Tuesday Morning Coffee

A few quick notes as the annual recruiting sabbatical gets underway.

I noticed that Nebraska is still holding their annual recruiting dinner. Perhaps Steve Pederson had a non-refundable reservation with the hotel. Or maybe the football staff has been so busy trying to repair the damage done by the previous regime that they forgot to tell the marketing staff about the realities of college football. Or maybe they figured that they needed to hold out an olive branch to those folks who still cling to the folly of obsessing over recruiting despite watching the Pederson Error implode the program. Expect complete coverage of every meaningful detail right here. (In other words, not a single word. Let's wait until recruits actually arrive on campus and begin playing before setting any expectations or doing any "rating".)

Have their ever been a couple of Blackshirts so erroneously derided as the Shanle brothers? Scott was ridiculed as the poster child for "slow Nebraska kids who shouldn't be on the field", but somehow managed to become a starting linebacker for the New Orleans Saints. Now little brother Andrew is going to the Super Bowl as a member of the New York Giants. Memo to recruitniks: some of these Nebraska kids you've dissed for the last few years can play a little football.

Well, well, well. Seems that Husker Information Minister Jim Rose apparently wants his old job back, according to radio insiders. Unfortunately for him (and fortunately for the rest of us), it sounds like Greg Sharpe is going to remove the interim designation from his title.

Bo Pelini signed his contract last week, and one of the more pleasant surprises was seeing incentives for academic achievement in there. One could argue that the money could be used by the academic departments instead, but remember, the money to pay for Pelini comes from athletics. In this case, putting requirements on academic as well as athletic success is a refreshing change and shows that priorities aren't completely out of whack.

And another horrible weekend for UNO hockey this past weekend, failing to gain a single point against "Bye", who haven't won a single game all season. Ok, ok. Some UNO fans tend to look at everything as a glass completely empty. UNO sits in fifth place in the conference, trailing #1 Miami, #2 Michigoon, #5 Michigan State (who UNO plays this weekend), and #8 Notre Dame. Looking at those standings, UNO is probably exactly where they should be in the conference, though I think most UNO fans wish they were a little closer to Notre Dame than they are. UNO could sure use a point or two this weekend against the Spartans. Fourth place is just about completely out of reach, but others are right on UNO's heels.