When You Reach the Top of the Summit – Pop Some Corn and Please Don’t Litter

Hello again, Commish here. We sent our Corn Correspondent Andrew to the Omaha Mavericks basketball game on “Bring Your Own Trash Can” night. He was kind enough to write about it and his first experience being part of the media. This was a promotional night we as a committee could not miss. Hope you enjoy!

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Sometimes you have to be a tourist in your own town

Despite living in Omaha since 2009, I had never been to a UNO Mavericks basketball game. Plenty of hockey games, but never basketball. When I learned the team was doing a “Bring Your Own Trash Can” night and a popcorn promotion with it, I heard the siren call and set off full-sail. I quickly set off to Walmart to find an appropriately sized receptacle. The only suitable trash can I had at home was my bathroom trash can and…..ew. I needed something better. Apologies for the blurry pic, but obviously I was very excited! A 5-gallon can for $5? It’s like the gods were smiling down upon me!

As soon as I got home, I got to work decorating it. This wasn’t just any popcorn receptacle. I was going to be there for official business, and I had to let everybody know! I put our Sickos Basketball Guy (thanks, Ward and The Onion!) on one side and our own Sickos Logo on the other, so everybody would know who I was and why I was there.

The day of the game, I wanted to make sure that my can was clean and food-safe, or at least as food-safe as a trash can could be. I’m not entirely sure if they care much about what kind of plastic is being used; they probably don’t expect many people to eat out of it. Oh well, I’ve eaten worse. My body runs on Taco Bell and Malört! Anyway, I don’t know who else may have touched my prized possession, so giving it a quick scrub was probably a good idea.

My first stop of the night was the nearby Firehouse Subs. After learning this week that the artist likes to incorporate mascots into his murals, I had to see what he was doing for The Mavericks. I was pleased to see Durango leave the actual firefighting to the experts while he checked on the good doggo. Great job knowing what’s important, Durango!

Next was time to head over to the arena. I had a trash can I needed to fill with popcorn! The concession stand wisely had the popcorn pre-bagged. Both for sanitary reasons and to speed up the concessions process! Folks loved seeing our Official Bucket. It was definitely a hit around the arena! I saw a few other fans walking around with their own trash cans as well, including a kid with a basketball hoop attached to his own can. He definitely came prepared!

With my popcorn ready, I decided to check out the press area upstairs. It was a good view, but I started to get lonely up there by myself. Instead, I made my way down courtside to meet and hang out with the rest of the media teams. I got a chance to meet Tyler Maun from Denver Sports Radio,

as well as Jordan and Derrick from the UNO Staff.

I got to watch the team shoot around to warm up. Seeing Assistant Coach Kyan Brown in person nearly left me starstruck, but I was able to gain my composure and talk to him as he headed back towards the locker room. He was nice enough to sign my can too! Now I have some one-of-a-kind Sickos merchandise!

As fans started trickling in, I decided to send out a call. “If you can find me, you can get a sticker!” Sadly, I didn’t have any basketball stickers, but y’all didn’t seem to mind. Plenty of you were able to find and chat with me and get some stickers regardless. I loved hearing “Are you the Sickos Guy?” as I was walking around and munching on my popcorn. I’ll have to get more stickers for next time!

The game was exciting and very physical. UNO went into the half only up by a single point. They gained a little momentum in the 2nd half, eventually winning 78-69. But the win did not come easy. The strongest lead the Mavericks had was only 9 points. Regardless, they remain at the top of the Summit League with an 8-1 record (14-10 overall)!

During the media timeouts, I got to watch a bunch of different mini-games for the fans. The classic “free throw, 3-pointer, half-court shot” contest was there. The kid got so close to hitting his half-court shot, but he still got to walk away with the first two prizes. I watched a lady try to find a large, novelty gift card hidden on the court while blindfolded. Again, she was so close but ended up missing the mark. The final game I remember seeing pitted two fans against each other while they raced to shoot mini basketballs into shopping carts.

During halftime, I took a walk around the concourse to meet more people and explore the arena some more. I stopped by the merch store and saw that Lawlor’s Sporting Goods had an officially licensed trash can tee…another must-buy for me.

Nights like this don’t come every day, so I needed a memento! I got a chance to talk to the Lawlor’s guy. He said he didn’t really understand who we are or what we do, but his son is obsessed with us. So I made sure to give him a few stickers too.

I ran into Durango walking around, so I took another opportunity for a photo op. (Sorry about tweeting like you stole my bucket. We’re still cool, right?)

Does your basketball arena have curling lanes attached to it? I didn’t think so!

I had never been inside a media conference either, so this was another opportunity for me to do something new. I've seen them on TV plenty of times. The coach says some words about his thoughts of the game, what adjustments they made, etc., and then a player or two come in and do the same from a different perspective. But it was cool to see it in person instead of just on TV!

This is also about the time my phone died. Note to self: Bring a charger next time. I’m not sure if I was allowed in the locker room, and I didn’t want to try, so sadly I didn’t get to see Kyan’s celebration up close, but I did see a video of it. I loved the tag team and the people’s elbow. Extra fitting because it was Royal Rumble night!

This was absolutely a blast. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to do this. Thank you, Zach, Jordan, and Derrick, for getting me access to this game. Thank you, Commish, for starting the Sickos Committee. And thank you all, readers, for your support of us as a media group. I look forward to my next opportunity to do this!