Sunday, May 6, 2007

Stadium Story Spawns Several Follow-Ups

The Omaha World-Herald's front page story Sunday about the City of Omaha's hopes of building a replacement for Rosenblatt Stadium somewhere north of downtown spurred two follow-up stories in Monday's editions.

One story, by sports reporter Rob White, revealed that the World-Herald was more in tune with the proposed developments than Rosenblatt Stadium's anchor tenant, the Omaha Royals baseball team.

Johnny Rosenblatt photo, courtesy of cwsomaha.org"Like most, (Omaha Royals President Alan) Stein first learned about it from Sunday's Omaha World-Herald," White wrote. "It's fair to say we're disappointed that we're not part of the conversation," Stein told White. "If the Royals are being considered for anything in the future in terms of a new stadium, or a stadium upgrade, or no stadium, it would occur to me that the Royals deserve the opportunity to be in the discussion. As you can tell, to this date we are not."

The other story in Monday's editions was written by government services beat writer Kristin Zagurski. It found that some people who live near Rosenblatt Stadium are not happy with plans to build a stadium somewhere else and remove the ballpark that has hosted the College World Series for more than 50 years.

The story is noteworthy in that it is believed to be the first time the state's largest newspaper has referred to Rosenblatt Stadium in a news story as "The Blatt."

Rosenblatt Stadium was renamed (from Omaha Municipal Stadium) in 1964 to honor Johnny Rosenblatt (pictured at right). Local sportscasters and sports writers have typically shied away from using the derogatory reference to the man who served as mayor from 1954 to 1961.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shame on the World-Herald for using the phrase "Blatt." It sounds like bird droppings. How disrespectful!

Anonymous said...

Kristin should know better than to write 'Blatt. She grew up in Papillion and even graduated from UNO.

But I blame this one on her editors. They're getting sloppier by the day. You get what you pay for and they're not paying peanuts.

Anonymous said...

Very sloppy journalism. Dirty may I add! Print is dead sadly.

Anonymous said...

Are you actually being serious with the "Blatt" thing?

I've only heard it called "the Blatt" about a thousand times. And I'm sure the World-Herald, among other media outlets, has used the phrase before.

Anonymous said...

Last time I noticed, The Omaha Royals were tenants of The Blatt. Mr. Stein is new to the area & should pretty much hope the city doesn't raise his rent and leave it at that.
I'm sure there are plenty of minor league operators that would love to move into a brand new facility here in Omaha - a few of them might actually win on a regular basis. That might actually draw fans on nights when fireworks are scheduled!

Anonymous said...

Sorry, meant "aren't scheduled"....

Anonymous said...

John Chapman is one of several local sportscasters who've routinely invoked "the Blatt," when referring to the stadium. Who gave you the impression that anyone has "shied away" from using the phrase?

Anonymous said...

If John Chapman has used the derogatory phrase "The Blatt", consider the source. He is the worst sports guy in Omaha.

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah.......

Spend money on entertainment while the streets are awash with sewage in northeast Omaha.

Anonymous said...

Shithead Travis Justice used "The Blatt" on Monday night's newscast and referred to the cal-edge world series. Wheres ted when we need him.

Anonymous said...

why is "the blatt" a derogatory reference ?