1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Kent Wolgamott (Lincoln Journal Star): March 2nd, 10am

Episode Date: March 2, 2022

Thank you for your story on 93.7You love Lincoln, tell us why you love Lincoln so muchSnoop Dogg on 4/20Big Ten Wrestling ChampionshipsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's time to go one-on-one with DP. Coming at you live from the Koppel Chevrolet GMC Studios. Here is your host, Derek Pearson, presented by Beatrice Bakery on 93-7 The Ticket and the Ticketfm.com. One-on-one, and thank you guys for joining and staying with us on a Wednesday morning. Beautiful day. Great weather. everybody showed out yesterday got a little sun, got some fresh air

in their lungs, good stuff. We'll do the same today. And carry us through. I want to thank the folks from Beatrice Bakery for making this hour of sports radio happen. You guys know the deal today. 999-4620. Sarder-handed text on you can text

in questions for our guess. You can call in the Honda-Lincoln hotline 4-6-4-6-85 if you want to communicate that way. The video stream is up. YouTube Twitch, those chat rooms are open. So if you have comments, questions, have at it. Have at it. Our guests will gladly answer.

And I've got a lot of questions to ask because there's lots going on. I'm trying to find the right words for how I felt Sunday because people start, my phone start ringing. And it's like, man, that was a great article. That's a great piece. I'm like, what are you talking about? And he said, no, Lincoln Journal of Star. I was like, well, just talk to Kent.

I was like, I'm pretty sure he didn't know it was being run. So I'm like, Ken, because I didn't know either. Let's bring a Kent Walgammon. Lincoln Journal of Star, first of all, thank you for what you did. That is spectacular. Well, thank you. Great. Okay.

How do I want to put this? Sometimes when you're writing stories, it's like, Certainly not, doesn't come easily. Let's put it that way. Fair. This one, my only issue was what do I have to cut out? You, sir, are a great interview, and we had great stuff to talk about. And that makes my job easy, and I hoped in there to get some sense of what you're doing out here,

because I think it's pretty special. You know, and definitely, I don't know of any place else that's doing this kind of stuff anywhere, and much less Lincoln. There's so much to unwrap in it because our conversations were kind of all over the place. You think? We were all over the place in what we were talking about. And I think for me, one, it was the fact that you were being curious, like authentically curious. Your spirit is bigger than the confines of your article.

And that was a part, that was the thing that I was telling folks. Like, I wish that folks got to hear the conversation because it was such, for me, it was so enlightening to find out what the heart and spirit of Lincoln is behind the black and white ink that you read on a day to day of a weekly basis. But then you start going into the history of this town and the people who were involved. And that's where I leaned in because you love this, you love this town. Oh, absolutely. You love this town. And that comes off and that confirms and reaffirms that, you know what, this is the right place to do this. So I'll ask you this again before we get into the nuts and bolts.

But why do you love this town so much? That's a, you know, that's a really good question. I moved here to go to college, to go the university, and, you know, went school. And then I was in D.C. for a while. And I love D.C. too. Those are probably the, that might have been one of the bonding moments. Yeah, we hit that. And those are probably my two favorite places in the world, actually.

And there's something about Lincoln that I just always felt like, you know, somehow I fit here. But there's also something about Lincoln. I've always said that Lincoln has a small town that's also a big city at the same. time, right? And you can be connected with the whole community here. It's not that huge that you can't be connected and you can't go to, you know, do the football stuff, but also go to the lead center or do this or do that, right? And once you settle into a place and you get to know, in my view, people, either you're going

like it, you know, either going to settle there and, and you're going to want to be there, or you'll head down the road. Well, I've had multiple opportunities to go elsewhere, not recently, but, you know, and I've just, I'd go and I'd like, no, I just don't, I don't want to live in Fort Worth, okay? I understand what you mean by that. I understand what you mean by that. What I found was that there are some authentic people here with big town thinking, but little small town hearts, right?

And it makes it, it's close enough and confined enough that it's hard not to be authentic in it. Yeah. Like if you're bogus in this thing, people are going to figure it out pretty quick. Pretty quick, right? Oh, absolutely. So the fact that people have reached. out and said, first of all, you've got a nation of folks behind you who love your work and who ride with your work.

He's like, well, this is a deep. This is a big deal. Kent's going to sit with you. This is a big deal. He's part of the pulse and heartbeat of this town. And I went, wow. And then as you said, you've traveled enough to know good when you see it. So when you see it here, it's a little bit louder.

it's a little bit brighter and it matters a little bit more to the core of the people who live here. Do we cross the line between sports and community here too much? I think not, actually. And the reason I say that is it's,

I say there sports is the one thing that I can think of that still exist that unifies people you know I mean it doesn't matter what your political affiliation is when you're you know side by side on a Saturday at Memorial exactly right exactly right that sports has done that sports does that name me something else that does that there's only there's only to I've said how long that music. Oh, music, sure.

Music tends to be, music and sports are the two things that will cross barriers and blend recipes pretty quickly in America. And what do I write about? Right. Like those things. And that's unique. We were talking about before the show, you're talking about different concerts coming to Lincoln. And that there are machines behind them that draw that. Do you think most people are aware of how these deals?

Oh, no, absolutely not. Right. So we tell the story. So George Strait coming to Lincoln. Big deal. Big deal. A lot of money. A lot of money. And it took maybe five years to get this show.

Because, you know, George retired. And now he does these sort of from touring. And he does these sort of, he did a Vegas residency. And he does these one-off shows. And he does like stadiums. Well, they work. for years and years and years just to get him to book a show

here. Yeah. Okay. That isn't, you know, people don't understand that. And on the opposite side of the coin, the Snoop show got put together in two weeks. Which, just to tell you, haven't been around the country on 420, I can tell you

getting Snoop on 420 is like you getting the Academy Awards in Lincoln. Absolutely. Like, there are so many pieces that have to fall together in a short window to get an event that is a national caliber event here at Lincoln. In two weeks. In two weeks.

And it's going to, it hasn't sold out yet, but it will. It will. Yeah. You know, and that's, you know, and the straight show obviously sold out at really high ticket prices, which is what his prices are everywhere. Which is, but the thought that Lincoln would pay said prices. Yes. And that is, if there's been a change in the Lincoln community culture, culture for music, for concerts, it's that they will, people here now will pay the price that, that sort of national price, you know, where, you know, they're not, people aren't going to flinch at a $100 concert ticket where.

Because it's a one-off. It's a one-off deal. But in the past, Lincoln was notorious. for not wanting to pay any money for shows. And that hurt. And with the, and it's been, the arena's been there nine years now. And that's kind of changed everything along with the Pinewood. But it really has made a big difference.

And that brings the community together in the same way, as you said earlier, as a sports do. But music goes away, right? You know what I'm saying? You're not with. It's cyclical. Yeah. No, you're not with those people, right? You go to the concert and then you may never.

They're gone. You go football or basketball or whatever. You know them. And it's a constant and people are going to the games. They're, you know, they're talking. It lasts. Well, football here for some reason is a 365 day a year. It is like breakfast.

It is like breakfast. It's going to happen here. Yeah. So then I'll ask you the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, question that leads to when you talk about these venues and the fan base and what it wants and what it doesn't want, the elephant in the room is beer. And the elephant in the room will come out for the first time this weekend at Pinnacle for the Big Ten wrestling.

So Saturday, they've got four sessions Saturday. Correct. From 10 a.m., I believe the championship at 4 o'clock. Correct. And PBA will sell beer. Now, there's no, like the line, the beer lines are up. Like, they're there. Right.

You've got the machines in place. So we'll see how functional this is. Now, as Husker fans will tell you, their issue with PVA has been, are the concessions up to par? And the issue there is the employment shortage. They just can't get enough people. So how do you handle, how do you think they handle an added value item? I can tell you exactly how they're going to handle it. Okay.

They are selling only one canned beer and one draw beer, right? Oh, so it's one, okay. So you can either get this or that. You're not going to get eight billion choices, which lets you move the lines faster. And they are going to have, how do I put? Are there going to be kiosks that they're going to have? Yeah, essentially.

So it's not going to be necessarily. At the hamburger line, it's going to be behind them at a kiosk. Yes, excellent. That's exactly the way to put it. So they'll be able to handle it. And the assumption is, and I believe they're correct on this, this is not going to be like a concert where everybody's getting the beer at the same time. Right? Because you go to a concert, everybody goes to the beer lines before the show at the intermission.

You know, you go 30 minutes into the show, you can walk right up because everybody's in. This is not going to be the same way. It's going to come in over the course of the day, the assumption being that they aren't going to sell a lot of beer at 10 o'clock in the morning, but they might at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. I'm going to be paying attention at 10 o'clock to see what it's wrestling. Like there are people who they're going to walk in the door, and that's what they're going to want to do.

This is an event for them. This is their Super Bowl. So, or this is their Big Ten Conference Championship. So it's a big deal and people will be watching. What other things should we be looking for at PVA on Saturday with beer sales? Like the amount of beer, will we get reports on how much beer sold? I would suspect I won't get a full, you know, they won't tell me to the nickel, but I will get a pretty good idea of how much they're sold.

I think the main thing to look for is that it's not a big deal, right? In this very space until Saturday it won't be a big deal. Yep. Sunday, it may be a bigger deal. Sunday it may be a bigger deal, but Sunday it may be everything went fine. Somebody, everybody had, you know, the people that want to have a beer went home. And that's the whole deal on this is, You know, people are saying, oh, there's going to be beer in Memorial Stadium.

Okay. Even if they decide tomorrow that they want to sell beer at Memorial Stadium, I'm guessing it's a minimum of two years before they could even think about it because they have no infrastructure. You're not going to run kegs all over the place. So they don't have lines running through that. You would almost need 50 beer kiosk just. to begin.

And where are you going to put them in that old stadium? In that old stadium, rolling kiosk, corner facilities, where the cash is protected. It all have to be electronic. Like, there are reasons that this will be a difficult launch. Exactly. And you know what else they don't have? Enough restrooms. Yeah, true.

Absolutely. True. Absolutely true. Absolutely true. Yeah, that's a thing. Kent Wallbart, a Lincoln Journal star. That leads us to spring game. And it's an early date this year, right?

Yeah. I mean, they started spring football in February. So early on, turf renewal or removal or installation, whatever it's going to be later in the fact of this, later this spring. But does that affect the crowd? At the spring game? At the spring game.

I think absolutely yes. Right? I mean, the huge difference between the 74 that we're going to roll with or the 44 that we're going to roll with. Yeah. I mean, when is that spring game? March? April night? April night.

You could get a 45 degree day. Right. So how does this play off then? Because does this temper the crowd, the normal Kool-A crowd that gets behind spring games and treats it like, you know, Super Bowl? like spring Super Bowl? I think what it does, okay, is the crowd, the family that brings the kids because they don't get to go to games,

they're still going to show up, all right? They're going to be there. And you're sort of hardcore, you know, we got to go see the 68th string I'm at. Right? They'll be there. it's that in the middle, right? The, as you say, the sort of Kool-Aid crowd.

Right. And I don't know how they're going to react. And I don't know that in part because I don't know exactly how to say this. I think some people almost feel burned by all the win in the off season, so to speak. You know, they're going to be great. And they go down and see the spring game and get all jacked up and then come. come September, maybe not so great. And I think that, I think that's starting to have impact.

And I think you might see that hit to spring game. It's fan-based PTSD where you've just been bombarded by it. And if it doesn't give you, it doesn't give you the payoff, it becomes frustrating. But I'll ask you, where do you stand on it? You personally. On the spring game? Yeah. My thought on the spring game for however many years that I've gone to this thing is it's practice.

And you know what AI says? We're talking about practice. We're talking about practice. Not a game. Not a game. Not a game. That's fantastic because I really, like I try to be the reader of the temperature. rather than setting the pace of it.

So I'm trying to understand where Husker fans are in this thing. I know how meaningful it is for the fan base to be able to breathe in football. How important is it to, is this spring going to be, this spring game going to be, to the haymarket? All of that, the hay market, all of those places have, okay, fortunately Lincoln didn't get killed by the pandemic on, you know, yes, some restaurants closed, yes, some place, but not like many cities, okay? Right. All of these events are starting to bring everything back.

The Haymarket spring game isn't the equivalent of a football game for those places, a real game. Okay. In part because it's so much of a family event and in part because there's not a lot of tail and a lot of that going on, right? So it's a really good day for them, no matter what. And, you know, and there are specific establishments that I don't need the name. Right. That will do extremely well because of their association with the Husker Sports. Okay.

And that, what that is, it's just this boost in the, and it's coming early for them, which is probably good, honestly. And it will help. The Haymarket's big issue to me, and I don't know how they solve it, is they get people down there before football games, after football games. They get people down there before bigger events at PBA, whether it's men's basketball, concerts. Now, I guess, a little bit women's basketball is drawn enough that you're going to do some business down there. but the rest of the time it's pretty vacant. Well, I think the pandemic, they lost the student body traffic. A lot of the athletes have to shut down in order to not engage.

Absolutely. Right? No, don't take the risk. You can't do it. So I think that's a big part of it as well, and that's being missed. But I do want to ask, what's the bridge between having the spring game be a tailgate event? What's stopping it from being a tailgate event? That's a good, two things, I think.

And I don't know that it's stopping. But one is we've talked cultural, right? It just never has been. Well, you know that I'm a fan of shaking culture. Yes. Well, I'm a fan of shaking it up. And to me, I think it's a missed opportunity. Mm-hmm.

And. Right, because what better way can the average? fan who doesn't get access, get access. Yes. Like, make the players accessible during spring. And that, to me, is something they should do. Right? Like, I think that.

Absolutely. So we're working on that, but I, just to me, it seems like a missed opportunity. I agree. I agree completely. And that accessibility, okay, this is not an exact parallel, but I'm going to tell you, well, I got my Raiders hat on. All right. why am I a Raiders fan?

Okay. I'm, I think I was 10. The centennial of Nebraska. Somehow, some businessmen in North Platte out by where I grew up managed to talk the Denver Broncos into having a preseason game at North Platte High School of all places. And they played the Raiders. and I made my mom, my mom is a huge sports fan still 93 and the calls I get a, what station is that? Go on.

Hi, Mom. It's on ESPN too, Mom. And so she takes me up there. I don't remember the score at a game. I don't remember anything like that. After the game, they let the kids go out. and talk to the players and meet the players and I got these autographs or whatever I've been a raiders fan since that day yeah that's the kind of connection that I think is important and it doesn't have to be a little kid to have that

connection but I think the grownups the grownups carry it with them too yeah and I think that's some of what's gotten away a little bit here is that personal connection that you get with you know with these guys It's my hope that as the advancement goes, because we've been engaging football players on a more regular basis in this station, that the opportunities seem to be elevating. There seem to be more opportunities to do it. And the players themselves are talking, well, geez, we'd like to do, like a Friday tailgate and invite down the media and invite down fans to meet.

And I just thought, well, that would make more sense. Like my hope thought is at some point April 8th that Kent Wong on my, and the pipeline guys are sitting in the same room. Ha, ha. Just talking. Yeah. Just talking. Which does not happen anymore.

Well, again, like I said, I think the opportunity for fans to get to know the student athletes, for the journalists and the media to get to know the student athletes, and vice versa. Mm-hmm. And vice versa. So that when they see you, they will be willing to be authentic with you because you deserve that. And the more authentic they are, the easier the stories become. Kent, we'll throw it to break. When we'll come back, I do want to talk about the conversation that we had about the sports culture here

and what the ticket can do to help make it thrive. And I'll ask you some sincere questions about what can be done along the way in the future here in Lincoln, Nebraska. So we'll throw a break one-on-one more on 93-7 the ticket. by searching 93.7 the ticket in your app store. You're listening to One-on-One with DP on 937 The Ticket in the Ticketfm.com.