Thursday Night Beer: Nebraska Media Goes Gaga

For a few minutes this morning, the Nebraska sports media bit hard on a report from a Champaign, IL newspaper that Lady Gaga was going to perform at the Capital One Bowl.  And rather than call someone in Orlando to confirm the report, reporters across Nebraska spread the word that The Gaga was going to perform before the Husker game.  Maybe it was for her "cool Nebraska Guy"...

Except it wasn't true.  As the story exploded on Twitter, the Capital One Bowl folks got wind and immediately did what the local media didn't do: dispel the story.

Unless @LadyGaga plans on ambushing us by dressing as a mascot/football/piece of turf, she isn't performing in our pregame show. Sorry!

And now the original story has been changed from performing "with Lady Gaga" to performing "a Lady Gaga song".  In all, it was a little harmless...but it's yet another example of how our local media have failed us once again.  Remember that the next time the media reports that says that Bo Pelini is "talking to another school," because it's becoming clear that these initial reports are frequently bogus and are being passed on unverified/unvalidated.  Just because it came from a World-Herald reporter doesn't mean jack anymore

When I said on Christmas that Creighton basketball would be exposed as the fraud they are, I figured it wouldn't happen until March...not in December. Mind you, the basketball season is still young, and the Bluejays could still develop into a top 25 program by the time March rolls around.  But let's not forget that Creighton needed a couple of gift technical fouls to defeat a bad Nebraska team earlier this month.  And let's put that Northwestern victory in perspective:  Ohio State 87, Northwestern 53.

And as I write this, Baylor just scored again in the Alamo Bowl.  It's now Baylor 67, Washington 56.  Hmmm... didn't Wisconsin beat Nebraska in BASKETBALL 64-40 on Tuesday night?  Yikes...not sure what this says about these four programs.

This weekend, UNO takes on Quinnipiac in hockey.  Quinnipiac isn't a household name, but it's an important series considering how poorly UNO has played in non-conference series so far this season.  The Bobcats are receiving votes in the USCHO poll, so it's an opportunity to regain some of the ground they lost earlier this month.

With Dean Blais coaching the USA National Team this weekend, UNO will be led by assistant coach Mike Hastings.  Hastings has occasionally been mentioned as the "heir apparent" at UNO, though Hastings and Trev Alberts both say that's mostly speculation.  My take is that I want Dean Blais to coach UNO as long as he's willing to.  After that, who knows. I don't believe that Hastings should necessarily be anointed the next head coach.  A candidate for when Blais eventually retires?  Certainly.  But there's no point in designating a replacement now.  Who knows who might be interested or available when that happens?  In some respects, this is just like when some people wanted to hand the job to Hastings back in the spring of 2009.  Instead, Trev Alberts found Dean Blais.  Let's not handcuff the program unnecessarily now.