93
Let’s hear the story of Nebraska, its communities, its number one industry Agriculture, and the people who make it happen. Sponsored by Nebraska's Law Firm® - Rembolt Ludtke.
93
Jim Rose--The Voice of Nebraska
In this episode, we sit down with Jim Rose — one of Nebraska’s most recognizable voices and community leaders — to explore his remarkable career and his unique perspective on the state he calls home. From his decades as the iconic “Voice of the Huskers” to his leadership in nonprofit development, higher education, and community initiatives, Jim shares stories that highlight Nebraska’s spirit, challenges, and opportunities for the future. With humor, insight, and the storytelling style that has earned him national recognition, Jim reflects on what it means to be a voice for Nebraska and why his one word for Nebraska is "loyalty."
Nebraska. It's not just a place, but a way of life. It's 93 countries that are home to innovative individuals. Caring to do a spirit that runs deeper than its purple story. It's a story, it's perfect too. Welcome to 93, the podcast.
SPEAKER_01:Welcome to 93, the podcast. I'm Mark Folsen, your host for today's episode, brought to you by Nebraska's law firm, Remball Ludwig. Today we're going to visit with one of Nebraska's most familiar voices. His daily commentaries on iHeartRadio and KFAB reach tens of thousands of listeners across the country. But his impact goes far beyond the broadcast booth. Today we're going to explore his remarkable journey, his perspective on Nebraska, and the lessons he's learned from decades of shaping conversations on air, in classrooms, and in communities. Jim Rose, thanks for joining us. How are you doing today?
SPEAKER_02:Good, Mark. How are you? Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_01:Doing well. Let's assume folks haven't met you or know anything about you. What's your background?
SPEAKER_02:Wow. Gosh, I guess you're going to want the reader's digest version. Grew up in Lincoln, uh, went to Lincoln Public Schools and Southeast High School, and then the University of Nebraska, and started my career in broadcasting at a very, very young age. Uh, my first job was at age 15 at KFOR in Lincoln, which is a heritage station down there. And it was just absolutely the very best station in town. And I was fortunate.
SPEAKER_01:Age 15?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I guess I was either too smart or too dumb to stop knocking on the door. And Roger Larson, their general manager, who's just an icon in the community and was for so many years and is one of the most influential people in my life, finally said, Okay, why don't you go see this guy named Rick Alloway and see if he has anything for you? But I'm tired of looking at you, so get the hell out of my office. He wasn't like that. But it was kind of with warmth and love that he did so. And then I got connected to Rick, who was the operations guy at the time, and and Tim Moreland, who was the Husker broadcaster at the time, because KFOR had its own broadcast of Husker football and basketball. And these guys were really, really generous. They let me hang around with them. In the beginning, all I did was do reports on high school games, and that's what I got paid to do. Not much, but I didn't care. I got to go to the games and I got a press bath. And Tim let me hang with him during Husker broadcasts, both at Memorial Stadium and at the Devani Center. Just keep stats, go get him coffee, drive the car on the way home. Uh things that for me they were awesome because I got to go to the games and be right up there on press row with these guys. And I thought, wow, you know, this is pretty cool. How does it get any better than this? So, uh, but that's what I figured I wanted to do, and then started a long journey in the business that now is, gosh, we're up to 45 years in the business now, uh, through Kansas and Nebraska and big markets and small markets, and television jobs, and network jobs, and high profile jobs, and low profile jobs. But I just kind of kept doing it, just kept doing the act, and uh the checks kept clearing, so I thought, you know, just keep going until somebody says you're done. And I guess I'm waiting on that and still trying to do my best broadcast.
SPEAKER_01:So, do you have family?
SPEAKER_02:I do. Uh I've got a wonderful wife and two adult kids now, and I'm gonna be a grandfather in a week or two for the first time. What are the odds? And uh still very, very fortunate and gracious and uh and grateful for the great friends that I have, some of whom go all the way back to when I was in high school, and many that I've met along the way and made friends with along the way. It's one of the great blessings of my life.
SPEAKER_01:Have you landed on what name you want your grandchild to call you? Is it papa? Is it grandpa? Uh got any got any preferred names?
SPEAKER_02:Uh, I think at the top of the list will be hey you, but um no, I haven't. That's a good idea, Mark. I probably need to start test driving a few of those.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, grandma, grandma, grandmas are especially sensitive to that, especially if they're as young as your wife, right? They they don't want grandma, so they gotta come up with some cute name that's something like grandma.
SPEAKER_02:Sir would be good. Um, you know, maybe we'll start there and come on down. No, I I've uh I've been uh anxiously interested in names, and we've not weighed in because I figure if I weigh in with one, it'll be rejected, and I don't have any control anyway. So I've got the last name, and that's enough territory for me. First and middle names, I'm out of that race because I've got the last name on this one.
SPEAKER_01:So 15, how does a 15-year-old decide they want to get into radio? Uh what spurred that?
SPEAKER_02:It's a really good question because it's all I've ever wanted to do. I think I wanted to be an airline pilot for a while. Uh, after watching the airport movies, I think I wanted to be an airline pilot. But uh just you know, that just didn't take. Uh, but I really, really enjoyed watching sports on television and listen, listening to Husker stuff on the radio. And I just thought, you know, I'm I'm never gonna be much of an athlete. I wasn't ever gonna play for the Huskers. So I thought, how do I, how do I get involved? How do I be a part of this? And I go, this I can do. Uh this I this I know. Uh and it just sort of took off from there. But I can't, I can't overstate the impact that guys like Roger and Rick had on me. Um the the mentoring that they did for me and Tim and Skip Willis and Adrian Fiala and Denny Claridge and all of the other guys that were associated with this broadcast, they were so generous. They didn't have to be. They think, what is this kid doing here? You know, it's a waste, but they let me be with them and hang with them and just listen to them and see them. And I I've wished for every kid, regardless of what field they pursue, the opportunity that I had. Uh, because I think it's pretty rare.
SPEAKER_01:You're on the radio pretty early in the morning. What's your daily schedule during the week?
SPEAKER_02:Well, yeah, I'm up at four every day during the week, Monday through Friday. And I just kind of do a light exercise routine because I've got the show pretty much done the night before. So it's just getting up, getting going, and getting to the station on time. But yeah, starting uh in November, well, when we get to November, it'll be 24 years on KFAB with Gary Saddemeyer in the morning, the two of us in a small room for three and a half hours every day. Amazing. We're neither one of us are in jail, uh convicted of a multiple murder spree. No, uh, it's uh it's a tremendous opportunity and an honor for me to be with him and be on this radio station that is so impactful in the in the state and in the community, certainly and across the state. 50,000 watts goes a long way in Nebraska, it reaches a lot of Nebraskans. And the IR Mobile app reaches even more of them around the country. So that's that's not something we take lightly. We know it's an important public utility and we treat it that way. And we try to provide infotainment as much as we can. Tell them something they don't already know. Otherwise, why would they listen?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I was talking to some uh friends who are farmers ranchers, Western Nebraska, and they said they listen to you every morning. I'm like, wait, KFAB doesn't go that far. They said we get it on iHeart. So we get folks all across Nebraska that may not be within radio distance, but are still listening to you and Gary every morning.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that mobile app has really made the world smaller. And I credit the company for that. iHeart's made a major investment in the digital space and in the digital audio space over the last 10 years, and it's designed to meet the needs of its audience anywhere in the world. And we've had folks that have reached out to us that are KFAB fans or Husker fans or Nebraskans who are living anywhere in the world. We've had people from Europe, we've had people from Asia, uh, we've had obviously people across all 50 states that reach out to us and they listen on the mobile app. And in many cases, they live somewhere else part-time during the year or they travel a lot for business. And being connected back home is important to them, and they know us, and we're there every morning for them. And Scott Voorhees and Lucy Jabman and our newspeople. So that's comforting in a world of great change to have that stability and that predictability every day, I think matters to people. And that's something you really can't buy.
SPEAKER_01:Have you always been a morning person or do you have to uh learn that?
SPEAKER_02:Yes, I actually have. I've been in my years since I started really full-time at age 22, because I was always a part-timer or a contractor before, I've been on the air in the mornings almost all of those years. So we're talking now about 40 years and 45, you know, 30, 40 plus years. I when I was working in television in Wichita, I did not work mornings. And for a time when I was in Lincoln at KLIN, when we originated the Husker broadcasts, I did not work mornings. But I've worked mornings a lot, uh, almost all the time. And then when I was in Kansas City uh with the Royals Network and KMBZ, I worked afternoons. But most of the time it's been mornings. And I do recall as a kid getting up early and watching television as a kid. I used to watch Channel 1011, and I'd see those guys come on the air with their morning show early in the morning. So I guess the answer is yes. I have always been kind of a morning guy.
SPEAKER_01:You strike me as someone who would have been a big uh Mel Maines fan, probably on uh 1011.
SPEAKER_02:Well, he was certainly a hero to Nebraskans and the Lincolnites. And of course, I got to work with Mel later in his career when I would do freelance and fill-in work over at Channel 10 when Jeff Schmal and Dick Jand and those guys went on vacation. So there I am sitting next to Mel, and I'm thinking, wow, this is Mel Maines. You know, Ken Shimmick. Ken Shimmick. Uh, I got to know him when I was young, and he was also amazingly generous with his time. He was such a great guy. He always wanted to do sports, but you know, he kind of got to do the he was really good at doing weather. So I remember one time I was out at Channel 10 filming in for Janda or something. Maybe he was on the Big Eight Sky Riders tour or something. And uh Ken was great. He helped me out and he said, you know, I always wanted to do sports. I said, well, then you should do this. He goes, they won't let me. I guess I'm too good doing the weather now. But he was he was fabulous and incredibly generous. Not universally, not everybody that I've run into in the business has been nice, has been generous, has been sincere, but overwhelmingly a large number have. And sometimes we focus on the people that are trying to screw us over without remembering all of the people who helped us along the way. And so I try to focus on them. And Ken's one of them.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, one of the ways uh many ways in which you've given back, you I believe have served as an adjunct professor at Nebraska, sharing with students. I think you were even a visiting professor down at the University of Mississippi. Uh, do you enjoy teaching or sharing that knowledge with others?
SPEAKER_02:I do, and I did, and those were rewarding years for me. Uh it was quite liberating to be an adjunct professor because you basically just came and went. You weren't really confined by the rules and regulations that go with being a full-time faculty member, and I really respect and admire those who are. But uh, I remember when Will Norton, who is the dean of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the time, approached me about it. I said, Now, Will, I go, understand. I go, I I really am not a patron of policy and procedure. I kind of do what I want to do because I think it's what will help prepare the students and help them command the material. He said, That's why I'm calling you. And I go, okay, well, you're a you're you're a unicorn. Nobody thinks like that anymore. So he allowed me, and then later Charlene Barens was also the dean there, and she she was fabulous. They were very, very supportive of me, and they knew that I was not traditional and that I was very different in my approach. I tried to employ the Socratic approach as much as possible when I had kids in the class because I felt like, you know, these guys need to solve their own problems. I can't tell them how to solve their problems. They need to solve an issue, they need to confront challenges and solve them. So I enjoyed it. Uh I specifically enjoyed the sports branding class because they were advanced students. There weren't a lot of them, but they were really dialed into their careers. They wanted to get into sports marketing. And I'm really proud of all of them. They've done so well, and I still stay in touch with a number of them. And two of the guys that were in my class were Blake Lawrence and Adi Kanalik. And um, they had this little idea about using Husker athletes as influencers on social media. And this was long before what we have today. And what they actually hatched was what we know today as OpenDorse. Initially her dad and then OpenDorse. And those two guys are just rock stars, and I'm really proud of them.
SPEAKER_01:You have your own podcast. Uh, what's the name of it?
SPEAKER_02:It's called Rosie de Genosi. It's a little five-minute, you know, tell people what's going on in the world every day. But it's not just about news, and it's not just about, you know, politics, and it's not just about what's going wrong in the world, it's about what's happening in the world and how everything we do every day uh can affect us positively, negatively. We want to bring history into a modern context. You know, if you just you just do historical stuff, then people go, okay, well, this is history class. How do you make, if you take a historical event like the Watergate break-in 50 years later, do you just regurgitate what people know, or do you put something on it that people don't know or hadn't thought about? And that's that's kind of the the general theme of of what we do with these commentaries and essays every day. Some of them are biting and hard-hitting, and some of them call out, you know, the comfortable, sometimes they afflict the comfortable, sometimes those comforted people, comfortable people don't like it. Uh, and I hear from them, but I call for them to account for their positions. Uh, sometimes we talk sports, and sometimes we talk popular culture, and sometimes we talk history, and sometimes we look back on the lives of impactful people and share something about that life that maybe people didn't know. The whole general theme of that podcast, which I guess has gotten pretty popular, is people tune in and they're not really sure what Rose is going to talk about today. But there's a real good chance that after five minutes he's gonna tell me something I didn't know. And if that's the way it goes, it's worth the time and effort to do it.
SPEAKER_01:Another way you've given back is something called the Nebraska Greats Foundation. What is that?
SPEAKER_02:Well, it was an organization founded by a former Nebraska football player uh in response to the life and times of a former Nebraska football player. And it was it was very, very much inspired by the life of Andra Franklin, who was a running back for us in the 1970s, uh, who was a very, very good player and was off to a tremendous start in his NFL career before knee injuries derailed it long before the super contracts that these guys enjoy today, which anymore, if you sign one NFL contract, if you don't gamble and you don't have multiple wives and you don't have a drug habit, it can keep you sustained for the rest of your life. And in addition to that, they provide health care for former players for the rest of their lives. Well, back when Andrew Franklin left football, he didn't have any of those benefits. So he died a life of ill health because he couldn't access basic health care. And um, he was impoverished at the time and literally was not that seriously ill if he had been able to access health care. And uh he was unable to, and so he passed away, and that inspired Jerry Murtaugh, former player, to organize this foundation to provide funding and healthcare assistance to former letter-winning athletes, not just football players, but all former letter-winning athletes from all of the 16 four-year colleges and universities in the state of Nebraska. And I was fortunate to be a member of the board of directors, and then they asked me to run the foundation for five years. I promised them that I would give them five years. They I said to them at the time, when I'm ready to go, you'll half of you will be ecstatically happy and half of you will be ecstatically sad. But five years is all I can do for you because, quite frankly, if you stay longer than five years running a nonprofit organization, you're probably staying too long. Because uh foundations go from one stage to the next. And we did a lot of heavy lifting to put the foundation in position to be eternally beneficial to former athletes, and I'm very proud of what they've done, and and I'm proud of the work we did and uh the people that they're impacting today. But that was a labor of love, and I enjoyed it greatly.
SPEAKER_01:You've observed a lot over your career. How would you say the state of Nebraska has changed over the last 40 years?
SPEAKER_02:We become very divided. Uh the community is not as strong as it once was. Uh the interests politically, economically, socially have begun to fissure between western Nebraska, Greater Nebraska, and eastern Nebraska. Nobody put this in motion. There were no sinister motives. It happened. The state has begun to hemorrhage population west of Lincoln, really west of Grand Island. And most of that population has either immigrated to Lincoln and Omaha or out of the state. And it has caused tremendous hardships economically and socially for Greater Nebraska. If you go back 50 years, the state was much more tightly wound together. It's not now. And if you were to go into Omaha and see what's happening in Omaha, you would never ever connect Omaha with the rest of the state because of the politics, because of the issues that confront a larger city, because it's over a million now in the metro area. And this has this has caused political division, it has caused animosity, anger, resentment. People don't think they're getting treated fairly. And uh it has caused, I think, Nebraskans to be less communal than they once were. So we've got to find a way, in my view, to export our best industries to greater Nebraska from Omaha and Lincoln. We have a wheel with spokes, and those spokes need to grow, and they need to be invested in. Some of it is happening now, but it needs to be a point of great emphasis. We need to address child care and workforce development issues in greater Nebraska. We have great communities with fabulous people, but they don't have enough jobs or they don't have enough people to fill the jobs. And if we don't address a childcare crisis in Nebraska where folks know they have quality childcare associated with the community in which they live, then we're not going to be able to grow Greater Nebraska. And frankly, the childcare crisis is not just confined to smaller communities, it's all over the state. But uh, we need to address that. We need to address quality of life issues because it's competitive. And um, living in a small Smaller town has wonderful advantages, but we also have to make that town attractive for young families to invest in. And if we address those issues and we address a serious problem with our taxation issue in our state, we'll get there. But we're going to have to have some people be willing to lose elections to make that happen. And that has happened in Nebraska's past, as you know.
SPEAKER_01:So what's one hidden gym in Nebraska that perhaps even many Nebraskans don't know about? Is there one place or thing or something to go see that you say that that's Nebraska, but uh maybe people don't know about it?
SPEAKER_02:Well, my favorite place in Nebraska is Fort Robinson. So uh for all of you out there who've never been to Fort Robinson, there you go. Uh I I love the place. I I could I could visit Fort Robinson every month if uh if it wasn't so far away. Uh but there are many, Mark. That's my personal favorite. Calamus is for my money the best lake in Nebraska, and that's out by Burwell. It's 12 miles north of Burwell.
SPEAKER_01:Drove by it yesterday.
SPEAKER_02:It's the only it's the only spring-fed reservoir in the entire state, and the water coming out of a spring is a lot cleaner and clearer than anything else. If you've never fished Calamus, you don't know what Nebraska fishing looks like. So those are my two favorite places to you know to get away and take off, but there are so many. It's a big state, 77,000 square miles, and it to some outside of Nebraska, it might look like it's all the same, but it's not, as you know.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I I part of me wants to require everyone who's employed in Lincoln, Omaha that hasn't been west to say Grand Island, that that's a that's a requirement to work for a company. I mean, it's a whole different state.
SPEAKER_02:It really is. Uh, and the northeastern corridor along the South Dakota border is beautiful. Uh, it's a wonderful drive, it's a very diverse geography. And I would hope that Nebraskans would do that. Uh, there's a lot to do in Lincoln and Omaha culturally, entertainment-wise, sports-wise. But to really appreciate, and you'd be surprised how affordable it is, to really appreciate all of the things that Nebraska has, you have to sort of step outside your comfort zone and think, okay, I don't equate scenic beauty with Lake Tahoe, or I don't equate scenic beauty with the Rocky Mountains. I equate scenic beauty with something a little different that's in many ways still untouched. There is so much of Nebraska that is exactly the same in the year 2025 as it was in the year 1875, when so many came across on their way to wherever. And that's to me kind of cool. Um, I think that you can step, you can close your eyes, you can step on a piece of ground in the Nebraska sand hills and know that it is exactly the same today as it was when pioneers and covered wagons going one and a half to two miles an hour came across.
SPEAKER_01:Jim, you've uh been a familiar voice to Nebraskans for decades. When you reflect on your journey, uh are there any particular moments or things that you were part of that stand out?
SPEAKER_02:Well, most of my broadcasting has been associated with sports, uh, and in particular Husker sports. And I know this this is probably as much a part of of our collective happiness as anything, uh, because the Huskers are so popular and there's such an easy connection between Nebraskans and Husker sports. But I was fortunate enough to be on the broadcasts during the great run of Coach Osbourne's last five years, when it was 60 and 3, and we had all of those wins, and it truly unified the state and it set a brand across the countryside that this is Nebraska. It's not like any other place in the world, and there are no other passions as deep and as inbred as Husker football is to Nebraskans. So just being a part of all of that and and sharing in the utter joy that Nebraskans had for those national championship teams, and seeing the baseball team come to from the worst to the best, from the very worst program in the Big 12 conference to the College World Series and a number one national ranking with so many Nebraska kids was really special. And then having the volleyball program become now a second generation of excellence and still reflective of Nebraska kids. There were so many Nebraska young ladies, native Nebraskans, and not from Lincoln and Omaha, but from across the state that built that tradition. And now to see the example that they set for young girls, there is no other state in the country where the female athletes are so influential in the lives of young girls as the Nebraska volleyball team is. And as a parent of a daughter, any parent of a daughter or granddaughter, that's golden. To have them be as critically influential in a child's life, set goals, be the best, enjoy the adoration of thousands of fans, uh, to play in front of national television audiences, and to win. Those are the kinds of things that very few places in this country provide for its young people. And that's one of the true hidden gems of Nebraska is the impact that the athletes, the female athletes of Nebraska have on our daughters.
SPEAKER_01:Has Husker volleyball displaced Husker football as uh sort of the namesake for the state, given uh not yet.
SPEAKER_02:It's gaining, but not yet. Football's got 150 years behind it. Uh but uh but volleyball is gaining uh and it's carving its own niche. It's carving its niche with families and with young girls. And that's something that football will never have with young ladies. And that's okay. Uh football is a universal cultural uh institution in Nebraska because it is so representative of we the people. But volleyball is getting, it's gaining on them, but not yet.
SPEAKER_01:So let's assume uh you're talking to uh someone who owns a business in some other state and they're looking at possibly building a facility, relocating to Nebraska. What's your sales pitch for Nebraska?
SPEAKER_02:Hardworking people, um risk takers, uh willing to trust, very trustworthy people, and people willing to trust, uh willing to be a part of, uh not just ask for the business, but commit to the business. You're not finding that anywhere. And if you're locating business in the state of Nebraska, regardless of where it is, it's not a utopia, it's not perfect. But the people that are associated with your business, the ones that you meet when you first get here, want success for you. They're pulling for you, and then they'll put their shoulder behind that plow for you.
SPEAKER_01:So, Jim, there's a question we ask all of our guests, and you get just one word. What is the one word that to you best describes this great place in which you were born and raised, attended Lincoln Southeast, attended the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, where tens of thousands of people listen to you each week, and where you've served its communities and its people and people in so many and countless ways. What's your one word for Nebraska?
SPEAKER_02:Loyalty. Can you explain? It is a state made up of people who in the beginning had nothing. This was not an attractive place to those ancestors of ours. It didn't have much. It was hard to find something to eat. It was hard to find something with which to build your home. But they did it. And they said, I'm loyal to this place, I'm loyal to the communities that we're building here, and I'm going to impart that loyalty to my children and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren, and demonstrate to them that if you commit to something and you hang together and you stick up for the other guy and defend the other guy, you'll build something special here. And there was never a time in the beginning, in the origins of our state, when anybody thought that we would ever be integral to feeding the world, that we would produce more beef than any other state in the union but one, and that we would create innovations that could grow food in places that never grew anything before. That's us. And it came about because we were loyal to the purpose of our destiny, and building what we have from the very, very humble beginnings of our state is astronomical. You know, there was gold in California, and that's what brought everybody to California: gold and beautiful weather and incredible distance. All right. We didn't have any of that stuff. What we had was opportunity. And if we hung together and we stood up for each other and we had each other's backs, we could make it happen. And we did. And uh I still think Nebraska's best days are ahead of it. We have challenges, we're gonna need to work really hard together and be willing to give up something to move forward. And if we get the right leadership in place, and that leadership is trustworthy, it'll happen.
SPEAKER_01:Jim, well said. Thank you for joining us. Very grateful that you would take time out of your schedule.
SPEAKER_02:Mark, it's always a pleasure. Congratulations on the podcast, and uh I look forward to seeing uh you again sometime soon.
SPEAKER_01:If you enjoyed this episode, consider subscribing on Spotify, Apple, or wherever it is you get your favorite podcast, and share it with someone as well. Please keep on listening as we release additional episodes on Nebraska. It's great communities, Nebraska's number one industry agriculture, and the people who make it happen.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks. This has been 93, the podcast, sponsored by Nebraska's law firm, Rembolt Ludke.
