bball23 Posted December 21, 2012 Report Posted December 21, 2012 Do any of you get tired of the jabs he throws at NU all the time? Maybe I read into it too much, but I swear whether on the radio or writing an article he always has to make a jab at NU hoops. Look, we all know they aren't going to have much success this year, but man for whatever reason that guy just gets under my skin. Can he NEVER write an article without throwing in his $0.02 about how bad NU is? Like in today's article about Groce and Illinois he starts it out by saying its still about even money that NU will end in the cellar. Why not just write the damn article about Illinois? Again, maybe I'm too sensitive about it, but it just bugs the hell out of me. Pivovar on the other hand for CU will ALWAYS make CU look/sound great no matter who they are playing. He spins it so that their opponents usually seem to be decent teams. When NU beats another team Lee always seems to have to say "Well, they are picked at the bottom of their league" or whtever.....can he not just write the article? I didn't know his "stories" were opinion based. I thought he was just covering the games? And half the time I don't think he even goes to the games (whether his choice or OWH) because usually his quotes come directly from the post game show.... Ok, rant over. Sorry. Silverbacked1 1 Quote
Cookie Belcher Posted December 21, 2012 Report Posted December 21, 2012 Calm down man. Enjoy the holidays and don't let little stuff get you so bothered. Quote
49r Posted December 21, 2012 Report Posted December 21, 2012 bball23, I agree. Lee is a little too "glass half empty" for my tastes. It's kind of like if Eeyore wrote a sports column, that's what it would be like. Quote
Silverbacked1 Posted December 21, 2012 Report Posted December 21, 2012 If you read most of the articles and tweets by the OWH sports staff, they tend to bash the Huskers in Hoops. Not all the time, but it seems to be kind of on the negative side. Some times it comes off as bankhanded praise. Am I too thin skinned? Well not physically, but when talking about my Huskers yes, I'm very thin skinned. So you are not the only one that thinks this way. Actually stopped following the OWH staff tweets after the 2 game swoon. Knew it wasn't going to get any better so... Quote
husker8282 Posted December 21, 2012 Report Posted December 21, 2012 Lee B. tells it like it is and I prefer that over some writer who tries to spin things positively just to make the program sound good. I'm sure he would much rather write about a successful program than the current state we are in, but it is what it is. Also, he is always at home games unless there is a football conflict, the beat writers rarely go to road games and that's why they give quotes from the post game show. Quote
leonidas Posted December 21, 2012 Report Posted December 21, 2012 In my opinion, NU's lack of commitment to basketball over the last decade soured Lee on NU's administration. He's had to cover poor performance after poor performance, season after season. I don't blame him one bit if he comes off a little crotchety. Daledangdarn 1 Quote
nebrasketball10 Posted December 21, 2012 Report Posted December 21, 2012 It used to bother me, too. I agree he tells it like it is, and so be it. That doesn't bother me near as much as how he makes any team we beat sound like the worst team in the NCAA, while the writer for Creighton makes any team they beat sound like a world beater. Lee emphasizes the negative, Creighton writer emphasizes the positive. The simple solution is to not read articles about Creighton , since I really don't care about them, anyways. Haven't read a Creighton article in a looonnng time, but this reminded me of how much it bugged me. Quote
Huskerpapa Posted December 21, 2012 Report Posted December 21, 2012 Lee is okay. His job is to sell papers. He historically has treated the Huskers well, but he also have to build credibility. I may not like everything he writes, but generally, he is supportive. Besides, I believe he is an Abel Hall alum, so if he could survive the zoo, he can't be all bad. Quote
Norm Peterson Posted December 21, 2012 Report Posted December 21, 2012 Lee really got down on Collier probably mid-way through Collier's tenure, which was certainly understandable considering the losing records. Lots of the back-handed comments and so forth that used to really irritate. When Doc came along, I thought Lee gave him a fair shake. I think when Doc started, Lee thought he was going to succeed here. Doc's first recruiting class seemed to have some good players and we went out and beat Creighton right away when no one probably expected us to. Some other things like that. I'm not sure Lee ever really turned on Doc but I think it became evident to Lee and to everyone else that the ship was sinking and, by that point, I'm not sure Lee felt like piling on. So, I think he kind of bit his tongue a little over the last year or so and probably didn't want to be accused of or feel like he was kicking Doc while Doc was down and on his way out. I haven't read much of his stuff lately so if he's back to sounding like he did when Collier was here, then I pretty much know what to expect if I do read his stuff. Perhaps Lee has just been holding back the pith and now just can't contain himself. Anyway, it won't bother you if you don't read it. Quote
HB Posted December 21, 2012 Report Posted December 21, 2012 Lee is a talented writer, but he has the ego to go with it and then some. And, his personal bias against people is often over the top. When he decided Mike Leach was a bad guy, he took a shot at him in about every column he wrote. He's brutal now against Frerentz and Bo. Norm is correct, he got all over Collier about recruiting and perceived passivity. His credibility should have taken a huge shot when he treated Doc with kid gloves. I suspect that was because Doc was very deferential to Lee and played to his ego. Lee always got a free day of golf at the Doc Sadler Classic. But it makes no sense to be SO critical of some guys and not so much with others who have accomplished less. And it may depend just a little on whether those he covers give him the time of day or not. It just always seems a little personal with Lee. Quote
HuskerCager Posted December 21, 2012 Report Posted December 21, 2012 The guy doesn't bother me one bit. He is the best sports journalist in Nebraska in my opinion. Quote
cipsucks Posted December 21, 2012 Report Posted December 21, 2012 Like in today's article about Groce and Illinois he starts it out by saying its still about even money that NU will end in the cellar. He's right on that point. Barfknecht can irritate me at times, but I always read his articles/columns. He's been covering NU athletics for a long time. I know journalists are supposed to be impartial, but after reading his stuff for years and listening to him on radio interviews, I think he would love nothing better than Husker Hoops to be respectable. Wouldn't we all..... Quote
49r Posted December 22, 2012 Report Posted December 22, 2012 Okay, I had to go back to the article in question to re-read and hopefully gain an objective opinion on whether he's got an agenda here or not. Here is the remark in question: Someone who voted in the Big Ten men's basketball preseason poll might want a mulligan.Not the 23 writers out of 24 who picked Nebraska to finish last. That still seems like an even-money proposition, though some injuries around the league have created hope for NU to escape the cellar. The guy who wants a do-over is Voter No. 24. His last-place choice was Illinois. Now, it seems to me that what he's doing is finding a Nebraska tie-in to his premise (that Illinois is exceeding most folks' expectations right now), and I think he is using the ONE last place vote cast against Illinois to prove a point. It certainly was not a stretch in the preseason to think that Nebraska could very well end up last, and judging by the preseason votes it seems that most agree. Hell, if you took a straw poll of HHC posters, I think you'd get an overwhelming number of people who would agree that we'd likely finish last. Lee mentions in the second sentence that because of some injury problems on other teams, there's hope for even Nebraska to crawl out of the cellar, surprising the vast vast majority of preseason voters (and most of US as well). It's actually as if he's taking special effort to point out to the reader that yes, even the Huskers may be able to surprise some folks this year. A positive spin for sure. I'd even go one step further and propose that perhaps that ONE voter who cast the vote was none other than Lee B himself (I don't know, I can't find any confirmation one way or another) and this was kind of his way of saying "my bad, Illinois".... At any event, upon re-reading, it doesn't seem that he's making any kind of back-handed compliment. Quote
Red Dane Posted December 22, 2012 Report Posted December 22, 2012 I decided many years ago that I would not give the Omaha World Herald another dime so long as they employed Barfknecht and I have kept to it. I think it is over a decade now. He is absolutely overly negative towards Nebraska basketball from his overall tone about the program to his routinely knocking numbers off of his attendance estimates and feeling the need to poke fun at something as mundane as the shim-shams. Would he attack any other program for something like that? Barfknecht likes to make himself seem impartial by being hard on the hometown team while rarely being negative to any other regional university he is paid to evaluate. Let's not forget his "bold and daring" Ron Prince comments. A more awful coach would be hard to find. I try and avoid many of his colukmns, but has he been critical of any non-Husker Big 10 coaches yet? Even an obvious target like Ferentz or Webber? It does not look like my $50 a year will cost Lee his job, so I guess I will just have to carry out my plan to never let him into traffic if given the chance in order to fulfill my revenge schemes. Quote
HuskerFever Posted December 22, 2012 Report Posted December 22, 2012 You know what they say, you can't spell "Barfknecht" without "barf". Quote
49r Posted December 22, 2012 Report Posted December 22, 2012 I will say this about Lee B. He's not the worst sports writer at the OWH... hhcmatt 1 Quote
cipsucks Posted December 22, 2012 Report Posted December 22, 2012 He is absolutely overly negative towards Nebraska basketball from his overall tone about the program to his routinely knocking numbers off of his attendance estimates and feeling the need to poke fun at something as mundane as the shim-shams. Would he attack any other program for something like that? It does not look like my $50 a year will cost Lee his job, so I guess I will just have to carry out my plan to never let him into traffic if given the chance in order to fulfill my revenge schemes. As for the Shim-shams, would any other program have them as halftime entertainment more than once? You had a $50 a year subscription to the OWH? Was it delivered via Pony Express? Quote
cipsucks Posted December 22, 2012 Report Posted December 22, 2012 I will say this about Lee B. He's not the worst sports writer at the OWH... Speaking of OWH sports writers, I see Hoops Panda hasn't made the transition to the new website..... Quote
HB Posted December 22, 2012 Report Posted December 22, 2012 He is absolutely overly negative towards Nebraska basketball from his overall tone about the program to his routinely knocking numbers off of his attendance estimates and feeling the need to poke fun at something as mundane as the shim-shams. Would he attack any other program for something like that? It does not look like my $50 a year will cost Lee his job, so I guess I will just have to carry out my plan to never let him into traffic if given the chance in order to fulfill my revenge schemes. As for the Shim-shams, would any other program have them as halftime entertainment more than once? You had a $50 a year subscription to the OWH? Was it delivered via Pony Express? Speaking of the Shim-Shams, I had a sighting tonight. Went to my daughter's dance program, and the Shimmers led off with 2 hot numbers. I call foul because no one advised me of this before I was locked into place in my seat. Disturbing. Very disturbing. jimmykc 1 Quote
HuskerFever Posted December 22, 2012 Report Posted December 22, 2012 He is absolutely overly negative towards Nebraska basketball from his overall tone about the program to his routinely knocking numbers off of his attendance estimates and feeling the need to poke fun at something as mundane as the shim-shams. Would he attack any other program for something like that? It does not look like my $50 a year will cost Lee his job, so I guess I will just have to carry out my plan to never let him into traffic if given the chance in order to fulfill my revenge schemes. As for the Shim-shams, would any other program have them as halftime entertainment more than once? You had a $50 a year subscription to the OWH? Was it delivered via Pony Express? Speaking of the Shim-Shams, I had a sighting tonight. Went to my daughter's dance program, and the Shimmers led off with 2 hot numbers. I call foul because no one advised me of this before I was locked into place in my seat. Disturbing. Very disturbing. Sounds like you should get your daughter in the unicycle-bowl-flipping program instead. jimmykc and Silverbacked1 2 Quote
Huskerpapa Posted December 22, 2012 Report Posted December 22, 2012 He is absolutely overly negative towards Nebraska basketball from his overall tone about the program to his routinely knocking numbers off of his attendance estimates and feeling the need to poke fun at something as mundane as the shim-shams. Would he attack any other program for something like that? It does not look like my $50 a year will cost Lee his job, so I guess I will just have to carry out my plan to never let him into traffic if given the chance in order to fulfill my revenge schemes. As for the Shim-shams, would any other program have them as halftime entertainment more than once? You had a $50 a year subscription to the OWH? Was it delivered via Pony Express? Speaking of the Shim-Shams, I had a sighting tonight. Went to my daughter's dance program, and the Shimmers led off with 2 hot numbers. I call foul because no one advised me of this before I was locked into place in my seat. Disturbing. Very disturbing. Perhaps that vision will allow you to pass your kidney stone... Quote
Red Dane Posted December 22, 2012 Report Posted December 22, 2012 He is absolutely overly negative towards Nebraska basketball from his overall tone about the program to his routinely knocking numbers off of his attendance estimates and feeling the need to poke fun at something as mundane as the shim-shams. Would he attack any other program for something like that? It does not look like my $50 a year will cost Lee his job, so I guess I will just have to carry out my plan to never let him into traffic if given the chance in order to fulfill my revenge schemes. As for the Shim-shams, would any other program have them as halftime entertainment more than once? You had a $50 a year subscription to the OWH? Was it delivered via Pony Express? It used to be a buck a week when I got fed up with Lee. No idea what it is now. Don't really care either. Quote
cozrulz Posted December 22, 2012 Report Posted December 22, 2012 I decided many years ago that I would not give the Omaha World Herald another dime so long as they employed Barfknecht and I have kept to it. I think it is over a decade now. He is absolutely overly negative towards Nebraska basketball from his overall tone about the program to his routinely knocking numbers off of his attendance estimates and feeling the need to poke fun at something as mundane as the shim-shams. Would he attack any other program for something like that? Barfknecht likes to make himself seem impartial by being hard on the hometown team while rarely being negative to any other regional university he is paid to evaluate. Let's not forget his "bold and daring" Ron Prince comments. A more awful coach would be hard to find. I try and avoid many of his colukmns, but has he been critical of any non-Husker Big 10 coaches yet? Even an obvious target like Ferentz or Webber? It does not look like my $50 a year will cost Lee his job, so I guess I will just have to carry out my plan to never let him into traffic if given the chance in order to fulfill my revenge schemes. I agree to an extent but I think his article about the shim shams changed some things. It was the same stuff we have been saying about the athletic department for years but it finally got in the paper. Hopefully some of those little things are now improving. His articles about attendance were ridiculous considering the team was decently talented and pushing for the NCAAs into February. This year isn't going to be pretty in wins or losses but we all knew that coming into the year. Quote
BjoeHusker Posted December 22, 2012 Report Posted December 22, 2012 He is absolutely overly negative towards Nebraska basketball from his overall tone about the program to his routinely knocking numbers off of his attendance estimates and feeling the need to poke fun at something as mundane as the shim-shams. Would he attack any other program for something like that? It does not look like my $50 a year will cost Lee his job, so I guess I will just have to carry out my plan to never let him into traffic if given the chance in order to fulfill my revenge schemes. As for the Shim-shams, would any other program have them as halftime entertainment more than once? You had a $50 a year subscription to the OWH? Was it delivered via Pony Express? Speaking of the Shim-Shams, I had a sighting tonight. Went to my daughter's dance program, and the Shimmers led off with 2 hot numbers. I call foul because no one advised me of this before I was locked into place in my seat. Disturbing. Very disturbing. How awful! I still have nightmares about the Shim-Shams Quote
Huskerpapa Posted December 22, 2012 Report Posted December 22, 2012 For those of you who do not know who the Shim Shams are...here ya go... Daledangdarn 1 Quote
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