Idaho will be a tough one!

Idaho is not a football school. The Vandals played last week before 11,000 fans. They are like 0-zillion against BCS Top 25 schools. But... they have a Nebraska boy from North Platte with a NFL arm that will catch the Huskers off guard a few times Saturday morning afternoon. I'm not entirely sold on the Huskers secondary yet but hopefully I can eat crow this week. Nathan Enderle can throw the ball a long ways. The year we recruited and lost Josh Freeman, Enderle was throwing the longest ball in the QB camps.

Look to Idaho throwing a couple of long touchdowns when our secondary gets caught out of position or takes one too many chances.

Be surprised if you want but this writer says Nebraska 38 Idaho 24.

Please run the fullbacks. That's Nebraska football!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't be surprised is Florida State knocks off Oklahoma this week. Should be a close game.

Nebraska wins versus Western Kentucky but doesn't tell us much!

Not much was learned about Nebraska vs. Western Kentucky. Here's what this writer noticed.

1. Taylor Martinez is very fast and will be a running threat. Not since Jamaal Lord has Nebraska had this kind of running quarterback.
2. The offensive line played well against the competition they were playing against.
3. The defense struggled after the first quarter and Western Kentucky had a major time of possession advantage.
4. Rex Burkhead is fun to watch!!
5. Mike McNeil was open for touchdowns at least three times and wasn't thrown to.
6. T-Mart's favorite target is Niles Paul. He needs to look more to the rest of the field.
7. Nebraska misses Philip Dillard
8. The secondary takes some chances that will be corrected, I am sure.
9. Brandon Kinnie looks to have a great season as a receiver.
10. Three true freshmen will have an impact this year; Andrew Rodriquez, Ciante Evans, and Quincy Enunwa.

Taylor Martinez was 9-15 for 136 yards and ran seven times for 127 yards and three touchdowns. That compares to first game starts by Tommy Frazier who ran 14 times for 77 yards and was 9-20 passing for 157 against Missouri. Eric Crouch rushed for two touchdowns and was 11-17 passing in his first start vs. UAB. Martinez did well for a first game.

Right now there are only two Huskers from last year's team on a NFL roster--N. Suh at Detroit and Phillip Dillard for the Giants.

Danny Woodhead made the Jets roster.

Hated to see Kansas get beat this weekend. With Turner Gill, they will get it going. It's just unknown how many wins they will have. Kansas lost the nucleus of its team last year.

The Ohio Bobcats are led by Boo Jackson, who was a highly rated quarterback in college. They beat Wofford 33-10. Wofford did not complete a pass. Phil Bates (Omaha) had 51 yards on six carries and Noah Keller (Kearney) led in tackles with nine.

Larry Asante and Steve Octavian were not on an NFL roster today. Hopefully some Nebraska players will make some practice squads and will be available if injuries occur.

Best Proposal: Nebraska 50 Yard-Line Proposal

Taylor Martinez will debut tomorrow!

Taylor Martinez will have his first start. Hopefully he will have many more. It would be nice to get him some experience before we go to the Big 10 next year and that tough first year schedule.

Larry Asante had seven tackles for the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night. Barry Turner had three tackle and a sack for a loss of ten yards for the Bears.

Danny Woodhead had a touchdown for the Jets and hopefully will make the final cut.

Let the 2010 season begin tomorrow. James Dobson is a big part of the success we have this year. He is the strength and conditioning coach for football.

Nebraska has a lot of depth this year. A lot of kids will play and it will be interesting as to who rises to the top by year end.

Tennessee vs. Western Kentucky game highlights 2009(Lane Kiffin's first ...

Dennis Ferrer - Hey Hey

Surprise quarterback starter this weekend!

Everybody is talking Lee or Martinez as starters this week, so be to be different this writer goes with Cody Green. Why Cody Green? There has been things said by the coaches like they don't want to create a "circus atmosphere" about naming a starter earlier. They don't know "how some players will react to their first game jitters as a starter." This may be in reference to the quarterback position. This narrows the choice down to Taylor Martinez and Cody Green. I think the coaches like Green and he does have some game experience so Cody Green will start our first game. Of course he may not be the starter at the end of the season which is most important!

The only starters, for sure on defense, look to be Pierre Allen, Jared Crick, Steinkuhler, and Meredith, Prince, Dennard, and Harvey. The rest of the positions are close and we will see a lot of different starters this next year. One linebacker position and the two safeties that start look to be unknown at this time. Look to see 25 different defensive players on the field even in the tough games, which Western Kentucky is not.

Again just having more fun with predictions. We'll see all three quarterbacks on Saturday and I think they will all perform well. I think the quarterback race will go most of the season.

Now on to the conference alignment.

One side will consist of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin while Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern will be in the other division. Each school will play the other five schools within its division and will also play three teams from the other division, including one cross-division matchup guaranteed on an annual basis. The first championship game will be played December 3, 2011, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Here are the schedules for 2011 and 2012 for Nebraska.

2011 NU Big Ten Schedule
Oct. 1 - @Wisconsin
Oct. 8 - Ohio State
Oct. 15 - Bye
Oct. 22 - @Minnesota
Oct. 29 - Michigan State
Nov. 5 - Northwestern
Nov. 12 - @Penn State
Nov. 19 - @Michigan
Nov. 26 - Iowa

2012 NU Big Ten Schedule
9/29 - Wisconsin
10/6 - @Ohio State
10/13 - Bye
10/20 - @Northwestern
10/27 - Michigan
11/3 - @Michigan State
11/10 - Penn State
11/17 - Minnesota
11/24 - @Iowa

2011 will be a very tough schedule for Nebraska. Ohio State, at Wisconsin, at Michigan, Michigan St., Iowa, at Penn State, and Washington. I think Pelini will love this schedule because he likes to take on the best every week but it will be a murderous schedule. I will wonder how the Nebraska fans will like the jump to the Big 10 after 2011. Hopefully we can take one challenge at a time and be successful.

Nebraska will need to play Penn State in a cross-divisional game on an annual basis. This will be a tough annual game and will give some of the other teams in the division an advantage for the best record. This schedule gives parity somewhat to the conference.

A guess at the new Big 10 alignment!

Here is my guess at the Big 10 alignment that is to be announced tomorrow. I guess I am just doing this for fun because its all a guess.

For fun we will call the divisions the White and Black divisions!

White
Iowa
Nebraska
Minnesota
Penn St.
Northwestern
Illinois

Black
Indiana
Purdue
Michigan St.
Michigan
Ohio State
Wisconsin

This writer feels the divisions would be pretty equal. You would keep the Michigan St.-Michigan rivalry which they won't give up. You would keep the Iowa-Minnesota game annually. The Michigan-Ohio St. rivalry would be guaranteed an annual game. Indian-Purdue is somewhat of a regional game. Penn St-Nebraska would be huge each year.

Tomorrow we find out! Should be interesting.

Maurice Clarett to the Nighthawks?

Maurice Clarett, the sensational running back from Ohio State, may play for the Omaha Nighthawks if he can get a judge to release him to Nebraska. Clarett was a key player of the 2002 Ohio State national championship team. Clarett was cut by the Denver Broncos in 2005 when he was convicted of armed robbery.

This new football league is for real and should produce a fun product to watch. Jeff Garcia will quarterback the Nighthawks and Ahman Green will be in the backfield.

Nebraska basketball is getting a quality point guard next year. Bo Spencer is transferring from LSU and will have to sit out this year. He will be a walk-on.

The 6-foot-2 Spencer started 28 of 31 games last season for LSU and averaged 14.5 points, 2.7 assists, 3 turnovers and 2.5 rebounds. He shot 33 percent from the field (138-of-414) and 80 percent from the free-throw line (99-of-118). He scored more than 20 points 11 times, including back-to-back 25-point games against Tennessee and Kentucky, and averaged 36 minutes a game.

Spencer was dismissed by the LSU team for failing to meet academic requirements.

Drake Beranek has been awarded a scholarship by Doc Sadler. One of the keys of Nebraska's success is having Nebraska boys on the team. They lead the way in work ethic and they know the Nebraska culture.

Using "Cheatsheets" when you draft your fantasy football teams is like using Rivals.com to determine your recruits. Its a guideline but you have to use other tools to pick the best players. A lot of years the hot players do little of nothing.

This year I like Ladainian Thomlinson as a sleeper. Shonn Green is all anybody is talking about but LT has some juice left and the Jets will allow him to show his skills. LT isn't listed in a lot of the cheatsheets. I think Eddie Royal will rebound and have a year like in had in 2008 when he caught 91 passes. Go with your gut and you will probably do better than the magazine you are using to draft with.

Western Kentucky won't tell us much!

This game won't tell us much about the defense or offense as Western Kentucky is really bad and we should win this one by a score in the neighborhood of 66-3. I don't see this one being much different. It doesn't much mean the offense is back or the defense is dominant. Western Kentucky is just bad.

WKU was 0-12 last year in the Sun Belt Conference. They have a new coach for 2010. Just another reason, because they are learning a new system, that the Hilltoppers will not have a great start to the season. Their new coach is Willie Taggert.

Willie Taggart was named head football coach at Western Kentucky University on November 23. Taggart spent the last three seasons as running backs coach at Stanford. He coached the runner-up to the Heisman, Toby Gerhart, last year. He previously spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at WKU from 1999-2006. As a standout player at quarterback for Western Kentucky, he set 11 school records.

Believe me a 66-3 score does not mean the offense is back. What it will tell us is who the starting quarterback is. It will give us a chance to see a lot of players on the field. A few unknowns will have a good game and give us something to talk about.

Who will this years Phillip Dillard be? This writer thinks that he was as valuable as Suh was last year in a lot of the late games. He was underrated, but was all over the field. Do we have that player this year? We probably won't know until we get into Big 12 play.

Ode to Bo

Sports Shorts!

The PGA golf championship was exciting at the end. Dustin Johnson gets a two stroke penalty and missed what looked like a three way playoff. Martin Kaymer beat Bubba Watson in the playoff.

Chris Brooks wins the ex-Nebraska player of the week with three catches for 50 yards. Terrance Nunn had one catch for six yards, also with Tampa Bay.

The Nebraska players are receiving pickles to eat after practice for medicinal purposes. Brad Dickson wrote in the Omaha World Herald "We won't have BLACKSIRTS anytime soon for you, son, but there's a nice juicy pickle in your locker." Dickson used to write for Jay Leno.

Lance Thorell and Austin Cassidy are practicing holding for field goals. Brett Maher is the number one holder.

Kevin Harvick wins at Michigan.Clint Bowyer moved into the top 12 for the Chase. In contention still are Mark Martin (13),Ryan Newman (14), Jamie McMurray (15), Kasey Kahne (16), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (17), and David Reutiman (18). Mark Martin is close to the top 12 only 35 points out.

Now there is no doubt a lot of things will change as to who plays due to effort and injuries but right now the two deep chart is starters.

Four defensive starters are seniors. They are Pierre Allen (defensive end), Prince Amukamara (cornerback), DeJon Gomes (safety) and Anthony West (safety). The only two deep position is one of the safety positions with Gomes and Ricky Thenarse.

On offense the following are entering their senior season: Zac Lee (QB) Roy Helu (Running Back), Mike McNeil (Receiver), Niles Paul (Receiver, Punt Returner, and Kickoff Returner), Keith Williams (Left Guard), and Ricky Henry (Right Guard).

Redshirt listed on the two deep charts are as follows on defense: Thaddeus Randle (Defensive Tackle) and Jason Ankrah (Defensive End).

Redshirt freshmen listed on the two deep charts on offense are as follows: Jeremiah Sirles (Left tackle), Brent Qvale (Right and Left guard), and Cole Pensick (Center).

Also Alex Henery is a senior, which is huge with his backup Adi Kunalic also a senior.

Notes from the Texas Longhorn football team:
1. Cody Johnson has drawn even with Tre’ Newton and Foswhitt Whittaker as the team’s every-down tailback.
2. The offense is running 60 percent under center. It might be too early to project that for the season. But that’s where we are right now.
3. Mack Brown thinks this could be the best defense he’s had at Texas.

kittens inspired by kittens

The Kennedy Center Honors Johnny Carson - 1993 - pt. 3 of 3!

Let's get ready for football!

Tonight the NFL starts its preseason with Cincinnati and Dallas. Former NU players Maurice Purify plays for the Bengals and Steve Octavien plays for the Cowboys.

Nebraska has started practice. Heat has to be a factor. 105 players are allowed to practice this fall before school starts. Some notable scholarship players that didn't make the 105 were sophomore linebacker Micah Kreikemeier, junior cornerback Marcus Mendoza and redshirt freshman offensive lineman Nick Ash. I am a little surprised by Ash not practicing. Maybe he has a possible injury. Kody Spano is not playing due to rehabbing his injury. The fact that Mendoza isn't on the 105 could be a reflection that the talent level is increasing on offense now.

The touted Ohio running back, Braylon Heard, will not be on the roster this fall and will start school in January.

A healthy Zac Lee will be our quarterback this fall. He knows the offense and takes care of the ball. His arm is back after surgery. Look to spot play from Martinez and Green. Martinez could play more as the Big 12 play begins. Having Martinez, Helu, and Burkhead on the field at the same time would be awesome for our running game.

I'm still on the fullback running the ball and I hope we see this finally this fall. Use all weapons or get at least two running backs on the field at the same time that will run the ball even if it isn't a fullback.

Ben Cotton may be our main tight end this fall but I like Kyler Reed and Dreu Young also.

Mike McNeil will be our top receiver this year in passes caught. Niles Paul may have the most yards with Brandon Kinnie competing for both. We actually could have two or three receivers drafted next spring. Well I think we could.

NU basketball has a commitment from Corey Hilliard, a point guard from Kansas City, Missouri. Nebraska has two scholarships for the 2011-2012 season.

One of the fan's most hated NASCAR drivers won today at Watkins Glen. He is Juan Montoya. Recently attending the race in Daytona it wasn't hard to see who the fans hate the most. They are Montoya and Kyle Busch.

We hope to have more posts coming now that the football season is beginning. If you have any ideas to make this better, let me know.

Alex Gordon has winning homerun tonight

Alex Gordon hit a three run homer in the ninth and Kansas City beat Baltimore 7-5. It was a great hit for Gordon, who has been struggling.

Bruning State Bank - Country Bank in Holdrege Nebraska

Michigan State

Mark Danatio is the head coach at Michigan St.Dantonio, who served as head coach at Cincinnati for three seasons prior to his arrival in East Lansing and also spent six years as an assistant coach at Michigan State from 1995-2000, became Michigan State University's 24th head football coach on Nov. 27, 2006. He has worked for some of the top coaches in the game, including Nick Saban, Jim Tressel and Earle Bruce.

A Zanesville, Ohio, native with Midwest ties, Dantonio has 28 years of collegiate coaching experience and coached in his 14th bowl game as the Spartans faced Texas Tech in the 2010 Valero Alamo Bowl. Before last season he had led Michigan State to three-straight bowl appearances - a first for the program since 1995-97 - and had already won 22 games at MSU, the second most by any Spartan head coach in his first three seasons.

Last year, however, was not a very good season for the Spartans. They were 4-4 in league play and they were 6-7 for the season.

Michigan State likes to pass and they are have been at the top of the league in passing with Danatio.

Michigan St. plays Notre Dame in 2010 in a non-conference game.

the Golden City

Greatest Dad That Ever Lived!

My dad was the greatest dad that ever lived. If I could change anything about my dad, what would I have changed? Nothing. I have thought about this may times and I honestly can't think of anything.

Dad had many passions. He had a passion for his wife, my mom. He had a passion for his kids and grandkids. He had a passion for his family. He had a passion for fishing and hunting. He had a passion for visiting with people. He had a passion for his garden. He had a passion for his faith.

Dad loved life but we lost him on October 4, 2006. Now when I say we lost him, but he is still here living in us. Many businesses have a mission statement and core values that drive their decisions. For myself, since dad's death and even before that, my decisions are made by asking myself "What would dad do?". By using this for my driving force in life, decisions have been better and easier because I end up making decisions that are right, even if everybody does not agree. I always know that if I do what dad would have done, God would be very happy because he was a great example of how we are to do things.

On this Father's Day, I think about all the great memories I have of my dad! I think of stacking hay as dad brought in the bales with the farmhand. Irrigation was a big part of our summer and when we had a break in the ditch, dad and I would pitch the dirt towards the break where my sister was laying in the ditch trying to keep the water from running so fast. A big part of my life was all the fishing and hunting experiences I had the pleasure to be a part of with my dad. They were events. There are so many memories. My dad was the best hunter and fisherman I have ever seen but he was always more happy when us kids were successful. He was proud of his family.

Even though it is Father's Day, I feel very grateful that I have a mom that although she is different in some ways, she is just as great. Thanks mom!

I miss my dad. I miss him calling me and wondering when I was coming to Orleans again even though I had been there three times in the last week. I miss driving up to mom's house and not seeing him sitting at the patio table. I miss working with him in his garden. I miss the hunting and fishing experiences and talking about previous hunting and fishing experiences. I missed dad at my two daughter's weddings. He was ALWAYS so proud of his grandkids. He loved them very much. I miss all his stories. I just miss visiting with him.

I just miss him because he was the greatest dad that ever lived.

So if your dad is still alive give him a big hug today and tell him you love him. Our time on earth goes so fast.

JEANNE ROBERTSON VIDEO! Don't Bungee Jump Naked!

SNL - Awkward Carpool [Alec Baldwin & Kristen Wiig]

Michigan

TEAM-MICHIGAN
COACH-RICH RODRIQUEZ

Michigan is one of the two top teams in football in the Big 10 over the last few decades. Ohio State is the other. Michigan has been down the past couple of years and they went 1-7 in league play in 2009.The lost seven of their last eight games last year.

Rodriguez graduated from North Marion High School in Grant Town, West Virginia in 1981 where he played four sports and was an all-state football and basketball player. After high school, Rodriguez attended West Virginia University. Playing as a defensive back, Rodriguez recorded 54 career tackles over three seasons.

After Rodriguez's return to WVU as a volunteer coach with the outside linebackers for the 1989 football season, he left again to take over as head coach at Glenville State College.

Rodriguez left Glenville State at the end of the 1996 season to serve as assistant coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterback coach for Tulane University from 1997 to 1998, under head coach Tommy Bowden. Rodriguez was part of Tulane's success, including their 12–0 season in Rodriguez's last season at Tulane, mainly for his spread offense with quarterback Shaun King. When Bowden was hired as the head coach at Clemson University, he retained Rodriguez on his staff. Rodriguez served as the offensive coordinator and associate head coach until the end of the 2000 season, traveling to a Peach Bowl and Gator Bowl.

On November 26, 2000, WVU's athletic department announced that Rodriguez would again return to West Virginia, this time as head coach to replace the retiring legend Don Nehlen.

Rodriguez was one of the most successful coaches in West Virginia history.[citation needed] He was credited with the first back-to-back Top 10 finishes in school history, four consecutive New Year's bowl appearances (joining USC as the only program at the time to do so), the school's first BCS bowl win, three Big East championships, eight wins over Top 25 teams, twenty-six straight weeks in the Top 25, a 30-6 record from 2005–2007, and a home-attendance average of 98% of capacity. [citation needed] Rodriguez brought his unique offensive style to WVU and after a disappointing first year, led the Mountaineers to four straight winning years, in three of which (2003, 2004, & 2005) the Mountaineers won or shared the Big East Conference championship. Rodriguez led the team to five straight bowl appearances (the 2002 Continental Tire Bowl the 2004 and 2005 Gator Bowls, the 2006 Nokia Sugar Bowl, the 2007 Gator Bowl, posting a 2-3 record in those bowl games.

On December 16, 2007, Rodriguez informed players at West Virginia that he was leaving to succeed Lloyd Carr as the University of Michigan head football coach.[11] Rodriguez's decision came on the heels of a loss to the unranked Pittsburgh Panthers, which eliminated WVU from national championship contention.[

Rodriguez was introduced by Michigan as their new coach at a news conference held on December 17, 2007.

Rodriquez has a record at Michigan of 8-16, a Big Ten record of 3-13, and a career record of 113-78.

Michigan plays at Ann Arbor, Michigan with a capacity of 106,201. Rodriquez runs the spread offense and a 4-3 defense.

This is a huge year for this coach to be successful or they may be looking for a replacement. With the coaches history, the bet is they will show much improvement in 2010.

Next stop-Iowa!

IOWA
HEAD COACH-KIRK FERENTZ

The 2009 roster shows Shaun Prater from Omaha Central and Jeff Tarpinian from Millard North.

Kirk Ferentz is in his 12th year as head football coach at the University of Iowa. His tenure as Iowa's head football coach trails only Hayden Fry, who led the Hawkeyes for 20 seasons (1979-98). Ferentz ranks second in longevity among Big Ten Conference football coaches.

Ferentz, a two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year (2002 & 2004), led the Hawkeyes to a third place Big Ten finish in 2005. An overtime loss to Michigan and a last-minute, one point loss at Northwestern is all that kept the Hawkeyes from sharing a third Big Ten title in four years. Following the 2005 season Iowa was one of four teams (Southern Cal, Georgia, Florida State) in the nation to play in four consecutive January bowl games. The overtime loss to Michigan ended Iowa's 22-game home winning streak, the fourth longest in the nation at the time.

Ferentz is 81-55 the past eleven years. He is 49-39 in the Big 10. His career record is 93-76.

Ferentz coaches one of the Big 10 old school teams, similar to Wisconsin. They run the ball and emphasize a very strong defense. Last year they were 2nd in the conference in points allowed and 1st in pass defense in the league.

Ferentz joined the Iowa staff after serving as assistant head coach and offensive line coach of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. He had been a part of the Baltimore (Cleveland Browns prior to the move) organization for six years. He has been mentioned many times the past few years as a possible NFL coach.

Iowa will probably become a big game for NU. It is apparent that they will be in the same side of the conference when they split it into two divisions. We will likely become an annual game and they will be a formidable opponent.

Iowa beat Georgia Tech in this year's Orange Bowl 24-14.

Introducing the Big 10 coaches.

Our next school is Indiana

INDIANA
HEAD COACH-BILL LYNCH

Indiana has no current Nebraska players on its roster. The Hoosiers played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana.

Bill Lynch is a native and lifelong Hoosier with 32 years coaching experience in the state, Bill Lynch will be entering his fifth year at the helm of the Indiana football program. In his four seasons, the Hoosiers reached the postseason and won seven games in a season for the first time since 1993 and won the Old Oaken Bucket for the first time since 2001. IU has boasted three All-Americans, two second-round NFL Draft picks, eight NFL Scouting Combine participants, nine All-Big Ten selections, one Academic All-American and 52 Academic All-Big Ten honorees.

Lynch completed his first season as Indiana head coach in 2007, leading the Hoosiers to a 7-6 record and a trip to the Insight Bowl. He is the only head coach in Hoosier history to guide a team to a bowl game in his debut season and just the fourth coach in IU lore to patrol the sidelines for a postseason contest. The team's seven victories were the second most for a first-year Indiana head coach, behind only James M. Sheldon, who went 8-1-1 in 1905.

With the Hoosiers' trip to the Insight Bowl in 2007, Lynch made his third appearance in a bowl game as a coach. He was the quarterbacks coach (1993-94) under former Hoosier head coach Bill Mallory when Indiana faced Virginia Tech in the 1993 Independence Bowl. Lynch served as the Ball State head coach and led the Cardinals to the 1996 Las Vegas Bowl.

In 2009, Indiana was 4-8 overall and 1-7 in conference play. They lost the last five games of the season. On offense, they run the "PISTOL" offense.

Let's meet the new players in 2011.

Over the next several days we'll talk about the Big 10 football coaches. The coaches represent the culture of the league. After 2010 we won't see the likes of Bob Stoops, Mack Brown, and Turner Gill. What is Turner Gill thinking right now. He gets the chance to go to the Big 12 and now Kansas is going to be looking for a new conference, most likely. The excitement of the matchup of Bo Pelini and Turner Gill on an annual basis is now gone.

Sure we can play some of these teams in our non-conference schedule but realistically we won't have an annual game with Kansas or Oklahoma. Perhaps a non-conference game with Ohio is smart as this area may become a key recruiting area.

The Big 10's top two coaches in the past, in this writer's opinion, is Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes. They were huge in college football and are know nationally as two of the best coaches of all time.

Let's start with Illinois in the Big 10.

ILLINOIS
HEAD COACH-RON ZOOK

Illinois has no Nebraska players on its roster. The Illini played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. Ron Zook is entering his sixth season as head coach.In 2009, the Illini finished the season 3–9 (2–6 Big Ten). The Illini failed to live up to the lofty preseason expectations, receiving almost enough votes in the AP Poll to be ranked (and were said to be the unofficial #26 ranked team in the AP Poll because of this).

Ron Zook was named the 2007 National and Big Ten Coach of the Year. Known as a tireless worker and recruiter, Zook led Illinois to the biggest turnaround in college football in 2007 and looks to reestablish the Illini among the elite in the nation. However in 2009, they had a set-back to reach that goal.

Zook was the head coach for Florida for three years before going to Illinois in 2005. His overall head coaching record is 44-53. He is an offensive minded coach as Illinois has let the Big 10 in rushing and passing over his five years. Zook's 2007 team defeated No. 1 Ohio State 28-21. Zook has never played against Nebraska.

"When someone came up with the statement `He has the fire in his belly, to be a great coach,' I think he was evaluating coaches that fit Ron Zook's profile. I had the opportunity to get to know Ron as well as watch him coach while he was at Ohio State and Florida. I recognized a coach with tremendous passion for what he does and a real compassion for those he works with and coaches."

- Dick Vermeil, Long-time NFL Head Coach

OSU is going to the PAC 10

Now its Oklahoma State to the PAC 10 as things are starting to unravel in the Big 12. Nebraska looks headed to the Big 10.

The fact that Nebraska is headed to the Big 10 is a lot more than athletics. It is about academics, research money, money for the athletic department and a long term stability in a strong conference.

Northwestern is all but the Midwest Harvard. Michigan gets tons of research money. The Big 10 TV conference is worth $10 million a year for each conference team. If they go to a playoff, which they will, that will bring in another $10 million.

Where does this leave the rest of the conference. The Texas schools except Baylor could go to the PAC 10. They are trying to tie up two BCS playoff teams.

Iowa State will go where. Time will tell. They might be a good fit for the MAC conference where Ohio plays.

Kansas is an elite basketball school so will they form a new conference with the Big East teams; maybe with Kansas State? Where will Missouri go? Big 10? Interesting. Could Texas go to the SEC? I don't think so. I am surprised that the Big 12 is deciding to disintegrate. If Tennessee left the SEC would they have split? I don't think so.

What's your comments. I still wished we would have stayed in the Big 12 but now the Big 10 is the way to go.

Maybe NU can make the league more offensive mined. I have been to a couple of Big 10 games are they are sort of boring with the strong defenses and unimaginative offenses. Great defensive coaching may be less of premium. What are all our defensive back recruits going to do? The linebackers should be happy as we may be back to the base defense in 2012, which is probably when our new schedules begin.

So much more to talk about. Will we play Kansas, Oklahoma, or Texas in the next few years. Turner Gill has to be disappointed. Will the Big 10 boycott Notre Dame in scheduling beings they didn't join the Big 10? I hope politics aren't that bad.

Sport Shorts!

Alex Gordon is hitting .372 at Omaha. How long before he goes to Kansas City. He is just one injury away from heading there.

Remember the big deal about Simi Kuli a couple of years ago. He was one of the top recruits in the country and he never attended Oregon State where he committed. What a waste.

Dr. Lehr, who I have heard speak a few times, says the present cleanup in the Gulf is presently like using a teaspoon to clean up a 200,000 cattle lot. What a mess. The oil is coming out at 4000 psi compared to a well in Nebraska on a pivot that would have a psi of 80. 4000 psi is like 50 wells pumping oil in the gulf.

Top movies I have seen lately is Ironman 2, Seven Pounds, and Taking Pelham 123.

The Big 10/Big 12/PAC 10 talk is interesting but it would be nice to know what is going to happen. NU is a key to what happens. I vote we stay in the Big 12.

Lots of racing today!

It was kind of exciting watching Ashley Judd running to her husband after he won the Indy 500 today. Dario Franchitti wins his second Indy 500.

What a cool name Will Power is. He let today for a lap or so.

Albert Puhols hit three homers today. He's awesome and the best there is.

What's the deal with the Kansas City Royals hitting when Zach Greinke pitches. Yesterday they got beat 1-0. Friday night the Royals had 12 runs. He is 1-7 and should be 7-1.

Remember those that have lost their lives so that we can live in freedom. Happy Memorial Day!

Facebook Inbox - 明版的Howard drum show!!! [HQ].mp4

Will we join the Big 10?

Nobody of power has said anything. Mostly the press has taken this whole story to a new level. Is it a possibility? Yes.

As a fan, the first thing I think of is how the match-ups will be. I mostly think of football. This is the biggest thing going at Nebraska most of the time. I wonder if this would even be talked about before the new coaching staff was hired and we saw success in the program again.

How would it be not playing Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas in football? This is assuming Missouri goes to the Big 10 also. It may take a few years for our football team to be playing these teams in non-conference games if we leave the Big 12. They could sort of boycott us. Who knows.

It would be exciting to play Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan St., Notre Dame(if they join the Big 10), and Penn State. Of course there would have to be two divisions for this to work out. We may not play each of those teams every year. There would also be Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Purdue, Northwestern, and Wisconsin.

The Big 10 plays a different brand of football. They play tough defense and mostly run first, pass second on offense. Games are many times 17-14 or low scoring of some sort. We won't see the 56-44 games that we see in the Big 12. That is unless they change their offenses and go different areas for faster and quicker recruits.

Right now we can drive to a Kansas, Kansas State, Misssouri, or Colorado game. If we go to the Big 12, we would probably drive to an Iowa game and Missouri game if they would join. Otherwise you are flying somewhere. Flights to Chicago are available so if you get that far, you can rent a car and get to a lot of the Big 10 schools but it will take special travel plans.

Now to men's basketball. I think Nebraska could be more competitive in the Big 10. We'll have to step it up a notch but Nebraska won't have to play Kansas or Texas as often. The Big 12 is arguably the top conference in basketball in the nation. The Big 10 is competitive but hasn't had the power teams the past few years. With Texas down this past year both the Big 10 and Big 12 had four ranked teams.

In women's basketball the Big 12 is the best conference in America with seven teams being ranked last year. The Big 10 had two.

In volleyball, Penn St. has been a power the past few years. As a conference the Big 12 may be a little stronger but the Big 10 would be very competitive.

Baseball? I think kids want to play in the Big 12. Lots of talent and probably the best conference in most years from top to bottom.

AS I said in a previous message, the Big 12 is a very strong conference and to save it they need to market itself better. Texas has to stop acting like a bully and work more with the rest of the league, especially the North schools.

New arena and the Big 10 conference!

It's a great day for the state of Nebraska. The new arena that was approved for Lincoln should add a great venue for Nebraska to attend events for many years to come. Traveling from Holdrege to Lincoln takes only two and half hours. We could be talking NCAA men and women's basketball tournaments of significance, top entertainers, and possibly even a Final Four in Lincoln. The sky is the limit. Nebraskans don't have a lot of top venues to watch these type of events. I would rather travel to Lincoln vs. Omaha just because of the less travel time.

The first year of basketball will be 2013-14. Some of the basketball players with four years of eligibility will get to play in the new arena. How exciting. One of the attraction is that after the game, you will have the opportunity to go eat and enjoy your time vs. the present situation of finding another place to park after you leave Devaney. This should be great for Lincoln. This will be great for Nebraskans.

Sounds like Bob Devaney will stay, at least for a while. The University needs this complex for track, swimming, and basketball practices. It was stated today that the University will spend $20 million for improvements. Parking is one need that will be improved.

The rumors are that Nebraska has been asked to join the Big 10 to make it the Big 14 or 15. Missouri, Nebraska, Rutgers, and Notre Dame were rumored to be the four teams of interest. Both Nebraska and the Big 10 deny the rumors. This whole thing gives the press an fans something to talk about. Next week there will be new rumors.

If it is true, should Nebraska go to the Big Ten Conference? I am a traditionalist and I don't care for change. The Big 12 and SEC are the main conferences in the Big 12. What happens if Texas would go to the SEC? I am not sure, but it would hurt the status of the Big 12. That's a question, if answered, would make the decision to move much easier.

The Big 10's status, in my opinion has dropped in basketball and football the past several years. Would we be making an improvement by moving to them? Yes, it is said that we could make another $5 to $10 million in TV income annually with the Big 10. How about the Big 12 getting with it and get better TV deals. They are a much superior conference in talent.

Nebraska would be hurt in football and possibly in basketball in recruiting. Texas has become a main area of recruiting and relationships have been built but what happens when NU is not on TV in Texas much anymore? How will recruiting be? Realistically, our main area of recruiting will be where the kids can see us on TV and that is in the Big 10 cities. Maybe we can play a bigger role in Ohio and Pennsylvania in recruiting. Hard to know.

I hope the Big 12 can market themselves better and improve the TV revenue. They need to get a long-term commitment from the key schools Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Nebraska. I am sure there is a debate as to who the key schools are but these four teams would make a great nucleus. The Big 12 has to take advantage of what they already have. There is no need to go somewhere else.

Tamara Lowe at Christ Fellowship

Ndamukong Suh on Subway Deal, NFL Earnings

Sam is Rolling!

Small Biz Success Without Banking Help

Spring game has answers and questions.

The Red-White game answered some questions. It also kept some things unanswered.

First nothing is decided, for sure, at quarterback except that we have great depth for the first time in years. Zac Lee is still our best quarterback when you look at all aspects of what it takes to lead a team. Taylor Martinez has proven he will play in "situations" this fall. Speed and running ability will get him in some plays. He looks to run sometimes before he passes. Cody Green looks great at times and throws a great long ball but has to improve his short passing.Kody Spano and Latravis Washington can throw the short passes which is so important in this offense. And then there is Ron Kellogg, Jr., who may be the smoothest quarterback on the field.It will be interesting to see if Brion Carnes redshirts with our present depth.

I see Zac Lee starting this fall with others playing more than we have seen backup quarterbacks play in the past.

Running backs look solid. Robinson only ran one time on Saturday which is unusual. Helu and Burkhead have already proved themselves. Austin Jones may be our fourth back however if Braylon Heard can learn the offense, he could be a factor also.

Niles Paul has arrived. Let's hope he stays healthy. He is a force. Brandon Kinnie showed he has improved also and drug defenders ten yards for a touchdown. Will Henry may have made his mark also. I hope he gets a lot of playing time this fall.

The offensive line had two starters out for the game Saturday, "Yoshi" and Ricky Henry. Depth is also improved. The question is "Do we have great players in the offensive line or is there just a lot of good ones"?

I was surprised how many backs were beaten on defense on Saturday. Is the offense that much better. This defense is supposed to be the best in America. They were limited to what they could do and that is a huge factor. Ricky Thenarse looks recovered. We didn't see much of the main starters. I guess we will wait to see this fall. They will be very good when they can use their schemes and blitzes.

Alex Gordon has been activated by the Kansas City Royals. Earlier than expected. He has one appearance with one walk.

I found this REALLY interesting. As of July 2009, 100,000 pages of selected full-text historical Nebraska newspapers dating from 1880 through 1922 are available on the Library of Congress's Chronicling America site http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica. Nebraska is one of 16 states that are participating.

Alex Gordon

3B Alex Gordon, on the disabled list and rehabbing with Class A Wilmington (Del.), is 2-for-8 with a double in his first four games. Gordon also has a .632 on-base percentage. He has walked six times and been hit by four pitches. Gordon is 2-for-2 against left-handed pitching. He broke his right thumb early in spring training.

USA TODAY

Great watch!! Suh is unbelievable!!

youtube.com

Here's what I think?

My name is Kimmie Suuhh! I have been asked to give a guest commentary now and then! Well with the Red-White game evolving this weekend, it would be a great chance for NU to have a big win!! I mean essentially it should be a good game but the Huskers should win!!

What's the deal with the peso. I think it just helps NU get the right players in the game without substituting so much. The other teams are being d-bags and just don't let us substitute properly and the referees don't help things so we will just show them by making the peso our base defense.

I think when the running back sits behind the center and runs the ball like Rex Burkhead did last year we should call that the EURO. I just don't understand calling it the Wildcat. Euro is more dynamic and sounds fluid like my coffee in this pot!

What are we going to do this year without yelling Suuuuuhhhhh!! I just can't come up with anything except Heluuuuuu!! What do you all suggest?

That's what I think. What do you think???

Random Sports!

San Antonio Sam Houston defensive tackle Quincy Russell decided that he wants to take more visits less than 24 hours after giving his verbal commitment to the Texas Longhorns.

Saying that he wants to take more visits, Russell indicated that he is not ruling out re-committing to Texas, but said that the Longhorns have only three scholarships remaining -- running back, defensive tackle, and defensive end.

Russell reports 17 scholarships offers and may visit Nebraska in the near future. We'll see what happens but he should be a good one!

Also Texas basketball player Avery Bradley may be headed to the NBA.

Third baseman Alex Gordon's return from a broken right thumb continues on schedule.

Gordon was assigned on Tuesday to begin an injury rehabilitation assignment with the Royals' Class A club at Wilmington, Del. He'll join the Blue Rocks on Thursday for a game at Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Royals Gil Meche had a good outing in his minor league rehab pitching performance. Said it was the best he has felt in a long time.

Random Sports!

Cubs lose 16-5 to the Braves. The umpires are blamed for losing the game on a bad call. Must of been huge losing by eleven. The Royals lost 8-4. Greinke pitched great but the relief pitching was absolutely horrible.

Alex Gordon may start the season in AA at Wichita for his rehab.

Matt Howard has an ugly mustache for Butler. Probably will cause them to lose.

Red-White game is in two weeks. Looks like on defense we'll have Allen, Meredith, Crick, Steinkuhler, Dennard, Amukamara, Compton, Fisher, Hagg, Thenarse, and PJ Smith.On offense at least after this spring Cody Green, Helu, Legate or Kyle Reed, McNeil, Kinnie, Paul, Hardick, Caputo, Quale (Ricky Henry when he returns),Marcel Jones, and Keith Williams. Martinez may play the "Wildcat". Burkhead will challenge Helu to start.

Duke wins as Butler just misses a three-pointer.

Football is back!

This is a picture taken by my daughter Jessica with her I-Phone last season.

Do you remember who played in last year's World Series. It was the Yankees and Phillies. The Yankees won the world championship after an eight year drought. The Phillies lost despite the great offense by Chase Utley.

The Royals and Cubs look to be normal again this year. Both will end up with losing seasons. The Royals are my favorite team. Gordon is on the DL and headed to Omaha for his first stop.

Look to Sam Bradford the QB from Oklahoma to be the number one draft pick.

Why was 24 canceled after this season?

Kudos for the women Husker basketball team! 30-2

The Nebraska secondary has twelve players that could have started two years ago. The talent level is high. PJ Smith is a starter at safety. Thenarse, Cassidy, Gomes,and Courtney Osborne will challenge for the other starter. Our new defense called the peso is now our base defense. It is a lot like are previous nickel package.

Big night in Nebraska basketball!

Tonight is the biggest night in the history of Nebraska basketball. The NU women take on Kentucky and Victoria Dunlap, the SEC player of the year. It will be a tough game but expect NU to come out victorious in a close one.

"We fail far more often by timidity than by over-daring." ~David Grayson

Nebraska lost game 2 of the Oklahoma baseball series 4-1. Nebraska has lost the first two games of the weekend series.

Spring has begun. Taylor Martinez is getting a lot of kudos. So how about him setting up in the "Wildcat" and letting him run with the ball or possibly passing the ball? Rex Burkhead ran for 34 yards on his first carry from that formation last year. I like the Mike McNiel switch to wide receiver. Maybe he can get more touches.

"Happiness doesn't depend on who you are or what you have, but upon what you think." Dale Carnegie

The NCAA brackets are a mess. The national championship will be the West Virginia vs the Baylor-Duke winner.

Random Sports!

Oklahoma basketball coach Jeff Capel confirmed today that Tommy Mason-Griffin and Ray Willis will not return for the 2010-11 season.

Random Sports!

The Cubs have invested nearly $200 million in outfielders Kosuke Fukudome, Marlon Byrd and Alfonso Soriano. This winter they still felt the need to add an established fourth – Xavier Nady.

The best outfielder may be Tyler Colvin. Colvin, a 2006 first round draft pick. The 24-year-old entered Tuesday with a .442 batting average (19-for-43) that ranked fourth in the Cactus League. His 19 hits led the majors while his 28 total bases were second in Arizona.

QB Kody Spano is being kept out of some drills this spring to continue his rehab.When he does start to play he may wear a green jersey. Left offensive tackle Mike Smith may get time at guard and center this spring.

Mississippi beat Texas Tech in 2 OT's 70-67 in NIT play tonight.

The Husker women lead 56-40 vs. UCLA with 11:30 left in the game. Go Huskers!

Random Sports!

Kansas is out of the tournament and Cornell is still in! Go figure! Steve Donahue is their coach and he may be moving up with some pretty good offers. Their motion offense is fun to watch.

Leading the race for the Texas Longhorns at running back are Tre' Newton and Fozzy Whittaker. Newton is going to be a sophomore this year and Fozzy Whittaker has the coolest name. They have separated themselves from the rest of the talented running backs that includes Chris Whaley, who Nebraska was interested in a while back.

I’ve liked Justin Allgaier since his ARCA days, and when he won his first ever NASCAR race in Saturday’s Nationwide event at Bristol, I realized this kid is ready for prime time. Besides that he is a great kid.

Joba Chamberlain is still battling for the 5th starting position for the Yankees.

"You never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result." Gandhi

Sad news about Justin Tomerlin. Hopefully it isn't true.

If the Nebraska women beat UCLA on Tuesday night, which we think they will, then they will probably play Kentucky. Kentucky has the SEC player of the year in Victoria Dunlap, a Junior forward. Should be interesting. The Wildcats won 70-52 tonight.

"You must take action now that will move you towards your goals. Develop a sense of urgency in your life." H. Jackson Brown

OSU standout going to NBA!

Oklahoma State's James Anderson is headed to the NBA!

Oklahoma's basketball troubles continue!

If Oklahoma's basketball season wasn't bad enough now this.

OU basketball player Tiny Gallon accepted $3,000

University of Oklahoma basketball player Tiny Gallon may have taken thousands of dollars from a well-known agent, according to a popular celebrity gossip Web site.

Lost Generation

Worth watching and listening to!

Liar Moment 3-10 - Modern Family

Great show!

Broken Bow's Scott is impressive!

My good friend Jim Scott has made this writer aware of his nephew, Nathan Scott. Nathan is getting some solid looks from Division I schools. Nebraska and Colorado St. have shown interest. Nathan comes from a vry athletic family

Scott's father Jerry Scott was an All-American for Kearney State the late 1970's, Jim is his uncle and he started at center for Nebraska in the early 90's and his older sister Nikki Scott is currently an All-American volleyball player at UNK.

Nathan recently attended Junior Day at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is being recruited as a linebacker but he might make a great safety in Division I. It may depend on his ability to play at a high level at a higher weight if he can play the linebacker position.

As a Junior, Nathan had 120 tackles and led Broken Bow to the C-1 semifinals.

Broken Bow linebacker Nathan Scott had a 120 tackles as a junior.
Nathan Scott appears to be headed down a similar pathway, as he helped lead Broken Bow in the Class C-1 semifinals as a junior, which was the furthest they've advanced as a program since 1986.

He plays quarterback for Broken Bow and has the speed to play other positions also.

We will continue to have the Nathan Scott watch as the next year approaches.

The Nebraska men's basketball TEAM wins!

Nebraska beat Missouri in opening round play at the Big 12 Championship in Wednesday. Key ingredients were 1) Play like a team 2) Hit the basket 3) Play great defenses and 4) Play like a TEAM. Doc had the players that play together the best on the floor Wednesday. The players reacted in a positive way with the win.

Matt Hill played one of his best games of the season vs. Iowa State on Wednesday night. Texas won. Hill had 12 minutes of play, three rebounds, three points, one tremendous block, and a zillion screens. Great job Matt!

Sport Shorts

Erin Andrews will be on Dancing With The Stars. I might have to watch the dumb show now. Pam Anderson, Kate Gosselin,and Chad Ochocinco are all scheduled for the show.

Twins closer Joe Nathan may be out for the season.

Quentin Toailoa's name is not at the NU football roster this spring. It is also rumored that Cruz Barrett and Ben Martin may not play out their career at Nebraska. They are both listed as seniors. Let's hope that isn't true as they are talented players who can help, if anything else, if there is injuries and in practices.

Cole Pensick has been switched to center from defensive end.

UCONN women's basketball has a 71 game winning streak. This is one of sport's greatest accomplishments. It would be cool if Nebraska would get a shot at them.

John Krasinski is signing a multi-film deal and may be the next "Captain America". It will be interesting how that will affect his whole career. He is Jim in The Office.

Betty White will appear on Saturday Night Live. It will be one the most watched episodes in years.

A Big 12 team will be represented in the new Pinstripe Bowl in New York on 12/30. ESPN will televize the game.

Nebraska baseball is 3-7. They play UNK at home tommorrow. Adam Bailey leads the team batting .378 and 26 total bases with two home runs. The next best offensive player so far is BJ Belfonte with a .357 average and 18 total bases.

The best pitcher is Casey Hauptman with a 1.69 ERA in 16 innings. Even with the great ERA he is 0-2. Freshman Tom Lemke is 2-0 with a 3.65 ERA. Jordan Roualdes has a 2.25 ERA but is 0-0 in eight innings.

St. Louis Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo and general manager Billy Devaney attended the Oklahoma Pro Day Tuesday, namely to watch Gerald McCoy, who is one of the players under consideration with the Rams for the No. 1 overall draft pick. Spagnuolo said he plans to return March 25 for Bradford’s Pro Day.

The Oklahoma spring practice still shows that Oklahoma needs a better offensive line. We will see how they address that before next season.

I haven't heard anybody say they didn't love Blind Side except some critics who said it made them gag. I STILL haven't seen it.

Nebraska has made an offer to Brett Hundley, a quarterback from Chandler, Arizona.

Little Moron joke: The "Little Moron" was so stupid he lost $10 on the football game and $10 more on the instant replay.



This skater was a naughty girl!!

Former Froggy 98 has new blog

Deanna Kastinos is no longer on the Froggy 98 radio morning show in Lincoln but she now has a new blog. Enjoy it. It's called adaywithhuskermama and it has been added to my blog list. Let me know if you like it!

Women's team is 29-0 without new arena!

Do we need a new arena? It would help recruiting. The men's basketball team needs a boost. I don't think we can blame the demise of the men's team on not having the best facilities. Look at the women's basketball team. They play with similar facilties and yet they a Top 3 team in the nation. Nebraska has been able to pick up more Nebraska girls and, in that case, I think the expectations of updated facilities is less. The recruiting becomes easier.

But will the better facilities take the men's team to a higher level? It will help recruiting but the program will need much more.

Nebraska has to have a Nebraska connection to be good. The women's program has Dominique Kelley (Lincoln Northeast) and Yvonne Turner (Bellevue East)from Nebraska. Nikki Bober (Murdoch), who is hurt this season, also gives that Nebraska flavor. They are invaluable to the team as players and they also have that Nebraska work ethic.

The men don't have that. Nobody's fault. Talent has been down in boy's basketball to the fact that we haven't had Division I talent. Eliason from Chadron is going to the University of Minnesota. We'll wait and see what he contributes to that team. Drake Beranek from Ravenna and a transfer from UNK will provide that Nebraska tie but otherwise there isn't much there. Let's hope Nebraska produces two or three Division I players each year soon. Nebraska needs this!

What about coaching? I really like Doc Sadler and his blue collar approach but the team is not getting better. Is it bad luck with injuries? Can our coaches recruit. I really think that is yet to be decided. Time may be running out. 2010-11 will be critical for Nebraska to improve....improve substantially. Nebraska could have won four or five more games this year if they would have finished and that makes a different season from this fan's view. Next year Nebraska needs to be .500 or better in the Big 12.

Kansas and Texas recruit 3-5 players in the Top 100 players each year. Now Baylor, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas A & M, etc. are all recruiting players in the Top 100. Nebraska just hasn't done so.

The turnover in the men's program has been huge. Last year we lost Alonzo Edwards and Cookie Miller. The year before we lost Jay-R-Stowbridge and Alex Chapman. Some of these players would have contributed this year. If you add in Rubert Sallie, the lost recruit and we may have had a different looking team this year. Some of the players that had to play this year were probably a year away from developing into Big 12 talent.

But the fact is we have recruited too many players that couldn't play in the Big 12. We've had too many Shang Pings. The coaches have to better identify the players that can play in this league.

Injuries have also hurt. Christopher Nieman and Toney McCray were starters this season.

So bad luck, or injuries, or coaching, or facilities? What is keeping Nebraska down? It is all of them but if the program doesn't advance Doc Sadler may the one going out. Let's hope next season Nebraska gets to that level we appreciate as Nebraska fans. Deep down I hope I Coach Doc Sadler is the one that takes us there. This season is all but over.

100 most viewed videos in 200 seconds

NU Coaches in KC

I received this in an e-mail today. Thought I would pass it on. Pretty Interesting.

NU Football Coaches in K C

> > The coaching staff was in KC, recently.
> The below is an interesting comment from a K
> C area High School coach.

> I am a high school coach in the Kansas City area.
Every month we have our Greater Kansas City Football
> Coaches Association meetings at Central States
> Distributorship (Coors and Miller). They open up all the
> taps for us and a college staff comes in to do a clinic.
>
> I have gone to the meetings for 12 years. I have seen
> KState, KU, MU, even OU. They usually bring a few coaches,
> talk for half an hour, drink a few beers and leave.
>
> Tonight was the Nebraska
> staff's turn. I was stunned when every single coach on
> the NU staff showed up, Bo included. Bo spoke at the
> beginning to approx. 500 coaches from both KS/MO, stating
> his intention to make KC players a priority. Watson and Carl
> each talked for an hour and then every coach (including BO)
> did a breakout session for another 45 minutes. They were
> still going when I had to leave.
>
> I got Bo a beer, and he told me to give his brother shit
> while he was speaking. One of the assistants from my school
> who is a TX guy even commented how hard it is to not like
> these guys. I was never more proud to be an NU fan.
> GBR.
>
>
>
> Two
> things I forgot to add:
> 1. Watching cut ups during Carl's talk made me remember
> once again what an unbelievable freak athlete Suh is.
> 2. Carl said he kept the defense in the same base set 68
> out of 72 snaps in the Arizona
> game. Only stunted 4 times.
>
>
>
> Something
> I wrote down that Carl said:
> 1. "Misalignments and missed assignments will beat you
> long before physical mismatches."
>
> 2. He believes in lots of talking on the field.
>
> 3. He gives the players a lot of responsibility in getting
> in the right defense and asks for their input during game
> planning.
>
> 4. He also told a story about how last spring Suh came to
> him and had Carl teach him every aspect of the
> defense....LB's, Secondary, stunts, coverages...all of
> it. He truly believes that once Suh understood what everyone
> did and why they did it, he raised his game to a whole new
> world.

Nerbaska baseball will be very solid this year!

Nebraska baseball is 1-3, but Fresno State will be back to the College World Series this year so I'll take the three losses as a learning experience. The younger players are playing well and should get only better. Nebraska should have won three of four but relief pitching in the ninth inning didn't come through. They'll get that figured out.

Nebraska (men) goes to Iowa State tomorrow night and we are the underdogs. Surprised? Just kidding. Look for Nebraska to get three victories out of the four remaining games. They are due for some good fortune. Jones and Holley won't be playing due to academic problems so we will be short. Look for a player or two not to get their scholarships back next year as Doc has to find a couple of shooters that can play every game.

The Nebraska women may have their toughest test to date. Look for a great game and hopefully the magic continues. Really it isn't magic when you are 25-0. They have a great team.

Have you been to a basketball game lately?

I've been asked this question a dozen dimes this past week. I answer with a phrase "I've only been to two games and I'm a season ticket holder. It hasn't worked for me to go much this year. Besides that they aren't playing so well." The person looks at me strangely because they are referring to the women's team. That is what Nebraska fans are excited about and they should be at 25-0. Going to a basketball game in Lincoln today means going to watch the women. Fans are excited!! It's about about the only game in town today.

Women's basketball had 11,000 fans on Ash Wednesday vs. Iowa State. Yesterday they packed in 12,800 for Colorado. Last year they had a 3,200 average in attendance. This year they are at 6,500 and are headed to a top 10 finish in attendance in college women's basketball. Fans will come if you have a winner.

For this fan the Nebraska men have had three losses that really bothered me. That was the 56-53 loss to Iowa State at home, the 40 point loss at Texas and the 16 point loss to Missouri at home. Otherwise they have been competitive. Let's hope they finish strong.

Nebraska football is kind of quiet right now. The coaches, I am sure, are preparing for what they want to do next year. The trend is to run with more power sets. Maybe we will finally see a fullback run the ball. Maybe three or four times a game. Let's hope we do!!

Sport Shorts

Alabama has some problems. It looks like starting safety Robby Green will be suspended for unknown reasons.

USC is being investigated by the NCAA for violations in football and basketball. They could be in big trouble. Pete Carroll leaving for Seattle may be more than it seemed. This could be interesting. Could Texas and Oklahoma end up with National Championships from the past due to possible sanctions. Stay tuned.

Jim Scott, Nebraska's starting center in the mid 90's, told me today that his brother's boy is going to Junior Day next weekend. He is Nathan Scott from Broken Bow. He is being recruited as a safety. Colorado State is making calls on him also. Sean Callahan was in Broken Bow this week to talk to him. Nathan is 6'3" and weighs 185. He has run a 4.63 40. Seems to be a lot of talent in Nebraska coming up.

Nebraska plays Fresno State tonight in its first baseball game. Speculation is that Nebraska could be pretty good again. Nebraska has 17 newcomers and plays Fresno who won two games in the College World Series last year. They are expected to return again this year. Watch for NU to be very competitive.

Nebraska men have another tough one!

This Nebraska fan is in a hurry to get to the next men's basketball game!

Doc Sadler is proud of his team's effort this season! After a 40 point loss against Texas he said that they ran into a buzz saw which they did. NU made a lot of mistakes and Texas did every thing right.

What Doc is proud of is the attitude of his players. They haven't given up. They lack scorers. They lack shooters. They lack muscle under the boards but... they are still playing together. They seem to get along great. No trouble makers during all this diversity. Its a credit to Doc and his team. With baseball around the corner will this team be forgotten soon. Hope not. This fan will continue to watch and support them. They still have two or three wins in them and a good upset left.

Now it is easy to support the woman's team. Undefeated and headed to a #1 seat, they have been amazing. Against Missouri they were beat. Down six with three minutes to go and playing away,they were beat. Missouri had only seven turnovers at that point and was playing great on their home floor. But somehow NU figured out a way to win. Missouri had five or six turnovers in the final three minutes and NU capitalized. They are fun to watch and they refuse to lose.

Jamie McMurray drove to victory on Sunday. The race was marred with two long delays because of potholes in the track. Those last 30 laps were exciting and Jr. showed he can still race finishing second.

Did you know Tom Osborne roomed with Jack Kemp when he played in the NFL? Did you know Boyd Epley was a pole vaulter before he became the first real strength coach in college football?

I'm getting tired of all this talk of teams switching conferences. I guess I'm a traditionalist.

Taunting by a player scoring a touchdown before he scores will result in the touchdown being taken away and a 15 yard penalty from the sot the taunting occurred. This begins in the 2010 season. This could change a game around.

The weather stinks and the football season is officially over for this year. Thank goodness its only 59 days until the Red-White game.

The Oklahoma Sooners have home games against Florida State and Air Force this 2010 season. They play at Cincinnati away and then play Texas in Dallas. Pretty nice set of games to watch as a fan.

Kevin Durant had gone 25 games in a row with 25 points or more before the NBA break. The former Texas star is impressive.

Top TV Shows right now are:
1. Modern family
2. The Office
3. Parks and recreation
4. 24
5. Men of a Certain Age

Daytona 500

Barring getting involved in the Big One, which is a major wreck that will take out half the field, Tony Stewart will win today. Look for Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch to challenge. Other contenders are Harvick and Kahne. Of course this race sometimes has anunknown come forward also. So enjoy the race!!

5-year-old Savannah's Calm Call with 911 - THE BONNIE HUNT SHOW

When the Husker men get beat by 40 today, I had to find something to cheer me up!

Nebraksa's recruiting class

Bleacher Report

American Idol - Worst Singer Ever!!! #5 Parody!!!!

Random Sports!

Lane Kiffin received a commitment from a 13 year old quarterback from Delaware. Come on!

Jacon Hickman, NU's starting center, is passing on a pro career and not going to the NFL Combine. Probably a case of burnout.

The Super Bowl should read something like this: Colts take the early lead; the Saints have a great second quarter and tie or take the lead; regulation ends in a tie; and anybody can win.

In the NBA, Cleveland has the best record at 41-11 and the Lakers are second at 38-13. The worst record is New Jersey at 4-46.

Brian Diaz had 20 points and nine rebounds vs. #1 Kansas on Saturday.

Nebraska men BB team keep it close in Lawrence!

ESPN Sportsw

Danica Patrick races in ARCS today at 3:30

Danica Patrick races today in her first ARCA race. That is enough for me to watch it. There are six women in the race today. Trivia question: Who won ARCA last year? Go Daddy!

The NU Kansas men's game tonight is a non-event. KU by 15 only because the Jayhawks may be looking ahead to the Longhorns, their next game.

The Super Bowl is here! I just can't get a feeling on this game. To me it is an even game and the one that has the least turnovers wins!

The Nebraska women won again today. Like 5-0 against the South in the Big 12. Amazing!! Could it be the FINAL 4?

Pelini makes fun of recruiting services.

Bo Pelini let the press know that he doesn't think a lot of the recruiting services. He mentioned to talk to him in two years and we'll evaluate this class. That will be after the coaches have time to develop them.

Is he nuts? The recruiting services are the bible for many football fans.

Here's the facts. Only 13 five star players were among the 93 different players that received All-American status. Five star are the players that "can't miss" in college and will succeed in the pros. 50 of the 93 All-Americans were three star or lower. That is more than half.

Here's more! One in 15 five star recruits make All-American status. Also, one in 54 four-star recruits make All-American. So being a four or five star doesn't guarantee greatness.

Good facilities and great coaches make the difference. Coaches develop players. That appears to be a more important factor than almost any other.

Nebraska is in good hands and they feel very confident they recruited a great bunch of players. Now we develop them and they will have to have the character to work hard and reach their full potential.

I like the recruiting services to keep up on who what's going on. It's just their analysis doesn't seem to judge character and the passion for that player to put the team first.

Turner Gill had 18 signees at Kansas. Kansas got two really good receivers in Terry Keeston and Ricki Herod Jr. Out of the 18, eight were from Texas which is not a surprise. Gill is from Texas and recruited there when he was at Buffalo. Defensive and offensive players were divided equally.

72 days until the Red-White game.

The Husker women's basketball team continues to amaze. They knock off a Top 10 team at the Devaney by almost 20 points. Nebraska was up over 30 points a lot of the game. Griffin scores one point per minute played. Yvonne Turner holds Riley to 4-15 shooting. Riley had been averaging 32 points a game in Big 12 play. The Huskers are for real. Can they continue their focus game as game. They have so far!!! Ammazing.

K-State is one of the best teams in America

K-State is tough. They play like a team. They have great talent. Even with that NU should provide a good game Tuesday night night.

Diaz and Ubel must be aggressive on offense for NY to win. Diaz shot nine times vs. Oklahoma and was key to the victory. Richardson and Anderson also have to have a high shooting percentage. They are our scorers. Bear Jones still hasn't recovered from an injury.

Look to NU to go down 70-62 in this one. NU's next seven game are going to be really hard to win. Hopefully they can win one or two in that stretch.

I love Doc Sadler. Why? They are losing. It's "let's get rid of the coach" time again.

Here why I support Doc Sadler. The mission statement of the UNL athletic department is "serve our student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans by displaying integrity in every decision and action; building and maintaining trust with others; giving respect to each person we encounter; pursuing unity of purpose through teamwork; and maintaining loyalty to student-athletes, coworkers, fans and the University of Nebraska."

It didn't say anything about winning although we all want that bad. Doc Sadler is a great person and with time he will have a winner. In the meantime, he has Nebraska mentality of hard work and we will be the best team we can be. Nebraska may win three games in the Big 12 this year but I give Doc a B+. He's headed in the right direction with the right set of values.

Nebraska men will win its first conference game Saturday!

Look to Nebraska to win this week in Lincoln vs Oklahoma. Yes they are 0-5 in the conference. I have heard this week that the team won't win another game this year. Well, they will prove you wrong tomorrow.

Nebraska has to keep the Sooners in the high 50's or low 60's to win. Richardson, Jones, and Anderson have to a good game. They are the scores. It would be nice to see Diaz and Ubel to shoot 6-10 times each. They just aren't getting shots.

And then it always seems somebody steps forward this time of year to play great ball and really nobody has done that this year. We need somebody to step up. Maybe one of the players that haven't done much such as Gallegos. I guess we will see. Anderson has been the most consistent and is the closest player to this role.

Look to NU to win 67-59. Yes NU wins 67-59.

Sammy telling us about his pants...on the ground

Samuel speaks out!

Adrian Fiala wll be missed on game day!

I really like Adrian Fiala and his frank way as a color commentator. Don't get me wrong I like Greg Sharpe, Matt Davison, and Lane Grindle also. But Fiala always added that experience factor as a former player and the Nebraska way. His presence was invaluable. I enjoyed the Davison and Fiala views to the game. It was a good matchup. This is one Husker fan that will miss that. It won't be the same listening to the Red-White game and the games this fall.

NFC AFC Championship Predictions!

There should be a couple of good games with great story lines today. The Jets may have the best defense right now. The Jets/Colts game will be a little ugly at times.
Can they upset Peyton Manning and the Colts?

Brett Favre is playing today and that's always an interesting story. Most fans are really for or against him. This writer is for him.

Colts 24 Jets 17
If the game is close in the third quarter, the Jets have a great chance to win. They are starting to believe in themselves. But Peyton Manning will be his usual self and direct the Colts to victory. Manning is one of the best quarterbacks of all time and Sanchez is in his first year. Look to Sanchez to make a few mistakes and Manning to take over this game.

Vikings 38 Saints 34
I really like the Saints. Brees had a great year and in most games they dominated. This should be a shootout. The Saints defense has had injuries and at times have been scored on pretty easily late in the season. The Saints were the best for the first 3/4s of the season. The Vikings defensive front is awesome. Their defense causes turnovers. Favre will take advantage of the opportunity and pass to a win. With the Vikings defense and their passing attack they will find a way to win. Also Adrian Peterson will have a breakout game today. He has been held in check but not today. This should be a fun game to watch and after the game watch Favre sing "Pants on the Ground"!!

Over 13,000 fans watched the NU women's basketaball team beat K-State 71-56 to go 17-0. Yvonne Turner hit six 3's. The attendance was 13,303 which is only 292 short of completely filling Devaney. Kelsey Griffin recorder her fourth straight double-double. There are no signs of let up at this time. This team is the hottest thing going at Nebraska right now.

On the men's side, Missouri beat NU yesterday 70-53. NU stayed close for 3/4's of the game but then faltered at the end. This is becoming a trend. Teams hate to play NU because they slow the game down and give themselves a chance to win. They are 0-4 in the Big 12 but they could easily be 2-2. Don't give up on them. They can win at Colorado, although it isn't a given. Should be a close game. Then next Saturday they should beat Oklahoma. Nebraska's experience is 1.37 years compared to the Division I average of 1.70 years. They should and will get better as the season goes. Richardson and Jones have to get healthy. Nebraska is one of the nation's best 3 point shooting teams at 39.6. 34.1 is the average. They have been good at taking care of the call and getting steals on defense. Saturday they had 12 turnovers and Missouri only had five. Very unusual for Nebraska. They must get better at free throws and rebounding.

The NU men are 87th in the Pomeroy ratings. This is compared to a finish in the mid-70's a year ago. Look for them to improve.