The Florida Gators will win tonight!

The Florida Gators will repeat as national champions in NCAA basketball. They are a great team and Ohio State will be defeated by ten points or more.

Baseball has started!!!

The 2007 season has started and it should be a fun year. Barry Bonds should break the all-time home run record presently held by Henry Aaron. This should be a breakout year for the Royals. The Royals beat the powerful Red Sox today 7-1. Alex Gordon was 0-3 with two strikeouts. Watch for the Royals to challenge for a playoff bid in 2007.

The Cubs lost today which is no surprise. However they do have big news as the "Tribune" plans to sell at year-end. Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, Phoenix sports executive Jerry Colangelo and actor Bill Murray are among those reported or rumored to have interest, along with numerous Chicago business figures.This could be the break that will make them winners. The Red Sox sold in 2002 and after many years of not winning a World Series, they now have won.

The Royals will win more games than the Cubs in 2007 but watch for the Cubs to win the World Series by 2011. What's the big deal to wait four more years when it has been so long anyway.

Purify catches Sean Payton's eye!

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

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

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

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

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

Zach Bowman injures his knee today!

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

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

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

White and Marks are leaving the NU basketball team!

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

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

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

Sports Shorts

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

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

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

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

Husker baseball team is average right now!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sports Shorts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

March Madness Begins!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NU Women will go to post season!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

NU Men's BB will have difficult time making NIT

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

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

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

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

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

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

NU Men's BB Team will need to step up now!!

We now start our way to the NCAA tournament this week. We go to Baylor. Should be an easy one as we walk away with a 65-64 victory to move up the ladder in the Big 12. We may win the rest of our games which will put us in a great position entering the Big 12 tournament. This writer hopes that Kansas is on the other side of the bracket. Seriously, we need to finish strong and we should be in position to play in the NIT against some tough talent.

The NU women need to get going again and get out of their present tailspin.

High school BB tournament time is here and it will be fun again. Class A is wide open on the boy's side this year.

The first NASCAR race is now complete and what a mess that was. Look for the better drivers to finish up top this week. It was great to see Mark Martin go for the victory. This may be Kevin Harvick's year to win the points race.

Need comments on the following questions:
1. How many victories will the NU men BB team end the season with?
2. What will be the score of our Wed. game this week vs. Baylor?
3. Who will win the Nextel Cup points race this year?

"We Are Marshall"

"We Are Marshall" is the best show this writer has seen in a long time. This is a true story based on a tragic airplane crash that involved the Marshall football team. 75 members of the Marshall football team coaching staff and fans were killed in the crash. The movie is about grieving families and the leadership of Jack Lengyel, a young coach who was determined to rebuild the football team. By doing this he helped a community heal and gain strength.

This is a movie where you don't look at the watch to see if it is about over. It is a great movie and the acting is superb. You can feel the emotions of each one of them. Matthew McConaughey as Jack Lengyel and Antony Mackie as Nate Ruffin are tremendous. Matthew Fox as Jack Dawson does such a great job.

Go see this movie. It is true, well acted, and will have an impact on your life.

Josh Pfeifer of Holdrege was 37-0 going into the State Wrestling meet. He was beaten inhis second and fourth matches. Josh broke the wins, pins, and total points records for Holdrege this year. He ended the season 39-2 and should be proud of his career as a wrestler.

Kansas plays the NU men's team today. Look for this one to be closer which isn't saying much. I think NU will keep it within ten. Predicted score 65-56, Kansas.

What are your predictions for this game?

NU BB will play in the NCAA tournament!

Yes, the NU women will go to the NCAA tournament this year and will do well.

The caption above is for the men's program. Huh? Yeah, NU will get slaughtered by national power Texas A & M tonight, right? Sure or will they. Who would have thought we would knock off Texas Tech on their home floor. Watch for a close game and a chance for NU to win at the end. And if they do then........

We play Kansas St., Missouri, Iowa St., Oklahoma, and Oklahoma St. at home yet. WE win four of five which is possible and that puts us at 7-6. We play Kansas, Baylor, and, Colorado away. We could take two out of three and that puts us 9-7 in the Big 12 with 20 wins. We are off to the NCAA tournament with 22 or 23 wins after the Big 12.

Don't give up yet and even with a loss tonight it is still possible if we finish really strong.

Predicted score tonight is Texas A & M 72 NU 66.

What are your thoughts on this?

Toyota is in NASCAR now. Will they have an impact? Will Michael Waltrip and Dale Jarrett be back in the top 10 in points? Give us your thoughts.

NU BB toughest game coming up

Texas A & M will be the NU toughest opponent to date this Saturday night. They have a ton of talent and just beat Kansas at at Kansas. Remember the team that was ahead of us 43-8. The NU BB won't back down and who knows what will happen so watch and enjoy. Charles Richardson continues to be a great leader.

The new recruiting class of 2007 has been announced. The Schulte kid from Norfolk has been added. Looks like a great class that will fill some of our needs in the future. This writer likes Jaivorio Burkes who turned down a scholarship at Wisconsin and Purdue among others. He is the No. 7 guard per Rivals.com.

Quentin Castille looks like a great running back from Arizona. He turned down offers from Georgia Tech and Louisville. This writer thinks Zach Lee could be the best of the bunch. He is a QB from a Juco in San Fransisco who has three years left to play. He did get hurt in December and may be limited in spring ball. He is the No. 1 Juco QB and is the son of Bob Lee,the former pro QB.

Look for Armando Murillo and Larry Asante to provide some immediate help at defensive back.

Coach Busch did an exceptional job of recruiting this year.

The two road wins back-to-back for the NU BB team were the first since 1999. Danny Nee's team did it twice that year.

Who is your favorite recruit. Let us know who he is and why you like him.

Lance Thorell will walk on at Nebraska

Mike Thorell, Lance's dad, verified that Lance will walk on at Nebraska for football. Lance has excelled at football, basketball, and track at Loomis High School. He may play wide receiver or defensive back. Either way, NU will get a hard working kid who will do everything he can to contribute to the NU program.

Lance is a cousin of Matt Hill, wo plays basketball for Texas. His grandpa, Don Thorell, has quite a group of grandkids who have done well as athletes. Megan Hill plays Kansas volleyball. Drew Billeter plays basketball at Hastings College. Luke Thorell was part of the Loomis basketball championship team along with Lance and Drew. There are still a couple of grandkids coming up.

Dan Reese of the BIGRED REPORT says of Lance "He a Legacy! WE will call him "Otter" because he otter be a goodun".

Last fall before the football season, we asked Lance some questions about himself. This was his reply.

Favorite Game Memory:

"Beating Bertrand 48-16"

Best Athlete You Have Played Against:

"Steve Dent of Mullen and Wade Vontz of Cambridge"

Favorite Team:

"Huskers"

Favorite Player:

"Michael Vick"

College Interested in You:

"Iowa, Doane, South Dakota, UNK, Concordia, Morningside, Dana"

College You Are Interested In:

"Iowa, Doane, UNK, South Dakota"

PERSONAL

What is Your Favorite Books:

"Sports magazines"

Who is Your Favorite Movie Actor:

"Brad Pitt"

What is Your Favorite Movie:

"Dumb and Dumber"

What is Your Favorite TV Show:

"That 70's Show"

Which Actor Would You Like To Be Like:

"Brad Pitt"

What Are Your Hobbies:

"Hunting and Playing Sports"

What is Important For You To Be Successful:

"Making money"

Thank you Lance for giving us this information.

Mike Masin will walk on at NU!

In the Lincoln Southeast-Lincoln East basketball game last year, this writer noticed the big kid who come in the game for Matt Hill. He could run well and was quick. His name was Mike Masin. . As a basketball player, Matt went 7-7 from the field in consecutive games.

Mike is one of the biggest kids playing high school football in Nebraska in 2006. He is 6'7" and weighs 300 lbs.

Masin was a leader for the Lincoln Southeast team. He started on both defense and offense in the line. Last year they were beaten by the state champs Millard North in the first round of the playoffs 49-0. This game was a huge disappointment but also was a building block during the summer for them to get better in 2006.

Mike will be a NU walk on this fall. Read what Mike had to say before the 2006 football season:

Favorite Game Memory:

"Beating Lincoln Northeast last season"

Best Athlete You Have Played Against:

"Zach Potter"

Best Team You have Played Against and the Year:

"Millard North 2005"

Favorite Team (Pro and College):

"Nebraska"

Favorite Player:

"Kurt Mann"

Colleges Interested in You:

"Iowa State, Kansas, Ohio, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas State, Colorado State, Nebraska, UN-Kearney"

College(s) You Are Interested In:

"Iowa State, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado State"

PERSONAL

Who Is Your Favorite Movie Actor:

"Will Ferrell"

What Is Your Favorite Movie:

"Talledega Nights"

What Is Your Favorite TV Show:

"The Daily Show"

Which Person Would You Like To Be Like:

"Will Shields"

What Are Your Hobbies:

"Music and my farm"

What Is Important For You To Be Successful:

"Work Hard"

At the Louisiana Tech/NU game last fall, Jake Gdowski and Masin were together visiting. This writer motioned over Jake and in visiting with him, he was asked about Masin. Jake said "he is really nice guy and a good football player!" He was the biggest recruit visiting that day.

We wish Mike the best of luck at Nebraska and will be looking forward to following his progress in the coming seasons.

Thanks for providing us with this information.

Sports in General

The NU basketball team continues to compete hard. They have four pretty good players in Alex Marik, Jamel White, Marcus Perry, and Charles Richardson. What they are lacking is more depth especially under the basket. Alex can't do it alone but besides him we have no other rebounding or scoring threats. With seven new recruits coming in next year will be brighter if Mariks stays. We will miss Charles Richardson as he is talented enough to start for about any college team.

The NU women's team contines to roll. The 25th ranked Huskers beat Kansas by 20 on Saturday. They are pretty good so if you get a chance to watch them you won't be disappointed.

Shawn Watson is the new offensive coordinator for the NU football team. He is definately qualified. We will miss Jay Norvell who is going to UCLA. How about Tom Osborne filling Shawn Watson's position? It has so many positives for recruiting and the overall image of the program.

You have to like Doc Sadler!

What are the chances of the NU men beating KU on Monday night? I think NU has a good chance to win but KU would have to be favored by 8-10 points. NU will beat a couple of powers this year. Will this be the first one? My score KU 72-NU 64.

Make your comments!!

First time in 2007

We has quite the ice storm. This has made it difficult to have access to internet.

The Texas-Nebraska basketball game is tomorrow night in Lincoln. Should be interesting to see how NU tries to stop Kevin Durant, the best freshman in America. Go see him play because he will be in the NBA next year. Nebraskan Matt Hill may be limited in action for the Longhorns as he has been slowed by injury. Texas will have a hard time stopping Mariks as his size and strength should be a factor. DJ Augustyn and Abrams will need to be stopped if they get hot shooting threes. It will be a battle of who can win the mismatches. Fouls could be a factor also. Look for a close one til the end and enjoy.

What is your predicted score? I'll go with Texas 69-NU 63.

I love Doc Sadler. He is inspiring and is fun to watch.