Sometimes when I’m coming up with ideas, I just start writing down points and doodling, hoping that in the process, things will just magically come together and my mind will click and an idea will be born.

This sketch is clearly not one of those cases. I was struggling with the idea that the huge revenue streams that the arena will supposedly bring to Lincoln are going to be spent before it’s built. I was also playing with the imagery of the 2015 Vision group string pullers.

Nothing came of it, but just looking at this box in my collection of sketches today cracks me up, so I thought I’d share.

In a move that resembles Tom Osborne’s nationally-criticized college media blackout even more than the recent Governor’s office fiasco, Nebraska head football coach Bo Pellini has banned the DN from covering the team’s football practice sessions because of this editorial. DN sports reporter Jonathan Crowl was escorted out of today’s practice by NU Media Relations Director Keith Mann.

For another reminder of what got TO in hot water more than a decade ago, here is an Editor & Publisher article on the controversy erupting around Osborne’s decision to ban the DN from practice for coverage that he didn’t like.

Congratulations to Alyssa Schukar, named the Nebraska News Photographers Association Photographer of the Year.

You can check out Alyssa’s submission portfolio here.

Back in October, I kicked off these young cartoonist profiles with the Daily Nebraskan’s Bob Al-Greene. Now the series continues with Bill Richards, recently-retired cartoonist from The Red and Black, the student newspaper at The University of Georgia at Athens.

Richards has received plenty of recognition, including receiving the Society of Professional Journalists’ “Mark of Excellence” award in 2006 and 2007 and being named a finalist for the 2007 Scripps-Howard National Journalism Award. Last month, he was awarded first place in editorial cartooning at the Society of Professional Journalists regional awards and was one of two finalists for the Charles M. Schulz award.

Readers of this site may remember him as one of the collected Virginia Tech cartoonists; I first heard of Richards when someone told me Michael Ramirez had ripped off a college cartoonist from Georgia. Ramirez just won the Pulitzer, so it’s good company.

Since drawing his last cartoon for the Red and Black in January, Richards has been keeping billrichards.wordpress.com updated with more cartoons, commentary and some animations. His absence has been felt on campus, as a Facebook group called “We Miss Bill Richards” has gone up in his honor.

click to view the full-size image and Bill’s thoughts on the cartoon

NEAL OBERMEYER: When did you get your start in editorial cartooning, and what made you decide to start?

BILL RICHARDS: The first editorial cartoon I ever drew was in sixth grade. I think I just drew the school principal making fun of a student who was being crushed by his heavy bookbag. I mostly drew comic strips until college, but I slowly started incorporating more and more overt commentary as I got older. And once I got to college they wouldn’t let me draw comic strips for the paper, so I started “seriously” doing editorial cartoons. At least, I think that’s how it went.

But it was always mainly about the groupies.
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