Shatel's man crush on Alberts is getting pretty ridicules. "They could have put this thing to bed, once and for all. Now it looks as if they’re trying to hide something. Are they?" News flash Tom, they are trying to hide something. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck it is a duck. Your man crush does not change that.


"They could have gotten hockey coach Dean Blais to say (as he’s told me) that if UNO had control of its own rink, hockey could make $3 million to $4 million per year."

What would they net on this? How much money would it take for them to build and operate their own hockey arena? Where does that money come from now that they have alienated their biggest donors?

"The ESPN report said that UNO did not include student fees and state subsidies, and Alberts could have pointed out that UNO doesn’t include those because they are not considered sports-generated revenues. UNO pointed that out in a statement released late Monday. But that statement won’t get the same play by ESPN."

Alberts counts subsidies in the athletic department loses. He says they are not sports generate revenue. But he counts the removal of the same subsidies as future savings for the athletic department. According to ESPN the football program was only down $50,000. What kind of savings is that? How does that make sense?


"Also, the 2010 wrestling budget included revenue from hosting the Division II national meet."

Give me a break. DII National does not generate enough revenue to make a serious difference. The could have discussed how UNO is a self sustaining program. They could have highlighted how much money the Kaufman-Brand, The Brand Open, their kids tournament and their alumni bring to the program. I am willing to bet the raised more money then all of the other sports combined.


"They could have disputed ESPN’s claim that UNO hockey attendance has dropped in recent years when, in fact, it has sharply risen the past two seasons. Talk about wrestling with the truth."

ESPN could have highlighted that there are many hard core Mav Fans who will never attend a UNO Hockey Game again. I have talked to several people who have stated that. One has season tickets.

They also could have highlighted that UNO is banking the financial future of the school on men's basketball program that averages 500 people a game. They could have mentioned that the men's basketball budget will increase 114% next year to $777,000. They could have metioned Centenary a current Summit League Team averaged 553 people a game this year and they are moving to DII. They also could have highlighted that they just hired a soccer coach two weeks ago and he has to build a program from scratch. They could have highlighted this half baked scheme.

Also, why wasn’t UNO’s $1.4 million moving fee to Division I — reported in Sunday’s World-Herald — mentioned by UNO before?

ESPN could have highlighted the $1.4 million NCAA transition fee THE $250,000 Summit League Fee, the $900,000 in severance pay and the $80,000 that has to be paid to the MIAA. They could have asked the questions where does that money come from? Oh wait UNO has never mentioned these costs. The general public did not know until Sunday.



http://www.omaha.com/article/2...e-late-to-the-debate

Shatel will never back the UNO wrestling program in this saga. He has chosen to go with Alberts and the Regents and is "all in."

"They could have put this thing to bed, once and for all. Now it looks as if they’re trying to hide something. Are they?"

I must be missing his point. What is Shatel suggesting when he writes "Are they?" Is he himself trying to keep this discussion alive?

I know I've suggested it before -- but I really do believe we, as a wrestling community, need to think about a statewide effort to stop providing news and information about our sport to the Omaha World-Herald.

We all know the history the OWH has regarding the sport in general over the years. Their unwillingness to deal with this issue -- specifically the effort by Alberts to kill the wrestling program without any justifiable reason and the surprise of Judas Christensen allowing this deal to go through -- leads me to believe the OWH has lost whatever remaining credibility it had in its coverage of this sport.

It's several months before we have to think about next season, but I hope everybody remembers not only what Trev and Judas did to the UNO program, but how the World-Herald absolutely crapped their own bed in investigating the wrestling angle to this story.

While I agree with your premise Mikey....I think in the long run you aren't hurting thw OWH but rather the kids that are participating in the sport. By not allowing them access to kids, you are not giving them opportunities for exposure that they may not have otherwise...whether it is for a horrible publication or not....just my 2

Deano - I see your point on that, but there are PLENTY of other avenues for kids to get that exposure. The Lincoln Journal-Star covers a good chunk of the state already, and I think if the word gets out to the TV stations (and I can certainly put a bug in the ears of a few people) that the OWH is getting blackballed on some good wrestling stories, they'll amp up their coverage as well.

The thing, also, is that with Huksermat, USA Wrestling (remember, Craig Sesker is on board there) and the Internet, print media is finding it more difficult to stay ahead of the new media opportunities that are out there. I really think giving Shatel, Pospisil and the rest of the crew at the OWH the cold shoulder would at least send a message that the wrestling community is not going to put up with their pathetic coverage any more.

And let's be honest -- even when they DO put a wrestling story in the paper, how often is it about a state champion from out in western Nebraska, or a team wrestling in a dinky room with no padded walls, or a kid who's battled back from personal tragedy and that kid is from somewhere OTHER THAN the Omaha area? I'll bet I can count them on one hand...they really don't provide the kind of exposure the sport needs or deserves.

In the old days, the OWH sort of had the market cornered and could dictate the amount and quality of coverage a sport gets. Those days are dead, though...there are plenty of other avenues we can utilize to expose our kids' talents to the outside world.