Yep, T.J. Simers is at it again. The L.A. Times' resident asshole has written another column about Nebraska as we head west for the NU-USC game. This is the same witty fellow who couldn't say enough about the horde of red-clad hicks stampeding into his beloved LA for the Rose Bowl in January 2002. Yeah, we love this guy.
Seriously, though, it really blows that this kind of stuff passes for journalism. What is this supposed to be, a meaner, rougher Dave Barry? Whatever the psychological trauma that leads to this kind of writing, it's not worth the paper on which it's printed, and I hope L.A. Times readers have enough sense to disregard someone whose primary vocation appears to be publicly humiliating himself by pulling everyone else down to his bottom-feeding level.
For the record, just so no one thinks this jerk is right about anything, I left Nebraska because I had to, and I haven't returned because the circumstances aren't right just yet. I love my Cornhuskers, but I loved lots of other stuff in Nebraska, too: the arts and culture available in Lincoln and Omaha, beautiful sunsets in wide-open prairies, the smell of freshly turned earth in springtime and harvest in the fall, my small hometown of Wakefield, where just about everybody still remembers me when I come home, the camp where I spent summers wandering the wilderness and enjoying God's creation, and much, much more. I love living in Minnesota, too, for similar reasons, and I'm sure I'll love living wherever I go next, even in L.A. if I should wind up there, because life is what you make of it. I'm looking forward to Nebraska playing USC this weekend, and I hope we win, but not because I need to humiliate those Trojans to feel better about myself. So go ahead - call us hicks and make fun of us. Laugh at the fact that Larry the Cable Guy has a skybox in Memorial Stadium. Cow-tipping jokes? Heard 'em. Fly-over country comments? Yeah, heard those too. If you're so shallow that you can't be troubled to look farther than the interstate, wherever you go, then maybe the problem isn't Nebraska, Mr. Simers. Maybe the problem is you.
Wow, what an awful column. I don't mind being made fun of, but it would be nice if it at least made sense, or was original.
ReplyDeleteDitto on the love of living here. I can't see any reason why I'd leave.
Don't cancel that L.A. Times subscription just yet....they're often the ONLY publication with the cojones to print exposes on fraudulent televangelists. (Well, they're ALL fraudulent...)
ReplyDeleteI am hoping to take a first call in NE, even if it still may not be where I'll live for the rest of my life. It's a beautiful place with wonderful people. I refuse to apologize for my upbringing.
Incidentally, in one of my classes we introduced ourselves and where we were from. The professor interjected and lifted up Nebraska as the home of Martin Marty, among other scholars, and a place where people are extraordinarily authentic.