Monday, March 24, 2008

NCAA Hoops: How Omaha Stacked Up

Kansas City Star reporter Blair Kirkhoff writes that "Omaha and the Qwest Center did it right" in a story assessing the first and second round games Omaha hosted last week.

Steve Sipple, on the Lincoln Journal Star's "Life In The Red" blog, writes "we should count ourselves lucky that Omaha had the wherewithal to build a big-time arena and position itself to play host to the first and second rounds of that little event that tends to transfix us at this time of year."

But Las Vegas Sun reporter Ron Kantowski feels much different about his experience covering hoops in Omaha. In a column titled, "Game for a good time? Not in Nebraska," Kantowski writes that the only thing you get at 1:50 a.m. in Omaha is a cab from the airport."

And don't forget to stop by the blog of Las Vegas freelance photojournalist Louie Traub, whose checks in with a boatload of photos and writes that he is "thankful I get to board a plane and head back to Las Vegas, where I can still get a kick ass steak anytime, with no last call for beer."

31 comments:

A J said...

Holy Mother of God, WHO IN THE HELL GOES TO JOHNNY'S for a steak!?!?! That's like going to Maine on vacation and judging the lobster on what you found at Long John Silvers.

Omaha has it's problems, and Vegas..it definately is NOT. But holy hell, if you're going to gripe about something...at least give yourself a chance.

Maybe if the Rebs come back in a few years he can report back about the dumplings at Bohemian Cafe? God forbid go to Gorats or Omaha Prime.

Anonymous said...

Maybe Perrault took that Vegas bozo for some nights on the town and hit all of his hot spots. Then they went back to the hotel to play some Travia.

Anonymous said...

You can only play travia in Iowa..No Gamblin in Omaha

Anonymous said...

Soon we'll have a better baseball stadium than Las Vegas too!

Anonymous said...

Ron Kantowski obviously didn't get out of the hotel room and away from the media buffet table much while he was here.

Anonymous said...

i read his blog. what a jack. he was complaining about the weather. get over it dude. can we control the freaking weather? no. yes he is right... omaha is way worse then las vegas because here in nebraska we are not all drunk compulisive gamblers. go back to your lovely nevada.

Anonymous said...

I don't know what Traubs issue is with needing to drink beer at all times but whatever that's his thing I guess ?

It just seems odd to me that he compares it to Groundhog Day, 3 days in Vegas and all I remember is the same shit every day. But then again, there was an abundance of beer so ......I guess when you stay wasted it doesn't matter.

I would say more about Kantowski, but it looks like even his own kind are wondering what the hell is wrong with him.

Anonymous said...

I ate at Johnny's last year and I thought the steak was awesome!

Some old guy was hurling/coughing up a lung in the corner, which kind of killed the ambiance, but the food was really good.

These Vegas guys are as narrow minded as the people they think they met in Omaha. If every place they visit needs to be as warm as Vegas and have the same hours of operation, they'll be disappointed every time.

Anonymous said...

People need to stop being so offended. Not everyone is going to love Omaha, and it's different when a reporter from K.C. and Lincoln see it compared to a reporter from Vegas. Going up to Omaha for people already in the Midwest is not a big change compared to coming from Vegas. While I find Kantowski a little bitter in his views, it's what he thinks and he's entitled to it. Omaha isn't a tourist hotspot and the two attractions (Old Market and zoo) aren't going to win everyone over everytime.

Anonymous said...

It doesn't really bother me that the "big city folks" from Vegas don't think we are this sprawling, vibrant, exciting metropolis. Anybody who thinks it is hasn't really been anywhere.

As long as the *lead* story on the 10:00 news is "Woman outraged because drycleaner threw out wedding dress" then you can't quite say that we have reached the big-time.

Anonymous said...

Oh we've reached the big-time...unfortunately there are some (OK, most) in the local media here who have a hard time meeting those standards.

Anonymous said...

Starting with the Cigar Store Indian.

Anonymous said...

Is this blog going to ignore ratings for the second ratings period in a row?

Anonymous said...

Those ratings mean absolutely nothing, so just enjoy the J-Dub jabs, commentary on Perrault's sexuality, how so few give a crap about wrestling, the drech Toad and Teabag spew (tree in a forest, no one's listening, are they actually speaking) and the best places to go to play a fun game of Travia.

Anonymous said...

You're right...besides, Action3 is taking such a pounding, and this blog would never cross Journal..

What was that, a 2 rating for Action 3 at 5pm?

Anonymous said...

Good point, 9:35. Are you referring to Affirmative Action News 3, are we talking about the same station? :-)

Anonymous said...

Come on, get over yourselves, Omaha like any other midsize city is a great place to live, you just wouldn't want to visit there. Like Topeka, Sioux Falls, Oklahoma City, Des Moines, Peoria, etc. How many of you look forward to your vacations not visiting relatives in places like those.

Anonymous said...

???? NONE of these "articles" talked about their opinion of Perrault. WORTHLESS!

Anonymous said...

???? NONE of these "articles" talked about their opinion of Perrault. WORTHLESS!

Anonymous said...

For those of us not privy to the latest ratings, and since the authors of this blog aren't going to share them either, can someone fill us in?

Anonymous said...

10:54 AM - No.

Anonymous said...

12:54 PM---you must work at 6.

Anonymous said...

I'm not about to sing Omaha's praises because I'm not a huge fan and let's be realistic, it's your typical average midwest medium city: kind of bland, some decent attractions, restaurants, shops, people, etc.

However, bashing the steak reputation based on Johnny's Cafe is foul. Johnny's is NOT where anyone goes to get a good steak. You go to Johnny's for reunions, banquets, and things like that. Now if this reporter went to Gorat's, Mahoganay, Piccolo Pete's and places like that and then thought the steak reputation was overrated, then I wouldn't have a problem with his negativity towards the steakhouses.

Anonymous said...

If you were a fan, what card honestly would you rather have pulled:

A.) Orange County (Disneyland)
B.) Tampa (Beaches)
C.) Denver (Skiing)
D.) Washington D.C. (Sightseeing)
E.) Omaha (Old Market, Zoo)

For people looking for a vacation getaway, I'm guessing 9 times out of 10 they'd choose one of the first four over the fifth one. Omaha might be a quiet, safe place to live, but a vacation destination? Some of you people need to get real.

Anonymous said...

If I'm a FAN, I go to see the games.

Anonymous said...

4:41PM - Uh, we're talking about Omaha as a VACATION destination. Yeah, as a fan you go to the games. But what does the rest of your family do while you're at the games? They see the local attractions.

The Omaha area does have some neat stuff, but not all of it is within walking distance of the Qwest. For example, the Joslyn Museum and the Strategic Air and Space Museum. Both of these can hold their own against attractions in 3:43PM's list of other cities.

Anonymous said...

Clarification: I don't mean that the Strategic Air and Space Museum equals Disney World, but matches up against similar sized/themed attractions.

Anonymous said...

Ratings....7 leads...6 a close second....3 waaaaaaaay in the tank this time. Their 10 is lower than kptm's 9pm numbers

Anonymous said...

So basically, the same old same old. 6 and 7 continue to trade first and second places far in advance of Channel 3rd. KPTM got paid last week. That's their big news!

Anonymous said...

11:57pm---thanks. Being a former employee of 6, I just want to see them tank.

Anonymous said...

Please TV dorks, focus on the topic. TV ratings don't mean what they used to anymore with satellite and cable TV. Time to move on from the Geraspeed commercial days.