About the Place I Live

I just love it when people ask me where I'm from. I have so many answers, and it all depends on how you ask me.

Where are you from? Where were you born? -- Suburban Chicago
Where is home? -- Winnipeg
Where do you live? -- Omaha

Very rarely do I fess up to being from Omaha. Why? Quite simply I don't like it here. I have never felt like I belonged here.

Now, don't get me wrong. There are some great people out here. But there are many who just need to get their priorities straight. And it starts with Husker Football.

The Huskers are the be all, end all of life out here. And it is the start of what I hate about Nebraska. From July through mid-January, and again around spring break, the lead stroy of the local news is Husker Football. World War III could break out, and the local media would still lead with who has a hangnail in Husker camp. And if you happen to be in the state of Nebraska on a Saturday during the fall, don't expect too much to happen-- the entire state shuts down during a Husker football game. Seriously, if the Huskers play a late afternoon game, go to church-- nobody else will be there. Yes, Husker football ranks above church on the priority list here. Isn't that sad? What is even sadder is that during a Husker home game, Memorial Stadium, in Lincoln, would qualify as the third-largest city in the state, in terms of population. Now, who would really care to keep track of that stat? Husker football fans. They live, eat, breathe Husker football. And if you aren't a Husker football fan-- you are the enemy. A wise friend of mine (who hates the Huskers as much as I do) summed it up this way-- it's a college sport state, and Omaha is a college sports town. He's right, it's a culture shock coming from Chicago as I do, but it still doesn't make sense to me, because in the end, it is college athletics-- treat it as such. But we don't need 16 pages of redundancy in the newspaper. You watched the game, you've read the first two stories about the game-- the next 24 articles are going to tell you the same. How about some coverage of other area teams?

Which brings me to my next point. Treating college sports as college sports. OK, I understand-- there are no professional teams in the state of Nebraska. But if you go anywhere else in the nation, most of the local media coverage for college teams is done by college students. Not here. Everything here is done by people who are paid as professionals. But there is an effect on the schools themselves. This one effects me directly. I would love to step into the broadcast booth and call a UNO Hockey game. Won't happen. The deal is given out to professionals for UNO Hockey, just as it is for Husker Football. Which raises the question-- how the hell am I supposed to gain broadcasting experience, if there are no opportunities for me? One of the best hockey broadcasters out there is Pat Foley, of the Chicago Blackhawks. I hope someday to be as good of a broadcaster as he. Where did he get his start in broadcasting? He called Michigan State hockey games as a student. Seriously, why can't the University of Nebraska, and the rest of the schools in the system, provide an opportunity for students to get their feet wet in the world of broadcasting? They are screwing their own students over, all because they place too high of an emphasis on the college games themselves. It's college sports! Let the kids work the games!

Which brings me to the media market itself. 4 network affiliates, 1 newspaper, giant blackhole. Omaha thinks of itself as a major market. It's not. In the ten years since I first moved to Omaha, I can only think of two people to move on from Omaha-- one (Dave Webber) is actually still here, but at least he does national commercials for Mutual of Omaha; the other is best known for the blooper reel, when he was attacked by an iguana (Michael Scott). This seems to be a place where people's careers either fizzloe out, or they don't wish to move on... and I don't get it. Going into my final year as a broadcasting major, I am facing an internship and a job search. Omaha is not among the places I am looking. I will serve out my internship at KYNE (PBS), but I would much rather go to a smaller market and work my way up. Why? For one, I hope that it keeps me out of the blackhole that is Omaha. The other reason is, I'm trying to be reasonable-- I know I'll have to start out small, and move up. But who knows, maybe I'll end up somewhere, where I wouldn't mind staying for 30-odd years, and raising a family. In all reality, I'm hoping to end up in a small market, around my extended family, somewhere... where I will feel like I belong. But you never know what the future holds.

Belonging. Why is it that I have been here off and on for 10 years, and I still don't consider this home? It has to do with the people. As I have said before, there are some great people out here... but there are others who are just so arrogant and egotistical, that they feel the need to break you down. I lived in Winnipeg for two years, but within a month of living there, I felt like I belonged. And that was while I was living in a hotel! One family, knowing I had no family, and knowing I was living in a hotel, invited me for Thanksgiving dinner. And then there was the offer from the girl at the front desk of the hotel to move into the extra room in her appartment, and all that before I met my billets-- who didn't know me, yet still invited me to join their family. These are things I have not seen in Omaha. There are three words that define the majority of people in Omaha-- Rich Republican Huskers. We've already covered the Husker portion.

Money-- you may not know it, but Omaha has more millionaires per capita, than any other city. And they make sure you know about it. Excess is the word in Omaha. Believe me, I coached soccer for my church's school. I had an incident with the parent of a seven-year old. As an assistant coach, I had asked a player to sit down and cheer on his teammates-- as opposed to running around near the swingset. The parent, appearently did not believe in discipline, as he responded to me "you can't tell me son what to do." (Let me just say, when I grew up, my neighbours knew my parents, and if I did anything out of line, they had permission to discipline me, and I knew my parents would find out. It kept me in line most of the time, and I am a better person because of it.) Astounded, the only reply I could think of was "I am here to coach your son and the rest of this team, that gives me the authority to tell you child what they need to be doing. But if you are of the impression that I have no authority over your child, then I am of no service as a coach." I tendered my resignation that next morning. I felt bad about turning my back on these kids, but it's not like I left them without a coach. I had simply had enough of the elitist attitudes, and I wasn't about to let anyone put me down because I'm not rich. There is a serious problem around here with people, their money, and a lack of discipline. I believe (and this is an unofficial statistic) that not only does Omaha lead in millionaires per capita, I believe they also lead in single-mothers per capita, and the two are related. People who have money seem to believe they are better than anyone else, and you can't tell them differently, which leads to a lack of discipline among their children, who know that mommy and daddy can buy things right.

Politics-- if you are not a Republican, you are not a Husker. Not all Republicans are bad, but they are as gung-ho for Republicanisms as they are for the Huskers-- and again, you can't tell them any differently. And they all kiss ass like it's going out of style. I just have to ask-- whatever happened to speaking your mind? I said, YOUR mind, not someone else's, and not the Party's. People don't think for themselves, they go by what the Republican Party tells them, what the media (who is in the pocket of the Republicans) tell them, and what the Husker coach tells them. And if that is not bad enough... I have three words for you for the October election: Governor Tom Osborne. It's inevitable, and hopefully I will be gone before he takes his oath of office. It will signify everything that is wrong with this state. I mean, at least Illinois thought twice about making Mike Ditka a Senator.

I'm sorry, but many people-- mostly those in charge-- refuse to think out here. Check the history of the City of Omaha. There was no civic planning. And there still isn't. Check out where the construction is in Omaha: West Dodge Road, West Center Road, Fort St, West Maple Road, Blondo Street, Harrison Street-- they all run parallel to each other, and are all major thouroughfares. Pick one, fix it, then move on to the next.

I hate to break it to the people of Omaha, but this is not heaven. I'm sorry to be so harsh, but at least I can tell you what's on my mind. Is there anything I can do to change it? No. It's their lives, and they can live however they want. I am simply here to finish my education. Once I get my diploma, I'm gone. And there are a few people I will miss-- most notably, those people who supoorted me through my hockey playing days, and those who took the time to get to know me. And I hope to keep in touch with them. But there is not much else I will miss about this place.