Mayor Stothert: This is Omaha, not Atlanta. 1" of Snow Shouldn't Paralyze the City

It happened once again.

A seemingly innocuous snowfall under two inches once again brought the city of Omaha to a crawl Friday morning.  20 minute commutes turned into two hour ordeals.  And it's not like today was just bad luck; it's happened multiple times over the last few years.

Around here, Nebraskans used to joke how just a little bit of snow would bring a southern city like Atlanta to it's knees.  We'd always say that we knew how to deal with snow; we're used to it.  We're prepared for it.

But not anymore.  Or at least, the city of Omaha isn't. 

It didn't use to be this way...but it is now.  After this keeps happening over and over and over again, Mayor Stothert's excuses that since the snow hit at rush hour, there was nothing the city could do.

Except there was something the City could have done...and that's pretreat the roads.  Bellevue did that last night, and reportedly didn't have near the issues that Omahans did.  Bellevue officials said they did that in two hours.

Omaha officials say it takes 30 hours to do it.  And apparently, since they only had about a ten hour window to work with to pretreat the roads, they decided against it.  There are two problems with that decision:

First, if it takes 30 hours to pretreat the roads in Omaha, Omaha doesn't have enough equipment for pretreating.  If Mother Nature hadn't intervened to melt this snow, nobody would have accepted waiting 30 hours to get sand and salt trucks out to areas of town.

Second, even if you couldn't pretreat ALL of the roads overnight, you could have pretreated the main routes overnight.  It wouldn't take many trucks to make a pass over I-80, I-480 and I-680, as well as Dodge, Maple, Center and L Street. 

You can argue that this costs money...which is true, except that NOT treating the streets costs money too.  How many businesses lost productivity because their employees were stranded in traffic?  How many vehicles were damaged in collisions?  And what about the Omaha police officer who slipped and fell, ending up in the emergency room?

It didn't used to be this way.  A snowfall like this used to turn a 20 minute commute into a 30 or 40 minute commute.  Not 120 minutes, like today.  And it's not the first time the city, under Mayor Stothert, has failed in handling a relatively minor snowfall.

And frankly, unless something changes at City Hall, this won't be the last.

Ron Brown's Return to Huskers Spurs Outrage from LGBT Community

This week's news that Ron Brown is returning to the Nebraska football program was simultaneously cheered and booed this week.  Depending on your perspective, this was either the greatest thing or the greatest outrage.  (Isn't that the case more and more these days?)

Ron Brown was a key member of the Nebraska coaching staff during the glory days, and just about every former player seems to have good things to say about the man. And many fans as well. But there always was one element of Brown that rubbed some people the wrong way: his religion.

Or maybe more accurately, his passion in his faith. Brown makes no effort to hide his faith; in fact, he celebrates it. And that rubs many people the wrong way, especially at a public university.  It is who he is.

"I am not a secular Ron Brown and a Christian Ron Brown. I am a Christian Ron Brown, period."

Many years back, Brown was passed over as a candidate to be the next head coach of Stanford; that quote came from an article that basically said that Christian Ron Brown wouldn't have been a good choice at a school like Stanford.

For some, Christian Ron Brown isn't a good fit for Nebraska either.  That's a controversial point as well. I don't believe Brown's critics target his beliefs, but rather his proselytizing.  That's a fine line, here.

It erupted when Brown drove to Omaha to testify against a proposed city law to expand civil rights protections to the LGBT community. He gave his address as "One Memorial Stadium" because, well, as a football coach, he spends more time there than anyplace else. But that also sent a message that he was acting as an official of the University, not as a private citizen. That's a somewhat silly argument in the context of the entire Lincoln campus, but in terms of the football program? There's a point there.

I'm not sure Ron Brown discriminates against LGBT individuals in and around the Nebraska football program. In fact, I really doubt he does. Why do I say that?  I start with Brown's relationship with Ameer Abdullah. From that World-Herald feature:

“We’re not proselytizing, ” Brown said. “We’re not trying to jack kids over the head with stuff. We’re just saying, ‘Hey, this is who we are. They go to school here. They’re hearing from professors all kinds of philosophies. Those professors aren’t apologizing for who they are. They’re saying, ‘There’s no God, ’ some of them. ‘There is no right from wrong.’ I’m saying, ‘Yes, there is God. There is Jesus Christ. And there is right from wrong.’ 

"You guys do what you want with it. You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to. It ain’t gonna cost you a down of playing time. It ain’t costing Ameer any playing time.”

But that's not LGBT right?  Well, here's former Nebraska kicker Eric Lueshen, who was with the team about 15 years ago. Openly gay. And Lueshen describes Brown as having a "kind demeanor."

Now, Lueshen does say that Brown does owe an explanation of how his past statements can be reconciled with the likelihood that there are other LGBT individuals in and around the football program today.  For what it's worth, I think Brown answered that six years ago in a letter to the Lincoln Journal-Star.

I wholeheartedly agree with UNL's Non-Discrimination Policy. As a follower of Jesus Christ, and a UNL employee for twenty-two years, I haven't, nor will I violate this policy.

But it's probably worth reiterating now. There shouldn't be any discussion the LGBT community deserves the right to live, learn, love and work the way they desire, like any other U.S. citizen.

That also being said, Ron Brown's religious beliefs that that homosexuality is wrong also deserve respect as well. The two rights do not have to be in conflict.  In today's society, we should be able to tolerate diverse beliefs; isn't that the whole point of diversity anyway?  Vegetarians can believe that eating meat is morally wrong. They even can say so and try to convince me of it.  But they can't actually stop me from enjoying a tasty cheeseburger.

I do share the concerns that Ron Brown endorses discrimination against the LGBT community; I said so six years ago after he spoke to the Omaha City Council, and say it again. To be fair, he said he spoke because he wanted to make sure that the rights of Christians were protected.

"I was there because I realize that protection of one group of people as a class is going to unprotect another group."

That's a rather slippery slope. I get that two women can't sue a Catholic Church to become married, but sometimes, things get silly, such as the recent Supreme Court case over refusing to bake a cake. Some Americans are still too intolerant of people that look, behave and believe differently than yourself. Wrapping yourself in the flag and pretending that only your way is the way that should be accepted is offensive. It would have been offensive to our Founding Fathers, who fled Europe for just this very reason centuries past.

For what it's worth, that former gay Husker makes it seem that Brown was more accepting of LGBT individuals than it appeared at that City Council meeting.  Lueshen never made it into a game, but was on the roster in 2003 when Ron Brown was receivers coach for the Huskers. Of his experiences with Brown, he said Brown was always cordial to him despite being known as being a gay player.

Did Coach Brown ever treat me with disrespect or animosity during his time as a coach while I played? No.

I'm hoping that's how Brown has and will continue to treat the LGBT community in practice. People with religious concerns would be much better served by follow the lead of people like Jesuit Father James Martin, who preaches a message of respect. He doesn't mean that you should change your views on morality, but rather that you change your actions to open a bridge with those who believe differently.

I love that message.  "Building a bridge" could solve a lot of the problems in America today; not just in terms of LGBT issues, but all of the issues we face.  Understanding where both sides are coming from, and finding some room in the middle to accommodate more people would go a long way towards the divisiveness we see in society today. 

We don't have to agree on everything.  We don't have to believe in everything. But can't we just find a way to live together?

Me and a few hundred friends out at Sarpy County's "Trailer Park"

I finally did it.

Sunday, I finally attended my first baseball game down in Sarpy County 

Why so long?

Well, it's just never bubbled up to the top of my agenda.  I'm not a Kansas City Royals fan, so it's never been something that particularly enticed me.  And for me, it's pretty much out of the way; the only time I go that direction is driving to Lincoln. From my home in West Omaha, the "Trailer Park" is about the same distance south as TD Ameritrade Park is east.  And since I work downtown, I've been to the downtown ballpark many times, whether it was for baseball, football, or yes, even hockey.  (Man, I wish UNO would try this again downtown.)

"Werner Park?"  Not until today.  A family friend gave us some tickets, which finally pushed me from my inertia.  So this afternoon after lunch, my son and I headed south.

It's pretty much the same as it was the last time I drove by there five years ago, other than a few more houses north and east of the stadium. That whole "Pennant Place" development, which was supposed to provide the economic justification for this whole boondoggle, remains to be a dream.  In it's eighth season, the stadium remains a lonely outpost surrounded by empty fields. Eventually, as Papillion grows west, something will sprout there; it just won't be because of the ballpark.  ("Told you so!")

My son had fun at the wiffle ball field before the game, though I'm glad he's outgrown the Merry-Go-Round or bounce houses.  ($7 for that???)  And since nobody was playing miniature golf, it was easy to get him past that. (Another $3 saved...)

In fact, what struck me was that the stadium was pretty much empty today. It probably was the heat, though frankly, it wasn't that bad out there.  (AccuWeather said the high was about 90.)  But as the game got started, I realized that I probably could count the number of people in the stands.

Finally made it out to the Trailer Park... And to paraphrase some of my UNO hockey friends; “Oooh! Ahhh! Smaller than a Knights crowd!” pic.twitter.com/W92a1s61Fb

— Husker Mike (@Husker_Mike) June 10, 2018

At first pitch, there couldn't have been more than 400-500 people out there. As the game got started, a few more people emerged, but at most, maybe 700-800 on the afternoon. Since it was my first game out there, I don't know if this is the usual summer afternoon crowd or what; I've heard that they draw better on weekend evenings. But I was really surprised.

Other than promotions and contests every half inning, it wasn't a particularly entertaining game outside of the baseball.  (Maybe I should have went and played mini-golf?)  My son was disappointed that after we spent a half-inning getting a sno-cone, we were informed by people nearby that two foul balls had landed right nearby.  But that disappointment relented as the game went on; one nice lady gave my son a foul ball a couple of innings later.  (I suspect that's one that we missed earlier in our sno-cone excursion.)  And then he grabbed a t-shirt in a contest and then won a iPhone fan in another giveaway.

I guess extra swag is one of the advantages of going on "dress as an empty seat" day.

Will it be another eight years before I go to another Omaha AAA baseball game?  Probably not.  (Though before I go again, I've got to explain that he can't expect to come away with a bunch of free stuff every time...)

John Cook Stumbles Into A Trump Controversy

In a now-deleted tweet, Nebraska volleyball coach John Cook put out a public request on Tuesday night for a White House visit for his volleyball team.

Nebraska would love to go to the White House! Huskers would be honored and proud to visit our leaders in DC and represent Nebraska and the Natty! #gbr

Nothing wrong with a White House visit, per 'se. Husker volleyball has been to Washington after each of their previous national championships; they deserve the trip.

But the tweet rubbed a lot of people wrong.  Myself included.

Coach, you're better than this.

— Husker Mike (@Husker_Mike) June 6, 2018

Why?  It was the timing.  Tuesday was supposed to be the day that the Philadelphia Eagles were supposed to visit the White House, but when many players passed on the visit in response to President Trump's criticism of NFL players, the event was scuttled.  Instead, Tuesday was filled with all sorts of back and forth.  Criticism of the NFL and it's players.  Criticism of Trump.

And suddenly, there's John Cook and Nebraska volleyball, seeming to side with Donald Trump in the debate.  ("If the Eagles don't want to go, we'll do it!") Whether that was Cook's intention or not, Nebraska volleyball was now thrust into the noise and disorder of American politics.

Cook expressed surprise to the World-Herald that this was controversial.  I kind of understand how that could happen if he pays little to no attention to politics. (That's a blissful position, to be honest, considering where we are in this country.) But by that same manner... why is the most successful active coach in the state of Nebraska begging for a White House invitation on Twitter?

Why weren't our Congressional representatives already working on this?  Both U.S. Senators and all three House Representatives belong to the same political party as the President.  These visits after previous championships had been all arranged and set up in the spring.

John Cook shouldn't have been tweeting for an invitation for his volleyball team; he probably should have been more aware that there was a reason why this was all over the news Tuesday.

But just the same, he shouldn't need to request something like this on Twitter. This is something that should have been handled by our elected representatives in Washington.  All five members of Congress bear responsibility for this mess.

Yes, John Cook is better than this.  But more importantly, Cook and his volleyball team deserved better.

Why Do Some People Feel Threatened by Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza?

I have to admit that that I was rather amused by the reactions of some people locally to the news that Giordano's is planning to expand into the Omaha area.

Omaha, we are coming! Here is our executive team, searching for the best Giordano's location in Omaha, while taking in the sights of your beautiful city! pic.twitter.com/U0xUDzv8No

— Giordano's Pizza (@GiordanosPizza) April 12, 2018

Some felt that we don't "need" a national chain because we have plenty of places that serve pizza here in Omaha.  While that's true that we don't "need" another national chain, more choices and competition is a good thing. And to be honest, I'm only aware of two places that serve a Chicago-style deep dish pie in the area:  Pudgy's and Davlo.  Both are on the west side of town; there's plenty of room for a third option.

The other is that it's not actually pizza.

Bread and sauce. Not pizza.

— Mike'l Severe (@MikelSevere) July 23, 2017

Which, of course, brings out the LOLOLOLOLOLs. Of course it's pizza.  It's a different style of pizza than what they serve in New York City.  Which also is different from the style they serve in Italy, apparently as well.  I get that people have preferences in style, but the only reason thin-crust pizza snobs have for denying that deep dish pizza is pizza is that they somehow feel threatened.

And I get that, because frankly, Chicago style kicks New York style pizza's ass every day of the week (and three times on weekends)  I've tried several of the "authentic" New York style pizzas in town, and nearly every one of them made me wish I would have eaten somewhere else.  Don Carmelos, Sam and Louies, Pitch, and the worst:  Zio's.  Somebody brought Zio's to the office a year ago, and I remarked that it had been years since I'd been to Zio's.  It took less than a slice to confirm that old opinion.

The only decent New York style pizza in Omaha is Noli's in midtown.  It's a pretty pricey pizza, but if I have to eat a New York style pizza, it had better be Noli's.  A 2015 World-Herald review of Noli's, in fact, confirmed why I don't like New York style pizza:  a New York style pizza simply can't hold toppings.  NY fans work around it's fatal flaw by folding it over.  But frankly, if I want to eat a Hot Pocket, I'll spend $2 at the grocery store and get the microwavable sleeve thrown in at no extra charge.

Of Omaha's deep dish joints, I'll give the edge to Pudgy's; I think the crust is better.  But I'm looking forward to Giordano's coming to town; I've enjoyed it in Chicago ... and Orlando ... and Las Vegas.  If you don't like deep dish, don't order it.

But if you are bringing pizza to the office, let me know ahead of time if it's a New York style...so I can grab something else for lunch.

The Myths and Reality of UNO Hockey's "Swoontober"

There's been no lack of animosity surrounding UNO hockey over the last year or so.  Some of it focused at me for my skepticism of Mike Gabinet, but mostly at former head coach Dean Blais. Much of the criticism of Blais focuses on the notion of "Swoontober", a phenomenon where UNO's hockey season fades away in the closing weeks of the season.  Ill-prepared for the modern college hockey game, Blais' coaching philosophies were at the core of UNO's failure to make it to Minneapolis to play in the WCHA's "Final Five" or NCHC's "Frozen Faceoff" semifinals.

At least that's the narrative.

And now that UNO hockey sits ever-so-slightly-above-.500 after New Years' Day, some proclaim that "Swoontober is Over!"  Yes, finally winning a game against (slumping) North Dakota at Baxter Arena proves that Gabinet was the answer.

Well, maybe.  Or maybe not.  Let's look a little closer at the phenomenon known as "Swoontober" - specifically the schedule. You see, UNO is a member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference which, quite frankly, is to college hockey what the SEC thinks they are to college football.  Pretty damn good.  How good?  Each of the last three years, two of the four NCAA Frozen Four teams have been NCHC teams.  UNO made it in 2015, North Dakota in 2015 and 2016, Denver in 2016 and 2017, and Minnesota-Duluth in 2017.

And it's not just that the NCHC had two excellent teams; in 2016 and 2017, four NCHC teams earned bids to the 16 team NCAA tournament.  In 2015, six of the eight teams made it.  So one fact is blatantly clear:  UNO's conference schedule is about as tough as it gets.

Here's another fact to keep in mind about "Swoontober":  UNO plays all of their nonconference games in the first half of the season.  So the schedule is, almost by definition, backloaded to be tougher at the end than at the beginning.  For comparison, look at Nebraska football in 2016:  the Huskers jumped out to a 7-0 start (and a Top Ten ranking under Mike Riley), thanks to a relatively weak schedule.  And then lost four out of the last six games as they played the best teams late in the year.

Did the Huskers have a "swoon"? Nope.  Just a dose of reality combined with injuries to the best quarterback Mike Riley had throughout his three year tenure.  Nebraska wasn't as good as they looked when they arrived in Madison with a top ten ranking, nor nearly as bad as they looked against Iowa in that bloodbath.

So let's look at UNO hockey over the last few years.  I've compared UNO's opponents Pairwise rankings in both the first half and the second half of each season, just to get a relative idea of the strength of the schedules.  It's eye opening.

Pairwise Rankings	Fall 2015	Winter 2016	Fall 2016	Winter 2017	Fall 2017	Winter 2018
1 - 10	1-1	1-11	1-3	3-11-1	2-4	0-4
11 - 20	2-0	0-0	2-2-2	0-0	4-2	4-2
21 - 30	3-0-1	0-2	0-0	0-0	1-1	3-0-1
31 - 60	6-2	2-2	8-1-1	3-0-1	2-1-1	0-0

There's not a lot of difference between the seasons when looking at opponents ranked outside the top ten in the Pairwise...but that top line is eye-catching.  In the winter of 2016, UNO played 12 games against the top ten, winning just one.  Last winter, 14 games against the top ten, winning just three with a tie.

This winter?  Just four games so far.  Two more this weekend against number 8 Minnesota-Duluth on the road, and if UNO wins those, you probably have a case to say that Swoontober is over.  If UNO gets swept, then the Mavs probably end up having to go back to Denver, the defending national champions.  That probably makes 0-8 against the top ten a very likely scenario...and Swoontober lives on.

I used to think UNO's issue was with Baxter Arena, but this year's home record suddenly reversed that trend.  Digging into this further, I realized that UNO went 0-6 and 1-5 at home against top ten teams the last two seasons after Christmas.  This year?  The last top ten team to visit Baxter Arena was Duluth in December.

And those home losses the last two seasons take a toll on the fan base.  Nobody likes losing; it's caused fans to turn on each other and spew a lot of nonsense.  (The worst take has to be that Dean Blais went to the UNO/North Dakota game in early January to cheer against his former players.  My goodness.)

This "Swoontober" is nothing more than having to face the best teams in the nation...and UNO isn't there yet.  It's not even really a swoon, which implies that UNO suddenly started playing worse than they are capable of.

"Thoughts and Prayers" - A Tired Response to a Growing Problem

It's happened again in America. Mass shootings happen so frequently in this country that we're losing track of them all.   18 school shootings so far this year.

The story just keeps on repeating.  Heroes rush in, sometimes making the ultimate sacrifice.  A community is traumatized.  Doctors attempt to repair the mangled bodies of the survivors.  Heartbroken families bury those taken cruelly and violently away from us.

The gun lobby offers up "thoughts and prayers."

But what are they reflecting on?  What are they asking God for?

At one time, it probably was true to say that it was "too soon" to "politicize" a tragedy before the dead were buried and doctors had a chance to heal the wounded.  But this has been going on far too long now.

Now, each shooting is a reminder we still haven't done a damned thing in this country to do something about all of the previous ones.  Other countries found the idea of mass bloodshed so reprehensible,  government acted.  Not here.  At least, not when it comes to mass shootings.  Sure, at the airport, we now have to take our shoes off, get groped and not bring anything to drink.  But massacres in schools and at concerts?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Las Vegas shooting site, three months later.

Last month, I was in Las Vegas and found out that my room overlooked the site of the concert shootings last October.  Which also happened to be right next to the airport.  It's all cleaned up now, but frankly, nothing has been done to stop it from happening again.

Just like nothing really changed after the Von Maur shootings ten years ago.

The excuse that "we should wait until we know all the facts" doesn't work any more. This nation hasn't done anything in response to the dozens of prior massacres in the country.

Why are some politicians more concerned about voter fraud (when we have scant evidence that it actually exists) than mass shootings?

It's beyond time to start solving this problem, which is uniquely American. You don't have to look far to find workable answers, and with every rerun of this awful tragedy, the likelihood that those solutions will come to this country keeps increasing.

Deep down, we all know what the answer is.  If you want something different, you are running out of time to get it in place.

We don't have any more kids to spare.

Why I Hate the New England Patriots

When Super Bowl LII kicks off next Sunday evening, I'm not sure I'll be actually rooting for the Philadelphia Eagles to win.

I will be cheering hard for the New England Patriots to lose.

It isn't because of any sort of jealousy or envy of the Patriots incredible run of success in the 21st century; the dislike actually started before they won their first Super Bowl. When Tom Brady's fumble in the snow against Oakland was overturned by an obscure football rule nobody had ever heard of before, the Patriots and Brady were forever tarnished in my mind. It's hard for mind to reconcile the fact that the winningest Super Bowl quarterback ever could never even be the clear-cut quarterback of his college team.

The Patriots reputation of playing fast and loose with the rules is well established with SpyGate and DeflateGate. And yes, the reactions of Tom Brady and the rest of the New England Patriots made it clear they were guilty; every parent can recognize the tacit admissions of guilt by Brady and company, even if the NFL's 2015 investigation was a bit clumsy in execution.  Maybe the evidence isn't admissable in court, but you know and everybody knows that Tom Brady and the New England Patriots cheated to get to that Super Bowl.

And that's the stuff we know about.

Add in the whole "Masshole" phenomonon, and frankly, the New England Patriots are simply unlikable. I had a small amount of sympathy for Boston fans in the 20th century; I liked Larry Bird, and sympathized with them over the Bill Buckner error in the World Series. (Besides, I hated those Stupid Mets...)  But that dissipated quickly once Matt Perrault started shoveling his dreck on KXSP ten years ago.  One of his famed predictions was that "no Manning would ever win a Super Bowl ring" - only to have the Manning brothers win the next two Super Bowls.

I get why he did that... he loved his Boston teams, but more importantly, loved to troll everyone else.  That's why he didn't last in Omaha, though he's apparently now has a national show.  Go figure.

New England and Boston:  Thoroughly unlikable and despicable. Go ahead, Philly...and give them the full Santa treatment.

Because even awful fans who hate Santa deserve a Super Bowl trophy more than the New England Patriots.

Despite Recruitnik Worries, Scott Frost Wins On and Off the Field in Transition

Even before Mike Riley was officially fired, the recruiting gurus sounded the alarms over the direction Nebraska seemed to be heading.

This has popped up on @Nebraska247 but in my opinion if a move is made and Nebraska finds itself hiring a coach, the new person, when announced, needs to start immediately.

It's cold & unsentimental, but being tasked with this job means the focus should be strictly on Nebraska.

— Mike Schaefer (@mikejschaefer) November 17, 2017

I understood the concern and the argument, but I also completely disagreed at the time.

Noble thought. But what if your #1 choice isn't willing to do that? Do you move on to another candidate?

NO.

Unless your second candidate is almost equivalent, you can wait.

Nebraska HAS to get this right, and NU can wait a month FOR THE RIGHT GUY. https://t.co/d0P2Bik7le

— Husker Mike (@Husker_Mike) November 17, 2017

Let's be honest. Was Bill Moos supposed to tell Scott Frost that he couldn't coach UCF in the bowl game?  Apparently yes.  And what would Frost say to that?  Before you answer that, remember this:

Source: Scott Frost has agreed to 7-year, $35 million deal with Nebraska, but in days leading up today’s AAC title game was still having some “serious cold feet & remorse.” @LarsAnderson71 previously reported contract figures

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 2, 2017

Yes, it's very possible, if not likely, that Frost would have said no.

I get Schaefer's point; I really do.  With the early signing period, December recruiting has taken on increased urgency, and so Nebraska's next head coach needed to be very busy doing that. But Schaefer made the same mistake recruitniks always make:

You can't recruit your way to success.

Now, before anyone overreacts to that statement, let me explain it. It's true that championship teams tend to have come from highly rated recruiting classes (see Alabama and Ohio State).  It's also true that highly rated recruiting classes do not necessary result in championships. (See Texas)

Don't normally see the "stars matter" crowd when Texas is playing either. #coachingMattersMore

— Husker Mike (@Husker_Mike) December 31, 2016

Look at this season:  Ohio State's blowout victory over Nebraska could be explained as a "talent gap".  Ohio State's 31 point loss to Iowa could not.  And if that doesn't blow your mind, then explain how Minnesota had enough talent to beat Nebraska 54-21...but then couldn't score another point the rest of the season in shutout losses to Northwestern and Wisconsin.

Recruiting hasn't been Nebraska's problem in football in recent years; the Huskers have had the best recruiting rankings in the Big Ten's west division. Nebraska's problem has been in developing and coaching.  Bo Pelini was a good head coach...but wasn't good enough, especially against Wisconsin.  Mike Riley made the tragic mistake of dragging along coaches that had failed or were failing at Oregon State (Mark Banker, Mike Cavanaugh, Danny Langsdorf and Bruce Read) to Nebraska.

Enter Scott Frost, who has a short but attention getting resume.  Would it have been better to let Frost go another year or two Central Florida?  Maybe, but Nebraska couldn't allow Mike Riley and his clown show of assistant coaches to remain any longer.  It's hard to argue any more with a straight face that Frost isn't ready for the NU job.  Frankly, he's proven he's more qualified than everybody who succeeded his mentor, Tom Osborne.

My family spent part of New Year's Day opening gifts from part of the family; we had to be out of town on Christmas Day. But the biggest and best present I got was that Central Florida offense.  I haven't hidden my extreme disgust at the Mike Riley/Danny Langsdorf offensive scheme since it arrived in Lincoln.  It's obsolete, outdated and this season, it was simply constipated. These coaches didn't know the first thing about running the ball or blocking for it, except to throw more guys into block for it.  Which it turn brings more defenders into the box and makes it even more difficult to find running room.

Riley and Langsdorf played tiddleywinks.  Frost and Troy Walters are playing 3-D chess.  You saw what they did to Auburn.

Now, they won't be able to do this right away in Lincoln. The Huskers will have to break in a new quarterback - and probably a couple, because only Tristan Gebbia shows any signs of being able to operate a modern college offense like Frost will bring.  I'm not worried about Gebbia's size; did you see the size of UCF's Mackenzie Milton? 

The hype for Frost is going to be overwhelming; we should go into 2018 and 2019 with no expectations on the final results.  There's so much development that needs to be done behind the scenes that it's silly to expect a UCF-like turnaround.  It might be possible, but it might take a while longer.

My expectations are simple.  Show me progress, which shouldn't be difficult after the worst season of Husker football since before Bob Devaney.  Like Devaney, I think Frost has inherited more talent than the record indicated.  (I mean, does anybody REALLY believe that Minnesota and Iowa were four and six touchdowns better than the Huskers?  Or were the Big Red simply coached that poorly.)

Develop.  Regain the passion.  Show progress.  That's what I want from Nebraska football in 2018.

This is going to be fun to watch.  I can't wait for the spring game and the fall, and that's something I couldn't say the last three seasons.