Lee Barfknecht done.
- Thread starter NorthWillRiseAgain
- Start date
I bet Frost made this happen!!
Husker fans be like:
Husker fans be like:
There is always a time to just move on...
Now is the time.
Now is the time.
It would appear from the buyout offer that not very many people do. I didn't always agree with Barfy, but he wasn't afraid to take on controversial topics.
I don't hate Sipple. I think his puff pieces are sometimes informative if you read them carefully
Maybe he gets hired by the Athletic to cover the Huskers? He will be available and they need someone...hmm. Winking
Geez, 39 years in the business and he still doesn't know that he doesn't need a hyphen to separate an -ly adverb from the adjective it modifies. Lee: it's not a compound adjective. If you need an editor in your next gig, I'm there for you.
His criticisms of the basketball program were usually spot-on, and I think actually motivated the administration to invest more in the bball program.
His football columns, on the other hand, were often not worth reading.
His football columns, on the other hand, were often not worth reading.
Ill always be thankful for his work in getting rid of the shim shams.
He was a good writer, even if I didnt always agree with him.
He was a good writer, even if I didnt always agree with him.
The guy who did not understand how Reddit works doing a podcast? Only if other people push the buttons for him.
Ha I had completely forgotten about that. The good ol' Tom Osbourne basketball halftime entertainment.
Lee was on with Denver sports talk hosts Irv Brown and Joe Williams back in 1997 shortly after the Nebraska spring game. He emphatically told them that Nebraska would have trouble getting to the Big 12 title game and that Scott Frost had actually digressed as a player during spring ball on through to the spring game. It was as if he was cheering the demise of the team and Frost.
Naturally, I called their show and got on right after Lee got off and proceeded to go over why Nebraska would win the Big12 title and the NC. Defense and special teams aside, which I knew would be very good to great most of the year in 97, I outlined why Frost was better than in 96 and more important, the team was buying in to how good he could be, especially after his performance against a damn good defense in the Orange Bowl against Virginia Tech, which was a true turning point in his career at Nebraska. I boldly predicted that Nebraska would win the NC in 1997 on the show that day, and thankfully, the Huskers did just that!
So Lee, good luck, don't let the door smash you on the way out!
Naturally, I called their show and got on right after Lee got off and proceeded to go over why Nebraska would win the Big12 title and the NC. Defense and special teams aside, which I knew would be very good to great most of the year in 97, I outlined why Frost was better than in 96 and more important, the team was buying in to how good he could be, especially after his performance against a damn good defense in the Orange Bowl against Virginia Tech, which was a true turning point in his career at Nebraska. I boldly predicted that Nebraska would win the NC in 1997 on the show that day, and thankfully, the Huskers did just that!
So Lee, good luck, don't let the door smash you on the way out!
Yep, I doubt that the OWH will even bother replacing his position. Sending writers to rival conference locations will soon become a thing of the past.People still read papers?
Several writers for the OWH are retiring within the next month, I assume that they have been encouraged to move on because the company that Berkshire recently hired to manage the paper is cutting costs.
I really liked Barfknecht. He didn't try to blow smoke up your rear like other Husker writers only to later, after the fact, try to come clean with their real thoughts after firings take place. He called out Stevey Peterson when everyone else drank the kool aide. Did the same with Callahan, Bo, Riley, Harvey, and Sean Eikworst. He was roundly criticized each time, but as our beloved Huskers got curb stomped on national TV time after time, his realistic approach to where the Huskers really stood always proved accurate.
I think I'm in your boat. I don't know if I necessarily really liked him and his recurring realism-pessimism style, but I definitely appreciated his point of view the past few years. When he columned around this time last year that it looked like a 7-5 year, and that our former coach's practices were weak, and that he didn't expect much out of our team, many of us cried blasphemy. Sure enough, 7 months later we were 4-8, the worst record in 60 years. Looking back, little did we know 7-5 was an extremely optimistic prediction.
I was once an aspiring, young journalist (I'm not anymore) and read his work a lot growing up. I liked his weekly Big 12 rankings to see where he thought Nebraska stood against everyone else. Though his opinions were not always my favorite, he was just usually being brutally honest with what he saw.
Barf voted for Michigan in 1997. He’s somehow worse than Sipple. Who literally said in a radio interview (with Benning?) that Callahan shouldn’t have been fired and that he doesn’t watch the Super Bowl because restaurants aren’t busy. So he goes out to eat instead.
I think some companies who want to downsize, or hire someone younger they don't have to pay as many benefits to, and don't want to be dicks about it offer a "buyout" or severance. Maybe that is the kind of deal he got. If he worked for a few years before going to OWH sports, then was there 39 years, he is no spring chicken.
Is Barfy the same guy that writes puff pieces for Miles any time he loses a game to Incarnate Word?
After Barfy voted for Michigan in 1997.....I've never read anything of his. I just couldn't help it.
The fact that some fans instantly celebrate by the mention of a journalist ending a career is mind-boggling to me. This is all part of the anti-journalism phase we are going through. This guy was paid to observe, report and on occasion offer opinions about what he observed. I didn't really love Lee, mainly because when the OWH used to do the chats online with writers, it felt like he despised doing it. If someone asked how he thought a game would play out, he'd usually have something snarky to say along the lines of "I can't read the future, can you?" Which rubbed me the wrong way.
But overall, I don't mind if someone thinks a team other than the home team is better, even if he's wrong on occasion.
I happen to love Tom Shatel's writing and think he puts in the right amount of "homerisms" and objectivity for a really enjoyable read. I think Nebraska is lucky to have had a writer of Shatel's quality for as long as we have. Early on, I think Dirk is also a good one. Not sure how these writers plan to make a living, but I think in the near future, the model for writing is going to be quite a bit different for everyone.
But overall, I don't mind if someone thinks a team other than the home team is better, even if he's wrong on occasion.
I happen to love Tom Shatel's writing and think he puts in the right amount of "homerisms" and objectivity for a really enjoyable read. I think Nebraska is lucky to have had a writer of Shatel's quality for as long as we have. Early on, I think Dirk is also a good one. Not sure how these writers plan to make a living, but I think in the near future, the model for writing is going to be quite a bit different for everyone.
Not celebrating the fact of the change. Just pointing out possible changes upcoming with Lee Enterprises making their changes. They have already made reductions outside the newsroom so their time is finally here.
Agreed, Barf was terrible on the OWH chat thing. Always came across as cranky and impatient.
IMO, Tim Miles just lost his biggest supporter in the local media. Not sure what kind of relationship they had, but by reading Lee, any Nebrasketball problem the past few years has been Teflon on Miles.
People still read papers?
Several writers for the OWH are retiring within the next month, I assume that they have been encouraged to move on because the company that Berkshire recently hired to manage the paper is cutting costs.
I think the whole media has been really cutting back. ESPN, Fox Sports website both cut back. Seattle's King 5, the NBC affiliate, offered buyouts for all their top news people. King 5 anchor Jean Enerson was an anchor for 42 years. I bet you won't see anchors in the future last that long. I've know Lee since he was in junior high school. He has never been afraid to express his opinion. He has enough self-confidence that I don't think he cares what others think about his writings.