FOX News

Friday, March 30, 2007

Purify catches Sean Payton's eye!

Sean Payton, head coach for the New Orleans Saints and the NFL Coach of the Year, said today in Lincoln that he was impressed with No. 16. He was speaking about Maurice Purify. Coach Payton said he would like to take him home with him.

This writer was impressed with all the QB's. Keller and Ganz are pretty close but throw two different balls. Keller throws a harder ball and has a stronger arm. Ganz throws a nice ball to catch and is overall pretty accurate.

Carl Nicks is the largest offensive lineman. The line looks bigger with Matt Slauson now playing guard. Myrtha looks slimmer and quicker and improved. The receivers looked impressive with Todd Peterson and Maurice Purify looking real impressive.

The NU linebackers look very good and the defensive line should be ok. Suh will have a big year and hopefully Brandon Johnson will be big. Andre Jones looked more polished.

Overall the team should be competitive to win the Big 12 this fall. The recovery of Zach Bowman will be crucial.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Zach Bowman injures his knee today!

Zach Bowman injured the knee that he did not have surgery on last year. It is unknown at this time the extent of the injury but we all hope it is just a bruise and he will be back soon.

Kenny Wilson broke his femur carrying a tv and will be out for next season. He has been Mr. Unlucky and this injury may keep Major Culbert at running back. Lets wish the best for Kenney Wilson.

The Chicago Cubs optioned Mark Prior to Iowa. This writer feels it won't be too long before he is back to the major leagues.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

White and Marks are leaving the NU basketball team!

Jamel White is leaving NU!! He was a great player for a freshman two seasons ago but was average this year. Late in the season he was suspended by Coach Sadler for undisclosed reasons. Hopefully he will flourish in another system.

Karl Marks appeared at times to be a tremendous talent but never fit in the new system. He is rough on the edges but if he ever gets things figured out, he can be an excellent talent. He would be in the highlight reel for this year a number of times as he made some sensational plays for his limited time.

Coach Sadler needs to make room for his players so this will help. Don't be surprised to see a couple more players leave before next season.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Sports Shorts

Why did Dominic Davis change his name to Dominic Williams?
He has changed to his Mother's maiden name because Davis was his brother's father's name (his step-father), and in the state where he is from, he had to take that name. However, after he's had kids now, he stated that he didn't want them to be known as something they are not, and had his name officially changed to Williams so that his children would be Williams' also, as an homage to his mother. Obviously he doesn't care for his step father.

Dominic's career may be over as his knee is very damaged.

The referees inthe NCAA tournament have been inconsistent. It seems they like to call touch fouls and let the big men pound on each other. Greg Odom should have been called for a fragrant foul vs. Xavier. They probably would have lost the game if the foul would have been called so. A critical no call on Georgetown for traveling ended up being a victory for GT. They would have lost without it. That was a difficult call, however w/o instant replay.

How many of you are going to KC this year to watch Alex Gordon and the Royals? How many are planning vacations around it? Even Omaha will be fun to watch this year with a group of younger upcoming players on the team. What are you doing? Let us know.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Husker baseball team is average right now!

Right now the Husker baseball team should not be rated. They are average at best. They beat Western Illinois today 3-2. Dorn has an ERA of 5.40 and Watson is in the high fours. Shirek is at a 4.5 which is expected right now for him. Does Mike Anderson expect to peak during the Big 12 this year instead of earlier in the season as in the past. Let's hope so.

Pete Rose now says he bet on all Red's games when he coached. Different story different day.

Spring ball for the Husker football team tomorrow. Larry Asante will show he is awesome. Again, Joe Ganz has a great chance to be our starting QB.

Is there a witch hunt against Kobey Bryant? Probably not.

Carl Nicks and defensive lineman Suh will be all Big-12 this year. Suh is a sensational player and will be the most improved player on the team.

Zach Bowman is at 90%. Did you know he played BB inhigh school with Mario Chalmers of Kansas?

We will have a safety and cornerback make all Big 12 this year. You saw it here first/

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Sports Shorts

Lance Thorell of Loomis made the Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal Star's first team in basketball in D-1. He has had a sensational career and next will be track where he will defend winning the hurdles last year. This fall Lance will walkon at NU in football.

John Goodwin was placed on the second team in Class B in both papers. The Holdrege Dusters will miss his talent and leadership next year. He was also an all-state QB.

The NU women will play today against Temple. Should be a great game. The winner plays the #1 team in the nation, Duke. The fourth leading score of all-time for the Huskers is Kiera Hardy who has 1907 points. Karen Jennings is the all-time leading score with 2405 points.

Twenty years ago Moe Iba resigned as NU BB coach after losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Western Kentucky. He was a much underrated coach.

Today's Nascar winner at Atlanta will be Jimmie Johnson. Tony Stewart will finish second.

The biggest upset to this writer so far of the NCAA tournament is Winthrop over Notre Dame. With few upsets the second round play has been exception with a record number of overtimes yesterday.

Texas plays USC today at 5:15. Should be a great game. Matt Hill had one rebound in the first round game with limited play.

Antoine Young (Bellevue West) , a Creighton recruit, and Josh Jones of Omaha Central are both juniors and made the Lincoln Journal's first team Super State Team. Making second team are juniors Mike Fox of Beatrice, John Levorson of Crete, Wes Eikmeier of Fremont Bergan, and Jesse Carr of Ainsworth.

Jordon Hooper, a freshman from Alliance, made the Lincoln Journal's second team Super State team.

The NU baseball team is struggling this year. The lost yesterday 9-8 to Texas Tech and go to 10-7 on the year. Johnny Dorn was hit hard in four innings giving up six runs. Andrew Brown had his fourth home run for the season.

This Wednesday starts the beginning of spring ball for the NU football team. There will be a battle between Joe Ganz and Sam Keller at QB. This writer believes Joe Ganz will be the early leader. This fall could be different.

Senator Chuck Hagel delayed his announcement to run for President of the United States. He has worked himself into a pretty good chance to beat a John McCain, the front runner. It may be easier for him to win this position than to win back the Senate seat in Nebraska. If Hal Daub and Jon Bruning both challenge him, it will be close contest as Hagel has lost some votes due to his criticism of George Bush.

Highlights today in sports is the NCAA BB tournament will Kansas and Texas playing AND the Nascar race in Atlanta. Have fun!!

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

March Madness Begins!

No better time of the year in sports than the NCAA basketball tounrnament!! Who will win this year? It is never certain as to who will win but it is hard not to pick Florida. Everybody is back from last year's championship team! But as we know in this tournament the unexpected usually happens.

Looking at the brackets, this writer predicts the Final Four to be Florida, Kansas, Georgetown, and Texas A & M. Florida will face off against Georgetown in the Championship game with FLORIDA winning it all again. They have been here before and they are hungry to win it again. They know what it takes.

Spring ball starts next Wednesday. There will be a lot of players not participating due to injuries. Kenny Wilson is out. Zach Lee, contending for the QB position, is out. FB Matt Senske is out. Mike McNiel, potentially the #1 TE, is out. Jacob Hickman, Mike Huff, Corey Young, Barry Turner, and Craig Rourke are out.

If Kenny Wilson can't get better, don't rule out a medical redshirt this year. He has a staph infection in his knee that just doesn't go away.

Major Culbert will continue to workout at RB due to the numbers being down. We still see him as a defensive back when his career gets going.

Good luck to the women's NU BB team. If they win in the first round, which they should, they will face the #1 team in the nation, Duke.

Good grief! Oklahoma St gets beat in the first round of the NIT at home and Kansas ST wins by two at home against Vermont. Has strong is the Big 12. Will they be competitive in the NCAA tournament. Make your comments!

Saturday, March 10, 2007

We are back......now what do we do?

It has been close to six months since our house fire and we have been almost non-existent since September of 2006. Where do we go from here? What do you want to hear and talk about? Let me know. It is time to roll again.

This year's Nebraska high school basketball tournament is now complete. This writer was not able to attend the tournament for the first time in many years. With that in mind, it is time to talk about this year's most memorable events of the 2007 basketball tournament.

Loomis has been to state and won two championships in 1999 and 2004 and was beaten in the championship game in 2005. Loomis made it to the semi-finals this year and was beaten by Leigh. The run could be over for a while as they lost a bunch of seniors.

The Class A Championship game was loaded with talent. Bellevue West and the Class A champion Omaha Central teams put on a show in overtime. These two teams have a bunch of talent.

Jesse Carr from Ainsworth is sensational. He is a lot of fun to watch and he has the potential to play Division I ball. Nebraska may be a great choice. The junior has one more season to show his stuff and he will be fun to watch. He has a good supporting cast.

Who are the best high school basketball players in Nebraska this year? They are:
1. Jesse Carr-Ainsworth *Only a Junior. He can rebound, pass, and score.
2. Wes Eikmeier-Fremont Bergan *He is headed to Iowa State.
3. Antoine Young-Bellevue West *Another Junior who is headed to Creighton
4. Jeff Allgood-Bellevue West *Junior When he gets hot no other player can shoot 3's like him.
5. Josh Jones-Omaha Central *Great player on the best team in the state the past two years.

Matt Kenseth will win the Nascar Nextel race in Vegas this week. Jimmie Johnson will finish second.

The NU basketball team is most likely finished for this year. They will lose Charles Richardson and Marcus Perry. Nebraska will have seven new players next year if they all qualify academically. James Barr is one of the seven who will join the team the second semester. He is a transfer from USC. He has a big body and his specialty is rebounding which NU can use. Charles Richardson will be missed and will be hard to replace. The MVP for the 2006-2007 team.

Doc Sadler makes NU basketball fun and he tells it like it is which the fans like. We hope he is around for a long time and it will be interesting how well his recruits do.

Should the men's NU basketball team go to the NIT?? Let us know. Please make comments.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

NU Women will go to post season!!

This week starts the Women's Big 12 tournament. NU should go on to the NCAA tournament but a great showing would help their cause. We should get some quality results as they seem to be back on track.

The men's team will play Oklahoma St Monday. They will need to win in Lincoln and then win at least two games in the Big 12 to get to the NIT. They are very capable although they have not been successful lately. The three games with Baylor, Iowa State, and Colorado were all winable but they come up short due to poor shooting.

Ryan Anderson was ejected yesterday in the Colorado game. Xavier Silas started fighting with him and he did what anybody would have done to protect himself. The referees didn't blow the jump ball in time and Silas in a scuffle elbowed Anderson in the head. It looked very intentionable. Don't know why Anderson really was ejected. Silas should be suspended for at least a game.

This writer believes whenever there are rules or restrictions that those that make the rules should explain the reason for them. The NU Athletic Department should explain the access policy to the fans so they understand them. This would go a long ways as we have only heard one side of the story so far. NU has very avid fans and to give a complete open door would cut the efficiency of them getting their job done. What's to keep a car load of drunks going up to the football office or the athletic department and causing a huge disruption. Controls have to be set but it would be nice to have scheduled times for fans to view the complex without an appointment. With more exposure, more money will funnel into the department. A warm but safe atmosphere is beneficial to all.

Kind of weird not having South Sioux City in the girl's state basketball tournament this year. They will be back. Holdrege returns all five starters from their tournament team this year. Crete returns two potential Division I players. Alliance has Jordon Hooper returning. Should be interesting.

Get those NCAA brackets ready. Next Sunday we see who gets in. Who is your favorite to win? Kansas?

Thursday, March 01, 2007

NU Men's BB will have difficult time making NIT

This writer didn't think NU really had a chance this year to win over ten games after the exhibition season was complete. They competed this year and played hard. They had two games where the basket wouldn't fall of late. They were Iowa State and Baylor. Both games we could have and should have won. Iowa State allowed the ball to go to Alex Marik but he couldn't put enough of them down.

I love watching Charles Richardson. He is the MVP of this team. He will be difficult to replace but if they are to improve, somebody will need to step up.

The women's team is hopefully back on track and ready to make a run in the Big 12 and NCAA tournament.

It will be fun to watch our new assistant football coach, Joe Rudolph. He is young and looks to be a star on the horizon.

No big upsets today so far at the girl's HS tournament. Holdrege wins by seven and plays Crete tomorrow night.

Who is your MVP on the NU BB team for this year?