Tag: baseball

Omaha Interview: College World Series Media Tasting, Alec Woockman

OmahaNebraska.com interviewed Alec Woockman,Executive Chef at Levy Restaurants.

What are the inspirations for this year’s offerings for the College World Series?

I try to stay updated on the trends as much as I can.

Also, these are flavors I personally like, and I think they fit well in the ballpark.

I take inspiration from a lot of things and Chris Myer. Everything from a sandwich with a lot of pickles on it to a vegetarian fried cauliflower curry aioli and sriracha. I think there is a broad spectrum of things that I like that I think also work well in a ballpark.

What are some of the items that you are most excited about?

Right, so some of the things I am most excited about are first the fried chicken sandwich.

I really wanted to overwhelm it with pickle ingredients.

I think you either love pickles or love pickles and I am the latter so . . . I took bread and butter pickles, aioli, a sweet and creamy aioli. Then we have fried pickles. We also have these really nice long crinkle-cut dill pickles that just hang over the bun.

I think one of the most fun items that we have is a shared item called The Slugger, an Italian beef sandwich.

So, it’s pretty classic Italian beef. We braise it in house with beef stock, Italian seasonings, and pepperoncini.

We braise that, shred it, and save that braising liquid to make an au jus which we serve along with the sandwich.

A 14-inch, full loaf of bread that we cut open ourselves, put a pound of Italian beef in, and top with cheese and we toast it in our pizza oven.

Then we top that with giardiniera and grated Parmesan cheese and add a cup of au jus.

We cut the sandwich in three pieces. It comes in a nice box with a handle on it that you can carry.

I say it easily feeds three really hungry people, but I think probably you can feed four.

What is your inspiration for the shrimp po’ boy? I’ve never seen that at a ballpark.

So, a shrimp po’ boy . . . it’s a very traditional shrimp po’ boy. We didn’t do anything too crazy. It’s fried shrimp on a hoagie with shredded lettuce and tomato and a remoulade.

It’s just a flavor that I think should be at a ballpark. I think it will appeal to the masses. I think it is missing from this environment. You don’t see shrimp po boys. Why not shrimp po’ boys?

Another very classic flavor this year is our Chicken Parm Sandwich . . . mozzarella, marina . . .I think it fills a slot that a lot of people will enjoy.

How did you become a chef?

I’ve loved cooking from a very young age. I’ve been cooking since I was 16 years old.

…

A few years went by and I went to culinary school and started cooking in restaurants.

I started with CHI, as well as the ballpark here. I’ve been here with this company for about seven years now.

And so, I have been just climbing the ladder.

This week I’ve been very excited. I’ve been wanting to be here for a long time.

I can’t imagine how hard this was, but amazing it is.

Yes. It’s absolutely amazing. Obviously, I love to cook, so getting to do this every day is dream come true.

I would say you are coming up with ideas and creating recipes.

I would say that it gets easier the more time you are doing it.

Starting at the beginning, it is a little harder to put this together, but I think we did a really good job this year in what we are offering. Yeah, it’s a blast!

Thank you.

Absolutely.

Omaha Media Event: College World Series Food Tasting 2022-Images and Description, 15 June

Here are some of our photographs and descriptions of the CWS food sampled at the College World Series Food Tasting 2022 at Charles Schwab Field Omaha:

So how can you have more than one favorite? Go the the College World Series this year and find out for yourself and sample these restaurant quality offerings.

Up next? More food and interviews! Please visit back later to view.

 

 

Omaha Interview: College World Series Pre-Game Press Conference, Omaha Mayor

OmahaNebraska.com interviewed Omaha mayor, Jean Stothert, after the College World Series Pre-Game Press Conference.

There have been many changes over the last many years from Rosenblatt to here. What are some of the more noticeable changes and what were your favorite changes?

Well, I mean we built a brand-new stadium, a brand-new state of the art stadium to keep the College World Series for 25 years. And so there’s been just a multitude of changes. But I think the most important thing is working with the CWS and the NCAA and MECA that we were able to create a state of the art stadium that will keep the College World Series here for years.

What my parts are my favorite? I would say I love this out here [motions to the entire stadium] that it gives people a lot more room to walk around. I love the big screen. I love how the seating is.  It’s just a beautiful stadium so it all works together.

Do you have any favorite baseball memories? I am sure that it’s hard to pick just one or two.

I can’t say that I have one favorite memory. I enjoyed coming in College World Series when it was at Rosenblatt.

I was here for the first game in the new stadium. I think from Omahan perspective, I think one of my favorite memories would have to be sitting in this stadium for the first time.

That’s wonderful. I know that it contributes quite a bit to the economic development of Omaha.

It’s estimated that the College World Series brings in between 75 and 80 million dollars.

And so you know, those years that we didn’t have it because of the pandemic . . . the trickle down was enormous because the hotels weren’t filled, the restaurants weren’t filled, bars weren’t filled. It made a big impact. I thought last year showed that because the first year was back in person we had record breaking crowds, and everybody just wanted to get out and be outside and enjoy some activity. And so, it really just encouraged people to be out again, and the College World Series is something that I think Omahans love and can’t wait for every year.

 It’s been wonderful to watch all these things grow and develop and now Gene Leahy Mall is getting its refresh. Can you tell us a little about what is coming up please?

Sure, there’s 90 acres of city owned property. It’s the Gene Leahy Mall. Go east Heartland of America Park and then you go north to Lewis and Clark Park Landing. That whole area. We are working in cooperation with the private sector. And when it’s all done, it’s going to be about a $400 million project and the city put in $50 million and the rest is private.  And so that just really shows that the good public private partnerships that we have in Omaha and the investment that is going on in Omaha right now.

The Gene Leahy Mall will open the first of July, and it’s fantastic. We’ve raised it up to the street level so it’s usable. It’s usable for events. The old mall was pretty, but you couldn’t use it for anything. I think when people get in it, they are going to love it.

I toured it the other day and it’s gorgeous. It has something for everybody. And then it will go on down to Heartland of America Park which will connect us right to the river. That’s our most important geographic feature we have. We live on the river, so that park will go all the way down to the river and then north to Lewis and Clark Landing where a beautiful new STEM museum will be down there that Kiewit is the major funder. That portion of it, Heartland and Lewis and Clark Landing, should be open by August of next year. So everything is moving along. They are right on schedule. They’re keeping it within budget. And it will be done. And it’s going to just spur development downtown and it already has. With Mutual of Omaha coming downtown now and there’s a new hotel in the Landmark. There’s a lot of other investors looking at downtown because of what we are building downtown. We are pretty much building a new downtown.

 It looks so different, but then a lot of the favorite features are still there.

Yes.

 Everyone is so happy that you kept the arch and the slides.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, we wanted to incorporate everything in there and it will remain the Gene Leahy Mall.

Thank you.

CWS Interview with Kathryn Morrissey, Executive Director, College World Series of Omaha, Inc.

Hurray! The College World Series is back and it’s time for another interview with the Executive Director for College World Series of Omaha, Inc. This is one of my favorite Omaha events and Omaha interviews.

Thank you to Kathryn Morrissey, Executive Director, College World Series of Omaha, Inc. for the interview for CWS 2021 update on 11 June 2021.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

Kathryn Morrissey, Executive Director of College World Series of Omaha. This is my 33rd year working on the College World Series and we are thrilled that we are actually playing baseball this year.

I am so looking forward to it as well.

What new changes have there been with either equipment or the facility?

You know in terms of the facility, one of the biggest changes is that we through the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority-They have gone campus-wide to digital tickets-in other words, anyone attending the Swim Trials or were attending the basketball Creighton games this last winter. All the tickets are digital as they are TD Ameritrade Park.

That is a change but it just reflects what is happening nationally. Everybody whether it is an airline ticket or a ticket to a play or something along those lines. It seem like everything is going digital. So, we are joining that group too.

How will that work?

You know at this point, all of our season tickets have been offered to season ticket holders in a digital format. We had our advanced sale that started this last Monday, June 7th, and those were also offered online on https://www.ncaatickets.com/championship/college-world-series . So far we’ve even had one event sold out that would be Saturday night. So, apparently people figured out how to make that work.

That’s good.

Yes.

College World Series TD AmeritradePark Entrance and Statue

Are there any new security or safety measures or changes that the fans might need to be aware of ahead of time?

Well, MECA is certainly the experts in terms of commenting on which changes have been made during the age of COVID. Certainly, one of the ones that I am aware of  that fans will want to know about is that the concessions are cashless now. That means that obviously you’ll want to bring your credit card to the ballpark but also and if you are a fan that likes to use cash, there will be a revers ATM available. So, you can bring in cash and convert it into a debit type card that can be used at the ballpark and used else where after the College World Series.

Wow. That’s the first time I have heard of that. How does the reverse ATM work?

Basically for example, you will take, for example, a $20 dollar bill and feed it into the machine and then out pops something that looks and functions like a credit card but it is obviously limited to the amount of money that you load it on.

Thank you.

Any other changes for the fans?

You know there will be some other changes. For the first time and only for this year, the general admission-the outfield spaces will not be sold in the traditional general admission format. There are a lot of good reasons for that relating to the health and safety of the fans attending still in the age of COVID; recommendations that have been put in place from the NCAA’s advisory team.

So this year, those will be our lowest price reserve seats and the prices will vary depending on popularity of the game. But for example, the first weekend and the finals are the most popular. Those are $30 dollars this year plus ticket master fees. During the week nights, they will be $25 and then during the weekday afternoons they will be $20. The advantage, of course, is to have a reserve seat that we will actually be assigning people to specific section, row and seat number and the bench-style seats do have seat numbers. We actually utilized those as recently as the Major League Baseball game in 2019.

[To read OmahaNebraska.com’s interview with MLB Tiger’s GM Al Avila’s 2019 visit for that game, go to www.omahanebraska.com/blog/omahanebraska-com-interview-with-al-avila-vp-and-gm-of-the-detroit-tigers]

Thank you. What changes are there for the players?

Student athletes will be in a COVID tested zone. They’ll try to restrict their movements so that they are protected as much as possible to protect them from any environment in which they might be exposed to COVID. So, their movements will be more restricted this year. So as a consequence, we won’t be hosting an opening ceremony-type celebration for them this year. That’s another thing that we expect to have coming back in 2022.

Field of College World Series

Tell me more what will be different for celebrations or events at the College World Series.

I think this year the focus is on, “Isn’t it great that we are just back playing baseball again!”

[Interrupts] Yes! Yes!

It’s a kind of back-to-basics year. There will be a handful of other activities that will be occurring to enhance the fan experience. Of course we will have the opportunity for fans to bring their kids on a particular day, that’s Monday afternoon and where some kid’s music and concessions will be featured. We’ll have a throw-back day on Thursday where we hope to have basically fans wearing their most vintage College World Series apparel. And then Friday is a country night. Probably boots and cowboy hats or whatever attire- if you want to participate in that.

What does the College World Series mean to you and to Omaha?

I think this will be a huge emotional boost for Omaha that we have the College World Series back. In a way, it was a little bit last year like trying to image a Christmas without Santa Claus to image summer without the College World Series. I think we were all a little bit let down by the fact that we could not gather together and celebrate college baseball and celebrate the beginning of our Summer. And this year with that coming back, I think it is going to be a huge morale boost for the community.

I am so excited to have it come back and to be able to go and or course to be able to visit with you for the interview.

The last question is why is this “The Greatest Show on Dirt”?

“The Greatest Show on Dirt” is one of those iconic phrases that is associated with the College World Series and I think just reflects not only the fan experience but just the way the student athletes feel when they enter that field and play what could be the last games of their baseball careers and certainly their college baseball careers. They give it their complete 100 percent effort. They play with a lot of heart and I can’t imagine anything better to watch in the summer.

The one other thing that I didn’t mention that I think might be really helpful for people this year is there is a College World Series app that is put out by the NCAA. So, “NCAA Men’s College World Series” is how I believe how it is listed in the app stores. [Here is the link http://on.ncaa.com/MCWSApp] It’s probably the easiest way for fans to follow their favorite team, check the weather, get bracket and scoring information. It’s going to be a real asset for fans who kind of want to be kept up to date to the minute.

Thank you very much.

Would you like to read more stories and interviews about the College World Series? Visit later for new posts and check out the CWS posts below.

College World Series TD Ameritrade Park Game in Progress

Our Omaha blog stories on the College World Series by Year

CWS 2020

No CWS.

CWS 2019

College World Series Fans-Have You Seen the Scooters? (13 June 2019)
https://www.omahanebraska.com/blog/college-world-series-fans-have-you-seen-the-scooters

Omaha Event: College World Series Interview with Chris Myers, Executive Sous Chef, Levy Restaurants (12 June 2019)
https://www.omahanebraska.com/blog/omaha-event-college-world-series-interview-with-chris-myers-executive-sous-chef-levy-restaurants

College World Series Food Tasting, 12 June 2019
https://www.omahanebraska.com/blog/college-world-series-food-tasting-12-june-2019

Omaha Event: College World Series Interview with Jack Diesing, President, College World Series of Omaha Inc.
https://www.omahanebraska.com/blog/omaha-event-college-world-series-interview-with-jack-diesing-president-college-world-series-of-omaha-inc

Omaha Event: College World Series Press Conference, 12 June
https://www.omahanebraska.com/blog/omaha-event-college-world-series-press-conference-12-june

CWS Interview with Kathryn Morrissey, Executive Director, College World Series of Omaha, Inc. (5 June 2019)
https://www.omahanebraska.com/blog/cws-interview-with-kathryn-morrissey-executive-director-college-world-series-of-omaha-inc

CWS 2018

2018 Interview with Kathryn Morrissey, Executive Director of CWS Omaha Inc.
https://www.omahanebraska.com/blog/cws-interview

What’s new in CWS food for 2018
https://www.omahanebraska.com/blog/cws-media-tasting-2018-great-food-meets-the-greatest-show-on-dirt

2018 Interview with Chef Chris Myers
https://www.omahanebraska.com/blog/omaha-interview-chris-myers-with-levy-restaurants-at-td-ameritrade-park-for-college-world-series

Tigers to Play Royals in Omaha! MLB Comes to Omaha!
https://www.omahanebraska.com/blog/tigers-to-play-royals-in-omaha-mlb-comes-to-omaha

OmahaNebraska.com Interview with Al Avila, VP and GM of the Detroit Tigers
https://www.omahanebraska.com/blog/omahanebraska-com-interview-with-al-avila-vp-and-gm-of-the-detroit-tigers

CWS 2017

Al Martinez Hits First Home Run for College World Series- Before the First Game is Played!
https://www.omahanebraska.com/blog/al-martinez-hits-first-home-run-for-college-world-series-before-the-first-game-is-played

Omaha Interview with Kristi Andersen, Director of Communications at MECA
https://www.omahanebraska.com/blog/omaha-interview-with-kristi-andersen-director-of-communications-at-meca

Omaha Interview with Marty Bilek at the College World Series Press Conference
https://www.omahanebraska.com/blog/omaha-interview-with-marty-bilek-at-the-college-world-series-press-conference

Omaha Interview: College World Series of Omaha, Inc. (9 June 2017)
http://omahanebraska.com/omahainterviewcollegeworldseries

Omaha Event: College World Series Interview with Jack Diesing, President, College World Series of Omaha Inc.

 

 

How did you first get interested in baseball and do you remember your first game either playing or watching?

Well, I got first involved in baseball probably going back in to the seventies going down with my father at the College World Series and down at Rosenblatt before they even had the bleachers down the left and right fields and you know the whole experience has just been a labor of love for me. So the experience is to me is all about the kids that are here and the kids who are playing for the love of the game for these universities because most of them won’t make it to the majors. Because when the kids go down today to the field play a little baseball on the field … this is … want to give something back to the kids and get them excited about baseball.

So, it’s really a lot about the kids and the community.

You probably have quite a few but your favorite baseball memories?

Well, my memories are sort of wholistic. I enjoy getting out to meet the coaches for teams and developing relationships with them.

I have relationships with some of the coaches and teams like Mike Martin who is coming back from Florida State  this year. He is retiring.  I have known him for thirty years.

Certainly there is a lot of remembrances Warren Morris home run  at the bottom of the ninth when LSU won back twenty years ago with a walk off home run.

And  I remember things like changes from Rosenblatt to TD Ameritrade Omaha  and what we went through  to get that done and take this event to the next level.

So I just remember how wonderful this has been for everybody who has played baseball and for the community.

Thank you

You are welcome. Thank you.

 

 

 

CWS Interview with Kathryn Morrissey, Executive Director, College World Series of Omaha, Inc.

Yay! It is here. It is time for the 2019 College World Series and another interview with College World Series of Omaha, Inc.

This is one of my favorite things each year, to talk with you and learn more about the College World Series.

It’s one of my favorite things to talk about, the College World Series.

I think you are nine years as director and 30 years with the College World Series?

31 years with working on the College World Series.

You must have seen a lot of changes over the years and some things that are absolutely important to stay the same.

Yes, you are right. It is always a delicate balancing act keeping the same that fans look forward to revisiting when they return as well as giving them some new and exciting reasons to come back.

What’s new this year and what’s some of the things that you have noticed that people look forward to throughout the years?

Well in terms of some of the newer things, we have some activities. This year, somewhat in recognition of all the extraordinary efforts that first responders made in relation to the flooding we have had in our area, we have added a First Responders Day… that is going to be for game number 5, Monday June 17th…at 1 o’clock and that is new. On the field, we will be recognizing some first responders. We’ll have first responders as part of our color guard…well deserved recognition for folks that have put in extraordinary hours and effort and still aren’t finished with the flood relief.

We have a Kids Day which is Wednesday June 19th. That’s the 6:00 PM game. So, that would be game number 9. That will be the first time that kids 12 and under will be able to run the bases after the game. That will be fun.

On Monday, finals one, June 24th, that’s are Veterans-Military Appreciation Day as well.

What will be going on for that one?

A flyover for one thing. We will also be recognizing some representatives from past conflicts. That’s one of the highlights.
That’s some of our special community days.

It’s not exactly in conjunction with the College World Series but there is a Major League Baseball game going on Thursday the13th and the [College World Series] teams themselves a day early this year so they can attend those games.

So the College World Series teams will be able to attend the Major League game?

Yes so the student athletes and a few members of the travel party will have tickets to the Major League Baseball game on June the 14th. So the student athletes and teams are arriving on Wednesday the 12th.

I am looking forward to that game too.

Yes, that will be exciting. It will be interesting to see how they make that TD Ameritrade Park look like a Major League Baseball park and then turn it around in about 24 hours to make it look like where we are going to have our fan fest set up and where we are going to have opening celebration day and autographs. Then have a big opening ceremony that night.


For opening night ceremony this year we have a band. We are very excited about them, the Eli Young Band [https://eliyoungband.com]. They are a country band and have charted. One of the band members is from Omaha.

That’s exciting too when someone comes home.

Exactly right.

What can you tell us about the teams that might be coming here and who do you think might be an upset team that has a good chance of coming out from behind?

At this point we are still waiting it out. As you know Creighton was eliminated this week. So we won’t see Creighton in action. The super regional competition is about ready to begin. The super regional starts tomorrow [add date] and the winners of the super regional then come to Omaha.

Anything new for vendors or the area?

That reminds me of some of the Little League teams that come in conjunction with the College World Series.

One is run by a gentleman who is local. That is called The Battle of Omaha.

There is another out of Colorado and is called The Stump Buster Tournament.

Last year they had more than 500 teams and this year I think more than 700 teams.

They come from all over the country. Last year I think they had 35 states represented and I am guessing more this year with those increased numbers.

Do they get to play on the field there [TD Amertrade Park]?

They do not. They use fields throughout the metro area. I know they use a lot over in Council Bluffs and in Omaha. They bring in thousands of young athletes and their families. It’s a tremendous economic impact to the city. What happens is they start before the College World Series games and run partly after we wrap up. So they bring in a couple of waves of kids that participate.

So they are playing kind of the same time as the College World Series?

They are and they do that intentionally. With our general admission program, they … can watch (when they are not playing) the College World Series.

That’s great for us because it exposes young people all over the country to the College World Series. Not saying that we don’t bring in folks on our own but these are people that may or may not have planned to come to this year’s Series but now that their team is playing they will definitely take in a game or two.

Please see our other stories:

2018

2018 Interview with Al Avila, VP and GM of the Detroit Tigers

OmahaNebraska.com Interview with Al Avila, VP and GM of the Detroit Tigers

2018 Interview with Kathryn Morrissey, Executive Director of CWS Omaha Inc.

CWS Interview with Kathryn Morrissey, Executive Director, College World Series of Omaha, Inc.

What’s new in food for 2018

CWS Media Tasting 2018: Great Food Meets the Greatest Show on Dirt

2018 Interview with Chef Chris Myers

Omaha Interview: Chris Myers with Levy Restaurants at TD Ameritrade Park for College World Series

Tigers to Play Royals in Omaha! MLB Comes to Omaha!

Tigers to Play Royals in Omaha! MLB Comes to Omaha!

OmahaNebraska.com Interview with Al Avila, VP and GM of the Detroit Tigers

OmahaNebraska.com Interview with Al Avila, VP and GM of the Detroit Tigers

2017

Al Martinez Hits First Home Run for College World Series- Before the First Game is Played!

Al Martinez Hits First Home Run for College World Series- Before the First Game is Played!

Omaha Interview with Kristi Andersen, Director of Communications at MECA

Omaha Interview with Kristi Andersen, Director of Communications at MECA

Omaha Interview with Marty Bilek at the College World Series Press Conference

Omaha Interview with Marty Bilek at the College World Series Press Conference

College World Series: Press Conference Omaha

College World Series: Press Conference Omaha

Learn more about the College World Series at:
http://cwsomaha.com
https://www.ncaa.com/championships/baseball/d1