Barfknecht: Peevish postgame does NU no favors

[nebraskapit]

Everyone in this whole situation just needs to take a breath...

[...] But when columnists blend what is fact & what is fiction, when they write articles thatimply that someone said something when they really didn't, and when they stoop below the expected level of their profession then it is a cause for concern for the general public.

Just curious... what part of Dirk's (or even Lee's) story was flat out fiction? I don't want to stir the pot too much, but as far as I recall, Bo has told more flat out lies than these critical columns...

There is no way to prove that an anonymous former athletic dept employee had a conversation with Lee unless he reveals

his source. They used to teach that type of thing in J-School as a no-no. (Bach of Journalism, NU 01)

That's just the most glaring one. Both articles are rife with specualtion masquerading as fact.

Okay -- the anonymous source is one. But what exactly was said in Dirk's article that was portrayed as fact and not just

opinion based on facts?

Several speculative statements that he styles and passes as fact. The line about Taylor "being better suited somewhere else" for example.

I understand that it was an opinion piece, but he was arguing that last weeks game was a watershed, and used the above statement as evidence. That is falsey inflating an opinion as fact. Also a no-no.

The "being better suited somewhere else"? What part are you exactly talking about? If you want to read the article again, here it is: http://www.omaha.com/article/20111006/BIGRED/710069730

And I still don't quite understand how many took Dirk's opinion story as being that out of line. Because of the current circumstances... we don't have many options at quarterback beyond Taylor. And if Taylor continued to struggle as he did against Wisconsin (and at other points in his career), a quarterback change might make sense -- we just don't have the options. (Ie - with Taylor, we might do well or might end up poorly playing. But without him, we don't have much of a chance either.

 

[knapplc]

[And I still don't quite understand how many took Dirk's opinion story as being that out of line.

Is it really that hard to understand? Dozens of people here. Dozens of people commenting on his stories. Dozens of people calling in to radio shows, writing emails, etc. All denouncing the article as unnecessary.

The kicker, though, is that his own peers have written articles denouncing him. The nail in the coffin is that Bo was applauded by journalists as he left the presser after dressing Dirk down publicly. That never happens.

It's harder to understand how people who root for this team don't understand why what Dirk did was out of line.

 

[The Dude]

[And I still don't quite understand how many took Dirk's opinion story as being that out of line.

Is it really that hard to understand? Dozens of people here. Dozens of people commenting on his stories. Dozens of people calling in to radio shows, writing emails, etc. All denouncing the article as unnecessary.

You can add Nebraska vollyball coach John Cook to that list. I wish I could find a transcript from his radio interview last night. It's was nice to get perspective on it from another coach.

 

[nebraskapit]

[And I still don't quite understand how many took Dirk's opinion story as being that out of line.

Is it really that hard to understand? Dozens of people here. Dozens of people commenting on his stories. Dozens of people calling in to radio shows, writing emails, etc. All denouncing the article as unnecessary.

The kicker, though, is that his own peers have written articles denouncing him. The nail in the coffin is that Bo was applauded by journalists as he left the presser after dressing Dirk down publicly. That never happens.

It's harder to understand how people who root for this team don't understand why what Dirk did was out of line.

Okay. Well, I just don't believe it was 'opinion passed as fact' or anything that many people are accusing of it being. As Dirk has put it (in his "Revisiting critiques of quarterback Martinez", it may have had a tone "too personal for a college athlete." But his opinions, "themes" and "details" appear as Dirk intended. And I agree that the perceived tone may be too much when it comes to critically analyzing college athletes. But IMHO, it isn't as unnecessary as many would have me believe.

And here is the link to the Dirk reaction: http://www.omaha.com/article/20111012/BIGRED/710129793/-1#chatelain-revisiting-critiques-of-quarterback-martinez

 

[Enhance]

[And I still don't quite understand how many took Dirk's opinion story as being that out of line.

Is it really that hard to understand? Dozens of people here. Dozens of people commenting on his stories. Dozens of people calling in to radio shows, writing emails, etc. All denouncing the article as unnecessary.

The kicker, though, is that his own peers have written articles denouncing him. The nail in the coffin is that Bo was applauded by journalists as he left the presser after dressing Dirk down publicly. That never happens.

It's harder to understand how people who root for this team don't understand why what Dirk did was out of line.

Okay. Well, I just don't believe it was 'opinion passed as fact' or anything that many people are accusing of it being. As Dirk has put it (in his "Revisiting critiques of quarterback Martinez", it may have had a tone "too personal for a college athlete." But his opinions, "themes" and "details" appear as Dirk intended. And I agree that the perceived tone may be too much when it comes to critically analyzing college athletes. But IMHO, it isn't as unnecessary as many would have me believe.

And here is the link to the Dirk reaction: http://www.omaha.com...erback-martinez

Even though I don't agree with the way Dirk wrote the article, I don't see how it could not be considered opinion based on fact at least to some extent. After all - it is a column. It's not a hard news story. You're allowed to be subjective to an extent, and it's not like Dirk doesn't have an editor who's making sure his article isn't full of complete BS. However, Dirk used experiences and facts from the last year or so to put together his opinion. His delivery and method of expressing those opinions is why he's getting the flak, coupled with the fact that Dirk tends to write critical articles in the same manner.

A caller on Husker Sports Nightly earlier this week brought up an interesting point, though. Dirk is a fairly young reporter. The caller said, traditionally speaking, older journalists and more experienced journalists usually wrote the columns in newspapers, and he's right for the most part. In this day and age younger and younger people are getting into the mix, but I believe the caller raised a good point. Dirk's pretty young, and he's being given a lot of power - the power to be subjective in a mass medium.

That said, Dirk obviously did something to get to the point where he could write columns. Given the way he writes them, however, I'm surprised he has it.

 

[nebraskapit]

Even though I don't agree with the way Dirk wrote the article, I don't see how it could not be considered opinion based on fact at least to some extent. After all - it is a column. It's not a hard news story. You're allowed to be subjective to an extent, and it's not like Dirk doesn't have an editor who's making sure his article isn't full of complete BS. However, Dirk used experiences and facts from the last year or so to put together his opinion. His delivery and method of expressing those opinions is why he's getting the flak, coupled with the fact that Dirk tends to write critical articles in the same manner [...]

Enhance89 - I think we are on the same page for the most part. I do agree that it was "opinion based on fact" but it was not opinion passed as fact.

 

[Enhance]

Even though I don't agree with the way Dirk wrote the article, I don't see how it could not be considered opinion based on fact at least to some extent. After all - it is a column. It's not a hard news story. You're allowed to be subjective to an extent, and it's not like Dirk doesn't have an editor who's making sure his article isn't full of complete BS. However, Dirk used experiences and facts from the last year or so to put together his opinion. His delivery and method of expressing those opinions is why he's getting the flak, coupled with the fact that Dirk tends to write critical articles in the same manner [...]

Enhance89 - I think we are on the same page for the most part. I do agree that it was "opinion based on fact" but it was not opinion passed as fact.

I thought perhaps you meant based on, and that passed was a typo. My bad!