Some Random Weekend Thoughts

A few thoughts while eyeballing some Super Regional action on ESPN2...

Useless Trivia Observation: The 4 Friday-Sunday series all ended last night as two game sweeps. At least 3 of the 4 Saturday-Monday series will play game 3 tomorrow (Oregon State/Stanford is just getting underway as I post this...)

The Husker Information Minister has jumped on the bandwagon for one of the dumber ideas I've heard as of late: inviting President Bush to the Nebraska-Texas football game in October. Why dumb? Take your pick between security and politics. Security because game day already puts enough stress on campus and Lincoln police without adding the President into the mix. And politics because the game is three weeks before election day. This game likely will be big enough as it is. But hey, I've come to expect stupid things to come from Jim Rose's mouth.

Interesting article in the Journal-Star today about the Huskers testing the CorTemp "ingestible body temperature pill". An athlete swallows one of these pills, and then the training staff can monitor the vital statistics of players as they train during the heat of July and August. Likely, this is a reaction to last summer's death of Mizzou freshman Aaron O'Neal who died last July during summer conditioning. At $30 a pop, it's a small price to pay compared to the price of a human life. However, at the same time, it does make you wonder if they could be recycled, although finding volunteers to recover it, not to mention reuse, make that an unpleasant proposition.

The World-Herald ran an extensive story on Tommie Frazier's situation at Doane College. At the start of pre-season camp last August, Doane had more than 100 football players. For the final game of the season, less than 60 suited up. Now, the roster is down to 40 players; only 3 of which are offensive linemen. As Husker fans learned in 2004, change can be difficult. Some folks will bring up the old strawman of "some people resist change", but people need to remember that the only thing change ensures is that things won't be the same. Change can be for the better...or the worse. In the case of Frazier and Doane, it sure looks like this change hasn't been for the better to this point.

Thanks to the NHL's poor TV deal with OLN, very few people have been watching a really good Stanley Cup Playoff season. The problem with OLN hasn't been their coverage; it's actually been pretty good. The problem is that many cable companies (including Omaha's crappy Cox Cable) stick OLN on the digital tier which means that many fans can't see it. Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals was decided in the last 30 seconds after Edmonton goalie Dwayne Roloson injured his knee late in the 3rd period. (Jim Rose: Please note that there is no such thing as the "3rd Quarter" in hockey.) Last night, the Oilers Ryan Smyth knocked in the game winner with just over 2 minutes left in the 3rd. Serious sports fans should forget about the WWE-quality squeakball exhibition and tune in to the Finals. Casual sports fans should make an effort to at least check out tomorrow night's game 4 on NBC, if only to watch the fans in Edmonton sing both "The Star Spangled Banner" and "O Canada". Definitely will give you the chills...

Speaking of Canada, the Toronto Star is reporting that Eric Crouch has made the Toronto Argonauts final roster. The Argos like Crouch's arm and legs, and has a chance to prove himself in Toronto. 42 year old Damon Allen (Marcus' brother) can't last forever.