(A crisp morning in downtown Omaha.)

The birds are chirping on this lovely April morning. The cars slowly putter their way down Main Avenue as people go about their day: they open their shops, they get on buses, they walk along the sidewalk, all on their own journeys called life.

One of these people is none other than our beloved Mr. Liam Hawkins. With the recent funding of the all-new F4F Football League across the world, Mr. Hawkins found himself at the helm of a new and bright future that everyone is a part of. A short man with wispy gray hair, Mr. Hawkins is the grounds caretaker for Union Omaha. We decided to sit down with him for a short interview in order to bring to light the hard working people that build the show behind the scenes!


(Mr. Hawkins, pictured above, is a humble local who found himself working for Union Omaha.)

Tell us more about who you are, where you come from.

“Hmm...that’s always a great question, hm! Well...I was born and raised here in Nebraska. My parents ran a farm in the outskirts of Grand Island, but they quit that dream shortly after I was born. We moved to Omaha, and I’ve been doing menial jobs my whole life!”

How did you get to manage to pick up this job?

“It’s a bit of an interesting story actually! Previous to this, I had been working as a janitor at a local pub called Drinks On Me. But my most memorable job was a hot-dog vendor at football games for the university! The University of Nebraska has quite the cracking football team, I’ll tell you what! And those rowdy college kids don't know the difference between a trash can and the bathroom!” He gave us a hearty and hefty chuckle.


(The University of Nebraska at Omaha's American football team get pumped up for the upcoming game.)

“Anyways, one day I was working a late night shift at Drinks On Me. I was just minding my business cleaning the floor in the bathroom listening to my tunes when all of the sudden, this poor sweaty sap bursts in. It then became pretty apparent that someone had had too much to drink! I’ve been there many times myself haha!” Mr. Hawkins was very open with us. “Because I know what a messy situation it can be, I decided to offer my help. Although he was obviously very embarrassed, he was also incredibly thankful. We talked for the rest of the night. Turns out he had just gained the position as manager of a brand new local football team called Union Omaha. We had such a good time that he offered me a job for the team right then and there!”

What would you like to tell our audience?

He thought about it very intently, twisting his mustache. Then he blurted. “There’s an old Japanese saying that I learned a looooong time ago: nanakorobiyaoki. I think it basically means if you fall down 7 times, you get up 8 times. I think it’s so lovely because it can be applied to anything.” He gave us a sincere smile.

We said our thank yous and goodbyes and left him to organize his routine for the day. We hope you enjoyed this edition of The Roost! Take care.


(A sleepy Omaha gets ready to go to bed)

--T