An Institution Falls

Once one of our favorite blogs to curl up on the couch and read, it seems the Omaha TV News Blog has succumbed to the pressures of living annonymously. There has been a long-standing fight about who "Ted Brockman" really was, hiding behind his Anchorman pic. While controversial, it was a hit across Omaha. Now after a month and week without a new post, we're guessing they've decided to call it quits while they are ahead. Luckily, we don't have that option right now! So, until they get back on the wagon, we'll play Taps and take them off of the link board.

Now I'm embarrassed to be in Omaha

I really don't know which issue to start with.
Since last year when Omaha and the M-F Empire began their journey to conquer the world one suburb at a time, I have done my little part to argue against them. Ever since I've known better, I've realized that the Omaha World-Herald (OWH) brings biased news to my doorstep every morning. I just didn't realize that today was going to be the day to showcase all of it:
What district allows you to skip the lines at the county offices to change party affiliations? OPS! You brought the papers on school grounds? You are handing out Osborne for Gov. (we'll touch on that later) paraphernalia across the street? The news last night showed an OPS teacher (OK, I know she was a few years ago, and she's not at retirement age...I could be wrong) pointing out where you change your party affiliations, apparently in the TAC Admin building. How unbiased is that? Ever since I wanted to be a teacher, I was told that I was not there to push my beliefs on others in public. So, if my district doesn't get our way, then I can do that?
Speaking of biased, the OWH: I'm sure OPS and Dr. Tom are ecstatic that on the front page of my paper read in extremely large letters "Osborne is against LB 1024." Have you heard of David Hahn? You mentioned, albeit on the 2nd page in one line, that Hahn is the only Democrat running for governor. You failed to mention that Hahn commented on the issue on April 14, 3 days before Osborne. Congrats to Tom for following in David Hahn's footsteps! Although I am a Democrat, I understand that the governor's race will probably be decided in May with the Republican primaries, but when does a self-proclaimed reputable paper (well, I guess I've never heard that claim) start to pick sides? It truly outrages me. Why don't you save some trees and just stop printing the paper? You're really wasting your time.
Of course Osborne is going to do the opposite of what Heineman does. How else is he going to get votes? Heineman had the suburbs locked up with his opposition to the original takeover scheme, so Osborne has to do something to get his name back in the headlines. You even mention it later that Osborne necessarily isn't opposed to the bill, he just wouldn't have signed it. Could've fooled me by the paper headline.
As a Nebraskan, I'm embarrassed that OPS has gotten themselves into this huge, worldwide issue (sources indicate that this story was in the Sydney, Australia online newspaper). Ernie Chambers got ticked that you went behind closed doors to try to get what you want. Since Sen. Chambers is on his way out, he found the perfect situation to go behind close doors, take his built up animosity, and blow your plan up. This is how we are teaching our children to handle adverse situations?
As a Nebraskan, I'm embarrassed that the largest paper in the state continually resembles one big opinion rag. Report the facts, not just what you think will get you liked by those with some clout. You realize that people are going to vote for Tom Osborne because he won a football national championship at Nebraska, so you figure that if you be nice to Dr. Tom, the public will like you more. Nice thinking.
As a Nebraskan, I feel its absurd how childish OPS, the city of Omaha, and the OWH have made us seem. Please, please, please. If you are from outside the area and are looking to these people to be our ambassadors of goodwill, look some more. There are plenty of good people doing outstanding things in this town. Omaha is growing and has a lot to offer. Unfortunately, its not important enough or won't generate enough money for it to be noticed. Take my word for it, not theirs.
A special thanks to the New Nebraska Network for the link to David Hahn. I picked up their blog from the Plains Feeder, two highly readable blogs. Just beware of Cindy Sheehan's stomach at the Feedlot.
David Hahn for Governor!

Have you heard of the Omaha Royals?

Few in Omaha have realized it, but the Omaha Royals finally lost their first game of the season today. Didn't know that? I'm not surprised. The OWH regularly lists the attendance as 2,000+, but they don't always specify that that number is the paid attendance, which is normally a far cry from the actual attendance. Because of the paltry attendance, rumblings are growing louder about a new, NoDo (i.e., North Downtown for you "out-of-the-O!") ballpark that would follow in the trend that is sweeping the nation: cozier ballparks that can be shared by multiple teams (in this case, the benficiary would be Creighton). It has happened in Lincoln (University of Nebraska and the Independent League Lincoln Salt Dogs), and the city would like to make it happen in Omaha near the jewel that is the Qwest Center. The major sticking point, other than the cost, is a little shindig we host every year called the College World Series. The proposed new stadium would seat >10,000. Rosenblatt set a record crowd last year of 27,000+. The NCAA will leave Omaha before they play in another ballpark in town.
But do we really need a new ballpark? There are some flaws at Rosenblatt, including rusted seating behind home plate and cramped locker rooms, but those are in the original park area. The newer areas of the stadium are very nice. The resturaunt in right field is magnificent, with a great view of the field. The brand new video board, while laced with flaws the first week, will be spectacular once the people running it figure out which button to push. Instead of adding something fancy to the new stadium area, fix up the aging parts.
I really think that what needs to change for Rosenblatt to resurrect its beauty for more than 10 days a year is the people associated with promoting the Royals. The Royals have new owners, so they need to be given time to improve the atmosphere at the stadium. Really, the product on the field is not as horrible as their parents down the road. The ORoyals were 2 games out of the playoffs last year, but few noticed because of the other people that need to assist in the resurrection: the local media. It was nice to see many of the TV outlets on opening night (print media is usually less noticeable, so forgive me, and it did rain out), but how many lead with the Royals during the week? No TV personality should push for a new ballpark because little to none of them do anything to help the Royals become significant in their viewers' lives. The more coverage the local media has, the more people will want to go to the ballpark because, sadly, this town is a "I saw you at the local hotspot" town. During the team's push for the playoffs last August, there was rarely a word about how close they were to making the playoffs. Generally, the sportscasts that I witnessed put the score up of the night's game, but didn't bother to spend much more time discussing it. The OWH does better with their write ups, but could it get to the front page a time or two? Its always with the MLB scores and stories, which I do understand, but this is our equivalent to an MLB team (bad analogy, but go with it). Find a spot for the first two paragraphs at least. There were a couple of great games this weekend, including an extra inning comeback by the Royals, but it still was found on the 3rd to last page.
I think that a new stadium would look very nice, but it would do little in the long term if those people who work to promote the Royals, including those in the media, continually fail to make the Royals important. The product on the field in Omaha is not the same as the prodcut on the field in KC, but no one knows that because they can't find that information. You have to spoon feed the fans before they can grow up and become full-fledged Royal supporters.