FOX News

Monday, December 26, 2011

Lance Jeter is doing well in Holland!

Two former Cornhuskers are playing basketball in Holland and they are playing very well.

Lance Jeter is the leading scorer for the 7-6 Leeuwarden team with a 18.1 average.

Jason Dourisseau is playing with the team with the best record, the 9-3 Groningen team in Holland.

Jerome Simpson (Bengals) Touchdown Endzone Flip

Something my dog does when wearing pants.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Nebraska may have a new defensive line coach.


Iowa coach resigns and is headed to Lincoln?http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Click here.

Who is it?
Click here.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Lance Thorell wins the Bobby Reynolds award!


Congratulations to Lance Thorell for winning the Bobby Reynolds award!! Past recent winners include Joe Ganz and Matt O'Hanlon.

Who was Bobby Reynolds? Bobby Reynolds was known as "Mr. Touchdown". Reynolds grew up in Grand Island. His grandfather's construction company built the university's student union, library, and engineering hall.

Reynolds was 5'11" and 175 lbs and had a remarkable year in 1950. He rushed for a school record 1.342 yards, averaging 7 yards a carry. He scored 22 touchdowns and kicked 25 extra points, leading the nation in scoring with 157 points. He earned All-American honors.

In 1950, Nebraska had their first winning season in 10 years at 6-2-1.

In his junior year, Reynolds suffered a separated shoulder. He later got lime in his eye which damaged his cornea. As a junior, Reynolds only hit the end zone twice. His senior season he had more injuries when he separated his other shoulder.

Reynolds finished his final two years playing in only 13 games, rushing for 854 yards, scoring six touchdowns and 54 points.

Even with the injuries, Reynolds held rushing and scoring records for a few years.

Way to go Lance. Great work!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Marvin Sanders is joining Carl Pelini

Unless something comes up soon, Marvin Sanders will be back in coaching as defensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic.

The Nebraska men's basketball team had a huge win at TCU Saturday night. Bo Spencer hit a 60 footer before half to get Nebraska to within seven points. Nebraska was behind by ten points at one point but came back behind Spencer to take the win. Two true freshmen contributed in the game, David Rivers and Joniah Moore. Final Nebraska 69 TCU 57.

The Nebraska women had two that scored over 30 points in a game Saturday night. First time ever this has happened. Lindsay Moore had 31 and Jordan Hooper had 32 points. Nebraska beat Northern Arizona in 2OTs 97-88.

Sunday, December 04, 2011

Nebraska will play South Carolina in the Capital One Bowl!

Nebraska will make its 48th all-time bowl appearance and its second appearance in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 2 when Nebraska takes on South Carolina at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando, Fla.

Kickoff for the 2012 Capital One Bowl is set for 1 p.m. EST (Noon CST) on Jan. 2. ESPN will provide the telecast to a national audience.

The 9-3 Huskers are making their fourth straight bowl trip under Head Coach Bo Pelini and Nebraska’s 48 bowl appearances rank in a tie for the fourth-most of any school in the country. The Huskers have won 10 of their last 15 bowl games.

Steve Spurrier is the coach for South Carolina. I am sure he will be anxious to play this game. Connor Shaw is the QB for South Carolina. He is a mobile quarterback much like Russell Wilson, Braxton Miller, and Dennard Robinson. He is their second leading rusher.

It will be a tough game and Nebraska is fortunate to have some time to heal.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Nebraska men's BB and football teams play well!

Nebraska beat Iowa 20-7 on Friday to complete a 9-3 season. A pretty good year but not a great one. This was our first year in the Big 10. Defensively we continue to make adjustments. Its a different league and the game is played a little differently.

In the Big 10, the base defense was needed a lot of the time. Except for Lavonte David our linebackers took a while to adjust. Will Compton improved each game and ended the year playing well.

With the loss of Lavonte David next year, recruiting excellent linebackers are a key.Hopefully we have some good ones coming up to help out Compton, Alonzo Whaley, and Sean Fisher.

The other change is that our nickel and dime backs are covering receivers with 4.4 speed. Against two or three teams in the Big 10, including Northwestern, we will need fast hard nosed players in these positions.

The landscape changed and the Huskers did well to adjust in their first year.

This season reminded me a lot of the 2003 season which was Frank Solich's last. We were 9-3 that season also. We got beat pretty bad by Missouri and K-State and lost a game to Penn State 18-10. These coaches should keep their jobs. The offense continues to improve and the defense continues to adjust.

The NU basketball team gets a win on Saturday vs. South Dakota State, a team that is really pretty good. They led Minnesota and Georgia in the second half but did get beat in those games.

Caleb Walker was sick on Saturday so Toney McCray and freshman David Rivers stepped up. They combined for 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Nebraska is scoring more points this year. They are shooting the ball well. However their defense is giving up more points also. They are presently 4-1 and they play Wake Forest in Lincoln Wednesday night.

At Saturdays football game in Lincoln Jeannine Edwards was the sideline reporter. She is the reporter that Ron Franklin called "sweetcakes" earlier this year and he was pulled from the Fiesta Bowl play-by-play duties.

Dennis Erickson is out as head football coach for Arizona State.

Just In: Turner Gill has been fired at Kansas.
(I hate that).

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!




I am very thankful for my family, health, and friends. I am thankful that we have jobs and today I want to spend some time praying for those that are not as fortunate. We will eat big today but many in the world are starving.

God Bless You All!

John

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Nebraska wins in a close one!



ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL


The rivalry begins this week. Iowa will become our new Colorado. Their our neighboring state. Omaha is only a river away. Many Iowans work in Nebraska and many Nebraskans work in Iowa. Arguments have been going on ever since it was announced that Nebraska was entering the Big 10. Let the fun begin.

Nebraska is favored by 9.5 points but this one will be closer. It will a barn burner. Nebraska is really beat up in the interior lines. There will be many Iowans in the stands and Iowa has a bunch of players with Nebraska roots. The game is in Lincoln. This will be a wild game with the team with the least turnovers and mistakes being the eventual winner.

Nebraska 33 Iowa 30

What's your guess for the score this week? Make a comment.

The Nebraska men's basketball team plays Oregon in Lincoln tomorrow night. Oregon has only lost to Vanderbilt at Nashville. Vanderbilt is the No. 7 team in the nation and the game was pretty close. Dana Altman, the former coach of Creighton, returns to Nebraska. Should be a great game.

Speaking of Creighton they look like at Top 20 team. They will be a national force this season.

Remembering John F Kennedy




As our 4th grade boys left the bathroom we were met by our teacher Mrs. Jenkinson who told us that the President had been shot. I am still so keen to my surroundings that day of the Orleans Public Grade School. Everything I was around when she told us the tragic news is what I remember most about my Orleans School days. November 22, 1963 is the most memorable day in history I have ever experienced. WE were so scared. We didn't know if Russia was going to take over our country and now this.

We headed to the Senior Class Play in the High School and then during one of the breaks between acts Mr Gray informed us the President was dead.

I was watching TV when Lee Harvey Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby.

Some will have 9/11/01 as their most memorable moment. Of course when your kids are born those moments are huge but other than family moments November 22, 1963 was a day I most remember vividly.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Steamrolling!


Everyday I start my day thinking something great is going to happen today. I'm going to get a new account, establish a new relationship, spend time with my family, or shoot a huge buck. But sometimes things don't go the way I dreamed. Some days you lose an account, you upset a good account, you didn't find or take the time to visit family, and you screw up and miss the big buck.

Then what happens is you start to think about it and then more and more bad things kick in. Murphy's Law takes over and by the end of the day you wonder what the heck happened. You lose your concentration,your focus on what's important, the fundamentals of what necessary to succeed, you get down and out and everything implodes.

I guess I understand when Nebraska has a game like they had against Michigan or Wisconsin. Everything goes wrong; everything snowballs, everything steamrolls, and bang you get a whipping you never dreamed off. When this happens you lose focus and you don't execute the fundamentals to be successful.

Wisconsin and Michigan aren't that much better than Nebraska. Maybe they aren't better than us at all. The whole Big 10 is very close and a couple of mistakes will cost you the game. Saturday, we made more than a couple of mistakes.

Nebraska looks tired. Robinson and Russell wore our defense down even more. When you are tired bad things happen. When you are hurting, you don't perform at your best. You have no patience with employees or your spouse. You don't perform at your best. You lose focus. You lose football games.

As we sit on our couch and watch Nebraska play, we're snacking, drinking our diet coke, and we have no idea of the emotions our kids who represent Nebraska have. They are at a level we don't understand when we sit in comfort. Good things happen most of the time but some days, like at our work, mistakes get made. Stupid mistakes. It just happens in life.

Don't get me wrong, we have to have a vision to be No. 1 whether it be Nebraska football or at our own home or work. We have to work to be the best we can be and we must never want to be any less than that. But we must also understand that not every day is going to be great. The kids that play for Nebraska can have those days too. They aren't a bunch of losers. They work hours everyday to represent Nebraska the best they can.

Iowa will be very tough this week. We will not be able to make mistakes like last week and win. We will need to be at our best.

Support the team, cut out the negativism, and remember we are all human. We all like a pat on the back and an uplift. This will be a close game and we should have a win this week.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Michigan may be too much for us this week!

This is a huge game for Nebraska. A win gets us closer to a Top 10 position and even a BCS bowl. A loss keeps us barely in the Top 20.

Watch out for Fitzgerald Toussaint. He and Denard Robinson will be quite hard to stop. Nebraska's defensive line is hurt. With Jared Crick out for the year, it will be hard for the defense to get the job done in Michigan. The offensive line is hurt also and this will put Nebraska's offense at a disadvantage.

This could be a long day for NU. Hope I am wrong but I see this week:Michigan 35 Nebraska 24.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Nebraska men's basketball team wins away!

The Nebraska Men's BB team beat USC tonight in overtime 64-61. This is a big win for the Cornhuskers. Bo Spencer had 20 points followed by Brandon Richardson with 12. USC missed a three at the end of regulation. Brian Diaz had 10 points.

The Huskers shot .500 with three point shots and shot 75% from the three point line.

Letters from Penn State

My daughter Jessica sent this to me today. I would like to share, click here.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Crazy times at Penn State!

With all the crazy things happening in Happy Valley, this game is hard to predict. Before all the charges were brought forth, I thought it would be Penn State 24 Nebraska 21.

Now with the landscape at Penn State changing hourly, I give the edge to Nebraska. Nebraska will be ready to play this week. Ten fights broke out at the Nebraska practice on Monday. The intensity was very high. On the other hand, the players at Penn State are seeing coaches changes daily. They have to be distracted. It would be natural for them to become concerned about more than the game.

I look at Nebraska to win. Nebraska 28 Penn State 21.

Monday, November 07, 2011

Latest on Patrick Witt

Patrick Witt was the leading candidate for the quarterback job back in the 2009 season. Not getting a guarantee to start, he transferred http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifto Yale University where he has passed for over 4000 yards. He has some Yale passing records and now he has the hardest decision of his life. Watch this video from Nightly News.

Sunday, November 06, 2011

Helu, Nebraska, and other things



THIS SAD NEBRASKA FAN JUST DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO OR WHERE TO GO TODAY!! HOPEFULLY TOMORROW HE WILL FEEL BETTER!!

Nebraska's Roy Helu Jr. broke the Washington Redskins' all-time reception record for one game today with 14. He broke Art Monk's long standing record. For more click here.

Joe Frazier is in hospice with liver cancer. What a lot of memories of the Joe Frazier-Muhammed Ali fights!! We wish him well.

Not much to say about Nebraska. Any team in the Big 10 can win on any Saturday and if the other team isn't ready to play or have a couple of key turnovers go against them, they will get beat. Northwestern stayed around long enough to think we can win this and they did.

Surprises. I thought the Nebraska offensive line would control the defensive line of Northwestern. Northwestern had given up a trillion yards a game but they didn't Saturday. Yes they had nine guys up at the line to stop us but our passing game didn't have a lot of open receivers as a whole. Our line just couldn't do much.

Our defensive line is really depleted. Injuries to Crick, Randle, and Rome have hurt us more than most people realize. Besides Baker Steinkuhler, who had a great game Saturday, we are playing second and third teamers. We aren't putting pressure on the quarterback and yes slants over the middle will be open if the quarterback can sit back and throw at will. Hopefully we will get a couple of the defensive linemen back soon. In this game we missed Crick more than ever.

Looks like Carl Edwards or Tony Stewart will win the CUP. Stewart keeps winning but can't get in the lead. Should be an interesting finish with only two weeks left. Edwards leads Stewart by three points.

The SEC announced Missouri as their 14th team. Just don't know why they saw that as a fit although they have been good in football and men's basketball. I still don't understand the PAC 10 picking Colorado either but maybe I will over time.

LSU is number one in college football but kudos to Oklahoma St who is now number two.

The Green Bay Packers remain undefeated by beating the Chargers 45-38.

Here' my Top 8 teams for College Football right now.

1. LSU

2. Alabama:

3. Oregon

4. Oklahoma State

5. Stanford

6. Boise State

7. Oklahoma

8. Arkansas

The Nebraska women beat UNK this afternoon 85-55. Holdrege's Tessa Kreutzer had six points for the Kearney women.

Nebraska plays Penn State this week. They may be distracted this week. One local writer says that Paterno must go due to the mess. Pretty serious. Read here.

Friday, November 04, 2011

High winds will help Nebraska!


Originally I thought this game would be high scoring for both teams. The weather will help Nebraska and hurt Northwestern. Its supposed to be windy tomorrow. We may see more of freshman Kain Colter than Dan Persa tomorrow. Colter is more versatile and is the type of quarterback that can hurt Nebraska. Our secondary and linebackers will again be tested.

Nebraska will run the ball often and will mix in shorter passes.

This week Nebraska 41 Northwestern 20.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Defense led by Thorell spurs win over Michigan St.



If you would like to buy the above photo, go to the Lincoln Journal by clicking here.

The Nebraska defense stopped a very good Michigan St. team cold on Saturday. Seven plays into the game Loomis native Lance Thorell intercepted a Kurt Cousins' pass and ran it back 26 yards to the Michigan St. 25 yard line. The crowd went nuts and the team rallied around the excitement like a bunch of trick or treaters finding a five gallon bucket of candy.

B.J. Cunningham, the leading receiver for Michigan State, had gone 43 games in a row with a reception. He had averaged seven catches and 107 yards in Big 10 play. Today he had 0 catches. The pass picked off by Thorell was intended for Cunningham. That is about as close as he got to a catch all day.

The whole defense played well. Will Compton was a man possessed and has never played a better game. David led in tackles as always. The front four were really good and had four sacks. The whole defensive secondary didn't give Cousins anything to throw to.

Thorell, who is as nice of kid as you will ever meet, showed that walk-ons have a place at Nebraska. He took on blockers that were 60 pounds heavier than himself and stood them up. Lance did get a well deserved scholarship this fall. He played the field well and was kind of sneaky in making plays. His speed and quickness well overcame the weight disadvantage in the box.

Kudos to Andrew Green, who subbed for the injured Stanley Jean-Baptiste. Green made some great tackles and covered very well. This game should boost his confidence and he may be hard to replace once Baptiste gets healthy. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by his great play.

Rex Burkhead is like a bull on the field. What a tough kid. They call him Superman but I am not sure Superman could keep up with him. Late in the game they had to carry him off the field. A few plays later he scores on a pass play. The play was a new one out of the playbook and it was called at the right time. After the touchdown Burkhead limped back to the players on the sideline.

The coaches get an A+ for the game they called. Both offense and defense was prepared and the game plan was excellent.

GREAT JOB HUSKERS!
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Some real surprises in college football on Saturday. Minnesota knocks off Iowa. I had to see it on three segments of ESPN before I finally believed it.

This puts Nebraska, Michigan, and Michigan State all tied for first in the Legends division. Before Saturday you could see a Wisconsin and Michigan State in the Big 10 Championship game. Now, who knows? Nebraska and Penn State? With the parity in the Big 10 the picture will change weekly. Nebraska is in control of their division. They have some very tough games coming up with Northwestern this next weekend.

The Nebraska men's basketball team is picked 11 out of 12. Let's hope we move up from that. It will be interesting. It will be also odd to see a whole different set of teams coming to Devaney.

The Nebraska women started their season tonight. For more info, click here.

2011 Michigan State-Nebraska Post-Game Press Conference (Lance Thorell)

Friday, October 28, 2011

It's going to be a close one!


I get a different prediction when I think with my head and then with my heart. We'll go with the final prediction being from the heart.

HEAD

I look at these two teams being pretty even on a neutral field without taking into consideration the special team play. Michigan St is probably a two point favorite on a neutral field. Kirk Cousins is a very good quarterback but so is Taylor Martinez. The teams are very evenly matched. The two points comes from the Michigan State's defensive line and their linebackers. A very talented group. Give Nebraska five points for the home field advantage. This makes Nebraska a three point favorite. But when you figure special teams I have to add back six points to Michigan St. Prediction Michigan St. 31 Nebraska 28.

HEART
OK, with this approach I try to think of all the positive intangibles that go with this game plus Stanley Jean-Baptiste play at cornerback. We will see in this game how good Baptiste is. He may of made a one to two touchdown difference in three of the games if he is as good as I think he is. Against Wisconsin he may of made a bigger difference.

Wisconsin has played a couple of tough games the past three weeks. Ohio State, Michigan, and Wisconsin have all been their victims. Pretty tough to be up another week. In the mean time Nebraska has had a bye week and then Minnesota. We should be pretty healthy except for Crick and Randle. The previous games for Michigan State has had to take a lot out of them both mentally and physically.

The fact that we will the peso more than the base defense with three linebackers will also be a plus. Thorell and again, Baptiste, have improved our defense to another level. This is huge. Also we may see Lavonte David line up like Demorrio Williams used to and put some huge pressure on their Jake Locker type quarterback, Demorrio WIlliams. This will play big.

Michigan St. isn't that impressive playing away. Notre Dame beat them bad. Ohio State held them to 10 points.

Watch for the diamond offense to be used a lot during this game. This features our running attack mostly and with that we can put a lot of speed in the backfield. Burkhead, Martinez, Green, Legate,and possibly even Jamal Turner may line up in the backfield giving us a lot of options. Watch for Kenny Bell to run the ball also. Kyler Reed will make a nice outlet if he is healthy.

So at the end of regulation the game will be tied 31-31. After the first overtime, the score will be tied 38-38. But then the defense holds and Nebraska kicks a field goal. The heart always wins out so my final prediction this week will be. Final Score Nebraska 41 Michigan State 38.

DON'T MISS THIS ONE BECAUSE IT WILL BE ONE OF THE BEST GAMES OF THE YEAR!!!!!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Bill Snyder best coach ever?


Bill Snyder is 73 years old. Hew was rehired as the coach for Kansas State on November 24, 2008. Snyder was hired by Kansas State the first time following the 1988 season.

Snyder started his coaching career as a graduate assistant for USC in 1966. He coached several years in the high school ranks in California. From 1976 to 1978, Snyder was an assistant coach at North Texas State under Hayden Fry. Snyder and Fry moved together to the University of Iowa in 1979, with Snyder serving as Fry's offensive coordinator for the next ten years. Then he went to Kansas State.

His amazing accomplishments at K-State qualify him as one of the best coaches of this century.

When Snyder took over the team, K-State was considered the worst team in college football. When he took over K-State, they had lost 510 games in its history and had the most losses of any team in Division I-A at the time. It was so bad they hadn't won in three years. Twenty seven games without a win. Snyder only won one game that first year but it was a major step forward.

In the second season, which was 1990, the Wildcats went 5-6. The win season had only been matched once in seventeen years. In 1991, the Wildcats had a 7-4 season and only the second winning season since 1970.

The 1993 bowl game was the first of 11 consecutive bowl games.

During the 1998 season, K-State posted an undefeated 11-0 regular season and earned its first ever number one ranking in the national polls. This coming just ten years after Kansas State being named by SPORTS ILLUSTRATED as the worst team in the country.

Snyder retired on November 15, 2005, with an overall record of 136-68-1. Ron Prince, formerly an assistant coach and offensive coordinator at the University of Virginia, was named Bill Snyder's replacement on December 5, 2005.

Snyder's first tenure is regarded as one of the most successful rebuilding projects of in college football history. Barry Switzer said at that time that, "He's not the coach of the year,he's not the coach of the decade, he's the coach of the century."

After Ron Prince's firing and unsuccessful coaching tenure at Kansas State, Bill Snyder was rehired on November 24, 2008, as previously stated.

Many said Snyder was foolish. He was too old. He would ruin his legacy.

Well again he proved them wrong with brilliant coaching and unreal success.

In his first season back, the team posted a 6-6 season. I can remember that year and wondered, "How did he do that." Each season he has improved the team's record and their overall performance.

In 2011, Kansas State is 7-0 and is first in the Big 12. Amazing. They are ranked as high as 7th in the national polls. He has turned them around again. His overall record is now 156-80.

What makes Bill Snyder such a good coach. Their recruiting is never high with the raters. He never gets a bunch of five star players but seems to do it with two, threes, and once in a while a four. Bill Snyder obviously knows where to put his players and he knows the game of football as well as any coach in the nation.

His assistant coaches that have learned under him are a tribute to the man. They include Phil Bennett (SMU), Bret Bielema (Wisconsin), Jim Leavitt (South Florida),Mark Mangino (formerly Kansas), Dana Dimel (Wyoming), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma), and Mike Stoops (formerly Arizona).

Husker fans would be pleased to know that Bill Snyder was only 5-14 versus the Cornhuskers. He has his most losses to any team with Nebraska.

Bill Snyder has a record that is hard to argue with that he is one if not the best coach in this century. Tom Osborne's record is amazing but Bill Snyder has twice brought back a program that was near bottom.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Different defensive personnel give Nebraska hope!


Nebraska has made a couple of changes the past couple of weeks on defense that have will allow them to win the rest of the games. Now I am not saying they will but they now have a chance.

First of all the changeover of Stanley Jean Baptiste is huge. He is already as good as cornerback as Nebraska has had in years including Prince. Minnesota threw the other way most of the day. Yes, they were throwing at Dennard. They are staying away from Baptiste. Earlier in the year teams were getting mulitple yards on multiple play against our cornerback on that side. Now no yards there and they have to pass against Dennard, who isn't too bad himself. We will see more on this against Michigan St. If Baptiste is solid there, he is for REAL. Who knows what we could have done against Wisconsin if he would have been in the lineup. I guarantee you that it would have been a very close game.

I am pretty sure that Austin Cassidy played his best game because Baptiste is in the game. He can get back to playing the game the way it is to be played. This will make us better also.

I have long advocated that Lance Thorell needs to be in the game. He is smart and he is where he needs to be. The Loomis, Nebraska graduate added speed to our defense. Whether he was playing Buck linebacker at times or the nickel back, we are a better defensive team when he is on the field.

Kenny Bell had the longest run yesterday since Cory Ross went 86 yards against Missouri in 2004. He also had the longest run by a freshmen ever.

Where was Kyler Reed Saturday??

Did you here about the elevator full of Huskers that got stuck on Friday night for 45 minutes. There were six linemen and thirteen total players on the elevator. We should have been flagged for too many players in the elevator. I bet that smelled before it was over.

Who would have thought that Wisconsin and Oklahoma would get beat this week? Michigan State had a good chance but Texas Tech over Oklahoma? WOW! In the rankings who would have thought that Oklahoma St. would be #3 and K-State ranked 8th.

The winner of the Bama/LSU game will probably be in the National Championship. Who might they play? Stanford?

Kudos to the Nebraska women volleyball's team for beating another number one. This weekend it was Illinois and they dominated. Keep it going. The bandwagon is here and strong.

This week's game against Michigan St. is huge. Should be quite a week and it will give us plenty to talk about. The results will be in on Saturday about three as the game starts at 11:30 am.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Nebraska should pound out a win!

Nebraska will run, run, run, and then throw a few passes to mix it up Saturday. Look to Nebraska to have over 375 yards rushing. Nebraska 41 Minnesota 10.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Diamond Offense, James Dobson and Albert Einstein!

The diamond offense is a good fit for Nebraska. Anytime you can get Jamal Turner, Rex Burkhead, Ameer Abdullah, and Taylor Martinez in the same backfield, we can create chaos for the opposing defenses.

Oklahoma, TCU, and Oklahoma St. has all run the diamond formation in the past. Here is an illustration as to how Oklahoma has run the formation.


As the season goes, we will see more of this formation. I believe. It is a great fit.

Kudos to James Dobson, the NU football strength and conditioning coach. He is a huge plus to our football team. His great coaching is one of the reasons we are dominating the 4th quarters in most of our games. He doesn't get enough credit from the average fan.

Next week is Minnesota. I am ready for another game. I am anxious to see Stanley Jean-Baptiste dominate his receiver coverage and take us up a couple of notches in defense.

And now this. Albert was talking about Bo Pelini. Sometime coaches just want to coach and they aren't great speaking to the media. Sometimes its just better they don't, so let him coach.

Everybody is a genius. But, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it’ll spend its whole life believing that it is stupid.
- Albert Einstein

Monday, October 10, 2011

Huskers continue to improve!

What a game!!

In the games I have personally attended, I would have to put this game in the Top 3 of all time.


Number One is the Nebraska/LSU game. This game was on January 1, 1971. We won the National Championship that day. Trailing 12-10 as the fourth quarter opened—after leading early, 10-0— Coach Bob Devaney's Huskers passed and ran over and through the defensive titans of the nation for the winning touchdown.
It came with 6:10 gone in the final quarter when Jerry Tagge, the engineering genius of the night, clinched the Most Valuable Back Trophy by plunging over from the one and then extended his arms high over the pile — just to make sure.


At Number Two, the Colorado game in 2008. Nebraska was all but beat before the heroics of Alex Henery that day. Alex Henery made the kick with room to spare with 1:43 left, and defensive end Ndamukong Suh ran back an interception 30 yards for a touchdown seconds later to punctuate the Cornhuskers' 40-31 victory.

Saturday night was Number Three. What an exciting second half!!!! Nebraska would come back from its biggest deficit ever of 21 points to win. Nebraska scored 28 points in the last quarter and a half for the comeback. Final Nebraska 34 Ohio State 27. A real feel good victory.

In all honesty, I thought Nebraska played pretty well offensively. They played smart ball. Burkhead had ten yards in ten carries but I think the continued playing calling with Burkhead running into the middle of the line set everything up for the second half. It set up Taylor Martinez to keep the ball or pass down the field.

Martinez, I thought, played pretty well in the first half and outstanding in the second half. Play calling was a fit for him on Saturday night. He stayed in the pocket, made very good throws, ran like no other quarterback in college football, and looked to his second and third receivers as options. He's growing as a football player.

Rex Burkhead was his usual "Superman". He is our offensive MVP.

On defense we struggled the first two and a half quarters. Ohio State had a lot of big plays. But then three things happened. Lavonte David, who may have played his best game ever, takes the ball away for a turnover. A few plays later it was Ohio State 27 Nebraska 13.

Stanley Jean-Baptiste starts to play cornerback and wow did he play. He made some great tackles, stayed with his receivers like a glove, and then made a really good interception. We have needed turnovers and he executed one. Baptiste is the real deal and if this is possible I think his addition will improve our defense to last year's level. If Baptiste is as good as I think he is and he keeps his head on, Nebraska will compete for the Big 10 Championship. The defense is just that much better.

Now the fact that Braxton Miller went down definitely helped the Huskers. Braxton Miller hurt us time and again with his running and passing. His injury was huge for the Huskers. Nebraska ends up winning 34-27.

Now on to Dirk Chetelain, Bo Pelini, and the Nebraska fans!

There are 15-20% of the fans that are either stupid or just plain dumb. They are really not fans at all. Behind me Saturday night, there were a couple of idiots that complained about everything Martinez did and criticized Bo Pelini constantly. PLEASE DON"T DO THAT OR STAY HOME. You show your ignorance for the game. Come to support your team and if you can't then go to the bar and bore those people. What good does it do? Does it impress our recruits or make the players want to play harder. Absolutely not. There is nothing positive that can come out of it. Some Nebraska fans are worse than fans of all the other teams. If their actions cause others to act like that, then we got a major problem.

Dirk Chatelain's column reminded me of work. An employee complains constantly but has no solutions. Dirk Chatelain's column was full of negatives but had no positive solution or no solution at all. If you want to make a point and drill down on our quarterback, then make a point to give a side that we could have improvement in the program. I saw none of that.

I can relate to Bo Pelini's anger against the media and the fans. I almost reverted to a tyrade on Saturday night with the fans beside me. It is hard to hold back when fans are so ignorant. Pelini is defending his players and his team in part. However, he would serve himself much better to answer questions in a more dignified way. But to be honest, I am not going to think of him much different no matter how he reacts to the press as long as he keeps winning. In the end, Chatelain can write what he wants and Pelini can get as upset as he wants but they would both be better served to get along. That may be too late!

DIRK CHATELAIN

Friday, October 07, 2011

We'll have to stand behind our team to win tomorrow!


Ok we all get a little too critical about our team sometime, me included. It's really not the right thing to do. First of all when the kids that play for Nebraska football give their all, we should be somewhat forgiving when mistakes are made. I thought the article that was written by Dirk Chatelain of the Omaha World Herald went too far today. the headlines were all about making a change with our quarterback. Taylor Martinez's picture was blasted on the front of the sports today. Then he went on to give a lot of reasons why it would be nice to make a change, he is still probably our best quarterback. No, we don't have a John Elway at quarterback. He can run but he, at this time, doesn't look off his number one receiver at times when they are covered. But he also plays very well at times. He is our best option and so lets support him instead of chasing him away from our program.

Tomorrow's weather will be a factor in the game. Hopefully it will benefit Nebraska. The winning team will need to pound the ball and we seem to be improving every game in this department. I look to Nebraska to win by three points. If the defense can score a touchdown, we could extend it to 10 points. Don't forget that last week for the first quarter and a good part of the second quarter we played out best football.

On paper our recruits for next year's NU basketball's team don't look like a group that will take us to a new level. I hope i am wrong as I enjoy watching our team and its a lot more fun when we are competitive.

Monday, October 03, 2011

Things fall apart in Madison


As of now everybody has the answers to what we should do in changing our football team. In watching the first half over again, it seems that after the second interception our defense gave up some.

The quarterback play was excellent the first 23 minutes and then for the rest of the game it was really not good at all. I would like to see Carnes or Kellogg play to see what they can do when we get down.

I won't get as upset on play calling as some. The pass was there and we just didn't execute the plays. I would like to see Ron Kellogg (or Carnes) play when we are down and Martinez starts to struggle. Martinez is at his best when we are ahead in the game. He does an excellent job in that situation.

Yes, we could have run the ball more and should have to shorten the game but Wisconsin's defense wanted us to pass. The pass was there.

We have to get the ball into Turner and Abdullah's hands more to mix things up. In a quiet way Turner had a great night against Wisconsin.

The offensive line continues to get better. Most of the time Martinez had time but did'nt stay in the pocket. When he starts to get jumpy and moves while he throws the chances of an interception increases immensely.

The biggest weakness we have right now is the defense. I know the Big 10 Ten dictates three linebackers but we need more speed in the field. We have to have more speed. Even running the dime defense on running situations may be the best.

I just don't see a tremendous drop off in the secondary this year. Some of the kids playing this year looked a lot better last year. Are the players understanding the new coach and what he wants? Something is different but I don't think the talent level is any less. Let's hope we find the solution to this problem soon. Otherwise the psych of the team could head to what we had just a few years ago.

This week's top college game I thought would be Ohio State and Nebraska but my has that changed. Ohio State is down this year and having a tough time scoring. Let's hope we don't change that.

The big game of the week looks to be Oklahoma and Texas. This should be a race to the end. Texas has Chase McCoy(brother of Colt) and David Ash sharing time. Malcolm Brown is their leading rusher and they also have Fiswhitt Whittaker. What a great name.

Landery Jones leads Oklahoma. He is much improved from a couple of years ago. Ryan Broyles is an All-American at receiver. Look to Oklahoma to win this game 27-21.

Another big game is Florida and LSU. LSU is the better team at the end winning 30-17.

Now Nebraska. The defense will improve against a pretty weak offense this week. Look to Nebraska to win this game 21-17. It will be close but Nebraska will prevail. The loser of this game will be in a world of hurt for the season as one of them will have their second loss in league play.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Five years ago today!


Just five years ago today, my dad was rushed to Bryan Hospital as his health was deteriorating. Dad was my best friend. He died a week later but he did have the chance for family and friends to visit him that last week. We miss him!!


Also that same day we had a house fire that was described by the Holdrege Fire Department as "one of the hottest in years." We were out of our house for about six months while it was repaired. With everything going on with dad, it just wasn't a big deal at that time or even today.


September 27, 2006 was a very memorable day for our family. Dad is now in a better place but I miss him each and every day.

Nebraska has to play very well to stay with Wisconsin

This writer thinks last week's game was Nebraska's best of the season. Yes, better than Washington. Nebraska just did more things well last week. Anytime we can gain over 330 yards on the ground, we are playing well. The defense gave up some yards but not a lot of points.

Best of all the offensive line played its best game and had some nice holes for the backs. On the passing side, we did some things well and some not so well. But we are getting better.

This week versus Wisconsin, we must establish the run game against a great run defense. We must pass to our tight ends especially Kyler Reed. Reed may have a couple of touchdowns and look to Legate to be active in the passing game. Burkhead will run pretty well but they will make us pass.

On defense we need to play the nickel and dime backs more to stop their QB Russell. Except for linebacker David I am not sure we have the speed to contain him. Will we have a different defense this week to put more speed on the field to stop their running game? That's my guess. Not any huge changes but enough to confuse the Wisconsin offense.

They other key is to put pressure on the quarterback but contain him from long runs.

Nebraska can win this game but for right now I am looking Wisconsin 30 Nebraska 27. With a break or two, Nebraska can win.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Cornhuskers win in a high scoring affair!

This writer never expected this game to a track meet but that's what Saturday turned into. It seemed like the defense let them score quickly at times so they could see if the offense could come back and score. Just kidding of course.

The offense is getting better or Washington wasn't that great of a defensive team. I don't think Washington's defense is that bad so we are getting better.

But the defense was beaten eight to ten times by the long pass. Thank goodness their passes were errant most of the time. Wow, what is happening. Seems like our players were confused by the play action passes and we didn't adjust very well. Somewhere between the cornerbacks and safeties we aren't getting the job done. I would guess this week that there is some major coaching going on to correct all this. Yes, we could use Dennard but we shouldn't be off that far, should we?

The offensive line played better this week. We have a long ways to go to be a team that might challenge for the national championship. A long ways. Our receivers will only improve and our running backs are very good. Taylor Martinez can run and throw the long ball but needs to improve his touch on the shorter passes. We have to have those to succeed.

Nebraska is probably a Top 20 team right now but this writer isn't ready to say they are Top Ten material. We will see in the next couple of weeks.

The Nebraska offense has scored 40 plus points in the first three games for the first time since 1995. That year we won the national championship!!

Can Nebraska get 40 points this week vs. the Wyoming Cowboys. I think so. I am looking for a score of 40-14.

Right

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Huskers need improvement but it will come!

The second half of the Fresno St game showed the Huskers can play ball. It gives us hope that this young team will get better.

The defense showed some weaknesses and this week they will get better. This writer is concerned with our linebackers speed, except for David. Also the defensive line has to get much better and play up to their potential. It appears the secondary is making a lot of mistakes and men are wide open. This has to get fixed. This writer would like to see more of Lance Thorell in the game. We seem to play better when he is on the field.

The offensive line just plainly has to improve. They are young but for Nebraska to have a good season, let alone a great season, it has to get much better. Without that other teams can gang up on Taylor Martinez and we will have trouble. This writer would like to see Jamal Turner more involved in the game plan. Maybe he could line up as wildcat like Burkhead has in the past. This could be pretty awesome getting his hands on the ball more.

The defense is better this week but the offense has to prove themselves before I can get too excited.

This week it looks like Nebraska 21 Washington 14. That's as optimistic as I can get offensively.

Friday, September 09, 2011

Nebraska wins game two!

Nebraska wins this week vs. Fresno St. 34-3. Look for Taylor Martinez and Rex Burkhead to have great games. Also one of the three backup freshmen running backs will have a long touchdown run. Who will it be. Jamal Turner will have a couple of great plays on offense. Special teams will play well.

On defense, Nebraska has to rise to the occasion and they will. Nebraska will have three or more turnovers this week and four or more sacks.

Nebraska improves in week two!!

Monday, September 05, 2011

Nebraska gets a basketball recruit

Shavon Shields is coming to play basketball for Nebraska. Shavon is the son of Will Shields, a standout for Nebraska and an All-Pro lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs. Shields is a 6'4" guard and had offers from Long Beach State, Wyoming, and Weber State. There was also interest from Stanford. Shields has a three star ranking with Rivals.com.

Former Nebraska running back Brandon Jackson has been put on IR for the rest of the season with the Cleveland Browns.

Adi Kunalic was released by the Carolina Panthers and Steve Octavian was released by the Browns.

Ricky Henry has been put on the practice squad for the Packers. but Chris Brooks was released by the Colts. Anthony West was released by the 49ers along with Philip Dillard by the Giants.

Lydon Murtha has been put on IR by the Dolphins.

Saturday, September 03, 2011

Nebraska's first game is good and not so good!

Good

Nebraska is a young, young team. Nebraska started a number of freshmen and sophomores in their first game of the season. Three of the offensive line members were in these two classes. Tyler Moore became the first true freshmen lineman ever to start his first game. Quincy Enunwa is a sophomore and started at receiver. Jamal Turner is a true freshman at receiver and should start soon. Taylor Martinez is only a sophomore and the three backup running backs are all true freshmen. Jason Ankrah (sophomore) started at defensive end. Ciante Evans (sophomore) and Andrew Green (RSfreshman) started at our corners. Courtney Osborne (sophomore) started at safety.

2. Nebraska committed only three penalties and the offensive play-calling was very efficient. It has been a long time since this has been the case.

3. Playmakers. Nebraska has more playmakers than it has had in a long time. Nebraska will be the fastest team in the Big 10. This team may be the fastest team Nebraska has ever had. That doesn't mean we are the best, but we will be the fastest. Damien Stafford (safety)played like an NFL linebacker we will see him on the field more as the season goes. Jamal Turner is a Johnny Rodgers clone with size. We need to get him more involved. Ameer Abdullah also looked very good at times and will break a punt return soon.

4. Nebraska did show enough of their offense to make other teams' game preparation difficult. We ran out of the option, I-Back, pistol, shotgun, and a diamond formations.

5. Our special teams were excellent. Brett Maher looks like a keeper.

6. Taylor Martinez can get to full speed in three steps. Just unbelievable.

NOT SO GOOD.

1. The offensive line was a disappointment. We looked bigger and stronger but on a lot of plays we, in no way, dominated the line. Our three freshmen backs need some kind of hole because they are not power runners, at this point.

2. Taylor Martinez zeros in on his receiver and throws a little to late a lot of the times. There are very few plays that the defensive back doesn't have a chance to get his hand on the ball.

3. We do not run the option very well at all. Just doesn't look like we can do much with it at this time.

4. This writer hated to see Lance Thorell dislocate his shoulder during the game. He made some good plays while he was in there.

Hopefully we will improve between the first game and next week's game with Fresno State. Fresno State will be a very tough team to beat.

2.


Nebraskans in the NFL

This last week in the NFL the following Nebraskans accomplished these stats:

Philadelphia/Alex Henery/ One for two in FG's with a 49 yarder. He was also three for three in extra points
Tampa Bay/Larry Asante/ Two unassisted tackles with two assisted tackles
Washington/Niles Paul/ Three catches for 21 yards
Washington/Dujon Gomes/ One unassisted tackle and two assisted tackles
Carolina/Adi Kunalic/One for One in FG's with a 20 yarder and 1/1 in extra points
Cleveland/Steve Octavian/One tackle
Chicago/Zach Bowman/One tackle
Kansas City/Demorrio Williams/ Two tackles
New Orleans/Scott Shanle/Two tackles
Buffalo/One unassisted tackle and one assisted tackle
Indianapolis/Chris Brooks/ One catch for 26 yards
Baltimore/Sam Koch/ Eight Punts for an average of 44.8 yards
St. Louis/Josh Brown/One for one on FG's with a 35 yarder and 3/3 in extra points
Jacksonville/One catch for 20 yards
New England/Danny Woodhead/Two runs for 11 yards
Arizona/Stewart Bradley/One interception

Friday, September 02, 2011

Monday, August 29, 2011

Dillard has three assisted tackles

Philip Dillard had three assisted tackles Monday night vs. the New York Jets Monday night.

Jason Ankrah starts for Nebraska at defensive end. The competition has been high with Josh Williams, Eric Martin, and Dan Carter all fighting for the position.

Andrew Green will make his first start over Afonzo Dennard who is hurt.

Brett Maher has been named the starting kicker.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Sport shorts

Nebraskans in NFL this weekend

Indianapolis/Chris Brooks Two catches for 18 yards and one TD
St. Louis/Josh Brown Two for two in extra points
Kansas City/Demorrio Williams Three tackles
Tampa Bay/Larry Asante One tackle
New England/Danny Woodhead Four carries for 28 yards and three catches for 21 yards.
Detroit/N. Suh/ One tackle
Chicago Bears/Zach Bowman four tackles
Tennessee/Barrett Ruud Two tackles plus two assisted tackles
Arizona/Stewart Bradley Two tackles


Thursday, August 25, 2011

Gomes has great game for Redskins!

Dujon Gomes had seven unassisted tackles for the Washington Redskins Thursday night versus Baltimore.

Roy Helu Jr. had 13 carries for 44 yards and one catch for 14 yards for the Skins. Niles Paul had no catches but had two kickoff returns for 32 yards

For Baltimore, Sam Koch had four punts for a 43 yard average. He had one punt for 61 yards.

Alex Henery had a 37 yard field goal and was 3 for 3 in extra points for Philadelphia tonight.

True freshman Tyler Moore is working as the No. 1 right tackle right now for the Huskers. It will be interesting to see if Marcel Jones can get healthy enough to beat him out.

Nebraska picked up the first known member of its 2012 recruiting class on Thursday when Marshalltown (Iowa) Community College center Keith Coleman committed to the Huskers. Coleman is huge at 6'9" and 240 pounds. Coleman is rated one of the nation's top five big men by Hot 100 Hoops. Nebraska's Almeida is a senior this year and Diaz is a Junior. After them, NU is pretty short. Coleman should work well in the Big 10.


Monday, August 22, 2011

Nebraska Football Jerseys 2011

Nebraskans in NFL

More Huskers in NFL

New Orleans/Scott Shanle One tackle
Oakland/Josh Bullocks Three tackles
St. Louis/Josh Brown One FG of 42 yards and 2 for 2 in extra points
Buffalo/ Chris Kelsey Two tackles
New York Giants/Philip Dillard One tackle and one assisted tackle

See the following videos below!


Husker Pie 3

Friday, August 19, 2011

Lance Thorell and Nebraska in the NFL


Congrats to Lance Thorell who has just received a scholarship for football at the University of Nebraska. Lance is presently practicing as the No. 1 dime back.

Nebraskans in the NFL
New England/Danny Woodhead Five carries for 63 yards
Tampa Bay/Larry Asante Two tackles
Philadelphia/Alex Henery Two extra points No missed Field Goals
Washington/ Dujon Gomes One tackle and one assisted tackle//Roy Helu 14 carries for 101 yards and four catches for 23 yards//Niles Paul Four returned punts for nine yards

Indianapolis/Chris Brooks One catch for nine yards
Kansas City/Demorrio Williams Three tackles
Baltimore/ Sam Koch Seven punts for a average of 43.9 yards per punt
Detroit/N. Suh One assisted tackle
Cleveland/ Brandon Jackson//Eight carries for 10 yards and one catch for five yards
Carolina/Adi Kunalic One field goal of 38 yards and one extra point
Arizona/Stewart Bradley One tackle







Monday, August 15, 2011

Sports Shorts

Bubba Starling decides tonight whether to stay at Nebraska or play for the Royals. His agent is known for last second signings so we will stay with him going to the Royals. However I think we will all be following his future no matter what he does.

This week in the NFL games, the stats were as follows"

Philadelphia/Alex Henery was 2-2 in field goals with the longest being 35 yards.
Baltimore/Sam Koch punted three times for a 35 yard average.
New England/Danny Woodhead ran five times for 17 yards
Seattle/Zac Lee didn't play/Pierre Allen had one sack with a forced fumble/Ricky Thenarse had one assisted tackle

Arizona/Stewart Bradley one tackle
Oakland/ UNK's Mason Brodine one unassisted tackle
Washington/ Roy Helu Eight carries for 28 yards and one catch for 10 yards/Niles Paul one catch for 16 yards/Dejon Gomes two tackles

Tampa Bay/Larry Asante one tackle
Kansas City/Demorrio Williams one tackle
San Fransisco/Anthony West one tackle
New Orleans/Scott Shanle one assisted tackle
Cleveland/Brandon Jackson Eight carries for 28 yards and one catch for seven yards/Steve Octavien Three tackles

New York Giants/Philip Dillard One assisted tackle
Carolina/ Adi Kunalic one extra point
Indianapolis/Mike McNeil three catches for 33 yards

Kudos to Mike McNeil and Roy Helu. Brandon Jackson had a good game. Adi Kunalic had an extra point and Alex Henery was 2-2 in FG's. Steve Octavien had three unassisted tackles. Some Huskers didn't make the box score so maybe this coming week it will be different.



Sunday, July 24, 2011

Tidbits



Men of a Certain Age has been cancelled by TNT. One of my Top 5 best shows!

Nebraska actor Justin Bruening will reprise his role as Kamie Martin on "All My Children." He grew up near St. Helena and went to school in Wynot, Nebraska.

Now on to sports. Scott Frost wants to be a head coach when the time is right. He is now receivers coach at Oregon and he will be speaking to the Coaches Assn this week.

Rivals.com has named its Top Ten in the Big Ten players. DE Jared Crick and LB Lavonte David are on this list. Both are great players and will anchor the Nebraska defense this year. David and Crick have a chance to both be All-Americans. Without injuries, these two will go down as two of the best in Husker history. Both are seniors this year.

Denard Robinson (QB) from Michigan, Montee Ball (RB) Wisconsin, Reilly Reif (OT) Iowa, Edwin Baker (RB) Michigan St., Shaun Prater (S) Iowa, Michael Brewster (Center) Ohio State, Jerel Worth (DT) Michigan St. and Dan Persa (QB) Northwestern are the other eight. Prater played high school football in Omaha. He is a senior. Persa and Brewster are the other seniors otherwise the other five players are juniors.

Its hard to believe that Rex Burkhead is off the list. Watch for Taylor Martinez to challenge for all conference. His game last year against Oklahoma St. was the BEST I have ever seen from a quarterback at Nebraska. If he is injury free, watch out.

Rivals also predicts Wisconsin to win the Leaders Division and Nebraska the Legends Division.

Nebraska defensive line coach John Papuchis is one of this writer's favorite coaches. He expects to play five to nine players this fall. Papuchis says Crick's best football is ahead of him and he hasn't reached his potential yet. He also praised Cameron Meredith. He is fully recovered from his shoulder injury and has improved himself in the off-season.

Coach Tim Beck is very excited about the speed the running backs have this year and the incoming players will contribute.

Coach Beck said there will be five to seven players that will get a look as kick and punt returners this fall. Some will be freshmen and my guess is that Jamal Turner or Aaron Green will get the nod.

Coach Beck said that offensive linemen Tyler Moore and Jake Cotton and receivers Jamal Turner and Kenny Bell were his biggest surprises coming out of spring ball.

Coach Papuchis said that defensive ends Eric Martin and Jason Ankrah, safety Austin Cassidy, and defensive back Justin Blanchard were his biggest surprises.

The two back offensive is the biggest difference between the Big 10 and the Big 12 according to Papuchis.

Jennifer Lopez is near a deal to do another season of American Idol.

No deal on the debt ceiling yet. Good grief! Cut expenses and save our children and grand children.

The NFL is near an agreement. Hopefully tomorrow. We will see soon how much the season is shortened.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Tyler Gabbert without a team!

Tyler Gabbert who once committed to Nebraska, is now without a team. Tyler, Blaine Gabbert's brother, left Missouri and recently said he was going to Louisville. Louisville is where Shawn Watson, the former Nebraska offensive coordinator, is coaching.Tyler Gabbert, who was thought to be the next starter at Nebraska until he got beat out this spring then left Louisville after a week. Missouri does not want him back as of now.

Zac Lee has signed a Pro deal with the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League. He is one of three quarterbacks listed on the team. The Locomotives still have Chase Clements (RICE), who led them to the championship last year.

The Royals lost again tonight 8-4 to the Twins. Alex Gordon was 1-4 and is batting .299.

Taylor Martinez is listed as the No. 5 quarterback in the Big 10 this year. Kirk Cousins, from Michigan St., is listed No. 1.

Eric Crouch has signed with the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League. We will watch his progress closely. Omaha also has Maurice Purify, Mike Smith, Jay Moore, and Anthony West plus others trying to make the team. Taking Huskers will help team support.

The Cox Classic will have John Hurley, the former O'Neill High School graduate. Hurley has graduated now from Texas A & M and is trying to move up to the pros. He is known for his 400 yard drives.

Sunday, July 03, 2011

Welcome to the Big 10

Nebraska is now an official member of the Big 10. Something new and something exciting.

Lots of memories remain from the Big 12. There were some great games and great competition in all sports. Nebraska had much success, but didn't dominate. Oh yes we have had great football teams. Our volleyball team has been National Champs. Our women's basketball team was one of the nation's best a couple of seasons ago. Rifle and bowling have done well. The track teams are towards the top each year. Our baseball and softball teams have competed well in the past. Competition in the Big 12 was really good.

In football, most of the rivals were created by "chip on our shoulder" type of attitude. Colorado developed this against Nebraska in the early 80's and hated Nebraska. They proclaimed Nebraska their "rival". Missouri did somewhat the same. The old Big Eight was the best. Much better than the Big 12.

We had much success with Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, and Oklahoma State but they won some big games also. Sometimes those losses hurt much more.

Oklahoma was our rivalry. I think it started with Nebraska have a "chip" because we couldn't beat them. They found a way to beat us almost every year until the 90's when we dominated the series. It was a great rivalry but sadly the Big 12 broke it up.

Now on to the Nebraska fans. Once known as the country's best for some reason we aren't much different than most other fans. Yes, Nebraska football is the only game in town so we only route for one team, generally, but the complaining has raised to an annoying level.

Let's take Texas. The Texas players like playing at Nebraska. I think the Nebraska players like playing Texas. But because of the "conspiracy" that Texas gets what they want, the fans complain and gripe about everything. Texas does have money and they like the power but we would too if we had the resources they have.

The last half of last year was the worst. After the Texas A & M game, every time a ref threw a flag most of the fans would yell and boo. Pretty sad. Show some class. Hopefully this will get much better this year.

I am not sure how excited I will be this year going to watch out games with new opponents, but I do want them to win. I think this alone will raise the level of Nebraska's fans' class. We want to win! But if somebody beats us two years in a row, I hope we don't start feeling there is a "conspiracy" to beat us and we develop a "chip". Some teams in the Big 10 will be able to beat us. It should be great competition.

A real rivalry may be when there is a hate-hate relationship. Texas never hated Nebraska but we may grow to hate Iowa and Iowa hate us. This would then become a great rivalry. Wisconsin is a possibility also. We just want it to be fun.

I am a little worried that the Big 10 doesn't have the desire to make baseball a higher priority in the league. Let's hope that doesn't happen. Nebraska could push them to a higher level and this would be good for the league. Let's hope there is no league limits on scholarships for baseball.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Can you believe!


41 drivers have lost their lives over the years at the Indianapolis Speedway!

The Big 10 basketball league play begins this December.

If Cody Green leaves, Nebraska has a somewhat depleted quarterback group.

The Big 10 Conference is know as a very weak baseball conference, at least at this time.

A Tucson, Arizona restaurant advertises African Lion tacos. Business around the country are offering lion meat as a novelty. The big cats can be butchered and sold like hamburger in the United States. They say it tastes like pork, except it's chewy and costs $60 a pound.

Scotty McCreery, who just won Idol has signed a $250,000 record deal. I knew I should have tried to get on the show.


Master Chef starts in about a week on Monday nights.

What a finish to the Indy 500 today. What a bad deal for the young rookie driver, JR Hildebrand and a great thing for Da Wheldon.

Alex Gordon was 0-5 in a 7-6 loss to Texas today.

Kyle Busch was picked up for going 128 in a 45 mph zone. If he loses his driver's license, he can still drive in NASCAR.

Tony Romo finally got married.

New Grandson!!



On May 13th, I became a grandpa again with the birth of Nolan Scott Wheeler. His proud parents are Scott and Jessica Wheeler. Jessica is my daughter. Nolan was born 7 lbs 11 ounces and was 21 inches long. Nolan is very cute and we feel VERY blessed.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

When baseball was the summer pastime!


Before I was even a teenager in the 1960's, baseball was most kids favorite sport to watch and follow. The New York Yankees were the best team most of those years; at least to the middle 60's. I was a Yankee fan. They had pretty much the same players every year or at least it seemed like it. There was Elston Howard and Yogi Berra catching. Whitey Ford, Steve Hamilton, and Mel Stottlemyre were the pitchers I remember the most. Al Downing is also memorable. Joe Pepitone and Moose Skowron were the first basement. Tony Kubek was at shortstop and Bobby Richardson played second. Clete Boyer was the third baseman. The awesome outfield was Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Tom Tresh.

I remember 1961 when Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth's record and hit 61 home runs. What a year!! A lot of the year it looked like Mantle would break the record and then he got hurt. Years later I found out that people didn't like Roger Maris because he broke the "Babes" record and many thought that Mantle should have broke it if anybody did.

I am presently reading "The Last Boy Mickey Mantle". It is a great book but it led to to view Mickey Mantle a little differently than when I was a kid.

Mickey Mantle was probably even better than I imagined when I was younger. He hit mammoth home runs. Now he was my hero as a kid but he was a better hitter, according to his peers than I even viewed him as at that time.

But Mickey Mantle would not have survived with today's press. The press used to protect their sports heroes. I know the Nebraska Cornhuskers used to do a lot of things wrong but never received space in the newspapers or on TV. It was ok then.

The same happened with Mickey Mantle. He drank in excess even when he was playing baseball. Some of his best games came after a hard all night drunk. He is reported to have spent a lot of time with other women even though he was married. By the way his wife stayed with him until the end even though he knew a lot of these things were going on. Mantle later died of alcohol.

I didn't realize when I was following the Yankees as a kid the injuries that Mantle suffered. He had so many that we never really saw him reach his REAL potential. Mantle's knee had so many scars from operations that he never wanted to wear shorts when in public.

The Yankees were dominated by white players. Al Downing and Elston Howard were a couple of players who weren't. This may have attributed to their downfall in the late 60's. The National League had embraced non-white players and they went past the Yankees and the American League during this time.

The late 50's and during the 60's major league baseball was everything. You found a way to watch the game of the week. I can remember Pee Wee Reese and Dizzy Dean did a lot of the games I used to watch. It was a very special time and unlike today when you could watch every game on TV if you want to pay for it.

I looked at every newspaper during the baseball season to see how my Mickey Mantle had done the day before. I followed Bob Gibson, Don Drysdale, and Sandy Koufax. I liked the Minnesota Twins and I followed Harmon Killebrew. I remember actually listening to the Houston Astros, of all teams,on the radio. Joe Morgan, Nolan Ryan, and Rusty Staub are some of the players I remember following. Those were the days.

I would be curious to know if others have memories from this time.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Finally the fullback runs the ball!

Tyler Legate ran for two touchdowns in the Red-White game on Saturday. This fall we should get some fullback traps in a real game. This writer has been talking about this for seven years now and finally...........Use ALL our weapons.

Taylor Martinez is still hobbled by his injury and until he gets that taken care of, he should stay off the field. Hopefully he can get healed by the first game but right now he doesn't look much different than the Big 12 game and the Bowl game.

Let's try Cody Green at tight end. Get him on the field but not as a quarterback. He seems to be a leader for the football team.

Burkhead is our offensive MVP.

We have not had a game changer for quite a few years but Jamal Turner can be that person. He may be the best since Johnny Rodgers. He will be great barring injuries.

Brion Carnes and Ron Kellogg can play. I hope if the others don't get better we let them play. Brion Carnes is good enough to play Big 10 football.

Our defense across the board is very good. From the defensive line back to the safeties, we should be as good as ever. Lots of speed.

Not completely comfortable that the offensive line is where we want it. There is hope but we still have a long ways to go.

How about Alex Gordon and those Kansas City Royals. WOW!!

Jimmie Johnson wins the Nascar race today. The restrictor plate races are now down to pairing up with somebody to draft with. It does provide some pretty good racing.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Former Huskers try out for Omaha Nighthawks!

The Omaha Nighthawks, under former Husker consultant Joe Moglia, have invited some former Huskers to try out. This is great marketing. Nebraskans love to watch former Huskers play football. Eric Crouch and Zac Lee have both tried out at quarterback. Marlon Lucky is trying to make the team at running back. Add Menelik Holt, Jon Briekemeier, and Will Henry and you have the Husker eye.

The Omaha Nighthawks have some financial concerns as does the entire league. If Crouch would make starting quarterback that definitely would help ticket sales. The Nighthawks want a championship team so hopefully the former Huskers can be part of this.

How about Alex Gordon? He is batting .380 and is helping the Kansas City Royals win some games. Billy Butler and Gordon are the offensive leaders. Great job Alex.

Nebraska to the Big 10 is becoming a reality. It has taken time for reality to hit but here we go. The Iowa rivalry may be unlike any we have had in the past. This may be the first hate-hate rivalry we have had. In the past we hated Texas but they didn't have the same feeling towards us.

Sounds like our offensive line and defensive line will be better. That right there will make us a much improved team. Can't wait until our fullback runs the ball for the first time. Can't wait.

The Masters is one of the best sporting events to watch on TV. Can't wait for the the 1pm telecast on CBS today.

Logan Ehlers starts for the Huskers today. It will be very interesting to see how he performs. The Huskers need him to pitch well to take the series from Kansas. He will be an important piece for the Huskers for the rest of the season. This game is on the radio today and it starts at 1pm also.

On the high school front, Scott Boehler's Gretna golf team looks like they could take a run for the Class B title this year. Also watch for the Holdrege girl's soccer team to take a run for the championship.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Surprise Final Four?

Florida and Florida St both look very good. Everybody is talking Kansas and Ohio State but look to some surprises in the final four. Could we see Kentucky, Connecticut, Florida, and Florida St in the Final Four? Anything is possible right now. Should be an interesting finish.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Nebaska in the NIT!

Nebraska will play at Wichita St. on Wednesday at 6 in the first round of the NIT. The game will be shown on ESPN2. Nebraska is the number five seat so they may not have any home games or there is upsets in the bracket. Nebraska looks to play Virginia Tech in the second round if they can knock off Wichita St.

Look to a low scoring game with a Nebraska victory. Nebraska 57 Wichita St. 51.

Nebraska hopefully will make the NIT!

Colorado, who beat K-State three times this year got left off the list to make the NCAA tournament. The Big 12 has five teams in the Big Dance. They are Kansas, Texas, Texas A & M, Missouri, and Kansas State. Kansas is a number one seat but then the next Big 12 team is Texas a number four seat. The Big 12 was not looked at very favorable with the NCAA selection committee. The Big 10 has seven teams playing in the NCAA tournament.

Now, can Nebraska, Colorado, Okie State, and Baylor all make it to the NIT. Let's hope so. I have seen brackets where Nebraska will be anywhere from the number two seat to a number six seat in the NIT. The seating is very important as Nebraska plays much better at home than away. A number two seat would allow them to play at least the first two games at home. A number six seat may not allow them to be at home at all.

This writer loved Dirk Chatelain's article about Doc Sadler needs to recruit Nebraska talent. Nebraska has to have some Nebraska boys on their team. It develops the culture and provides a work ethic that is important. Doc needs to land Mike Gesell, who is a great guard that can play in the Big 10. He has one year left at South Sioux City, this year's Class B champions.

Then there is sophomore Akoy Agau from Class A champion Omaha Central. He has two more years to develop but he is a big man that can also play in the Big 10. He is projected by Andy Markowski to be 6'10" and 240 lbs when he graduates.

Andy Markowski played on NU's last NCAA team and also announced for NET for this year's tournament. He is very very good as an analyst and keeps the fans informed as the game progresses.

With the new arena coming in, Doc has to has recruit these to young men to be Cornhuskers.

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Holdrege Basketball teams excel!

Congrats to the Holdrege girl's basketball team for taking third at the State Tournament. The girls beat Lexington by one. Lexington beat Holdrege twice earlier in the year. Holdrege lost to Seward #1, Elkhorn #2, and rated Lexington twice. Holdrege beat Beatrice by two for third place.

This week the Holdrege boys take on one of the top teams in all classes, South Sioux City. The Holdrege boys are seated eight with SOuth Sioux City seated first in Class B.

Mike Gesell plays for South Sioux City and will be a division I player. Hoperfully he will play for the Cornhuskers in a couple of years as he is now a junior. Great player and Holdrege has their hands full. But in basketball, you never know what may happen.

Nebraska plays Oklahoma State tomorrow in the Big 12. OSU is 8-0 in Big 12 opening round games so this will be a close one also. Nebraska pulls this one out 71-67. Then comes Kansas.... Look to Kansas or Kansas State to win the Big 12. Texas isn't playing its best ball right now and Texas A & M isn't that great. Nebraska can actually have a 50/50 chance against every team but Kansas or Kansas State.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Nebraska basketball still has some good times ahead.

Ok Nebraska's hopes for a NCAA entry into this year's tournament is out. Or is it? Nebraska will play three, four, and maybe five more games before the selection committee makes its picks. Of Nebraska would have to win the last two games at Nebraska vs Missouri and at Colorado to have a chance but these games are both even games. It is possible.

Then Nebraska wins the first two games at the Big 12 tournament and we are probably in the NCAA tournament. It isn't over yet.

Nebraska lost to Kansas by three, Texas Tech by one,Baylor and Kansas St. by four, and now Iowa State by one in OT.

Now an NIT bid would not be the end of the world. Nebraska could get an early view of the Big 10 by playing Penn St. Minnesota, or Michigan. Hopefully the game or games would be at home as much as possible. That would be fun also. Even the the NCAA tournament would be great, the NIT may be more of a fit for late success.

This writer is looking to a one point victory over Missouri on Tuesday night. We need to keep them in the 60's.

M2U00055

M2U00058

Did You Know?

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Nebraska nips K-State tonight

Prediction:
Nebraska wins narrowly against a very good K-State team. Nebraska 65-Kansas State 64.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Gilmore to USC

Coach Ted Gilmore is headed to USC to coach their receivers.

Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500 today. He is an up and coming star. On a family trip last year, we saw him up close at Daytona. Seemed like a really nice kid and as we watched him on the nationwide tour last year, you could tell he has talent.

The Nebraska men's team won a big game vs. Texas yesterday. This improves their overall record to 18-8 and 6-6 in the Big 12. Nebraska beat the hottest team in college basketball and the number one college player in Jordon Hamilton.

Every game from here on out is very important and will be very close games. Next up is Kansas State in Lincoln on Wednesday night. This will be another tough matchup and definately not a gimmee. Kansas State was, for some, the preseason pick to win the Big 12. We can't let up now.

Nebraska needs to beat K-State to have a chance at the NCAA tournament. That's this writer's prediction. The Big 12 will probably have six teams go, maybe five. Texas, Kansas, Texas A & M, and Missouri are locks so that leaves Baylor, K-State, and Baylor for the other one or two spots. Nebraska has home games with K-State and Missouri and away games with Iowa State and Colorado. All winnable but we could go either way. If we play well hopefully we go 3-1. That would give us a 9-7 record in the Big 12. If we lose against K-State that will probably put them into the tournament with two wins against Nebraska.

One more thing. This writer knows of a few incidents that happened yesterday with Nebraska fans being VERY rude to the Texas fans. This took away from the victory because Nebraska should be represented much better than the way some ignorant fans acted yesterday. The Texas team enjoys playing in Lincoln and they are a bunch of good kids even though many fans think anybody from Texas are a bunch of low class citizens. Texas won the consideration for other contest and I am embarrassed as a fan.

You start to realize that next year will be so much different. We don't have any rivalries that will get the fans fired up about. I think it football, we get enthusiastic no matter who the opponent is because of tradition. But in basketball it will be interesting to see how big the crowds are and how passionate the fans are during the game. It will feel like our normal pre-conference games in the past, I think.