Mavs Sweep Ohio State; Senior Day; Callahan's Agent Throws a Tantrum

UNO's hockey team got a much needed sweep tonight at Ohio State, winning both games convincingly at 5-2. Jerad Kaufman seems to be settling back into the 2005-06 mode that lead this team to the NCAA tournament, all the while showing a much more physical presence on the ice that seemed to be UNO's Achilles heel in recent years. The 0-4 start in conference looked horrible...but when you consider that those games were against #1 Miami and #2 Michigoon... Now with 6th place Ferris State and last place Alaska coming to Omaha the next two weekends, UNO has a chance to make their move in the standings.

Tommorow is Senior Day for Husker football, and one can only wonder what kind of reaction the team will get. In fact, I wonder just how many people will show up. I've seen lots of tickets for sale with almost no interest. (I had someone back out on a couple extras I had earlier this week, and the only offer I got for them was to pay THEM $50 to go...) Only 150 people bothered to show up to this morning's Big Red Breakfast in Omaha, which makes me think that some fans have already given up on the season. Which is too bad, because no matter what you think about this team and this coaching staff, it's still Nebraska football. These players, especially the seniors, deserve a proper sendoff as they won't be finishing their careers the way they envisioned. What makes Nebraska football special is how we treat former players...and everybody that put on the scarlet and cream deserve our thanks. I'll be there cheering for these players.

Last night, KMTV reported that Bill Callahan told the team that he had been asked to resign, and while he refused to resign, he told the team the staff was unlikely to return next season (video). Today, the Lincoln Journal-Star asked players to confirm the KMTV report and was unable to do so, raising a lot of questions about Travis Justice, who broke the story. What's the truth? Well, I firmly believe that SOMEONE has personally approached Bill Callahan and asked him to resign, likely between the time Steve Pederson was fired and Tom Osborne took over. Has he told the team? Hard to say, but it doesn't sound that way. Is he going to resign? Absolutely not. If he hasn't by now, it's not going to happen. Bill Callahan is going to be the head coach of Nebraska for the next 14 days, and fans need to just accept that fact, no matter how painful it is.

Apparently this is starting to take it's toll on people associated with Bill Callahan and his staff. Today's Omaha World-Herald reports on the abuse that the sons of Kevin Cosgrove and Phil Elmassian are enduring at Lincoln Southwest this fall. Shameful? Yep. Even if kids can be cruel, it's not fair to transpose the problems of parents onto their kids. The families of these players are already facing an uncertain future, likely having to move away from their friends as their fathers restart their careers elsewhere. Absolutely no reason to pile onto the families. Absolutely no reason at all.

On the other hand, Callahan's agent, Gary O'Hagan, went into meltdown mode today with the World-Herald, lashing out at Nebraskans over the continued uproar over Callahan's job performance:

"Listen to how stupid you people are. You people need to start studying soil content or something. Why don't you find out how many pair of socks get washed every day in the locker room?"

If this is what we have to look forward to over the next two weeks, this promises to be a most enjoyable leadup to Thanksgiving. Not.