WEBVTT
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It is nine thirty in what the boss says is
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God's time zone. It's the Central time zone, and so
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it's ten thirty here in the East. And we catch
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up with somebody and I've got a bunch of questions
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about filing, changes of address and things like that.
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We're used to seeing him with Atlanta United.
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Now we get to see him with the Murder Owls
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Los Boos of USL League one, and it is time
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to catch up with our friend Jamie Henderson and find
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out about his new gig. Jamie, Welcome to the Morning Show.
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How are you, my friend?
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Good morning John, how are you doing? Thanks for having me?
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Oh well, I mean, dude, you leave Atlanta and you
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go to Omaha and you got a new gig, you
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got the black T shirt. You're all dialed up as
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a murder Owl now as the sporting director.
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Congratulations on the new gig.
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Yeah, thank you, thank you.
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It's it's been a really quick turnover, so it's happened
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very quickly.
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But you know, I'm really happy to be here.
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I'm sorry I didn't get to say goodbye to everybody,
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but I'm sure I'll be back in market at some
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point and get to see you all again.
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Okay, so I'll bite you said it was a quick turnaround.
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How quick was it for you being courted by Union?
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Omaha? How long a process are we talking here?
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I think it is around a four week process, to
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be honest with you. Yeah, I started so now probably
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about six weeks ago. The process started. Something I was
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extremely interested in right away, and then the process progressed
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every week. Now I'm here, just see it seems like
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a little bit of a blur, to be honest with you,
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I've not had a chance to gather my thoughts too much.
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It's been a hextic week, as you can imagine.
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We're two games at home with two wins, so a
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real positive week, and it's been.
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It's been really enjoyable.
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Now, I know that that begs the question why, and
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I guess I guess it's two. It's why and why
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Now at this point of your career, what attracted you
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to the idea of, yeah, I want to do this,
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I want to be a sporting director. For what was
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the attraction at this point of your career.
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There's a few things on that, John. It's opportunity, alignment
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and belief. There's all the belief in myself that I
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can come to Union Omaha and really make an impact,
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you know, and I know where the club is, I
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know where the club's going, and I know what I
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can bring and with myself and everybody else around the club,
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and there's some fantastic people here that work extremely hard.
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I feel like I could bring my expertise from the
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last six years with Atlanta United and really help the
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club progress into a really exciting part of you know,
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next part of their story. So that was a big
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part for me in terms of alignment, you know, speaking
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to ownership, speaking to Alexis the GM, Marty the president.
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We aligned in all of our beliefs of what we
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want on the field as well as what we want
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off the field. You know, Omaha is a real tight
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knit community, really family feel and you know, I'm my.
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Wife is from Nebraska.
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I went to school in Omaha, so I know the
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soccer community well, what it means to the state of Nebraska.
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And you know, I feel like I was at a
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point where I could really make a strong impact both
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on and.
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So for those that don't know, I mean, we do
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follow USL League One obviously with Tormenta and the Southeast
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regional rivalries that are here. For those that don't know,
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how would you break down what soccer means to Omaha,
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to Nebraska and that part of the Midwest for someone
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who doesn't know.
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Well, you know, when you think about Nebraska sports, you
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think about corn Husker football, right, that's what everybody thinks,
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and you Omahara is the first professional sports team you
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know in the state, and there's I was fortunate enough
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to spend six years here, go to college here, coach
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in and around the Omaha metro area, and it produces
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so many talented soccer players. It has such a passion
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and drive for the sport. I always thought when I
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when I you know, when I first attended university here
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in twenty twelve, I was thinking that, you know, this
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place is crying out for a professional team. And then
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fast forward, you know six to seven years that the
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heres a professional team, and you know it's it's taken
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off that had very good success early in there.
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You know, early in the club's.
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History with winning two titles, and the club's going upwards,
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continue to go upwards, and you're not settling for one
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or two trophies. This is a thing that's going to
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be keeping moving forward, and I'm really hopeful and I believe,
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like I said, that I can can make a strong
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impact and taking us to the next lefflt.
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Someone who hasn't seen USL League One, they may know
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it as a part of the landscape in the US
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soccer divisions and pyramids and such. How would you describe
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where USL League One fits when it comes to everything
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that we watch on a daily basis here in the
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United States.
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Yeah, if you look at USL one and you watch it,
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it is a very attractive product you and you can
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kind of look at the yeah, you Miso Cup for example,
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maybe some US Open Cup games where USL League One
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teams are matching up against championship teams and they're doing
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extremely well. So for me, there is not much difference
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between USL Championship USL League One, and it's very competitive,
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attractive football if you like, as well.
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Teams trying to play.
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And you've got players that are still trying to really
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impose themselves on their in their professional career, and it's
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it's just been in it right now. It's been a
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really enjoyable experience for me to watch the games and
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be extremely impressed with the product that's been delivered, so
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it's been really good. I encourage everybody if you have
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a USL team in your market area, go and watch them.
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It's it's it's really good. It's obviously different to MLS.
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It's like I talked about earlier, it's a tight knit
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community and I feel like you'll find that in all
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of the clubs around the USL, whether it's a championship
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or E one.
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And it's a different field, but it's really really enjoyable.
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So as you now are going back there, the pride
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of Bellevue, by the way, the pride of Bellevue going
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in and being a part of everything there. Now, what
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do you think will be the easiest part as you
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transition into the sporting director job there at Union Omaha?
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And what do you think your biggest challenge is going
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to be going forward?
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You know, if you know coming from Atlanta United and
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you know, being a scout and looking at players, I
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did a lot of European scout, but worldwide, Okay, that
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gets narrowed down now your pull of players becomes a
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little bit narrower. So understanding those markets which won't take
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me long. I've been scout in different areas of world,
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whether it be Europe, South America, United States. You know,
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it's going to change a little bit now in terms
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of the players that I'm looking at, but it's going
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to be a challenge.
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That I'm looking for two.
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So part of that is that I'm now going to
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be able to bring my expertise of scouting and help
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the team around me.
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So yeah, it's a bit of a twofold.
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It's going to be challenging, but also going to be
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part that I can really make an impact as well.
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And when you look at, you know, everything that is
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there with Union Omaha. There there is the pedigree, there
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have been players that have gone through and that they've
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made their mark in other places. I know that one
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of the calling cards for Union Omaha traditionally has been
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Open Cup and the successes that have been there. You
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look at a guy like Rashid Knu who who has
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been one of the great talents in USL League one,
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and you now get the opportunity to kind of have
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your own Petri dish. I guess, for lack of a
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better way to phrase it, you can kind of mold
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things the way that you want to. In a concert
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with the head coach, what kind of a style are
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you looking for for Union Omaha to have out there
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on the pitch to represent what the club wants to
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represent the Midwest and everything there. What do you if
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I was to say what does this look like for
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Union Omaha. I'm just walking up to you and I say,
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what is Union Omaha football?
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What would you like for it to be?
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Yeah? I think you're touching it there.
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John is about how does the how does the product
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that we're putting out on the field represent the Omaha
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community is a hard working community, So that's you know,
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the absolute basic is hard work. But then when the
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product's on the pitch and we talk a little bit
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more technical, we want to be fast, we want to
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be attacking, we want to be entertaining, we want to
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score goals.
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We want to produce a product.
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That's going to get fans into the stadium when they're
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going to come away from me going wow, that was
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really entertaining game of football. You know, we know, we
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know that football. You're going to win some, you're going
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to lose some. But what we're going to make sure
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we do is we're producing an attacking style style of
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football that's going to bring fans into the stadium and
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really start to grow the interest not in just the
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sport itself, which is continuing to grow day on day,
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not just in the Omaha community but in the United
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States completely, but a product that then's going to go, Okay,
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we're interested in the game. Now, we're really interested in
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this team because they're producing something that's really entertaining for us.
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And that's where I want to go with this. And
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I look at the two games this week. We had
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two home games, two wins, and it was so entertaining,
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creating so many opportunities, but winning the game, which is
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most important. And it was just I sat there just
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to just to analyze for the first time, and I
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was so impressed with the way that we as a
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team set.
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Up, but the product that we produced.
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It was entertaining to watch, you know, as I should
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be fully engaged, but I was just there, going, this
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is a good product. We are playing good stuff. This
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is entertaining. This is going to get people into the stadium.
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Butts on seats, and when we're playing butts are off
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seats is they're excited. That's what we're going to keep
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reducing here, and that that's the style of football that
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this club is.
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Don Casciato started the season as head coach. He's now
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in Tampa Bay, and so now you're dealing with an
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interim situation as a part of this new dynamic in
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this new job when it comes to needing advice, and
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I imagine that you probably will have those days where
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you might have the door closed in the office and
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it's like, Okay, I've really got a question and I
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need somebody to bounce an idea off of who is
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on your speed dial when it comes to needing advice
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that you know they will pick up the phone and
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you can bounce ideas off of, not necessarily about what
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the ultimate decision is going to be there in Omaha
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with the franchise and the club, but just in general tendencies.
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Who is on your speed dial to help you out
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when it comes to needing advice these days.
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The first time where I always have on speed dial
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is my dad. He's always the voice of reason. So
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that's that one. But when I talk about in a
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professional setting, I've got to give credit and how much
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appreciation I have for the guys at Atlanta United. You know,
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whether they're working with Carlos Bocanegra, who was a great,
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great boss for me.
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He helped me so much in my professional development.
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Jonathan Spector No fantastic, Demetrius again fantastic, and now most
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recently Chris Henderson.
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All of these.
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Guys have helped me get to this stage that I'm
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at right now, and they've all offered a hand whenever
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I need it. So all of those guys that I've
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mentioned there, if I call them, they'll pick up the
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phone and they'll give me advice.
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And I trust them to give me the right advice,
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and I won't hesitate to pick.
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Up the first lesson.
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It could be either to be a successful scout or
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a successful front office person, sporting director, what have you.
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What was the first lesson that you learned from those
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four guys that stuck with you that you think will
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help you the most in that gig there in Omaha.
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Every day is going to be different. Don't try and
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fix everything at once, and take the good days with
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the bad days. You know, football is a roller coaster.
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The sports in general is a roller coaster. You can
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have peaks and you and have troughs, and it's going
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to be challenging at times. Be true, to yourself, but
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be a leader and lead by example. And you know,
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I listened to an interview this weekend from who is
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it from me? It was from Tommy Fleetwood. It was
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it was Tommy Fleetwood who said, above everything else, be
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a good person to yourself and to the people around you.
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And that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to
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make sure that I'm a good person to everyone around here.
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If I need to chip in and do certain things
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that are out of my job description, if you like,
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I'm going to do that, That's that's what I'm in now.
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I mean the USL League One team who we have
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to go and help with with field boards, go and
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help with field flips because you're in a baseball stadium.
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This is this is where I'm at now, and I
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absolutely love that part of it. And you know this,
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this is who I am to the core, is that
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I like to help out where I can, and that's
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what I'm going to do going forward.
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How difficult is it going to be knowing you as
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I do? How difficult is it going to be not
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to try and fix everything immediately out of the blocks
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and understand that it might take a couple of days
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or there might be a process there. How much of
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a challenge is it going to be to kind of
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restrain yourself knowing that you want to kind of fix
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something and it won't be an immediate thing.
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That's it. You know, it goes back to the advice
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I was giving. You're not going to be able to
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fix everything at once. I'm very fortunate that I've come
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into a club here that is all the duction row,
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every every everybody is organized here that we've got fantastic
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people working in the backroom, staff the back office here.
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You know, Alexis and Marty are doing a fantastic job
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to get the club to where it's at now. I
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just want to take the load off them and take
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that those responsibilities off them, but also to take the
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advice from that the guys that I mentioned. I'm not
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gon be able to fix everything at once, Taking one
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day at a time. There's going to be something new
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every day. But you know, I'm going to be forefront
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and we're going to be honest with everybody, and if
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I see something, I'm going to say it and hopefully
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I can give advice and fix it where it needs fixed.
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But also taking advice from people around me as well.
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This is a this is a tight knit club whose
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opinions of every body around here mattered to me, and
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I would wright to get the opinions of everyone and
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then make a decision off that. But I'm you know,
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I'm here to help and support everybody, from the players
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to the coaching staff to the backroom staff, and that's
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what I'm here to do. And we're going to continue
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to build a good relationship, you know. Like I mentioned,
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it's been a good week, but it's only been eight
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nine days and building good rapport with a lot of
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people around here. Still learning how everything works, but it's
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been a really eye opening and enjoyable more than anything.
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John's in a couple of minutes here with Jamie Henderson,
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the new sporting director up at Union Omaha and USL
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League One. I remember that one of the keys that
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Darren Eels had when he was in charge with Atland
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United was pub diplomacy, and basically it was a very
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grassroots thing where he is hitting all of the soccer
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bars and he's making public appearances and shaking hands and
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eating meals and being a part of the community. Is
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there any kind of a plan for you to be
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out in the community and hitting all the hot spots
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and sitting there and introducing yourself.
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Is that dance card already for what's going on there?
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No, that's something that I'm going to be doing. It's
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something I want to do, and I think it's something
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that really helps grow the sport.
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And have that touch base with fans. You know.
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I went out to a tailgate before our game on
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Saturday and met the supporters group there, had they give
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me a gift basket, which is really kind of them,
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and just had that one on one time and it
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was really good just to see the passion that they.
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Have and the care that they have for this club already.
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So these things we're going to.
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Do, little talks at pubs, at their supporters group, I'll.
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Go and do them.
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I think getting out in the community, not just myself,
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but the players is vitally important to continue to grow.
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Last question, and this has to do with some stuff
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that you used to do here with Atlanta United. Tyler
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Pilgrim was on earlier this morning and hour number one
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from Scars and Spikes, and he wanted to wave his
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hand and sit there and say hello as well. Is
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there any thought to having a Union Omaha media match,
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so they can see the sporting director of Union Omaha
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out there with his talented right foot.
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The way to increase the.
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Local media and let everybody know what they're getting on
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the pitch with their sporting director who they would know
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off the pitch.
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Is there any thought about something like that.
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We could get something like that going.
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I don't know if it gives me a disadvantage, to
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be honest with you, I don't know who's.
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Seen my right foot, but I appreciate the credit. But that,
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you know, joking this.
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I thought that was a fantastic thing that the Atlanta
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United do, is that the media matches. I was fortunate
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enough to play in one of those. It's great to
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get everybody together outside of the pressure cooker of the
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professional football and media and everything like that. I think
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it's good to have those. So if I can set
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one up here, I would love to have it. And
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you know, if you want to come out for a
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game as well.
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You yeah, I mean that that's what we're thinking. It's like,
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are you accepting outside invitations for the media match from
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past markets and those kinds of things to fill out rosters?
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And yes, as always, if you'd like to see some
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folks wander out there to Omaha and see the murder owls.
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You take take advantage of things in the USL League
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when it was a slow start. This year, you've won
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three of five, only lost one of your last five,
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and so you're now in the playoff discussion when it
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comes to right now USL League one. Yeah, if we could,
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if we figure out a time to do it, we'd
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love to come out there and visit and hang out
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there at Papalon and find out what's going on at
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Warner Park with everything going on with Union Omaha. Jamie,
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congratulations and could not be happier for you and the
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family to get hit back out there to the Midwest,
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and we look forward to seeing how your stamp is
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going to be on Union Omaha out there in USL
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League one.
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Do not be a stranger. We will be knocking on
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your door.
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Thanks to William Clark for putting spreading the schedule out
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a little bit so we could come and visit. Thanks
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again for everything while you were here in Atlanta. We
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could not pass this opportunity by to catch up with you. Congratulations.
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We'll catch up with you soon, my friend, don't be.
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A stranger, appreciate it.
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Jamie Henderson.
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He's a new sporting director at Union Omaha and USL
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League One and he has survived and out of market
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interview
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It is nine thirty in what the boss says is
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God's time zone. It's the Central time zone, and so
3
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it's ten thirty here in the East. And we catch
4
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up with somebody and I've got a bunch of questions
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about filing, changes of address and things like that.
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We're used to seeing him with Atlanta United.
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Now we get to see him with the Murder Owls
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Los Boos of USL League one, and it is time
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to catch up with our friend Jamie Henderson and find
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out about his new gig. Jamie, Welcome to the Morning Show.
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How are you, my friend?
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Good morning John, how are you doing? Thanks for having me?
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Oh well, I mean, dude, you leave Atlanta and you
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go to Omaha and you got a new gig, you
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got the black T shirt. You're all dialed up as
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a murder Owl now as the sporting director.
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Congratulations on the new gig.
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Yeah, thank you, thank you.
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It's it's been a really quick turnover, so it's happened
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very quickly.
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But you know, I'm really happy to be here.
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I'm sorry I didn't get to say goodbye to everybody,
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but I'm sure I'll be back in market at some
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point and get to see you all again.
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Okay, so I'll bite you said it was a quick turnaround.
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How quick was it for you being courted by Union?
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Omaha? How long a process are we talking here?
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I think it is around a four week process, to
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be honest with you. Yeah, I started so now probably
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about six weeks ago. The process started. Something I was
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extremely interested in right away, and then the process progressed
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every week. Now I'm here, just see it seems like
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a little bit of a blur, to be honest with you,
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I've not had a chance to gather my thoughts too much.
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It's been a hextic week, as you can imagine.
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We're two games at home with two wins, so a
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real positive week, and it's been.
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It's been really enjoyable.
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Now, I know that that begs the question why, and
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I guess I guess it's two. It's why and why
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Now at this point of your career, what attracted you
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to the idea of, yeah, I want to do this,
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I want to be a sporting director. For what was
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the attraction at this point of your career.
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There's a few things on that, John. It's opportunity, alignment
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and belief. There's all the belief in myself that I
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can come to Union Omaha and really make an impact,
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you know, and I know where the club is, I
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know where the club's going, and I know what I
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can bring and with myself and everybody else around the club,
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and there's some fantastic people here that work extremely hard.
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I feel like I could bring my expertise from the
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last six years with Atlanta United and really help the
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club progress into a really exciting part of you know,
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next part of their story. So that was a big
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part for me in terms of alignment, you know, speaking
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to ownership, speaking to Alexis the GM, Marty the president.
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We aligned in all of our beliefs of what we
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want on the field as well as what we want
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off the field. You know, Omaha is a real tight
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knit community, really family feel and you know, I'm my.
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Wife is from Nebraska.
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I went to school in Omaha, so I know the
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soccer community well, what it means to the state of Nebraska.
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And you know, I feel like I was at a
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point where I could really make a strong impact both
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on and.
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So for those that don't know, I mean, we do
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follow USL League One obviously with Tormenta and the Southeast
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regional rivalries that are here. For those that don't know,
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how would you break down what soccer means to Omaha,
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to Nebraska and that part of the Midwest for someone
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who doesn't know.
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Well, you know, when you think about Nebraska sports, you
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think about corn Husker football, right, that's what everybody thinks,
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and you Omahara is the first professional sports team you
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know in the state, and there's I was fortunate enough
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to spend six years here, go to college here, coach
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in and around the Omaha metro area, and it produces
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so many talented soccer players. It has such a passion
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and drive for the sport. I always thought when I
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when I you know, when I first attended university here
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in twenty twelve, I was thinking that, you know, this
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place is crying out for a professional team. And then
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fast forward, you know six to seven years that the
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heres a professional team, and you know it's it's taken
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off that had very good success early in there.
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You know, early in the club's.
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History with winning two titles, and the club's going upwards,
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continue to go upwards, and you're not settling for one
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or two trophies. This is a thing that's going to
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be keeping moving forward, and I'm really hopeful and I believe,
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like I said, that I can can make a strong
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impact and taking us to the next lefflt.
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Someone who hasn't seen USL League One, they may know
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it as a part of the landscape in the US
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soccer divisions and pyramids and such. How would you describe
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where USL League One fits when it comes to everything
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that we watch on a daily basis here in the
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United States.
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Yeah, if you look at USL one and you watch it,
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it is a very attractive product you and you can
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kind of look at the yeah, you Miso Cup for example,
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maybe some US Open Cup games where USL League One
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teams are matching up against championship teams and they're doing
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extremely well. So for me, there is not much difference
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between USL Championship USL League One, and it's very competitive,
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attractive football if you like, as well.
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Teams trying to play.
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And you've got players that are still trying to really
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impose themselves on their in their professional career, and it's
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it's just been in it right now. It's been a
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really enjoyable experience for me to watch the games and
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be extremely impressed with the product that's been delivered, so
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it's been really good. I encourage everybody if you have
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a USL team in your market area, go and watch them.
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It's it's it's really good. It's obviously different to MLS.
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It's like I talked about earlier, it's a tight knit
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community and I feel like you'll find that in all
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of the clubs around the USL, whether it's a championship
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or E one.
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And it's a different field, but it's really really enjoyable.
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So as you now are going back there, the pride
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of Bellevue, by the way, the pride of Bellevue going
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in and being a part of everything there. Now, what
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do you think will be the easiest part as you
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transition into the sporting director job there at Union Omaha?
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And what do you think your biggest challenge is going
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to be going forward?
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You know, if you know coming from Atlanta United and
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you know, being a scout and looking at players, I
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did a lot of European scout, but worldwide, Okay, that
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gets narrowed down now your pull of players becomes a
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little bit narrower. So understanding those markets which won't take
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me long. I've been scout in different areas of world,
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whether it be Europe, South America, United States. You know,
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it's going to change a little bit now in terms
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of the players that I'm looking at, but it's going
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to be a challenge.
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That I'm looking for two.
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So part of that is that I'm now going to
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be able to bring my expertise of scouting and help
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the team around me.
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So yeah, it's a bit of a twofold.
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It's going to be challenging, but also going to be
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part that I can really make an impact as well.
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And when you look at, you know, everything that is
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there with Union Omaha. There there is the pedigree, there
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have been players that have gone through and that they've
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made their mark in other places. I know that one
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of the calling cards for Union Omaha traditionally has been
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Open Cup and the successes that have been there. You
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look at a guy like Rashid Knu who who has
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been one of the great talents in USL League one,
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and you now get the opportunity to kind of have
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your own Petri dish. I guess, for lack of a
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better way to phrase it, you can kind of mold
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things the way that you want to. In a concert
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with the head coach, what kind of a style are
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you looking for for Union Omaha to have out there
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on the pitch to represent what the club wants to
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represent the Midwest and everything there. What do you if
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I was to say what does this look like for
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Union Omaha. I'm just walking up to you and I say,
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what is Union Omaha football?
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What would you like for it to be?
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Yeah? I think you're touching it there.
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John is about how does the how does the product
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that we're putting out on the field represent the Omaha
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community is a hard working community, So that's you know,
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the absolute basic is hard work. But then when the
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product's on the pitch and we talk a little bit
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more technical, we want to be fast, we want to
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be attacking, we want to be entertaining, we want to
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score goals.
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We want to produce a product.
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That's going to get fans into the stadium when they're
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going to come away from me going wow, that was
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really entertaining game of football. You know, we know, we
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know that football. You're going to win some, you're going
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to lose some. But what we're going to make sure
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we do is we're producing an attacking style style of
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football that's going to bring fans into the stadium and
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really start to grow the interest not in just the
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sport itself, which is continuing to grow day on day,
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not just in the Omaha community but in the United
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States completely, but a product that then's going to go, Okay,
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we're interested in the game. Now, we're really interested in
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this team because they're producing something that's really entertaining for us.
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And that's where I want to go with this. And
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I look at the two games this week. We had
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two home games, two wins, and it was so entertaining,
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creating so many opportunities, but winning the game, which is
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most important. And it was just I sat there just
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to just to analyze for the first time, and I
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was so impressed with the way that we as a
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team set.
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Up, but the product that we produced.
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It was entertaining to watch, you know, as I should
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be fully engaged, but I was just there, going, this
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is a good product. We are playing good stuff. This
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is entertaining. This is going to get people into the stadium.
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Butts on seats, and when we're playing butts are off
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seats is they're excited. That's what we're going to keep
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reducing here, and that that's the style of football that
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this club is.
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Don Casciato started the season as head coach. He's now
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in Tampa Bay, and so now you're dealing with an
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interim situation as a part of this new dynamic in
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this new job when it comes to needing advice, and
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I imagine that you probably will have those days where
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you might have the door closed in the office and
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it's like, Okay, I've really got a question and I
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need somebody to bounce an idea off of who is
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on your speed dial when it comes to needing advice
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that you know they will pick up the phone and
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you can bounce ideas off of, not necessarily about what
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the ultimate decision is going to be there in Omaha
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with the franchise and the club, but just in general tendencies.
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Who is on your speed dial to help you out
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when it comes to needing advice these days.
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The first time where I always have on speed dial
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is my dad. He's always the voice of reason. So
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that's that one. But when I talk about in a
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professional setting, I've got to give credit and how much
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appreciation I have for the guys at Atlanta United. You know,
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whether they're working with Carlos Bocanegra, who was a great,
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great boss for me.
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He helped me so much in my professional development.
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Jonathan Spector No fantastic, Demetrius again fantastic, and now most
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recently Chris Henderson.
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All of these.
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Guys have helped me get to this stage that I'm
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at right now, and they've all offered a hand whenever
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I need it. So all of those guys that I've
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mentioned there, if I call them, they'll pick up the
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phone and they'll give me advice.
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And I trust them to give me the right advice,
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and I won't hesitate to pick.
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Up the first lesson.
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It could be either to be a successful scout or
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a successful front office person, sporting director, what have you.
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What was the first lesson that you learned from those
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four guys that stuck with you that you think will
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help you the most in that gig there in Omaha.
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Every day is going to be different. Don't try and
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fix everything at once, and take the good days with
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the bad days. You know, football is a roller coaster.
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The sports in general is a roller coaster. You can
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have peaks and you and have troughs, and it's going
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to be challenging at times. Be true, to yourself, but
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be a leader and lead by example. And you know,
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I listened to an interview this weekend from who is
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it from me? It was from Tommy Fleetwood. It was
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it was Tommy Fleetwood who said, above everything else, be
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a good person to yourself and to the people around you.
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And that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to
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make sure that I'm a good person to everyone around here.
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If I need to chip in and do certain things
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that are out of my job description, if you like,
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I'm going to do that, That's that's what I'm in now.
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I mean the USL League One team who we have
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to go and help with with field boards, go and
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help with field flips because you're in a baseball stadium.
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This is this is where I'm at now, and I
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absolutely love that part of it. And you know this,
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this is who I am to the core, is that
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I like to help out where I can, and that's
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what I'm going to do going forward.
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How difficult is it going to be knowing you as
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I do? How difficult is it going to be not
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to try and fix everything immediately out of the blocks
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and understand that it might take a couple of days
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or there might be a process there. How much of
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a challenge is it going to be to kind of
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restrain yourself knowing that you want to kind of fix
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something and it won't be an immediate thing.
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That's it. You know, it goes back to the advice
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I was giving. You're not going to be able to
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fix everything at once. I'm very fortunate that I've come
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into a club here that is all the duction row,
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every every everybody is organized here that we've got fantastic
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people working in the backroom, staff the back office here.
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You know, Alexis and Marty are doing a fantastic job
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to get the club to where it's at now. I
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just want to take the load off them and take
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that those responsibilities off them, but also to take the
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advice from that the guys that I mentioned. I'm not
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gon be able to fix everything at once, Taking one
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day at a time. There's going to be something new
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every day. But you know, I'm going to be forefront
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and we're going to be honest with everybody, and if
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I see something, I'm going to say it and hopefully
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I can give advice and fix it where it needs fixed.
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But also taking advice from people around me as well.
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This is a this is a tight knit club whose
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opinions of every body around here mattered to me, and
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I would wright to get the opinions of everyone and
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then make a decision off that. But I'm you know,
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I'm here to help and support everybody, from the players
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to the coaching staff to the backroom staff, and that's
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what I'm here to do. And we're going to continue
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to build a good relationship, you know. Like I mentioned,
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it's been a good week, but it's only been eight
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nine days and building good rapport with a lot of
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people around here. Still learning how everything works, but it's
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been a really eye opening and enjoyable more than anything.
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John's in a couple of minutes here with Jamie Henderson,
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the new sporting director up at Union Omaha and USL
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League One. I remember that one of the keys that
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Darren Eels had when he was in charge with Atland
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United was pub diplomacy, and basically it was a very
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grassroots thing where he is hitting all of the soccer
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bars and he's making public appearances and shaking hands and
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eating meals and being a part of the community. Is
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there any kind of a plan for you to be
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out in the community and hitting all the hot spots
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and sitting there and introducing yourself.
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Is that dance card already for what's going on there?
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No, that's something that I'm going to be doing. It's
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something I want to do, and I think it's something
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that really helps grow the sport.
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And have that touch base with fans. You know.
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I went out to a tailgate before our game on
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Saturday and met the supporters group there, had they give
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me a gift basket, which is really kind of them,
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and just had that one on one time and it
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was really good just to see the passion that they.
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Have and the care that they have for this club already.
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So these things we're going to.
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Do, little talks at pubs, at their supporters group, I'll.
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Go and do them.
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I think getting out in the community, not just myself,
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but the players is vitally important to continue to grow.
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Last question, and this has to do with some stuff
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that you used to do here with Atlanta United. Tyler
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Pilgrim was on earlier this morning and hour number one
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from Scars and Spikes, and he wanted to wave his
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hand and sit there and say hello as well. Is
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there any thought to having a Union Omaha media match,
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so they can see the sporting director of Union Omaha
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out there with his talented right foot.
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The way to increase the.
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Local media and let everybody know what they're getting on
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the pitch with their sporting director who they would know
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off the pitch.
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Is there any thought about something like that.
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We could get something like that going.
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I don't know if it gives me a disadvantage, to
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be honest with you, I don't know who's.
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Seen my right foot, but I appreciate the credit. But that,
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you know, joking this.
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I thought that was a fantastic thing that the Atlanta
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United do, is that the media matches. I was fortunate
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enough to play in one of those. It's great to
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get everybody together outside of the pressure cooker of the
357
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professional football and media and everything like that. I think
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it's good to have those. So if I can set
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one up here, I would love to have it. And
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you know, if you want to come out for a
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game as well.
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You yeah, I mean that that's what we're thinking. It's like,
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are you accepting outside invitations for the media match from
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past markets and those kinds of things to fill out rosters?
365
00:17:53.960 --> 00:17:58.839
And yes, as always, if you'd like to see some
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folks wander out there to Omaha and see the murder owls.
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00:18:02.839 --> 00:18:05.000
You take take advantage of things in the USL League
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when it was a slow start. This year, you've won
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three of five, only lost one of your last five,
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and so you're now in the playoff discussion when it
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comes to right now USL League one. Yeah, if we could,
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if we figure out a time to do it, we'd
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love to come out there and visit and hang out
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there at Papalon and find out what's going on at
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Warner Park with everything going on with Union Omaha. Jamie,
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congratulations and could not be happier for you and the
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family to get hit back out there to the Midwest,
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and we look forward to seeing how your stamp is
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going to be on Union Omaha out there in USL
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League one.
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Do not be a stranger. We will be knocking on
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your door.
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Thanks to William Clark for putting spreading the schedule out
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a little bit so we could come and visit. Thanks
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again for everything while you were here in Atlanta. We
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could not pass this opportunity by to catch up with you. Congratulations.
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00:18:54.519 --> 00:18:56.160
We'll catch up with you soon, my friend, don't be.
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A stranger, appreciate it.
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Jamie Henderson.
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He's a new sporting director at Union Omaha and USL
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League One and he has survived and out of market
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interview
