Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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For nearly 30 years, I’ve been a season ticket holder for Nebraska volleyball matches. I also used to cover the sport. I was around when then-Coach Terry Pettit was begging football fans to attend volleyball matches after watching a football game. Way back in the day (years before I caught the volleyball bug) loyal fans used to set up their own folding chairs so they could watch a match. Fast forward to today. Home volleyball matches in Lincoln have been sold out for years, making it harder f...
Memorial Day has come and gone, so it's time to hit the road. As a lover of Nebraska stuff (you know, corn, the Huskers, Busch Light) I've never understood why more people don't vacation in our state. There's plenty of stuff to see and experience. And with gas prices through the roof, you can save a buck or two. But I guess the Cornhusker State isn't for everybody. (Oops, that last phrase got a state tourism director fired. Better be careful). Anyway, here's my list of cool, and sometimes...
Go Big Red. What an opening to the collegiate basketball tourney. Like I wrote on the paper's Facebook page following Saturday's game, I've waited 60-some years for the Huskers to win a tournament game. Now we have two. Incredible. Watching Reink Mast hug longtime announcer Kent Pavelka following Thursdays win, priceless. Watching Sandfort hit three-point shot after three-point shot, Pryceless. Watching the Husker faithful show up en masse, priceless. Watching Tyler Tanner's last-second shot dro...
What is it about Nebraskans and the slab of aluminum we bolt onto the back of our cars, the license plate? For some reason, we Cornhuskers get emotional over the design of the state's plates. There are gripes aplenty. "It's too boring." "You can't see the graphic." "It doesn't represent our state." "It doesn't inspire people to visit or live there." Nebraskans' opinions about license plates are almost as strong as those about the second-string quarterback for the Huskers. Why isn't that guy...
Nebraska State Treasurer Joey Spellerberg reminds Nebraska families that there is still time to enter their “future Husker” in the Husker Athletics Baby Race, scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 21. The event will take place during halftime of the University of Nebraska men’s basketball game against Penn State at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln. “The Husker baby races are soaring in popularity – just like University of Nebraska basketball,” treasurer Spellerberg said. “This contest is a fantastic way to spotlight Nebraska’s educational savings program...
Heartbroken. Almost 24 hours have passed since Husker volleyball’s season ended a week earlier than hoped for. I still feel the sting today, especially for the players and coaches who dedicate their time and talents to our state’s cherished treasure. On any given day, an undefeated team may lose. The loss hurts -- it requires peeking into windows dotted with unanswered questions -- but it does not diminish the spark and grit we fans have witnessed throughout the season. I’ve listened to comme...
Just disappointing. It’s really the only way to describe Friday’s game, or the past two games, or really the entire season. Sure, at times we were excited and hopeful of the direction throughout the season. Towards the beginning it certainly seemed like a reality that progress was being made. That this team could live up to the “Rhule Year 3” benchmark. But after the last two games against Penn State and Iowa, two blowout losses, you could say the season fizzled out. At least Emmett Johnson is exciting to watch. This is a troubling trend under...
It’s starting to feel like each and every week is a barometer on the progress of the program. A type of must-win feeling lingers with each game. Win, and progress is shown as expected. Lose, and questions brew. This could not be more true than the upcoming road game against Penn State. The 4-6 Nittany Lions are currently favored by around 10 points. Even with Nebraska having the better record, you could argue the record of each team makes this tougher on Nebraska. At 7-3, Nebraska has already clinched a bowl game, but is also out of the p...
When it rains, it pours. Right now, I would settle for a few sprinkles. The engine in my Kia is kaput. At least that’s what a highly-qualified mechanic told me. It does have approximately 200,000 miles. (The first Kia we owned racked up almost 375,000 before the transmission caused trouble. Scott hopes it’s just a sensor, the one the dealership’s mechanic said “could” mean the sensor needs replaced or could mean the timing chain and engine are failing. Looks like the second option is closer to...
If at the start of the season, we were told Nebraska had the chance to be relevant in the month of November, we would take that every time. Never mind how ugly some of the wins have been. Never mind the what ifs against Michigan. Never mind the disappointing effort on the road against Minnesota. Nebraska is 6-2, sitting just outside the top 25, with #23 USC coming to Lincoln Saturday night, with an opportunity to reclaim and maximize this season. Now I’m not saying this team is going to make a run through the playoffs. But it’s not out of the...
That wasn’t the result we wanted or expected. The Huskers seemed to come out flat last Friday night, and Minnesota was the more physical and disciplined team. A disappointing game in more ways than one. After the Michigan loss earlier this season, I wrote that we should look forward to Nebraska going undefeated through the month of October to take the next step forward as a program. Obviously, this team was not ready to take that next step. The same issues we’ve seen most of the year - poor pass protection, leaky run defense, lack of est...
I hope on Wednesday, when this week’s edition hits the mail, this column has aged well. Matt Rhule isn’t going to Penn State. Now, he may get a call from the Nittany Lions’ athletic director, but I do not see him fleeing Lincoln for the likes of State College. Sure, he’s a former walk-on linebacker and a PSU grad, but the grass isn’t always greener near the Rothrock State Forest. Ask the current Central Florida coach how well it works to return as head coach of your alma mater. I listened...
Funeral Services for Larry Charles Peed, 82, of Page will be 10 a.m., Monday, Oct. 20, at Page United Methodist Church in Page. Burial will follow in the Page Cemetery, with Military Rites provided by the Page American Legion Post #315. Pastor Janene Reynolds will officiate. Visitation will be 3 to 5 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 19, at the church in Page, with a prayer service at 5 p.m. Larry loved his blue jeans, the Huskers, the St. Louis Cardinals, and his family. To honor him and his wishes, we invite... Full story
The good, the bad, and the ugly. That's how Nebraska's game versus Michigan State felt. So did the Cincinnati and Michigan games. It's a fair guess to say that a few of the games left this season will feel the same. But there is an important detail to notice. While the game was not pretty, the Huskers found a way to win. That is a trait a Husker team has not had in over a decade. And if it continues, Nebraska can accomplish everything it wants this season. Some of the good- special teams continu...
The first three home Saturdays of the Husker football season have come and gone, and Nebraska State Troopers were on patrol to keep fans safe on the way to and from Lincoln. Troopers throughout Nebraska made 30 arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol on the first three home gamedays of the season. Six of those arrests occurred in Lancaster County in the hours surrounding a Husker football game. During the first month of home games last season, troopers made 35 DUI arrests, including...
The upcoming month of October will be the true gauge for Nebraska’s season. We thought maybe this team could run before it could walk. As Nebraska fans, sometimes we may look at some teams in the Big 10 as guaranteed or should-be wins on the schedule. The truth is, over the past decade, Nebraska has not consistently beat these teams. If Nebraska wants to run and place itself atop of the Big 10, it needs to first walk and assert itself above the middle of the pack. Over the next four weeks the Huskers play Michigan State, Maryland, Minnesota, a...
When the first bell of the 2025-2026 school year rang on Aug. 14, Summerland students met eight new staff members. Several have ties to Summerland communities. Some are kicking off a new career. Filling teaching positions are Abby Bauer, sixth grade; Kristen Napier, special education; Ashley Koenig, math; Anna Mayes, English; Cierra Morten, social science; and Andrew Steskal, math. Dani Janke and Brenna Wagner join the district as paraeducators. Abby Bauer Position: Sixth grade College: Concordi...
Hopes and tensions were high in Arrowhead Stadium Thursday night as Cincinnati was driving down the field in the final moments, only trailing three points. On their last drive, the Huskers Malcolm Hartzog gave up a catch on a critical fourth-down conversion. Four plays later, Hartzog was penalized for defensive holding, placing the ball at the Nebraska 33 yard line. Husker fans feared yet another close game was slipping away. However, on the next play, Cincinnati took a shot into the end zone where Hartzog sprinted under the route and...
Get comfortable being uncomfortable. That advice from Gov. Jim Pillen stuck with four Summerland Public School seniors who took part in the first-ever Governor's Youth Summit, held Aug. 14 in Kearney. Shaylie Kester, Clair Krysl, Caydence Schumacher and Leah Wiese, along with Superintendent Molly Aschoff, joined more than 300 high school and college students for the day-long event, designed to connect Nebraska's youth with agricultural and business leaders. Schumacher said the summit gave...
Nebraska Athletic Director Troy Dannen said in a press conference that roughly 66,000 tickets have been sold for Thursday night’s matchup. Of those, only 6,000 were sold from Kentucky and Ohio regions. That was on Aug. 8, about three weeks prior to kickoff. I’m sure a few more tickets have been sold since then as fans plan to make the drive to Kansas City. Yes, it should feel like a home game, a potentially sold-out crowd, when Nebraska takes on Cincinnati for the season opener at Arrowhead Stadium. This will be Nebraska’s first game at Arrow...
Driving down the road the other day, I was startled to hear one of our congressional representatives tell NPR that both Nebraska and Iowa were experiencing "basically a recession economy." Both states have agriculture-based economies, for the most part, and rely on foreign trade. Plus, low crop prices have dogged farmers in recent years. The new tariffs being imposed, here and there, by President Trump have disrupted export markets for American goods, such as corn and soybeans, and caused a lot...
A week ago, six column ideas were whirling and, while I’m still working out the language kinks in some of them, this one has been on my mind. Husker football season is only a few weeks away, it’s one of my favorite times of the year. Someone asked me this question recently and I’ve been kicking it around, replaying games, hoping to select one key moment. I finally decided my answer to this question, and I’m wondering if die-hard Husker fans will agree. Let me know. So here’s the question:...
August Janke took a leap last week-not just off the diving board at the Orchard Swimming Pool, but into uncharted waters of courage. With lifeguards cheering him on, he tiptoed to the board's edge, nerves rippling like waves beneath the surface. Then, with a burst of bravery, he jumped into the deep end. "The guards told him, 'This is for the Huskers.' That's how they got him to jump off," said his mother, Dani Janke, who co-manages the pool with Angie Robertson. That moment marked more than a...
Damn you, Aaron Watson. I almost made it through Father’s Day without shedding a tear. Then you pop up on my TikTok and Facebook feeds - within a few minutes - with a sappy song that transports me back to my childhood, a track on one of the first albums I ever purchased with my own hard-earned money, and makes me think about simpler times. Watson’s Father’s Day post features the melodic notions of David Gates, part of the 70s group, Bread. Watson claims, and is backed up by ameri...
This week, my family has been buzzing with excitement for our first trip to the College World Series in Omaha. With our new home-state Huskers out, we threw our support behind our previous home state team, the LSU Tigers, hoping they'd be playing in the game for which we had tickets. Early one morning before I had finished my first coffee, my wife, surprised at our luck, told me she saw online that LSU would indeed be in that game. Eager to confirm and view the bracket, I went straight to...
