Team Hires Third GM in as Many Months

June 6, 2011: Omaha, NE – The 2011 season has been one of ups and downs for the Omaha Cyclones of the PEBA.  After an 8-16 start in March, the Cyclones posted an 18-14 record, landing them four games under .500 at 26-30 through June 6^th.  Despite their recent mid-season turnaround which has them sitting in second place in the Great Lakes Division of the Sovereign League, fans and pundits alike are extremely concerned about the leadership of the team.

In just three short months, the ‘Clones will see their third General Manager.  When ownership learned that founding GM Bryan Dobney would be stepping down from his role for personal reasons, they went on to hire a young gun, Adam Stephens.   The move was quick and what was thought as precise.  At the age of 26, Stephens was reportedly fresh out of grad school, a student of sports management, and an extremely adept negotiator and shrewd business wonder-kid.   A perfect fit for the mediocre franchise in the need of a serious makeover.

However, the Stephens project lasted less than a week.  Almost immediately after the hiring was announced, it was discovered by several tabloid media outlets that Stephens had been busted by his undergraduate university for running a satellite gambling book operation on campus close to five years ago.   Stephen’s wealthy family, who had donated six-figure gifts to the university on an annual basis, was successful in keeping their son out of the courts.  However, when the Omaha owners got wind the young businessman’s past, they immediately rescinded the offer and began approaching others to fill the vacant GM role.

An attempt to contact the Stephens camp was unsuccessful.

After close to a month of searching, they found their man.  The team has hired Jason Warnke, a business owner from the Northeast who has ties to small town Nebraska.  Warnke was born in Pawnee, NE, which is a town of less than 1,000.  He spent his early childhood on the family farm and went on to study business at university, and has since built a life for himself in the Northeast.  At the age of 32, Warnke brings the youth and “fresh look” to the club that ownership is drooling over, but real world and applicable experience as well.  Mr. Warnke has been working with several professional sports franchises in different capacities for close to a decade and now comes back home to Nebraska to take on the duty of General Manager of the Omaha Cyclones.  His specialty is long-term planning.  He has been known to focus on building sports teams through youth.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am for this opportunity,” commented the new GM in a press conference following the 3-1 loss to the Duluth Warriors on June 3^rd.  “I realize that our franchise has a huge hill to climb and there have been a storm of changes over the last several months.  However, I enter this challenge with a positive frame of mind and I am ecstatic about the possibilities we have here in Omaha.  I am happy to be back in my home state, and I look forward to building a championship-caliber franchise over time!”

Omaha is one of the smaller markets in the PEBA.  Near the bottom in media revenue, gate income and merchandising inflows, the new General Manager made a commitment to building from the bottom.

“I have had experience building businesses… and I love baseball.  I think my talents in the business arena will lend themselves toward making the cost-effective decisions that will not only bring winning baseball to Nebraska, but will encourage more fans to come out and see the team play.  Over time, it is my goal that we implement the prescription that grows what we can commit to the team on a monetary basis.  It starts from the ground up, and I welcome the challenge!”

Mr. Warnke will begin his tenure with the team tomorrow morning, as he will travel from Omaha to join the squad in Michigan to meet with the management and the players in person as they continue their road trip.  The ‘Clones will be facing the Kalamazoo Badgers in the first game of a three-game series.