Way under the Radar

[The Dude]

When in doubt, blame the media. That's my policy.

 

[da skers]

It's real easy for national writers to gloss over a team if said team isn't doing anything exciting, which Nebraska hasn't. We had a lackluster week one and did what we were supposed to do against an outmatched Southern Miss team. As you said I am I, win this weekend and not only does Nebraska get a monkey off it's back, but they cement themselves as the serious co-favorite to win the division along side Michigan. Maybe even favorite, since I think UCLA is a better team than the Notre Dame squad Michigan just beat.

National writers pull their story from most of the local sources. All they saw from our hacks was Bo yells, fans hate him, he can't recruit, blah blah blah and that's what they pickup on an ran with. As a result the AD advised that Bo shut down the access (which he was all for) figuring no info was coming out was better than that bad pub made up by the OWH with an agenda. It doesn't matter who the coach is here, the OWH will be against them because that's what their consultants told them to do 5 yrs ago. They were told to go make a story rather than report a story and that people will tune in to negative news more often than positive ones.

I'd imagine them being in serious financial trouble and not letting their employees sell their stock back had to play some sort of hand in this.

I look for more bad changes to that place in the near future. They bought the Richmond paper which was performing crappy for the sole reason it was tanking and could turn it around easy. Instead they are following that newspapers practices and starting to perform them in other locations. Or so I'm told by people I know there still. Many of those people are upper managers and just hope they have their jobs for the 5-10 years they need to retire and get out before it all comes crashing down.

 

[Enhance]

It's real easy for national writers to gloss over a team if said team isn't doing anything exciting, which Nebraska hasn't. We had a lackluster week one and did what we were supposed to do against an outmatched Southern Miss team. As you said I am I, win this weekend and not only does Nebraska get a monkey off it's back, but they cement themselves as the serious co-favorite to win the division along side Michigan. Maybe even favorite, since I think UCLA is a better team than the Notre Dame squad Michigan just beat.

National writers pull their story from most of the local sources. All they saw from our hacks was Bo yells, fans hate him, he can't recruit, blah blah blah and that's what they pickup on an ran with. As a result the AD advised that Bo shut down the access (which he was all for) figuring no info was coming out was better than that bad pub made up by the OWH with an agenda. It doesn't matter who the coach is here, the OWH will be against them because that's what their consultants told them to do 5 yrs ago. They were told to go make a story rather than report a story and that people will tune in to negative news more often than positive ones.

da skers, I'm going to disagree with you big time on this one. While yes, national writers do follow the stories/trends of the local media covering a team, I have never once felt that our local media enjoys and/or has an agenda to only put out negative stories. None of our writers, and that includes those at the OWH, have ever lied about the negative aspects of Nebraska. The Pelini haters, his lackluster recruiting for a few years and any other negative pub have all had basis in reality. What kind of writers would they be if they completely ignored those story lines? Awful ones, if you ask me.

It's no secret that Pelini doesn't like the media, but they have a job to do, and the OWH is (imho) the best writers we have covering Husker sports. They're typically more fair, less biased and cover all aspects of the program. The Journal Star sunshine pumps and pu&&y foots around just about everything, and as someone who follows the news closely, I hate that.

Lastly, and I have to ask, do you have any way to proof that the OWH has an agenda with the program? I'm guessing no, but I'm not saying I think you're lying. Because of that, it sounds like more of an opinion and one that's best left elsewhere. Now that you've said it, some wallop is going to take that as fact and perpetuate it again in the future without having any evidence of his/her own. Negative stories sell better in any market, in any publication, regardless of topic. Check any news site - does the miraculous cancer survivor have more hits, or a murder? Does an armed kidnapping have more hits, or a fundraiser for cancer research? People crave negative.

I think the OWH doesn't put up with the program's nonsense, and if you've ever dealt with the program from a media stand point, you'd see they're extremely difficult at times. I find the OWH articles to be fair and there's plenty of good, positive writing coming from them. While I think they have had moments where they went over the top, I've never once felt they had it out for the program.

 

[The Dude]

The amount of coverage Nebraska gets nationally has everything to do with on-field performance and literally nothing to do with "OWH's agenda against he program". Which is a pretty hilarious theory in the first place.

 

[NUinID]

The great thing is that this game is the best morning game and most people will be watching it.

Also, this game will be at 9am for UCLA which can be difficult on teams to get in the right mindset that early. Nebraska coaches will probably keep everyone on their normal time.

Yes, I am sure that Jim Mora will have the following telephone conversation Saturday morning:

"Coach Mora, this is Bo Pellni. How come your team is not at the stadium?

Mora: "What do you mean."

Pelini: "Your game today with us. It starts in 15 minutes."

Mora: "What! Dang, I wish I had known that. We just assumed the game started at 12:30 p.m. Darn! Ok, We will be right there. You can start without us. We will be there at the end of the first quarter."

Pelini: "OK, See you then."

Mora: "Room Service? Cancel the 85 orders of Eggs Benedict, caviar and Dom Perignon."

I know you and many Husker fans don't think this is going to be a big deal, but we will just wait and see. I know UCLA has been practicing at 8:00 AM all year etc., but a game is different than practice. If you asked Mora would he rather play Nebraska at 11:00 AM local time or at 2:30 local time, what do you think he would say.

Of coarse he is not going to make a big deal about it and of coarse he is going to do everything he can to try and counteract the effects of playing at 9:00 Am Pacific time. But, you never know.

I really think it can lead to a slow start for UCLA. It may not, but I think it can. I have coached plenty of football and had plenty of practice in the AM. I know it can take a team a while to get going.

 

[StPaulHusker]

If Nebraska had been performing like some of the more elite teams as of late, there would be less for the newspapers to write negatively about. The issue is that since the Colorado game in 2002, anything that could have been written positively about the program had a "yeah, but," following it.

"The offense put up 700 yards of offense today." "Yeah, but the defense gave up 685."

"The defense looked good." "Yeah, but the offense could only score 6 points."

"The restoration of 9 wins a season is back." "Yeah, but we are losing 4 per season, too."

Win more games. Play consistent football on BOTH sides. Land some big name recruits. Beat a top 15-25 team once or twice a year. Be in the conversation for National Championships and the media has less to grouse about.

 

[da skers]

It's real easy for national writers to gloss over a team if said team isn't doing anything exciting, which Nebraska hasn't. We had a lackluster week one and did what we were supposed to do against an outmatched Southern Miss team. As you said I am I, win this weekend and not only does Nebraska get a monkey off it's back, but they cement themselves as the serious co-favorite to win the division along side Michigan. Maybe even favorite, since I think UCLA is a better team than the Notre Dame squad Michigan just beat.

National writers pull their story from most of the local sources. All they saw from our hacks was Bo yells, fans hate him, he can't recruit, blah blah blah and that's what they pickup on an ran with. As a result the AD advised that Bo shut down the access (which he was all for) figuring no info was coming out was better than that bad pub made up by the OWH with an agenda. It doesn't matter who the coach is here, the OWH will be against them because that's what their consultants told them to do 5 yrs ago. They were told to go make a story rather than report a story and that people will tune in to negative news more often than positive ones.

da skers, I'm going to disagree with you big time on this one. While yes, national writers do follow the stories/trends of the local media covering a team, I have never once felt that our local media enjoys and/or has an agenda to only put out negative stories. None of our writers, and that includes those at the OWH, have ever lied about the negative aspects of Nebraska. The Pelini haters, his lackluster recruiting for a few years and any other negative pub have all had basis in reality. What kind of writers would they be if they completely ignored those story lines? Awful ones, if you ask me.

It's no secret that Pelini doesn't like the media, but they have a job to do, and the OWH is (imho) the best writers we have covering Husker sports. They're typically more fair, less biased and cover all aspects of the program. The Journal Star sunshine pumps and pu&&y foots around just about everything, and as someone who follows the news closely, I hate that.

Lastly, and I have to ask, do you have any way to proof that the OWH has an agenda with the program? I'm guessing no, but I'm not saying I think you're lying. Because of that, it sounds like more of an opinion and one that's best left elsewhere. Now that you've said it, some wallop is going to take that as fact and perpetuate it again in the future without having any evidence of his/her own. Negative stories sell better in any market, in any publication, regardless of topic. Check any news site - does the miraculous cancer survivor have more hits, or a murder? Does an armed kidnapping have more hits, or a fundraiser for cancer research? People crave negative.

I think the OWH doesn't put up with the program's nonsense, and if you've ever dealt with the program from a media stand point, you'd see they're extremely difficult at times. I find the OWH articles to be fair and there's plenty of good, positive writing coming from them. While I think they have had moments where they went over the top, I've never once felt they had it out for the program.

I won't talk in detail publicly about the OWH but yes they hired the consultant 5 years ago. I know because I came from the media world and actually held contracts by 2 of 3 major media outlets that covered the Huskers. I still have friends in those places and guess what they talk about when we get together 3 or 4 times a year. We talk shop and what they are being told to do, report etc. There is a major bias in two of the more popular information sources for Husker football in this state. And when you have Dirk go on radio before the season starts and state that he's not ever going to cover the team in and objective way until he feels like he's getting the respect he thinks he deserves (paraphrasing of course) then there is a huge problem. And when its followed by as soon as I get that and the access I want (again paraphrasing) I'll cover the team favorably is should create a reaction by any real fan. I would do the same thing if Sip said I'm only going to cover the good and never say anything bad (even though he's very weak in his arguments when he does.)

Also...having friends who actually work for ESPN, CNN, etc I will tell yo they start most of their stuff by calling local guys and local regional coverage guys like Eric Olson and Sherman to see if there is anything to cover good or bad. Its pretty odd that very little national media has covered the good this team or coaching staff does outside of Jack. (Which was forced on them by the Team Jack Foundation and the fans outside of our local press including the LJS.) Why did the local media bury most of the stories about team GPA, the good works they do with other kids outside of Jack, the trips the team made out to hospitals in Central Nebraska for sick fans, the family like atmosphere that is capturing attention with recruits now, or how about when the NFL scouts were here in fall camp and were amazed that we have one of the highest number of graduated players playing this fall they have ever seen on a college team. (We'll have 19 players with degrees by the bowl game). How about telling our QB recruit who may never play a down again he's on the team full ride no matter what. That got press in FL yet here hardly a mention in a blog. Yeah..its not as interesting and Bo yelling at Tmart 4 years ago so lets bring that up again. Has it happened since? Has he lost it for more than a few seconds (which is low compared to many many other coaches at high level programs) yet you would think he murdered a kid on the sidelines because he bitched at the ref last week over a personal foul call where our guy stiff armed a defender and his helmet came off. They are either trying to keep a negative perception that isn't true or they just aren't very good reporters who are willing to examine themselves and look and see if people have changed.

Trust me...when the new AD comes in and says...we need to limit the media here because its obvious from the outside they are looking to take issue with the UNL sports (all of them) then there is an issue.

Now..personally as someone who's wrote for newspaper, did radio and TV and covered beats when I was paying my way through college and after, I know you have to be objective and you have to cover the issues, but I also know that you need to give some sunshine so you can have that access and balance out. I give Sam credit he's not followed suit like the lazy reporters. I think BR at the Journal Star does well. I also know as someone who runs a business I'm not going to bring in a negative presence into my organization because it hurts progress and productivity. Read the book our new AD gave as a gift to all department employees "The Energy Bus" you'll see exactly whats happening now and understand so much more about how great this program is going to become.

 

[ADS]

 

[EZ-E]

It's real easy for national writers to gloss over a team if said team isn't doing anything exciting, which Nebraska hasn't. We had a lackluster week one and did what we were supposed to do against an outmatched Southern Miss team. As you said I am I, win this weekend and not only does Nebraska get a monkey off it's back, but they cement themselves as the serious co-favorite to win the division along side Michigan. Maybe even favorite, since I think UCLA is a better team than the Notre Dame squad Michigan just beat.

National writers pull their story from most of the local sources. All they saw from our hacks was Bo yells, fans hate him, he can't recruit, blah blah blah and that's what they pickup on an ran with. As a result the AD advised that Bo shut down the access (which he was all for) figuring no info was coming out was better than that bad pub made up by the OWH with an agenda. It doesn't matter who the coach is here, the OWH will be against them because that's what their consultants told them to do 5 yrs ago. They were told to go make a story rather than report a story and that people will tune in to negative news more often than positive ones.

da skers, I'm going to disagree with you big time on this one. While yes, national writers do follow the stories/trends of the local media covering a team, I have never once felt that our local media enjoys and/or has an agenda to only put out negative stories. None of our writers, and that includes those at the OWH, have ever lied about the negative aspects of Nebraska. The Pelini haters, his lackluster recruiting for a few years and any other negative pub have all had basis in reality. What kind of writers would they be if they completely ignored those story lines? Awful ones, if you ask me.

It's no secret that Pelini doesn't like the media, but they have a job to do, and the OWH is (imho) the best writers we have covering Husker sports. They're typically more fair, less biased and cover all aspects of the program. The Journal Star sunshine pumps and pu&&y foots around just about everything, and as someone who follows the news closely, I hate that.

Lastly, and I have to ask, do you have any way to proof that the OWH has an agenda with the program? I'm guessing no, but I'm not saying I think you're lying. Because of that, it sounds like more of an opinion and one that's best left elsewhere. Now that you've said it, some wallop is going to take that as fact and perpetuate it again in the future without having any evidence of his/her own. Negative stories sell better in any market, in any publication, regardless of topic. Check any news site - does the miraculous cancer survivor have more hits, or a murder? Does an armed kidnapping have more hits, or a fundraiser for cancer research? People crave negative.

I think the OWH doesn't put up with the program's nonsense, and if you've ever dealt with the program from a media stand point, you'd see they're extremely difficult at times. I find the OWH articles to be fair and there's plenty of good, positive writing coming from them. While I think they have had moments where they went over the top, I've never once felt they had it out for the program.

I won't talk in detail publicly about the OWH but yes they hired the consultant 5 years ago. I know because I came from the media world and actually held contracts by 2 of 3 major media outlets that covered the Huskers. I still have friends in those places and guess what they talk about when we get together 3 or 4 times a year. We talk shop and what they are being told to do, report etc. There is a major bias in two of the more popular information sources for Husker football in this state. And when you have Dirk go on radio before the season starts and state that he's not ever going to cover the team in and objective way until he feels like he's getting the respect he thinks he deserves (paraphrasing of course) then there is a huge problem. And when its followed by as soon as I get that and the access I want (again paraphrasing) I'll cover the team favorably is should create a reaction by any real fan. I would do the same thing if Sip said I'm only going to cover the good and never say anything bad (even though he's very weak in his arguments when he does.)

Also...having friends who actually work for ESPN, CNN, etc I will tell yo they start most of their stuff by calling local guys and local regional coverage guys like Eric Olson and Sherman to see if there is anything to cover good or bad. Its pretty odd that very little national media has covered the good this team or coaching staff does outside of Jack. (Which was forced on them by the Team Jack Foundation and the fans outside of our local press including the LJS.) Why did the local media bury most of the stories about team GPA, the good works they do with other kids outside of Jack, the trips the team made out to hospitals in Central Nebraska for sick fans, the family like atmosphere that is capturing attention with recruits now, or how about when the NFL scouts were here in fall camp and were amazed that we have one of the highest number of graduated players playing this fall they have ever seen on a college team. (We'll have 19 players with degrees by the bowl game). How about telling our QB recruit who may never play a down again he's on the team full ride no matter what. That got press in FL yet here hardly a mention in a blog. Yeah..its not as interesting and Bo yelling at Tmart 4 years ago so lets bring that up again. Has it happened since? Has he lost it for more than a few seconds (which is low compared to many many other coaches at high level programs) yet you would think he murdered a kid on the sidelines because he bitched at the ref last week over a personal foul call where our guy stiff armed a defender and his helmet came off. They are either trying to keep a negative perception that isn't true or they just aren't very good reporters who are willing to examine themselves and look and see if people have changed.

Trust me...when the new AD comes in and says...we need to limit the media here because its obvious from the outside they are looking to take issue with the UNL sports (all of them) then there is an issue.

Now..personally as someone who's wrote for newspaper, did radio and TV and covered beats when I was paying my way through college and after, I know you have to be objective and you have to cover the issues, but I also know that you need to give some sunshine so you can have that access and balance out. I give Sam credit he's not followed suit like the lazy reporters. I think BR at the Journal Star does well. I also know as someone who runs a business I'm not going to bring in a negative presence into my organization because it hurts progress and productivity. Read the book our new AD gave as a gift to all department employees "The Energy Bus" you'll see exactly whats happening now and understand so much more about how great this program is going to become.

Interestingly enough, the timeline of things that you are talking about interestingly enough aligns with when Bo first really had it out with the media when Sean Fisher got hurt and we had media members contacting his parents trying to confirm their story before Sean or the coaching staff had the time to drop Fisher's parents a line.

 

[EZ-E]

This thread is now complete with a funny ADS gif.

 

[Enhance]

Sent you a PM, da skers.

 

[Count 'Bility]

Did anyone see Brian Kelly on a couple instances the other night and the way he was yelling at his players? Herb and Rustberger just chuckled it off. Now imagine if that was Bo that did that again, what they would say. What kind of story wouldve been on College Football scoreboard that night, and even sportscenter. It would be a story for the next week. If you dont think there is the slightest double standard, then youre obviously not paying attention.

 

[knapplc]

Did anyone see Brian Kelly on a couple instances the other night and the way he was yelling at his players? Herb and Rustberger just chuckled it off. Now imagine if that was Bo that did that again, what they would say. What kind of story wouldve been on College Football scoreboard that night, and even sportscenter. It would be a story for the next week. If you dont think there is the slightest double standard, then youre obviously not paying attention.

Every time a controversial call goes against Nebraska - EVERY TIME - the camera shoots over to Bo. It's the story on him, and it's lazy journalism, but that's the story they sell.

Bo blew up on the sideline at A&M four years ago. But that's still the story they sell on him.

 

[Count 'Bility]

Did anyone see Brian Kelly on a couple instances the other night and the way he was yelling at his players? Herb and Rustberger just chuckled it off. Now imagine if that was Bo that did that again, what they would say. What kind of story wouldve been on College Football scoreboard that night, and even sportscenter. It would be a story for the next week. If you dont think there is the slightest double standard, then youre obviously not paying attention.

Every time a controversial call goes against Nebraska - EVERY TIME - the camera shoots over to Bo. It's the story on him, and it's lazy journalism, but that's the story they sell.

Bo blew up on the sideline at A&M four years ago. But that's still the story they sell on him.

Youre right. It's "Bo cam".

Now I know I play this "ESPN hates Nebraska" card a lot. But most of it is honestly a smartass joke. Sure there is some obvious double standard, but not nearly to the degree that I bring up. I dont really believe ESPN hates Nebraska and purposely does things to undermine the program. (I do believe they overpromote the SEC, but that's another topic). But there sometimes it becomes clearly obvious that individuals (coughcoughdesmondhowardcoughcough) have something against Bo. That little story they did on Gameday last year about angry coaches (was after the Rutgers basketball or some other basketball coach that strangled a player or somethin-was a pretty big story) basically turned into a 5 minute rip on Bo session for Desmond. just a complete crock of sh#t. Then you see a guy like Brian Kelly. Brian makes Bo rant in College Station look like kum by ya with some of the obvious vile coming out of his mouth. Then theres Mark Dantonio. He acts like a complete a$$ at his pressers week in, week out. Oh, but he's just trying to motivate his players. It's just a deal I just dont understand. Of course, all surrounding around one incident nearly 3 years ago. Nothings happened since, yet the story just wont go away.

 

[EZ-E]

Did anyone see Brian Kelly on a couple instances the other night and the way he was yelling at his players? Herb and Rustberger just chuckled it off. Now imagine if that was Bo that did that again, what they would say. What kind of story wouldve been on College Football scoreboard that night, and even sportscenter. It would be a story for the next week. If you dont think there is the slightest double standard, then youre obviously not paying attention.

Every time a controversial call goes against Nebraska - EVERY TIME - the camera shoots over to Bo. It's the story on him, and it's lazy journalism, but that's the story they sell.

Bo blew up on the sideline at A&M four years ago. But that's still the story they sell on him.

Youre right. It's "Bo cam".

Now I know I play this "ESPN hates Nebraska" card a lot. But most of it is honestly a smartass joke. Sure there is some obvious double standard, but not nearly to the degree that I bring up. I dont really believe ESPN hates Nebraska and purposely does things to undermine the program. (I do believe they overpromote the SEC, but that's another topic). But there sometimes it becomes clearly obvious that individuals (coughcoughdesmondhowardcoughcough) have something against Bo. That little story they did on Gameday last year about angry coaches (was after the Rutgers basketball or some other basketball coach that strangled a player or somethin-was a pretty big story) basically turned into a 5 minute rip on Bo session for Desmond. just a complete crock of sh#t. Then you see a guy like Brian Kelly. Brian makes Bo rant in College Station look like kum by ya with some of the obvious vile coming out of his mouth. Then theres Mark Dantonio. He acts like a complete a$$ at his pressers week in, week out. Oh, but he's just trying to motivate his players. It's just a deal I just dont understand. Of course, all surrounding around one incident nearly 3 years ago. Nothings happened since, yet the story just wont go away.

I can't stand Desmond Howard. He has the most obvious hatred for NU that I have seen from anyone on CFB Live. I remember him saying and I quote "If I were Taylor Martinez and my head coach spoke to me like that, I would slap the taste out of Bo Pelini's mouth." I remember thinking to myself that I am sure we could arrange for Bo to get in your face Des. Lets give this a shot.