NOTE: A version of this story first appeared in the summer 2022 edition of Concordia’s Broadcaster magazine.
On July 24, 2015, Concordia University Nebraska and the Nebraska Rural Radio Association announced a groundbreaking agreement. The partnership between the two entities had been just months in the making after the radio association’s CEO Tim Marshall approached Bulldog athletic administrators Devin Smith and Angela Muller with an idea: let’s get Concordia Athletics on the air.
That summer of 2015, the idea became a reality as Max Country (KTMX 104.9) became the official radio home of the Bulldogs. The two new partners broke the news at the annual Bulldog Golf Classic. As part of the initial three-year agreement, the station would carry live broadcasts of football, men’s and women's basketball and volleyball games, in addition to a weekly coaches show.
It wasn’t difficult for Marshall to sell Smith and Muller on this new venture. It was a chance to take the marketing of Concordia Athletics to heights it had never previously achieved. Says Smith, “We had to cross the T’s and dot the I’s. For us it was really a no-brainer. It was just about taking care of the legalities and who was responsible for what. We increased our fund development in order to help make it work. It seemed like it took a while to put into place because it was something I wanted to get done fast. I thought it was a home run. It was a big deal.”
Marshall and the Nebraska Rural Radio Association had just purchased the York stations (Max Country and KOOL Radio) in 2015. Marshall was aware of the trajectory of Concordia Athletics with his son Joe having played on the football team. Said Marshall, “We saw the way Concordia was growing and the success it was having with a lot of different sports. That’s when we approached the folks at Concordia … We had a natural connection there. I thought it was a way for Concordia to get its brand out there.”
Entering 2022-23, Concordia and Max Country will voyage into the eighth year of a mutually beneficial relationship that is in the midst of a third three-year contract.
The on-air talent
History was made on August 22, 2015, when a Concordia athletic event was broadcast live on Max Country airwaves for the first time ever. Former Bulldog Softball coach Frank Greene did the honors of calling the volleyball match, which ended with a straight-sets Concordia victory on that date. Greene is the lone broadcaster who has been on board since the start of the partnership. While the voices have varied from time-to-time, the quality of on-air talent has not wavered.
In year one, Jayson Jorgensen, one of Nebraska’s very best play-by-play voices, brought immediate credibility to Concordia Football. When Jorgensen stepped away from the role, the likes of Tyler Cavalli, Evan Jones and Parker Cyza have brought their talents to the football booth while painting a picture of the gridiron action. Another prominent early voice was lent by Matt Harab, who now works in radio broadcasting in the Houston, Texas, market. Furthermore, Roger Fitzke, Ross Wurdeman and even Devin Smith himself have brought “flavor” to the dial as color commentators.
Said Max Country Station Manager Anthony Jacobsen, “I would say that since the start of our relationship with Concordia, we have had several of the best in-game play-by-play announcers – naturally gifted – that I have been able to hear on the air. That started with Jayson Jorgensen being the leadoff hitter and an absolute professional. He’s an industry standard. He handed it off to another incredibly talented, young broadcaster in Tyler Cavalli who has continued to grow from his opportunity with Concordia. They set the standard really high.”
Cyza currently fills the role of football and men’s and women’s basketball play-by-play broadcaster while also hosting the weekly coaches show that airs every Thursday evening from August through May. Cyza began calling basketball during the 2020-21 season and quickly learned about how passionate Concordia fans and alums are for their Bulldogs. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate has grown quickly in his abilities to illuminate the happenings on the football field or basketball court.
Admittedly, Cyza entered the gig without a vast knowledge of Concordia Athletics history. He just knew it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. “To take this over at a school like Concordia was so easy to say ‘yes’ to,” Cyza said. “You get into it because it’s a great service to people who are fans of Concordia Athletics and fans of sports. It’s been a blast. The successes are kind of secondary. It makes it even more fun that way. Getting to follow football and basketball has been a blast.”
Few people have a bigger heart for Concordia than Greene, who recently had his 2005 softball team inducted into the Concordia Athletic Hall of Fame. His voice is familiar to more than just Bulldog Volleyball fans. Greene has also brought his passion to Concordia Sports Network online broadcasts for baseball, soccer and the occasional basketball or softball games. It’s not hard to tell who Greene is rooting for during the broadcasts, but that’s part of the charm he brings to his work.
Greene takes seriously the role of volleyball play-by-play, knowing how much it means to the fans and family members that may be listening from hundreds of miles away.
Said Greene, “I’ve been involved with sports at Concordia for a long time in one capacity or another. I love the school and the atmosphere and know a lot of the coaches personally. That sparked me as much as anything about doing volleyball. The station offered me, and I said, ‘Sure, I’d love to continue to do that because of I’ve done it for a long time.’ I think it was great for the school to get it on the radio. To have the opportunity to do volleyball radio play-by-play is something I enjoy so much. I love to be able to tell the parents and grandparents back home how the kids are doing.”
The broadcasters may work for Max Country, but each one of them has been treated like an extension of the staff of the Concordia Athletic Department. There’s a trust that has built up between broadcasters, administrators, coaches and student-athletes.
Remarked Cavalli, “The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Concordia Athletics is family. In my four years of broadcasting Bulldog Athletics, it really felt like a family from the administration down to the coaches and players.”
Now the play-by-play announcer for football, basketball and volleyball at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, Jorgensen appreciated the opportunity to be the first radio voice of Concordia Football. Said Jorgensen, “In my time doing the games, everyone was top notch. The staff and the players were very easy to deal with – it really helped with trying to be prepared for the games. From day one we were welcomed on the bus and I felt very appreciated by everyone.”
Over the past seven years, it would be easy for anyone casually finding Max Country to have thought they were listening to a Big Ten or even professional sporting event. High level on-air talent was prioritized from day one – and the results speak for themselves.
Added Smith, “When you flipped the dial, you couldn’t tell the difference between a Big Ten, Big 12 or Bulldog Football or Bulldog Basketball game. You couldn’t tell the difference because of the level of on-air talent on the broadcasts.”
The moments
A mountaintop moment emanated from radios, phones and iPads tuned to Max Country in March of 2019. After years of coming ever so close, the Concordia Women’s Basketball program had seized the national championship banner. Courtside, Cavalli sat alongside Smith on that historic March 12 day. As the buzzer sounded, Cavalli exclaimed, “Bulldogs, for the first time in program history, are national champions!”
Cavalli became a popular figure among Concordia listeners during that 2018-19 campaign as he described the exceptional efforts of stars like Grace Barry, Taylor Cockerill, Philly Lammers and Quinn Wragge, a group guided by an incredibly gifted leader in Head Coach Drew Olson. A year earlier, Cavalli also worked the 2018 national championship game when Concordia came up on the losing end. Cavalli and others at Max Country have continued to follow Bulldog squads at national tournaments for both basketball and volleyball.
Indeed, just about every significant moment that has occurred for Concordia football, volleyball or basketball since 2015 has been chronicled on 104.9 FM radio. Just this past season, Cyza depicted the wild scenes that unfolded for one of the best Concordia Men’s Basketball teams of all time. As the 2021-22 season progressed, more and more fans approached Cyza to talk Bulldog Basketball and to compliment the broadcasts.
Then came one of the most memorable moments in program history – and perhaps the most exciting singular play in the seven years of Concordia Athletics on Max Country. Concordia trailed Briar Cliff, 73-72, with one second remaining on the clock on Feb. 16 in a game the Bulldogs had to have for a shot at sharing the GPAC regular season title. Friedrich Arena entered a state of pandemonium when Carter Kent’s length-of-the-court alley-oop found Tristan Smith for the game-winning layup just as the buzzer sounded. Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad carried that momentum all the way to the national quarterfinals.
The call from that play went like this:
Cyza: They will have to go the length of the floor here to win it. Carter Kent will throw it in. Baseball pass down there to Smith – look at this!
Smith: Look at this! Look at this!
Cyza: Tristan Smith!
Smith: The crowd goes wild! The game winner-chicken dinner! Length-of-the-court pass and Tristan Smith catches it and puts it in.
Cyza: I can’t believe what just happened. Friedrich Arena is going crazy – fans on the court. The Bulldogs have knocked down Briar Cliff.
Smith: The Chargers are shocked!
Months later, Cyza referred to that moment as the best in his young broadcasting career. Said Cyza, “It’s No. 1 for me and No. 2 is not close. That was the craziest thing that I’ve ever seen. It was so cool to be a small part in that. Obviously the players have to get it done on the court – and they did just that. What I’ll never forget about that Concordia-Briar Cliff buzzer beater was immediately after it happened, you saw the emotion come out of Devin. He’s been around the program for decades and you saw what it meant to him. The play happens – Carter Kent to Tristan Smith – it’s still great listening to Devin in the seconds after that. I’ll never forget the look on his face. The look on both of our faces was instant shock.”
As Jacobsen offered about moments such as this: “The one big thing that sports has that nothing else does is – if you aren’t consuming it live, you missed it.” The moment was bigger than sports on March 12, 2020, as Cavalli and Smith lamented the COVID-19 shutdown of athletics across the country, live on the air. It just so happened that the Bulldog Men’s Basketball team was playing in Sioux Falls, S.D., that day in what would be the final NAIA Division II national tournament game ever played. As Cavalli told the audience, “I don’t have the words.” Almost choked up, Smith replied, “shocking.”
In volleyball, Greene has followed the program to Sioux City, Iowa, for three-straight national tournaments, each resulting in the Bulldogs reaching at least the round of 16. As part of the unique 2020-21 season altered dramatically by COVID-19, Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad forged ahead for the program’s first-ever journey to the national quarterfinals. As Greene put it while describing the historic match point, “Dug by the Bulldogs, set, (Gabi) Nordaker gets the kill, and the Bulldogs win it!” Ever the optimist, Greene says now, “We’re gonna win that thing” – in other words, a national title.
On the football field, Max Country has had a front row seat for All-Americans such as Trey Barnes, Lane Napier and Tarence Roby. In September 2017, Cavalli and Fitzke were behind the mic when Roby zig-zagged his way to a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown. Fitzke described the play as the best one anyone would see in college football all weekend. In a complimentary manner, Cavalli referred to Roby as a “bad, bad man.” In the very first year of Concordia Football on the radio (2015), Jorgensen beamed as the Bulldogs rallied from a 21-point deficit and won at Midland, 41-38 in overtime, on Bryce Collins’ walk-off 16-yard touchdown run.
With the hometown call as a soundtrack, these moments were given greater attention and heightened emotion. The community connection – and the brand – was growing. As Smith notes, “Recruiting increased. Branding increased. Competitive success increased. We’re making it big time here for student-athletes and staff.”
Elevating the brand
Both Concordia and Max Country have been lifted up by their relationship that has grown since 2015. Former Station Manager Brad Leggett said back in 2015 that, “We think we can turn a lot of people who aren’t fans of Concordia right now – into fans.” That aim appears to have been accomplished. Downloads of the Max Country app took off immediately, Max Country play-by-play broadcasters were welcomed as family members and the social media presences of both sides have been boosted to new levels.
Bulldog fans couldn’t get enough of men’s basketball in 2021-22, and Max Country was there to help satisfy their appetites. Said Cyza, “I noticed it ramp up when Concordia Men’s Basketball made the run to Kansas City. We heard from a lot of people asking when the games were on, so you know they’re connected with it and ready to listen.”
Jacobsen has seen the fruits of the partnership yielded in the way its made the Seward community an extension of the station. “Our relationship with the Seward community has continued to grow to the point that we added an extra transistor to our sister station KOOL Radio in order to carry high school sports. If we didn’t have that relationship with Concordia, I don’t necessarily know if that would have been an opportunity. When we carry college athletics like Concordia, you get that connection not only with our local communities, but Max Country gets streamed from all over the country during the athletic seasons. You have people wanting to listen and connect to Bulldog Athletics because you have a parent or grandparent in Texas or Wyoming or wherever those relationships may be. There’s a wide array of where our streams come out of during the Bulldog Athletic season. That has given our station a broader appeal and wider notoriety that goes beyond our coverage area.”
Smith considers the agreement with Max Country to be one of the greatest developments for Concordia Athletics in recent years, along with the restructuring of a new scholarship model and the addition of more full-time coaches and staff. The athletic department and university have tapped into a marketing tool that brought more legitimacy to the brand and attention to the school’s mission as a Christ-centered environment. The partnership was accomplished without having to take a single penny out of athletic operating budgets.
“We overcame this thought that we were a ‘hidden gem’ in the state of Nebraska,” Smith said. “We overcame that phrase. We are relevant now, in part, because of the reach of our partnership with Max Country … We’re seeing attendance rise and we’re seeing donations through the Bulldog Athletic Association increase. Max Country has been a part of this when everything started blossoming. They’re part of the family and they’re chasing excellence just like we are. They are all about advocating for and sharing the successes of our student-athletes. It’s impressive to look it and realize we’ve never had this before.”
While branding and exposure are important elements to the success of any organization, Concordia and Max Country have come together for something even more special. When the next Bulldog Golf Classic rolls around, troves of Max Country staff members will surely be there to support it. They are there for each other. It’s about relationships and a shared vision.
Said Marshall, “We at our company really support the mission of Concordia and the way that the coaches and athletes portray themselves. One of the biggest things is we’ve been able to create more than a partnership. We have built great relationships with the staff and athletes. That part of it is priceless.”