Angela May's Omaha Nebraska Real Estate Blog: September 2006

The long-awaited day is right around the corner! ----09/20/2006
Cabela's slated for Nov. 3 Opening



Mark your calendars - the great outdoors surges indoors in a big way when Cabela's opens to the public on Nov. 3.

Many moons have passed since city officials and company honchos huddled over plans for this promised land. Many rains have fallen since contractors, electricians, bricklayers and forklift drivers began their labor on the mammoth structure.

But each day's toil has realized steady progress and when the mountain-sized boutique-for-the-rugged launches its opening at 12703 Westport Parkway that Friday morning, La Vista may never be the same.

According to a press release last week, Cabela's expects 1.5 million people to visit the store annually and, in turn, campers, hunters, hikers, fishing people, birdwatchers, outdoor fashion buffs and the simply curious can expect a tourist and retail paradise - nearly three football fields worth of education, entertainment and shopping.

Along with aisles and aisles of Cabela's catalog items, two major attractions await visitors.

A 22-foot Conservation Mountain stands inside the front doors, with dozens of wild game mounts from Alaska, the Yukon Territory, Wyoming and Canada displayed among waterfalls, streams, a trout pond and even a beaver dam.

A 34,000-gallon walk-through aquarium stocked with hundreds of fish indigenous to the region will sport information kiosks with interactive touch-screens that identify and explain each species.

Company statistics show that half of Cabela's customers come from more than 100 miles away and that an average visit lasts three and a half hours.

Take those numbers and apply some Marketing 101 concepts - it's a turkey-shoot conclusion that since shopping tends to make fellers and gals tired and hungry, nearby hotels and restaurants will prosper and area retailers will be blessed by the accompanying while-we're here-let's-see-what-else-there-is-to-do attitude.

An imperfect but revealing calculation of income generated just by sales taxes shows why city and state officials might also feel economically exalted.

Estimate on the paltry side that each customer (1.5 million of them, remember) purchases $25 of merchandise. Do the math figuring in city and state sales tax - La Vista's at 1.5 percent and Nebraska's at 5.5 percent - and $2.6 million dollars ostensibly clang into city and state coffers.

Unless you're a mayor, a city administrator or an economic forecaster, knowing how government entities will split this enormous amount probably doesn't cruise front and center in customers' minds.

Here's a more understandable concept - only days 'till you can cruise through Cabela's.


Other adventures at Cabela's:

· Displays of hundreds of big-game trophies and other wildlife mounts throughout the store - including western prairie, northern woodlands, Alaskan tundra and Arctic ice settings.

· Walking path through landscaped grounds with native trees and plants.

· An indoor archery range where archers can test their equipment.

· Full-service fly-fishing shop

· World-class gun library

· Dog kennels so customers can shop while their animals are cared for.

· Conference rooms and educational center for school groups, seminars, conferences and conventions.

· Bargain cave of discounted merchandise, laser arcade, specialty furniture store, art gallery, country store with homemade fudge.

By Jennifer Meyer, Times Staff Writer

Even though our team didn't get the W this time, I know they'll be back. Go Huskers! Here's an upbeat article from a local newspaper website:
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Husker Loss To USC Bad - But It Could Have Been Worse!

By ED HOWARD

September 18, 2006

There is no such thing as an acceptable loss in the Husker Nation inhabited by Big Red football fans.

The Nebraska loss to USC on Saturday, a 28-10 defeat in Los Angeles that could have been much worse, didn’t leave a good taste in anyone’s mouth; but it came as close to being tolerable as ever the short end of a final score could be.

The Huskers were wounded, not slaughtered. Defeated, but not routed.

With its best cornerbacks lost to injuries, and facing a Southern Cal team that was faster and often stronger, the Huskers gave a reasonable account of themselves. For one thing, they avoided a blowout. It doesn’t matter that the former was due in part to USC Coach Pete Carroll’s sportsmanlike decision to forego a fourth-quarter effort to run up the score.

This was simply a matter of the worthier combatant, despite the inconvenience of some key injuries to key players, emerging victorious.

Husker Coach Bill Callahan deflected post-game suggestions – from Nebraska and L.A. media – who said who said his game plan seemed determinedly conservative.

For a booster of the pass-oriented west coast offense, the third-year Husker mentor kept No. 19 NU on the ground a very great deal. The running game didn’t work worth a darn against the Trojans even though Nebraska used twice as many running efforts as pass plays. The rushing game yielded just 68 yards on 36 carries. Not many first downs via the air. No touchdowns. Nary a bit of work for the capable and hardnosed tight end, Matt Herian. On 18 of its 20 plays on first down, Nebraska ran the ball. On those 36 running plays, Nebraska averaged 1.9 yards per carry. Passing? Taylor was 8-of-16 for 115 yards.

Callahan emphasized that NU came away from L.A. with it's most important goals on the horizon. Those include winning the Big 12 North title, en route to a shot at the Big 12 championship.

Had Callahan wished to be publicly plainspoken, he might have offered something like: ‘Whaddya’ want? If we had played a wide-open game, we mighta’ got massacred! Then what? We’d look like a candy-ass team that doesn’t deserve to be in the Top 25. How would you like that, huh?’

Nebraska fell to No. 23 in this week's AP poll, and to No. 24 in the coaches' poll.

One Husker player questioned whether NU played to win. Some observers plainly thought a passive game plan crippled Nebraska’s chances.

Most frustrating for many Husker fans was that quarterback Taylor’s success had held out the promise of good things. The promise went unfulfilled. NU’s only touchdown came on a third period, one-yard run by Taylor.

Nebraska’s defense wasn’t quick enough or strong enough to keep USC quarterback John David Booty under pressure. He threw a couple of touchdown passes. USC took running yardage from NU when it was needed. Result: 257 passing yards for the Trojans, 142 yards on the ground.

One omen of how the day would go came in the final moments of the first quarter. Nebraska was a few ticks of the clock from going into the second quarter with a 3-0 lead.

Booty connected with Dwayne Jarrett from 12 yards out; the perfect end to the Trojans’ picture-perfect 83-yard drive that consumed nine plays and took just 2:57.

It had been one of those long drives for which Nebraska once was famous. It was followed by another one. On their next possession, the Trojans marched 74 yards and scored on a three-yard, Booty-to-Smith pass. That made it 21-3, and that was that.

Nebraska was scoreless in the second third period. Taylor guided Nebraska on a 74-yard scoring drive early in the fourth period, scoring on a bootleg from 1-yard out.

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Next up: Nebraska, 2-1, faces Troy at Memorial Stadium.

Here's an article I read about the big game today. We're having a big gathering and will be sending our positive energy to the left coast in hopes of a victorious homecoming for the Huskers! ~Angela
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Husker fans travel in droves for USC game
By ERIC OLSON, AP Sports Writer
September 15, 2006

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Although Nebraska fans might not take over the 92,000-seat Los Angeles Coliseum the way they did Notre Dame Stadium in 2000, the Big Red faithful will make their presence known when the No. 19 Cornhuskers visit fourth-ranked Southern California on Saturday night.

"The level of interest has really been high for this," Omaha ticket broker Chad Carr said. "Other than the Nebraska-Notre Dame game in South Bend a few years back, this is the biggest road game that we've ever seen for the University of Nebraska."

Several factors have made Nebraska's first trip to USC since 1970 a red-letter event.

The Trojans won national titles in 2003 and '04 and narrowly missed winning another one last season. They've won 46 of their last 48 games and 27 in a row at home. The tradition-rich Huskers, after winning three straight to end last season, have started to re-emerge on the national scene under third-year coach Bill Callahan.

Nebraska also has a large alumni base in California and Arizona.

Lincoln attorney Rob Otte is going to the game with his son and two friends, with a stop in Las Vegas on Friday before heading to Los Angeles on game day. Otte said he rarely goes to many road games around the Big 12.

A game with USC at the Coliseum? California, here they come.

"The people that go treat this as a long weekend," Otte said. "It's a time to do something that's not only fun but again shows some sort of state unity."

Nebraska football has long been a unifying force in the state. Traveling to road games, especially at fun destinations, has become a fan tradition. The athletic department distributed 4,000 tickets for Saturday's game. USC spokesman Tim Tessalone said he expects 10,000 to 15,000 Huskers fans.

David Max, president of the Californians for Nebraska club, said he would be surprised if there weren't at least 25,000 people dressed in scarlet and cream.

"We're expecting a huge invasion," Max said.

Tickets, costing $65 apiece, were sold out in February. People with Nebraska zip codes bought 3,400 individual game tickets, Tessalone said, and 300 season ticket packages were sold to Nebraskans.

Carr, president of Ticket Express, said he's sold tickets for as high as $595. Los Angeles broker TickCo had 12th-row tickets near the 50-yard-line for $880 on Thursday.

When Nebraska traveled to South Bend in 2000, about a third of the 80,232 seats at Notre Dame Stadium were filled by Nebraska fans, some of whom chanted "Husker, home game!" Outside the stadium, Nebraska fans who didn't have tickets stayed in the parking lots and tailgated.

Carr said Notre Dame tickets purchased through brokers were a minimum of $350, with $500 the standard price. He said the USC game is "more attainable" for Nebraska fans.

"This is a big, big game where the average person, for $100 to $150, can get in the stadium," he said.

The 2,000-member Californians for Nebraska group is hosting a harbor cruise at Newport Beach and a banquet in Santa Ana on Friday. Max said more than 1,000 people -- including 1972 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers and six other members of the 1970 national championship team -- will be at the group's tailgate party on Saturday.

Otte said three of the 10 attorneys in his office are making the trek to Los Angeles.

"It surprises me a little bit, how many people go on trips like this and how much they enjoy it every time they go," he said.

Then again, Otte said, he isn't surprised.

"It's the only real game in the state that people really follow," Otte said. "Nebraska is like a big small town where everybody kind of knows everybody. Bigger cities have a lot to do to divert attention. The university is significant in the state of Nebraska, and people all over the state pay attention to football. It's something that's really a cohesive force within the state."