to play an MLS team.
How far away are we from the MLS teams getting
involved in What do we know next about this tournament?
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Well, the draw, great question, great segue. The draw was
today at noon, and we have announced that we will
be hosting the next round and we'll be announcing what
day that will be, but it's either on April fifteenth
or sixteenth, but it has been announced we will be
hosting San Antonio from USL Championship. That match will be
(05:56):
at Kinniglia Field as well. We're really really excitot that
less than two weeks away and should we win that round,
I believe the following round after that, which is the
first week in May Amory and your reference to the MLS teams,
I believe that's when they start to come into the
Open Cup bracket.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Oh Man.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
One of the great memories even though it didn't end
well for Unionomah. Last year at Caniglia was a sellout
crowd when Sporting Kansas City came to town and played
at Coniglia, and it was just a rockets atmosphere. The
game went all the way through extra time and it
was a tough loss, but at the same time you
realized how great this team is to be able to
compete with MLS teams as well. So with that being said,
(06:39):
you mentioned that the season is also underway and this
is our response year again trying to defend the championship
in League One for the Owls. So when you look
at the schedule, I noticed that there's not an official
league home game for a while here, and I'm sure
there's a few reasons for that, Marty.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Yeah, you know, we put in on April twenty sixth
home match and instead they send us on the road,
and that being a Jaeger Cup match, we were not
able to trade out of that with another League One
team since it wasn't a regular season match. So yeah,
we were fully prepared to host on April twenty sixth,
didn't happen. So yeah, May tenth is our first home
(07:19):
match and we will welcome Portland. They're an expansion team.
Hearts at Portland here in USL League One, and we're
excited to host them that night. But you know, season
tickets remain, sponsorship opportunities remain, and you know, it gives
our operations staff and our business staff and opportunity to
(07:39):
gear up for that regular season just a little bit longer.
But yeah, I mean, look, there's no secret. You know,
that's one reason why we want our own soccer specific facility.
So when we're talking about scheduling, we can have a
little bit more balanced schedule than we have now. But
I would offer, you know, hosting soccer matches in March
or hosting number of soccer matches in April is never
(08:03):
really our focus. So it's going to be more about
balance than having a couple of early, you know, spring matches,
but not scheduling balance from the beginning to the end
of the year. And you know, yes, do we want
our teams to go on the road for two months.
We don't. But this schedule is very similar to twenty
(08:23):
twenty one and twenty twenty two, and you know, those
are pretty good, pretty successful years as well.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
On the pitch, Martin.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Cordero joining us. He's the president of Union Omaha as
well as I Omaha Storm Chasers. Last thing for you, Marty,
you kind of alluded to having a soccer specific facility.
There was one that was announced with renderings, and many
people got excited about just to the north of kind
of where the arena is in the downtown area, and
we since learned that maybe that isn't going to happen
the exact way that it was given to us. I
(08:50):
know that you can only provide so many updates based
on all of the negotiations and what's going on with
you guys right now, But what update can you give
us on the timeline of a soccer specific state here
in Omaha.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Well, you know, we're still focused, as we said late
last year that the timeline had changed from twenty six
to twenty seven. So we're intentally focused on that. We
continue to work with our partners City of Omaha, and
we're excited. We're excited about the future of soccer. We're
optimistic that within the next brief period of time, you know,
(09:22):
I don't know if that's a month or two months,
we'll have more news that we can share with the public.
But excited about twenty five, excited about twenty six, and
excited about the future of not only Pro Union Omaha
Soccer men's soccer, but you know, starting youth academy and
starting other teams as well.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Yeah, it's going to be an awful lot of fun
to follow the journey of this very successful team Union
Omaha and their success with another win in the US
Open Cup last night. Course Stormchasers in action tonight through
Sunday against Louisville and Marty Cordero running the show for
both squads. Always appreciate the time Marty. It's great seedingy
last week at the season ticket holder event and I'm
(10:00):
really excited to see you at the ballpark all season long.
Really appreciate the time today.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Memory, thank you and thanks for covering local you know,
we really appreciate it. And glad to have you make
Omaha your home now so you know you're welcome anytime.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Man. Really appreciate it. Thank you so much, by the way.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Yeah, and when you look at the storm Chasers, by
the way, very easy to search Omaha Stormchasers. It'll pop
right up with their schedule, all the promotions and everything
like that. And as Marty mentioned today three hour Thursday,
six thirty five Star Time. That's going to be nice
and juicy, especially for a really nice night here in Omaha.
It is three forty nine. More on the way coming
up on news Radio eleven ten kfab
One thing that springtime offers is a lot additional fun
on the sports front. And joining me on the phone
line today is my good friend Marty Cordero, is the
president of the Omaha Storm Chasers and Union Omaha.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Marty, thanks so much for being on my show today, Emory.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Great to be with you again. Really appreciate being on
on this sunny Thursday afternoon.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Yeah, man, I got to tell you there's a lot
going on in your life. Can I talk about what
your days look like? What's February and March look like?
And now that you're in full fledged season mode for
both teams, how is your life changing?
Speaker 3 (00:32):
You know, February and March are the two busiest months
of the year. It's a little misconception that once the
season starts that's busier and time wise, it is, but
it's the culmination of an off season of planning and selling.
I wouldn't even call it an off season because we've
actually already started working on the twenty twenty six seasons
for most sports. But you know, it's February March is busy,
(00:54):
and we're glad to have gotten Union Omaha off to
a start in in mid March, and now the Open
Cup run is started again, and then Almaha Stormchases started
last Friday and Iowa and then you know we're in
the midst of our first home stand. We play Louisville
tonight at six thirty five right here at Warner Park.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Absolutely love that.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
So let's talk about that baseball season getting started over
at Warner an excellent place to watch some baseball, just
to the south of the Omaha city limits. And I've
actually gotten the broadcast games there. I had a chance
to go and watch plenty of different sporting events, including
of course soccer there as well. What is it like,
I know, it's just a tad bit chilly some of
(01:35):
these early season days. So there's something about the optimism
of a brand new season, especially with the team that
is fresh off of the success that Omaha had last year.
What's the vibes like in the clubhouse for the Storm
Chasers to start the.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Year that has a lot of experience and you have
twenty players back on a roster that won the International
League Championship. And then on the soccer side, you know
we have a majority of our players back year over
year as well. So the thing is, you know, most
teams end the previous season saying, well, it was always
next year, but it was pretty cool that we didn't
(02:07):
have to say that for either of our pro clubs
this year. Is they both won championships right here on
the turf here at Warm Park.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah, how awesome is that? Gosh?
Speaker 1 (02:16):
What twenty twenty four was just an insane year and
you toss in the supernovas. I know you're looking at
three different teams that you know have this going on,
just winning and winning by a lot. You mentioned that
Louisville in town. Take me through some of the deals
that people can take advantage of.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Your opening weekend, Well, tonight.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Is three dollars Thursday. You know, we've got three dollars
sixty an ounce pepsi products, three dollars beers, hot dogs, nachos,
and three dollars tickets. So if you didn't want to
brave the very strong Southern wins and cool temperatures on
opening night on Tuesday, or the colder temperatures yesterday for
(02:57):
the noon game tonight to day, come on tonight, you know,
grab grab the family, come out to the ballpark and
see your first Chasers game and have dinner with us,
and you know, with the six thirty five start.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
It's good for kids.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
You get home at a decent time for school tomorrow,
and then you know, we'll get Friday night game and
then we actually have a Saturday afternoon game. So if
you look at something to do this weekend, we're two
five both on Saturday and Sunday.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Awesome stuff. And just the season just beginning. What is
it like one hundred and forty game schedule or something like.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
That, we're one hundred and fifty now. Yeah, we used
to be one hundred and forty Emory and then once
MLB took over the end of the minor league industry,
they raised the triple A number up to one hundred
and fifty games. So there are seventy three more home
games for people to come watch the Chasers.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Wow, awesome. I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
And one thing that really stood out to me, and
we're not going to have a chance to enjoy it
until the very end of the month, Marty. But it's
Wednesday night. Any any Wednesday night home games this year,
every single one of them, the Dogs are invited, is
that right?
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Every night game? So Bark in the Park is back, Yeah,
presented by Merk and you know you can go online
to Omaha storm Chasers dot com and you could preregister
your dog. Your dog does get in for free, but
the dog has to be registered that way, we have
record of it. And then you'll check in here at
the Warner Park right outside of the Warner Park ticket
office and check in to get your dog ticket. And
(04:24):
just dog has to be on a leash, and you know,
we provide you know, water buckets and I would say
bags for when they have to do number two. That's
good out here out here at the ballpark as well.
So that first night would be Wednesday against Indianapolis, Wednesday,
the thirtieth of April. So we're gearing up for another
(04:47):
great year of barking the park.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah, you're going to be seeing me an awful lot
on those Wednesday games out there with the pups.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Now I'm shifting gears.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Marty Cordarol, president of Omaha Stormchasers and Union, Omaha Union,
Omaha Soccer back in action. I don't know how you
pull both of these jobs off at the same time, Marty,
But last night you mentioned the use up US Open
Cup going on. Defeated the Des Moines Menez which is
in a smaller league but they are full of in
this tournament, at least a bunch of former Major League
(05:16):
Soccer players and former Team USA players, and the Owls
were able to get it done last night and continue this.
So what's kind of next on the docket, because if
I do recall correctly, this is about the time that
we found out we were going to play an MLS team.
How far away are we from the MLS teams getting
involved in What do we know next about this tournament?
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Well, the draw, great question, great segue. The draw was
today at noon, and we have announced that we will
be hosting the next round and we'll be announcing what
day that will be, but it's either on April fifteenth
or sixteenth, but it has been announced we will be
hosting San Antonio from USL Championship. That match will be
(05:56):
at Kinniglia Field as well. We're really really excitot that
less than two weeks away and should we win that round,
I believe the following round after that, which is the
first week in May Amory and your reference to the MLS teams,
I believe that's when they start to come into the
Open Cup bracket.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Oh Man.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
One of the great memories even though it didn't end
well for Unionomah. Last year at Caniglia was a sellout
crowd when Sporting Kansas City came to town and played
at Coniglia, and it was just a rockets atmosphere. The
game went all the way through extra time and it
was a tough loss, but at the same time you
realized how great this team is to be able to
compete with MLS teams as well. So with that being said,
(06:39):
you mentioned that the season is also underway and this
is our response year again trying to defend the championship
in League One for the Owls. So when you look
at the schedule, I noticed that there's not an official
league home game for a while here, and I'm sure
there's a few reasons for that, Marty.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Yeah, you know, we put in on April twenty sixth
home match and instead they send us on the road,
and that being a Jaeger Cup match, we were not
able to trade out of that with another League One
team since it wasn't a regular season match. So yeah,
we were fully prepared to host on April twenty sixth,
didn't happen. So yeah, May tenth is our first home
(07:19):
match and we will welcome Portland. They're an expansion team.
Hearts at Portland here in USL League One, and we're
excited to host them that night. But you know, season
tickets remain, sponsorship opportunities remain, and you know, it gives
our operations staff and our business staff and opportunity to
(07:39):
gear up for that regular season just a little bit longer.
But yeah, I mean, look, there's no secret. You know,
that's one reason why we want our own soccer specific facility.
So when we're talking about scheduling, we can have a
little bit more balanced schedule than we have now. But
I would offer, you know, hosting soccer matches in March
or hosting number of soccer matches in April is never
(08:03):
really our focus. So it's going to be more about
balance than having a couple of early, you know, spring matches,
but not scheduling balance from the beginning to the end
of the year. And you know, yes, do we want
our teams to go on the road for two months.
We don't. But this schedule is very similar to twenty
(08:23):
twenty one and twenty twenty two, and you know, those
are pretty good, pretty successful years as well.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
On the pitch, Martin.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Cordero joining us. He's the president of Union Omaha as
well as I Omaha Storm Chasers. Last thing for you, Marty,
you kind of alluded to having a soccer specific facility.
There was one that was announced with renderings, and many
people got excited about just to the north of kind
of where the arena is in the downtown area, and
we since learned that maybe that isn't going to happen
the exact way that it was given to us. I
(08:50):
know that you can only provide so many updates based
on all of the negotiations and what's going on with
you guys right now, But what update can you give
us on the timeline of a soccer specific state here
in Omaha.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Well, you know, we're still focused, as we said late
last year that the timeline had changed from twenty six
to twenty seven. So we're intentally focused on that. We
continue to work with our partners City of Omaha, and
we're excited. We're excited about the future of soccer. We're
optimistic that within the next brief period of time, you know,
(09:22):
I don't know if that's a month or two months,
we'll have more news that we can share with the public.
But excited about twenty five, excited about twenty six, and
excited about the future of not only Pro Union Omaha
Soccer men's soccer, but you know, starting youth academy and
starting other teams as well.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Yeah, it's going to be an awful lot of fun
to follow the journey of this very successful team Union
Omaha and their success with another win in the US
Open Cup last night. Course Stormchasers in action tonight through
Sunday against Louisville and Marty Cordero running the show for
both squads. Always appreciate the time Marty. It's great seedingy
last week at the season ticket holder event and I'm
(10:00):
really excited to see you at the ballpark all season long.
Really appreciate the time today.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Memory, thank you and thanks for covering local you know,
we really appreciate it. And glad to have you make
Omaha your home now so you know you're welcome anytime.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Man. Really appreciate it. Thank you so much, by the way.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Yeah, and when you look at the storm Chasers, by
the way, very easy to search Omaha Stormchasers. It'll pop
right up with their schedule, all the promotions and everything
like that. And as Marty mentioned today three hour Thursday,
six thirty five Star Time. That's going to be nice
and juicy, especially for a really nice night here in Omaha.
It is three forty nine. More on the way coming
up on news Radio eleven ten kfab
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!