Husker 2005 Season Review

Well, with the college football magazines sprouting up at the grocery stores, it's almost time to start thinking of next season... of course, before we can look forward to 2006, let's review 2005.

Last season got off to a less-than spectacular start with a 25-7 win over 1-AA Maine. While the defense looked a bit stronger, the offense looked inept. When Maine scored on a long touchdown pass to pull within 1 score early in the 4th quarter, a nervous hush fell over Memorial Stadium. Fortunately, Bo Ruud soon scored on an interception return a few minutes later to save the victory. The next week, the offense continued to sputter against Wake Forest, but the defense scored 3 times to make the 31-3 final much more respectable.

The night before the Wake Forest games, much of the Husker nation tuned into ESPN2 to catch Frank Solich's Ohio Bobcats take on the next week's opponent, Pitt. The heavily favored Panthers scored on the opening kickoff of the game, but Solich's Bobcats outplayed them the next 58 minutes and led 10-7 until the exhausted Bobcats called a prevent defense. And as frequently happens, the offense drives the field against the prevent, and Pitt kicks a field goal to send the game into overtime. But in overtime, Ohio's Dion Byrum intercepted Pitt quarterback and scored the winning touchdown sending Solich fans in Nebraska into delirium.

That delirium led to a feeling of deja 'vu next week as Pitt again drove the field against a prevent defense...but this time, Pitt twice missed converting a game winning field goal in a 7-6 Husker win. A game that was so painful to watch, Brent Musburger couldn't wait to start drinking, getting busted outside Memorial Stadium for violating Nebraska's open container law. Nebraska was 3-0, but the defense had scored more touchdowns than the offense and quarterback Zac Taylor was making fans reconsider how bad they thought Jammal Lord and Mickey Joseph were passing.

After a bye week, Callahan made several adjustments against Iowa State, the most noticeable being putting Taylor into the shotgun. The result was a more productive Taylor, throwing for 431 yards, though once again they had trouble scoring offensive touchdowns. The Huskers nearly lost this game in the first overtime as Iowa State's Nick Leaders dropped an interception of Taylor, which would have ended the game. The next week, defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove opened with the prevent defense that was so effective in holding Texas Tech to only 49 points in the 2nd half the year before. After the Red Raiders scored their 70th straight point on the Huskers, Cosgrove finally realized what many fans (myself included) realized a year earlier: you must pressure Tech's quarterback. Nebraska came back and took the lead, but Cosgrove reverted to the ill-conceived prevent defense late, allowing Tech to come back for a 34-31 win.

A decent win on the road at Baylor led to the first trouncing of the year at Mizzou. See AJ's photo at the right? See any Huskers on the field? Thanks to another horrific defensive game plan from Kevin Cosgrove, Brad Smith ran up and down the field uncontested in a 41-24 loss that, unlike the 41-24 loss 2 years earlier, wasn't nearly that close.

Against Oklahoma the next week, the effects of the pounding Zac Taylor was taking game after game began to take it's toll. Taylor was missing wide-open receivers as he was worried more about who was going to hit him next. Meanwhile, Bill Callahan was having his annual embarrassing gaffe with his throat slash.

They always say it's darkest just before the dawn...if that's the case, then the 40-15 loss to Kansas will go down as the low-point in the coaching change. It was a horrible, horrible performance that plunged the Callahan era well below mediocrity. The next week, Nebraska and Kansas State played an ugly game in a gale. Harrison Beck burned his redshirt after Zac Taylor finally took one too many hard hits, and proceeded to throw one pass into the West Stadium stands, another into the hands of a K-State defender who nearly returned it for a lead-changing touchdown late in the 4th quarter, and then finally completing a pass to a Husker receiver to set up the game winning field goal. Callahan had another brain-fart of a play-call in calling a swing pass in the end zone (resulting in the second safety of the game), and recruiting-all-American Zack Bowman bit hard on a fake pass route, chasing a KSU receiver down the field and all the way past the Runza at 10th & Cornhusker.

Another bye-week did the Huskers well, as Nebraska finally put a complete game together for the first time in the Bill Callahan era, beating Colorado 30-3. The offense clicked, the defense clicked. And perhaps most importantly, the team chemistry seemed to click. Chris Patrick and Matt Slauson, inserted into the offensive line, gave the line the ability to protect Zac Taylor, and he delivered completion after completion. With the momentum from the Colorado win, Nebraska moved up in the standings to get an Alamo Bowl matchup with Michigoon. And in a poorly officiated game, the Huskers came out on top and with a solid boost in momentum from the gloom and doom of the games against Kansas and Kansas State.

Now, the optimism of the Colorado and Michigoon victories needs to be tempered by the fact that Kansas State, Colorado, and Michigoon all overhauled their coaching staffs after the season, indicating that those programs were having their own serious problems. And while the Huskers should be pleased with the progress at the end of 2005, they must guard against reading too much into those victories. Optimists will claim that Nebraska was just a couple of bounces away from a Big XII North championship, but they also need to remember that they were a couple of bounces (2 missed field goal attempts by Pitt and a dropped interception by Iowa State) away from their second straight losing season.

So what to expect for the upcoming season? That's a subject for another day.

A "Jihad" Against UNO Football?

Husker Information Minister Jim Rose jumped into the unrest over UNO Maverick athletics this morning on KFAB. While lobbing softballs at Regent Chuck Hassebrook over his proposal to disband UNO's football program, Rose denied that there was any "jihad" (as he put it) against UNO; it was merely a suggestion based on the finances. At first glance, Hassebrook and Rose look like they might have their facts straight for once...but upon further investigation, the evidence just doesn't hold water.

Friday afternoon, UNO Beef Club president Ben Titus reported that UNO's football program suffered a $739,783 loss in 2004-05, a fact jumped on by Hassebrook. The same source, the Department of Education's Office of Post-Secondary Education, reported that UNO's income for that same season was just over $291,037. That number just doesn't seem to be valid. That figure puts them dead-last in terms of income in the North Central Conference, not to mention in the state of Nebraska. Nebraska-Kearney's income that season was $640,715 and Wayne State's football income was $527,483. UNO's attendance was more than double UNK's that season with over 38,000 fans. Per the figures reported to the US government, UNO only earned $7.66 per fan per game. Of course, ticket prices that season were $10 and $15 per game.

That's just ticket revenue. There also is advertising, sponsorships, concessions, and donations that also seem to be accounted for. Even if there were a significant number of free student admissions, these numbers still don't seem correct. Former UNO coach Sandy Buda was interviewed on KXSP-590 AM in Omaha today and reported that when he first started to sell signage at Al Caniglia Field, the funds were not credited to the football program or even the athletic program, but rather to a University general account. In other words, UNO football likely is bringing in much more money than the official records show. UNO's expenses seem in line with their counterparts in the North Central Conference, so the debits look reasonable. And while it's been nearly 10 years since I worked on accounting systems, it sure looks like a lot of the credits resulting from UNO football aren't being credited to football or perhaps even the athletic department.

Bottom line is that right now, nobody seems to know where the money is and where it went. That's a situation that needs to get rectified and soon. Hassebrook's proposal doesn't seem to be going away, and the involvement of Jim Rose in this debate isn't going to help either. (I'll let the conspiracy theorists discuss why he's involved...)

The truly sad part of this debate is that for all of the administrative problems plaging UNO athletics, UNO's athletic program is doing well on the field. UNO finished last season 3rd in the Division II Director's Cup after winning 2 national championships last season. Football is expected to be nationally ranked next season, and Mav hockey features an academic All-American and hopefully a returning Hobey Baker Finalist.

Steve Pederson's 98% Approval Rating?

Last week, the Lincoln Journal-Star's HuskerExtra poll asked the question "Are you happy with the job Steve Pederson is doing as AD?" Hey, it's summer and we're still 2 months away from the start of the season, so there really isn't much Husker-wise to talk about aside from (yawn) recruiting. What were the results? Why 98% "Very Happy" and 1% each "Pretty Happy" and "Not Happy at All". At first glance, you have to be shocked to see a 99% satisfaction rating for a man that was named "Enemy of the State" 2 years ago. Next step is to start questioning the integrity of the poll. Since it's an online web site poll, it's not scientific, but surely it must represent a growing change in heart for Husker fans, yes?

Nope. I happened to see the poll last Sunday afternoon, and the results at that time were 48% "Very Happy", 14% "Pretty Happy", and "38% Not Happy At All". So what caused the change in attitude? Simple...someone (presumably a Pederson fan) hacked the poll and rigged it worse than an election in Chicago. By Monday morning, the results stood at 124% "Very Happy" until a Journal-Star programmer tried to fix their web poll, allowing it to return to a not-believable-but-mathematically-possible 98-1-1.

So what is the mood of Husker Nation? I'd venture that there are 3 camps: Very Happy with Pederson, Relative Ambivilence (he's OK; done some good things and some bad things), and Can't Stand the Guy. What are the ratios? I don't know, but I'd bet that it's around 25% very happy, 25% Can't Stand, with about half the fans in the middle (and likely tired of the whole thing.)

Speaking of recruiting, I typically avoid the hype machine. Remember a year ago when the hype machine had Harrison Beck and Marlon Lucky starting early last season, and Zac Bowman declaring early for the NFL? Horribly, horribly, horribly wrong on all three counts...and amny more. That doesn't mean I don't listen to it, I just take everything with a grain of salt because, as Rivals.com themselves says, "everything is make-believe until they hit the field." With that said, I did come away with some positive vibrations about Patrick Witt, who recently comitted to the Huskers. In a radio interview with KXSP (590 AM in Omaha), he came across as a extremely mature individual. He's an excellent student (4.73 GPA) on pace to graduate in December (and plans to be in Lincoln for spring practice). His brother is a quarterback for Harvard who spent part of his summer on a mission to Bolivia. I don't know about his playing ability, but he sure sounds like a great person.

Regent Hassebrook: Dump UNO Football

In the wake of NU Regent Randy Ferlic's declaration that athletics are too big, another NU regent has jumped into the fray. Regent Chuck Hassebrook of Lyons, already no friend to UNO, resurrected his 10 year old call to drop football at UNO in a letter to the Omaha World-Herald's "Public Pulse". In further comments to the AP's Eric Olson, Hassebrook came out firmly against UNO moving to Division 1, and in fact, indicated that he prioritizes Nebraska-Kearney's football program above UNO's.

Hassebrook's disdain of Nebraska-Omaha was shown last year, when he opposed building additional dorms at UNO, implying that the other campuses should have priority with dorms.

Ferlic's Dream: Downsized Athletics

At yesterday's Douglas County Republican Pancake Feed, University of Nebraska regent Randolph Ferlic was interviewed by KKAR radio's Steve Brown about the controversy over the future of UNO athletics. Ferlic responded by indicated that if he had the power, he'd prefer to downsize college athletics. Not just at UNO, but rather at Nebraska-Lincoln. He wistfully (and erroneously) referred to the size of the Husker athletic budget, implying that there were better uses for the funds.

On one hand, he is partially correct. The $55 million (not $75 million, as Ferlic claimed) Husker athletic department budget (for 2004-05) would certainly be beneficial if reallocated to other parts of the University system. Improved research, improved salaries for faculty, improved facilities: all could benefit.

Problem with that idea is that it's not even a realistic idea. If college sports were to be disbanded or downsized, the income received by the University would immediately be reduced. Would boosters transfer their donations from the athletic department to other parts of the university? Probably not, especially if the donation was made in the hopes of getting football tickets. Would ticket sales continue at their present level? Probably not either. (Who would pay $55 for an intramural football game?) What about TV revenue? Not likely either.

When you consider the funds that get recirculated back to academic programs ($7 million in scholarships that in turn go back to the University), there's a good chance that UNL would be in worse shape financially if sports were downsized. Especially if you factor in the free publicity they get. Remember Tommy Lee?

I would imagine that even Ferlic probably realizes that this isn't realistic. The comments on the radio could easily be dismissed as early morning holiday ramblings.

The real problem with this statement is the underlying thought process of someone who UNO is likely going to need approval from if they choose to go division 1. A regent who is on record as saying that college sports are already too big as they are is going to be a tough sell for upsizing Maverick athletics.

The Future of UNO Athletics

The fallout over UNO's decision to cut positions and reject division 1 only got worse as time went on. Thursday, many booster clubs issued a vote of "no confidence" in UNO administration and were threatening to withdraw funding new projects (such as new facilities such as baseball fields and ice rinks). Armageddon seemed imminent.

Friday afternoon, the situation seemed to cool with nearly simultaneous announcements by NU Regent Howard Hawks and Chancellor Nancy Belck that the question about moving UNO to division 1 was going to be reopened. Two things drove this decision: the outrage shown by fans and boosters, plus the decision by South Dakota to explore division 1. With the departure of North Dakota, UNO's current conference affiliation, the North Central Conference, is on the verge of losing it's certification as their membership declines to the NCAA minimum of 6 teams.

What does this mean? I'd have to think that the odds are that UNO will start leaning towards division 1. Belck even admits that the North Central Conference is on the verge of extinction, and the division 2 alternatives (Northern Sun and Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association) would likely result in either downsizing or elimination of some programs, such as wrestling, which has won three straight national titles in division 2.

I also think this discussion and debate will move away from public eye and the media spotlight, which is also a good thing. Casual sports fans may confuse the outrage over the decision with disinterest in Mav athletics. If anything is the case, just the opposite is the case. This decision really highlights the interest level in UNO athletics around town.

Boosters will still play a key role in this decision, as they will be expected to help fund new facilities. The Sapp Fieldhouse will likely be insufficient for UNO's basketball and volleyball programs. The baseball team continues to be a vagabond without a true home field. So a new arena would almost seem to be a requirement to be part of a UNO move to division 1.

Would this new arena also be the home for UNO hockey? Even Belck suggests that hockey could also find a new home, probably on the old Chili Greens property. I'm still not convinced that the Qwest Center is a bad fit for UNO hockey, though it is a little oversized for UNO's needs at this time. And even if UNO decides to build a new arena, it will likely take 4-5 years to design, raise funds, and build a new place.

In the meantime, one announcement Belck made Friday that hasn't gotten enough attention was the news that UNO was hiring someone to promote and market Mav hockey. Not that marketing is the whole answer (if that was the case, the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights would be leading the AHL in attendance instead of leading the league in empty seats), but it will work to remind the average sports fan that UNO plays an exciting brand of hockey against some of the biggest names in college sports (Michigoon, Ohio State, Michigan State, and Notre Dame). UNO may be returning a Hobey Baker candidate in Scott Parse, and is coming off an NCAA tournament appearance. If Creighton can build a buzz around their basketball program despite their smaller student and alumni base (not to mention developing fewer pro players than UNO), UNO can certainly build a buzz around their hockey program.

Husker Information Minister takes on the Surgeon General

Husker Information Minister Jim Rose has apparantly been expanding his reportoire of subjects he'll pontificate (or should I say bloviate?) about. Omaha recently enacted a partial smoking ban, much to the dismay of Rose, who has spent much of his airtime recently protesting the proposal. He says he hates cigarette smoke, but his protest is because it's "bad for business" and "the studies regarding the risks of second-hand smoke are questionable."

Oh really?

Study after study shows that the fears of lost business from a smoking ban are just that: irrational fears. One local business in Rose's hometown of Lincoln has learned that just the opposite occurs; business actually can INCREASE after a smoking ban is enacted. That's not a isolated example either...

And as for Rose's assertation that the studies of the effects of second-hand smoking are flawed, I'll let Surgeon General Richard Carmona address that:

"The debate is over. The science is clear. Secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance but a serious health hazard."

Baghdad Bob would be proud.

Tom Shatel: Cutbacks a Slap to UNO Boosters

Tom Shatel has a nice column today on the cutbacks at UNO and the decision to not look at division 1 for all of the other sports.

Did UNO exhaust all donor avenues? Not according to Sokol, who said University of Nebraska Regent Howard Hawks and Lee Sapp - of "Sapp" Fieldhouse fame - were very upset when they heard the news this week. And didn't hear it from UNO.

Dark Days for the Crimson & Black

After last season's run to the NCAA tournament with a roster loaded with underclassmen, the UNO hockey program and the rest of the athletic department should be looking forward to 2006-07. Instead a double shot of bad news emerged this week from the UNO athletic department. Tuesday, UNO laid off two administrators, two basketball coaches, and a staff member due to a $440,000 budget shortfall. Wednesday, UNO Chancellor Nancy Belck refused to consider upgrading the rest of the Maverick athletic program to Division 1.

When the budget cut story emerged, fingers immediately pointed towards UNO's Qwest Center lease in a knee-jerk reaction. In moving to the Qwest Center, UNO's rental expenses doubled which certainly added to the Mavs budget woes. However, even if UNO was paying the same rent they paid at the Civic, UNO would have still run a significant deficit. That hasn't stopped many people from insisting that moving to the Qwest Center was a huge mistake. Unfortunately, this argument has been repeated over and over again. The "mistake" side makes a valid observation that when you have 6,000 fans in attendance, the environment at the Civic is better than at the Qwest Center. However, assuming that UNO is limited to only drawing 6,000 fans to hockey is not exploiting the potential of UNO hockey.

When the Qwest Center was being designed, UNO was in the midst of a sellout streak with over 8,000 tickets sold every night, and 6 or 7 thousand fans in attendance each night. Meanwhile, Creighton basketball was averaging a paid attendance of 5,183 a night (1999). Both schools made the jump to the Qwest Center. If the Qwest Center was the problem, Creighton must have even bigger problems, correct? Poor environment and an oversupply of tickets must be an even bigger problem for the Jays? Uh no... Creighton last year averaged 13,900 fans a game to the Qwest Center.

Why the disparity? Simply put, Creighton did nearly everything right in moving to the Qwest Center...and UNO did a whole lot of things wrong. First of all, Creighton's basketball program was on the verge of exploding under Dana Altman who has done wonders for their program. They hired the marketing whiz (Mike West) who turned Omaha's Nationwide Golf Tour stop into one of the city's biggest event. Conversely, UNO suffered a couple of down year (finishing in last place in their first year at the Qwest Center) and turned over marketing to those geniuses of promoting sports in Omaha: the Royals. Then, just as UNO's program starts making strides on the ice, the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights come to town and glut the hockey market, leading to another attendance slide.

In any event, UNO's hockey future looks pretty good for 2006-07. Hobey Baker candidate Scott Parse is still on track to return as will the vast majority of contributors from last year's NCAA qualifiers, the initial fascination with the OAKs is fading, and UNO is putting more effort into marketing the team.

The second shot to Mav fans was the announcement that UNO would not consider upgrading the rest of the athletic department to division1 (1-AA in football). In interviews today, athletic director Dave Herbster stated that decision to not investigate division 1 was made for him, though he gave the impression that most of the department favored the upgrade. I'm sure the recent budget concerns may have played a issue, especially since upgrading the department would have required upgrades to many facilities. A new arena to replace the aging Sapp Fieldhouse would have been a requirement...and built properly, could be a home to UNO volleyball, basketball, and hockey, providing a state-of-the-art environment like the Qwest Center without the scheduling hassles that cause chaos in the schedule.

Where would the money for upgrading the Mavs to Division 1 come from? One revenue source immediately comes to mind: the Huskers have scheduled many 1-AA teams in recent years in football. A UNO-UNL football game could send $500,000 that would otherwise go out-of-state up I-80, with the only travel costs being a few busses. (Contrast that with UNO's road trips to Washington!) Basketball games against Creighton and the Huskers would also provide a cash infusion to the UNO athletic department. Let's face it, if we're going to play games simply to fire up the band and jumbotron without any concern for having an interesting matchup, we might as well keep the money in-state and keep the benefits in the University system.

So why not even investigate this option? It sounds like it was decided on high not to try and elevate UNO to a similar level as UNL. One can certainly see the perspective of Harvey Perlman and Steve Pederson: a Division 1 UNO is competition for fan interest and donations. And on the football field, it's a no-win situation. Beating Nicholls State 73-6 is just a mismatch played for money, but beating UNO 73-6 is like abusing your little brother. Conversley, only leading Maine 15-7 late in the 4th quarter can be dismissed as a bad game, but if UNO were to pull within 1 score against a Husker program many of them dreamed of playing on while growing up, all bets are off as to what could happen next when emotion and momentum get kicked up a notch. And nobody said that this idea even made it as far as Perlman and Pederson; UNO or University administration may have scuttled the idea without their knowledge.

So now, UNO looks to continue with an uncertain future in division 2. And fans are left to wonder "what if"...

Husker Hoops at the Qwest Center?

Today's Lincoln Journal-Star reports that the Huskers are considering playing Miami in a "neutral site" basketball game in the 2008-09 season. Specifically, at the Qwest Center Omaha...which just happens to be the home court of Creighton.

Which has some (by no means all) BlueJay fans fit to be tied. KXSP-AM's Matt Perrault threw a temper tantrum on-air worthy of my 3 year old niece this afternoon when this story broke (and thus destroyed any claim that he could make that he wasn't a Bluejay homer in the process.) Perrault and the immature faction of the Creighton fanbase that are protesting this idea seem to be claiming that Creighton has some sort of ownership of the Qwest Center.

Problem with that logic is that Creighton is simply a tenant of the Qwest Center...not the owner. They aren't even managing the arena, like the University of Nebraska-Lincoln manages and maintains the Bob Devaney Sports Center. So unless Creighton has an exclusive deal for basketball with MECA (who manages the Qwest Center for the City of Omaha), MECA is certainly within their rights to rent the arena for a Husker game if they so choose.

UNO Maverick fans probably aren't going to provide a lot of sympathy. This single game is unlikely to keep Creighton from playing a game at the Qwest Center, which is more than can be said about MECA's treatment of the Mavs when scheduling hockey games. In fact, for the second year in a row, UNO is being bumped to the Civic Auditorium for their regular season finale against a big-name opponent (last season Michigoon, this season Ohio State). Two years ago, UNO moved a series to the Auditorium to free up the Qwest Center so that Creighton could host a game in the "BracketBuster." And it's not like MECA is making a cut-rate deal to bring in a competiting team on a regular basis either.

Back before the first shovel of dirt was turned at 10th & Capitol, Nebraska's then athletic director talked about being interested in hosting games at the Qwest Center. And it's not like there isn't a precedent for this type of game; the Saavis Center is not only the home for the Saint Louis University Billikens, but also the "Braggin' Rights" game between Missouri and Illinois and the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. Nebraska played volleyball matches at the Qwest Center last year as well.

With the current state of the Husker hoops, I have to wonder why some Creighton fans are getting worked up over this. It is two years down the line, and at this point, I would be surprised if Barry Collier was still the head coach for this game. Perhaps it's some deep uncertainty about how long Dana Altman will stay at Creighton and how long the Huskers will be down. Contrary to what KXSP's Perrault thinks, Nebraska certainly could outbid Creighton for Altman's services, though it's extremely doubtful that Altman would be interested anyway; he's turned down bigger and better job offers. But the influx of coaching talent to the Big XII lately (Self, McDermott, Anderson, Huggins, Capel, Drew, and Gillespie) is going to force Steve Pederson's hand soon.

Boyd Epley leaves the Huskers

The Lincoln Journal-Star is reporting that Boyd Epley is leaving the Huskers to become the director of coaching performance at the National Strength & Conditioning Association. Epley was considered by some as the "father of modern strength conditioning" and his creation of the Husker Power program gets a lot of credit for the Huskers performance over the past 35 years. Epley recently led the North Stadium Expansion Project, which seemed to me to be an odd fit for a legend in athletic training. Now, with that task done, he's returning to his roots.

Epley's reassignment away from strength & conditioning came amongst rumors of friction between him and then-head coach Frank Solich. While denied at the time, it's interested to note that both gentlemen were removed from their jobs in Steve Pederson's first year at the helm of Husker athletics. Coincedence? Personally, I'm doubtful. A couple of years ago, Pederson commented about disunity and blame-passing in the Athletic Department. Who were two of Steve Pederson's biggest staff changes? Frank Solich and Boyd Epley; both long time contributors to the success of Husker football. Hmmm.

I hate to bring up the whole Solich firing again, because it's past history whether it was right or wrong. But Epley leaving the Huskers to return to strength coaching reinforces my hypothesis about the coaching change. It wasn't so much recruiting or 7-7 or 9-3 or 38-9 or 16-12 or 42nd or whatever statistics people like to throw out.

Exit UCLA Rumors, Enter Penn State

A few weeks ago, the Lincoln Journal-Star reported that Nebraska was in discussions with UCLA for future games. Well, now that UCLA and Kansas State have agreed to a series, it looks like those plans might be off. But now, Penn State associate AD Fran Gartner tells the Lincoln Journal-Star that they are in discussions with Nebraska for another series after 2011. This looks like a pretty good series, except that it's very unlikely that JoePa will be the head coach of the Lions by then. The history of coaches following legends (see Oklahoma following Barry Switzer, Alabama following Bear Bryant, etc.) isn't great, so it will be interesting to see what kind of program Penn State is in at that time.

Speaking of JoePa (thanks AJ for the photo), I've seen a lot of Husker fans praising Steve Pederson for refusing to move the Nebraska-Louisiana Tech game to Sunday evening of Labor Day weekend for TV. Frankly, that was an easy call. Looking at the Big XII schedule for Labor Day weekend, the "best" games even remotely interesting for TV are Nebraska-La. Tech, Oklahoma-UAB, and Texas Tech-SMU. Maybe Texas-North Texas, just because of the Bovine's trophy. Not a whole lot to choose from. So Pederson could pretty easily guess that one of the Big XII's TV partners would grab this game; it was more of a question of when rather than if. And sure enough, FSN selected the game for an afternoon broadcast after TBS grabbed Oklahoma-UAB for that evening.

Update: June 19, 2006
Nebraska and UCLA have announced a 2 game series. Nebraska will play at UCLA in 2012 and UCLA will come to Lincoln in 2013.

Another fantastic Stanley Cup Game

Sports fans who didn't watch tonight's game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals missed another treat. Edmonton's Fernando Pisani scored on a shorthanded breakaway in overtime to send the series back to Edmonton for game 6 Saturday night.

A shorthanded breakaway in overtime?

Unfreaking believable.

Of the 5 games played thus far, only one was a blowout (game 2-Carolina 5, Edmonton 0). The other 4 games all were one goal games, and in three of them, the winning goal was scored late (:30 left, 3 minutes left, and tonight in overtime). Game 6 on Saturday night looks like another dandy, and it will be one final opportunity to catch the Edmonton fans singing both national anthems. Edmonton will be rocking.

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.

Solich & GHB

In the week since the Sporting News article on Frank Solich testing positive for GHB exposure, reactions have been as expected. People who support Solich were pleased that the former coach might be exonerated, while those folks who hate Solich were either (a) silent, (b) expressed disinterest (even though they were sure interested when the Solich DWI story broke!), or (c) disbelief. The disbelief reaction was interesting and humorous to read; some folks indicated that they even knew what Solich's Breathalizer reading was! (Which would be news to the Athens Police Department, since Solich refused a breath test!)

Earlier this week, the Athens News did a little more research and contacted two other authorities on GHB detection in hair who said that the levels documented in the toxicology report appear to be excessive. This raises the question that the results could be wrong, though it could also be the result of a mathematical transposition error. (This possibility hasn't stopped some of the Solich haters from suddenly regaining interest in this story now that the test results can be questioned.)

So what's the truth? Well, who knows at this point. When the Dalton e-mail first was circulated at the end of March, the authenticy and accuracy of the story weren't known. Now that the e-mail has been validated, it looks plausible. I lean more towards believing the story as reviving this whole story could prove more harmful to Solich's reputation if it can't be substantiated. It will be interesting to see how this case develops.

Did the Huskers Get Their Groove Back? Nope.

Tuesday I predicted that the Huskers "could make a run through the College World Series...or the season could be over by Saturday afternoon." And unfortunately, it was the latter. Much like UNO's hockey season, the Huskers limped down the stretch and had an forgettable experience in the NCAA tournament.

I had the misfortune of listening to Jim Rose's commentary after the game while running some errands, where he basically echoed many of the statements that he summarily dismissed 3 weeks earlier when he said "Nebraskans don't understand baseball." He even stated that after Nebraska's dramatic 11th inning win over Texas Tech at the end of April that you had to know the season "would go downhill from there". Earlier in the game, Rose did his best Harry Caray impersonation in butchering San Francisco 1st baseman Chris Bacigalupi's name. Switching over to NET, Larry Punteney didn't have any problems with pronounciation. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Jim Rose is a great historian of Nebraska athletics, but he's simply a horrible play-by-play announcer.

Sporting News: Solich to Fight DUI Conviction

The Sporting News is reporting that former Husker and current Ohio University coach Frank Solich has filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea for driving under the influence. This follows a widely circulated e-mail from Solich's son-in-law Jon Dalton that indicated that testing had confirmed that Solich was under the influence of GHB the night he was arrested. When the e-mail first came out two months ago, the source of the e-mail was unverified, nor were there details that substantiated the allegation. In April, news reports in Athens verified that the e-mail did indeed come from the Solich family.

So is Solich innocent? Well, this new evidence does seem to cast reasonable doubt as to his guilt. Hair evidence isolated Solich's exposure to November 26, 2006, the date of his arrest. At Solich's arrest, there was no Breathalyzer test so there is no evidence regarding Solich's blood alcohol level. The police officers observed that Solich was incapacitated behind the wheel, which could be the result of either alcohol or GHB.

Many folks question the legitimacy of this evidence after so long, which is natural. However, unlike on CSI, obtaining this scientific evidence takes time to develop. Some feel that Solich's quick plea is an admission of guilt, though one also needs to remember that Solich's job was on the line. Ohio University is fighting a reputation as a "party school" and University leaders seriously considered firing Solich immediately. The "no contest" plea was likely part of the deal to allow Solich to keep his job.

Solich is taking a risk in reopening this case; he opens himself up to more ridicule and embarassment if his motion is denied, or if he is subsequently found guilty. Furthermore, if he were to be found guilty in a trial, the punishment might end up being more severe for fighting the charge. It will be interesting to see how this develops.

The Beck Backup Plan

Before the Spring Game, I suggested that Bill Callahan and Jay Norvell would be scouring the junior college ranks for another quarterback. Questions about Harrison Beck's progress and health, combined with a lack of confidence in Beau Davis and Joe Ganz are fueling this desire. Well, Callahan and Norvell are moving faster than I thought. They've offered Lyle Moevao, a junior college quarterback, a scholarship for this fall.

Unlike Jordan Adams, who only played in one game as a JuCo, Moevao played in 12 games in his freshman year. Moevao also is being pursued by Oregon State and Colorado, though they are looking at him for 2007.

What does this mean about Beck? Well, Moevao provides Nebraska with sorely needed depth at quarterback. Zac Taylor is clearly the starter, but he is a senior who took a huge pounding last season. What did Nebraska coaches tell Moevao about Beck?

“They said me coming in would basically give him (Beck) competition to get back (from his shoulder problems) and do what he needs to do, and put more depth at the quarterback spot.”

But with Moevao and Beck on the same eligibility cycle (3 seasons of eligibility over the next 4 years), it's obvious that the coaches are hedging their bets on Beck. At the very least, Nebraska is hoping that Moevao will be a quality backup to Beck in 2007.

Did the Huskers Get their Groove Back?

Husker fans had to be generally pleased with the baseball team's performance down at the Big XII tournament in Oklahoma City... or at least they should have been after the 3 previous weeks. Yes, they got the #6 National Seed and the inside track to host a Super Regional. More important than that was regaining some of the momentum they lost during their end-of-season slump. Fans are disappointed with how the regular season ended, but overall, they should be pleased. The sweep of Alabama (#4 National Seed) and winning 3 of 4 from Texas (#3 National Seed) give the Huskers a strong resume. So what to expect? Well, they've proven they can play with anybody in the country (add in a tight 3-2 loss to #1 National Seed Rice in February)...and can lose to anybody(Northern Iowa and their #152 RPI). They could make a run through the College World Series...or the season could be over by Saturday afternoon.

One wonders how this weekend's games will be televised. Since the NCAA controls the rights to the regionals, Steve Pederson probably can't blackball NET and Kevin Kugler from broadcasting the games to the state.

Husker Recruit in Legal Trouble and do U C LA in Nebraska's future?

Husker football recruit Major Culbert has had his scholarship offer "suspended" by Bill Callahan following his arrest on a sexual abuse charge that resulted from Culbert's recruiting visit to Oregon. Right move? Wrong move? Well, it sure is a different move. Former Husker coach Tom Osborne likely would not have told Culbert that he wasn't welcome in Lincoln. Osborne detractors would imply that Osborne would put Culbert into the starting lineup based on this, but that would be simply exaggerating. The real difference is that Osborne would have likely told Culbert that his top priority needed to be resolving his legal problems first, not football, but that Osborne would be there for Culbert. What's the right way to handle this situation? Impossible to say; an arrest does not necessarily equate to guilt. If Culbert ends up being exhonerated, the chances of him wearing Husker red are rather slim with the chilly reaction from Callahan. If Culbert ends up in serious legal difficulty, Callahan's tough approach sends a strong message that players need to be responsible for their actions.

The Journal-Star dug into Callahan's comments about another schedule announcement, and have traced it to UCLA for 2012 and 2013. I said UCLA sounded good on Saturday, and it still sounds good tonight. I also liked the idea of playing Wyoming in a home-and-Denver series...especially if you schedule this for Labor Day weekend. Can you imagine the outrage in Denver if 40,000 Husker fans invaded the Mile High City? Too bad this fell through...

Rose: Nebraskans Don't Understand Baseball

Nebraska fans are probably getting an itch to press the "panic" button after losing their third conference series in a row this weekend. Yesterday's 10-4 victory looked like the Huskers might have broken out of their slump, but today's 6-2 loss to the Sooners squashed that momentum. The Huskers now limp into the postseason with no momentum. Whether they host a Super-Regional or even a Regional at this point is a secondary concern; the primary issue at this point is to get the bats and defense back into gear and get some confidence.

I wonder what the Husker Information Minister will have to say this week about Husker Baseball. Last week, Jim Rose dismissed the concerns that the Huskers were slumping by stating that "Nebraskans don't understand baseball" as they never started following the sport until Dave Van Horne started to turn things around in Lincoln in 1999. Uh, what? I guess Rose just assumes that the folks that show up year after year to watch the College World Series are really just holding their seats for the World-Herald's 4th of July fireworks show. By this weekend, Rose put his kool-aid back into the 'fridge and acknowledged several times that the Huskers were slumping and needed to get momentum back ... and fast.

Callahan: Another Opponent Announcement Forthcoming

In this morning's Omaha World-Herald, Bill Callahan commented that Nebraska is finalizing discussions with an opponent that "people will be excited about". Callahan went on to say

"We like to recruit out East, down South, on the West Coast, so we love this kind of exposure," Callahan said. "I'm in favor of getting the good teams on the schedule and creating the home-and-homes."

Translation: This means that this is likely to be an SEC, ACC, or Pac-10 opponent. Will this be a top-tier opponent? I'd like to think so, but some people have different ideas about "exciting". Some people think that the Nichols State game will be exciting.

Who would I like to see from this group? I'm not particular, but I'd love to see Florida, Florida State, Miami, Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, LSU, or UCLA pop-up on the Huskers schedule.

What do I fear? Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Directional Florida/Directional Louisiana, Duke, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington State. I don't foresee these schools making an "exciting game" or attracting the attention of the average sports fan.

I'd also like to see some of the Bigger 10 teams appear on the schedule, but that's not as likely to happen. Naturally Michigoon, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, and Wisconsin. Minnesota could be an interesting game down the line if they get a new stadium; it's a reasonable drive for Husker fans to attend.

Howard Hawks on Huskers & (UNO) Hockey

Tom Shatel had an interesting interview in yesterday's paper with Nebraska regent and booster Howard Hawks. The conversation naturally spun to the state of Husker athletics and boosters, and Hawks touched on the Solich situation; a situation that today still bitterly divides Steve Pederson's "Husker Nation".

Q. Was it asked before Frank Solich was fired? How did you feel about that?

HH. "No. That was a little messy, probably too messy. If I had had my druthers, that would have come out as a retirement. What some forget is that Frank fired coaches the year before."

It's interesting that nearly 30 months after it happened, this is an issue that simply won't go away. At this point, it likely never will. For folks who feel the firing was wrong, most of them have moved on. I consider myself part of that group; the firing will never be justified in my eyes, but it's done, and it's not going to be reversed at this point. I try not to dwell on it anymore, and have rejected several ideas for blog entries because dwelling on it doesn't help anything. This issue is a dead horse.

On the other side of the division are another group of fans who continue to dwell on the firing. Maybe dwell isn't the right word; perhaps "revel" is a better term. In their eyes, Bill Callahan and Steve Pederson can do no wrong, and Frank Solich is evil incarnate. They claim to be the "true fans", yet they go to extreme lengths to rehash the old debates. Any criticism of the current regime is dismissed, and any good news is cause for storming 72nd & Dodge in their eyes.

Messy, indeed. As Hawks says, "if you are really committed to the institution, that way of thinking is too narrow."

Also of interest is the final question:

Q. What's your plan for future athletic donations? Anything you would like to see done?

HH. "We need to get better athletic facilities for UNO. Softball, baseball, hockey. We need to do something with the Chili Greens' land. I'd also like to see more youth facilities around the city."

There have been discussions about UNO building a practice hockey rink south of the Ak-Sar-Ben campus, and even grander ideas about a new UNO arena for hockey, basketball, and volleyball. While the Qwest Center is a grand facility for Mav hockey, it's also much bigger than is necessary for UNO. Plus, sharing the facility with Creighton and other events in Omaha has caused UNO scheduling problems; take UNO's games with Michigoon in February. The games were moved from the Qwest Center to the Civic Auditorium due to the state wrestling tournament. Many Mav fans would like to see UNO build a 7,000-10,000 seat state-of-the-art arena of their own as a home for UNO's indoor sports.

Adding weight to this idea is the questionable future of the North Central Conference. Over the last few years, members have been lost to Division 1 and others are considering it for the future. If other NCC members make the jump, UNO will be forced to ask the same question; either upgrade to full D-1 or downgrade to a lesser D-2 conference with restrictions on the sports. If UNO wants to move to Division 1, UNO will need to seriously upgrade facilities like the Sapp Fieldhouse. A new UNO arena could provide UNO hockey with all the amenities that the Qwest Center brings while restoring the atmosphere that some feel was lost in the move from the auditorium. This certainly bears watching to see how it develops.

Huskers vs. Hokies in 2008

Props to Steve Pederson for scheduling an attractive matchup with Virginia Tech and the Huskers for 2008 and 2009. I understand that the schedules were rather barren when Pederson took over, and Pederson had to take what was available, but these are the types of matchups fans like. Personally, I'd like to see 2 games like this each season: one in Lincoln and one on the road. It makes games like Troy and Nicholls State a little easier to take.

Some fans will worry that you could play yourself out of a BCS game by playing these types of games, but I think you run a bigger risk by NOT playing these types of games. In 2004, Auburn got shut out of playing for the national championship because their non-conference schedule consisted of Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, and The Citadel.

The matchup with the Hokies brings back memories of the 2nd 1996 Orange Bowl, played on New Years Eve in a deserted Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphins Stadium. The Hokie fans far outnumbered the 3,000 or so Husker fans there that evening, and certainly weren't friendly either before the game or afterwards. Not that I blame Husker fans for not going to this game; many had already spent money for the anticipated Sugar Bowl and playing for the National Championship. Airfare was obscene for the game; the best price I could find was a $500 flight out of Kansas City that returned at 6 am NewYears morning. (I almost fell asleep driving up I-29 during the early New Years bowl games due to exhaustion; fortunately I didn't hit anybody, unlike Cody Glenn last weekend.)

What the heck is a Hokie? I made the mistake of asking a Tech fan if the gobbling turkey puppet he was holding before the game was a Hokie (an honest question I thought), and he replied with an insulting comment about the state of Nebraska. Afterwards, they weren't much better behaved. Needless to say, I have a suspicion that Husker fans who go to Blacksburg for this game may return calling it "East Boulder".

Anybody want to be a Husker Hoops Assistant?

So far, Husker basketball coach Barry Collier has gone 0-for-2 in his search to replace Scott Spinelli. Lee Barfknecht of the Omaha World-Herald reported today that both Chris Chaney and Tim Thomas have rejected offers to become a college assistant coach. Why Chaney & Thomas? Both have coached current player Jamel White and recruits Toni Soda and Roburt Sallie.

While both say that coaching in the Big XII and at Nebraska would be an outstanding opportunity, both stated that family matters kept them from accepting the job. Family issues were part of the reason Spinelli gave for leaving Nebraska. Is Lincoln, Nebraska suddenly not a family friendly place?

Of course not. Unless, of course, you are a men's basketball coach. Apparantly, Steve Pederson's vote of confidence isn't carrying much weight with anybody. Collier investigated the Ball State job last month, which seems to suggest that even Collier isn't sold on his prospects in Lincoln.

Husker hoops is looking more and more like a program adrift when prep school assistants are turning down a job. Rumors of a buyout were floating around Lincoln in March; perhaps it's time to reopen those discussions. Perhaps Collier has a good plan "C", but I'm becoming more and more skeptical.

Players Who Transfer: Good Move or Bad?

In Tom Osborne's book "Faith in the Game", Osborne commented that players who transfer usually don't find more success at their new school. For the most part, it's true. Mainia Brown certainly didn't become a star at BYU. Marques Simmons found himself just as deep on the depth chart at Iowa as he did at Nebraska. Today's Omaha World-Herald looked at the quarterbacks who recently left Nebraska, and how they've fared.

When we last saw Curt Dukes, he was recovering from knee surgery but was competing with Jammal Lord for the starting QB job 3 years ago in the 2003 Spring Game. Shortly thereafter, he left the team and transfered to Duke, redshirted in 2004, and played sparingly in 2005. Based on his comments when he left and how things went in Durham, it sure looks like Dukes lost interest in playing college football. Dukes will graduate early from Duke and bypass his senior year to enter medical school. In this case, it looks like Dukes' transfer went well for him personally, even though his football career never really moved forward.

Joe Dailey took a lot of abuse from some fans in 2004, and most of that was undeserved. Recruited as a run/pass quarterback, Bill Callahan tried to convert him into a dropback passer, with rather mixed results. Some games (Western Illinois, Baylor) went well. Other games (Southern Miss, Iowa State) turned into disasters. In Callahan's defense, with Jordan Adams unavailable and a trio of freshmen backing up Dailey, keeping Dailey healthy was a top priority. Plus, many felt that Callahan had to prove his commitment to the West Coast Offense at Nebraska, so Dailey became a sacrificial lamb - the square peg in the round hole. Now at North Carolina, he's playing much better in another variant of the West Coast Offense, but one that will work with Dailey's instincts instead of against them. A lot of people point to the end of the Southern Miss game as the signature play of Dailey's career. What I saw is a completely befuddled quarterback who was having an internal battle between his instincts and what his coach was trying to teach him -- with a horrible result as his indecisiveness on that play resulted in him going out of bounds inside the Southern Miss 5 as time expired. A fresh start might just be what Joe Dailey needed.

Meanwhile, wrestler Ryan Goodman still chases his dream of playing in the NFL at North Carolina State. He did make the NCAA wrestling championships for the Wolfpack though.

Any discussion of transferring quarterbacks has to include the poster child for finding a better situation, and that's Nebraska's Zac Taylor. When Taylor left Wake Forest, I'm sure that he was hoping to work his way back into the MAC or Conference USA. Now the kid who grew up wearing Sooner Red is going to be spending his senior year battling for a Big XII championship.

Does transferring help players? It depends on where the problem was. If the problem was inside, the problem will just follow you elsewhere. But if the situation wasn't right for you, like with Zac Taylor and possibly Joe Dailey, it might work out after all. In the end, Curt Dukes found the problem inside, but in his case, the transfer looks like it was a good move for him as well.

Leon Jackson Boomerang

Well, a week after Leon Jackson decided to leave the Husker football program, Jackson has decided to stick around after all. Which should be a good deal for the Big Red; Jackson looked good in Spring practice. Some practice observers thought he was the best all-around back this spring; more power than Marlon Lucky but with more game-breaking ability than Cody Glenn. It doesn't sound like the gap between Lucky, Glenn, and Jackson was terribly great.

And let's face it, you never can have enough running backs. Just ask the Carolina Panthers, who had to finish the NFC Championship game with their 4th string back.... A couple of years ago, Marques Simmons was buried at 4th on the Iowa depth chart until injuries decimated the Hawkeyes.

However, comments by Jackson's father in the Lincoln Journal-Star are potentially troubling. According to Leon Jackson, Sr., Bill Callahan would only release Leon Jr. from his scholarship if he transfered to a division 1-AA or lower school, saying that he could do everything he wanted to do at Nebraska, if he wanted to play at a 1-A school.

This raises the question: Is Leon Jackson back because he realized he made a huge mistake, or is Leon Jackson back because he thinks he has no place else to go? If Leon has truly changed his mind and wants to be a Husker, all is well. But if Leon is staying because he feels trapped at Nebraska, that can't be good. If Jackson doesn't have a good attitude, he could become a distraction to the team... and that will hurt the team more than his talent will help.

And I'm not necessarily criticizing Callahan here; Callahan may have been playing tough with Jackson to make sure that Jackson wasn't acting impulsively. In life, you can't always run away when things don't go your way. Putting those restrictions on Jackson could be a way of making him think about the implications of his decision. Callahan might very well have changed his mind after a few weeks and Jackson was able to convince Callahan of that choice. We don't know...and don't need to know either.

Bottom line...it comes down to what Leon Jackson's attitude is in coming back. Let's hope he wants to be the #1 I-back at Nebraska this fall.

Maric declares for the NBA Draft

First it was Spinelli, and now Aleks Maric may be leaving for the NBA. Maric has declared for the draft, but has not hired an agent, so he will remain eligibile for a while longer. If he pulls out of the draft within a week of the draft, he'll still be eligible. I'm not sure if he stays in the draft and either goes undrafted or doesn't like where he got drafted, he would retain his eligibility. My guess is not, but that's just a guess.

My guess is that this is more testing the waters than anything. 56 underclassmen have declared for the draft, and only 60 players will be drafted. However, Maric could still decide to turn pro and head to Europe or home to Australia.

What does this mean for Husker hoops? Well, the momentum that Steve Pederson saw at the Big XII tournament is disappearing fast. Tom Shatel discussed it in today's World-Herald and that Husker Hoops is "sailing to no port. Or is the ship sinking?"

If Maric does not return, the future of Husker basketball looks extremely cloudy. First, you have to wonder about others on the roster--- will they return or will they ask for transfers? If you have any more defections, then where do you restart the building process? And can Barry Collier do it with the black cloud of his departure looming over his head? If Nebraska has to start over again, it will require a minimum three-year commitment to the head coach.

If Maric leaves in June, what does Nebraska do? Do they let Collier finish out next season, or do they pull the trigger when nobody is changing jobs? Illinois was able to hire Bill Self over the summer when Lon Krueger got an NBA offer, but the Illini were an established program. Husker hoops is really starting to look like a muddled mess.

Spinelli to Wichita???

According to the Lincoln Journal-Star and the Omaha World-Herald, Husker assistant basketball coach Scott Spinelli is leaving the Huskers for a lateral move to Wichita State. Which raises the following question: WTF???

Is Wichita State a better program than Nebraska? Not likely; while the Shockers did make the Sweet 16, the MVC is still a mid-major conference.

So why this move? Looking around, there are two theories which probably explain it:

• Barry Collier was almost fired this spring, and probably doesn't have much job security.
• WSU coach Mark Turgeon is a hot commodity as a head coach and Spinelli could be positioning himself as Turgeon's successor.

But still, this looks bad for Husker hoops. A lot of people credit Spinelli's work in recruiting as a reason why Collier was retained. Spinelli's departure will not only hurt Collier's recruiting momentum, but will also increase the perception that Collier is on his last legs at Nebraska.

This can't be good.

Leon Jackson: Victim of Recruiting Hype

In a not-so-surprising development, Leon Jackson has decided to transfer from Nebraska after spending his first year bouncing between running back, safety, receiver, and back to running back. This shouldn't be a surprise; Jackson showed his frustration last fall. Was this the right decision for Jackson and Nebraska? Yes and no. No, because you'd like to see a player with his talents stay on at Nebraska. However, if he's really unhappy, it's a good thing that he's leaving now rather than sit and mope. Best for him to move on. Will he be successful elsewhere? Perhaps, though the odds are stacked against him. Occasionally, players who transfer find success elsewhere -- see Zac Taylor. But more often than not, the player doesn't find the success he expected elsewhere either.

Do I blame Jackson? Not really; he's still a kid and still learning.

I blame the hype machine, fed by the Recruiting industry. Tom Lemming, a recruiting analyst for ESPN.com, even admits the monster they've created:

"They're built up so much by these Web sites that they feel like they've got to play or they're a disappointment. These Web sites have made these kids superstars before they ever get to college."

And, as Jackson's high school coach, Steve Graff says, they take these player's ego for a ride.

Recruitniks take these rankings as a guarentee that these players simply can't miss; the rankings are the end-all/be-all final word on the worthiness of a player. But oh-so-wrong. Even Lemming admits that half of these "blue-chippers" don't pan out, and even those that do usually take two or three years to develop.

Just more proof that these recruiting experts are irrelevant and mostly make-believe.

Evaluating Talent: Even the NFL Gets It Wrong

Scanning some Husker forums over the past week, I've seen several threads concerning Harrison Beck and the status of his sore shoulder. The injury itself doesn't sound serious, and likely will just need some extended rest. That leads to questions about whether Nebraska is going to recruit a Junior College quarterback to compete with Beck for the starting job in 2007. Invariably, the response from some recruitniks is to repeat a party line of "there is no problem with Beck; Beck is the man; please ignore the man behind the curtain". The implication is that it doesn't matter if Beck only completed 1 out of his 10 passes last season, it doesn't matter if observers are concerned about Beck's slow development. All that matters is that Rivals rated him highly and Bill Callahan and Jay Norvell say he's fine.

The problem is that (a) Rivals has moved onto high school juniors now, and (b) of course Callahan and Norvell are going to say Beck is fine. Are they going to dash Beck's confidence? Are they going to come out and rip their players, especially after the criticism Callahan took for his "dumbest team in America" quip?

The fact is that talent evaluation is an art, not a science. Even the NFL gets it wrong... Can you say Ryan Leaf? Akili Smith? How do you explain Kurt Warner? With the NFL draft this weekend, an AP story talks about the number of undrafted players who turn into stars. Let's face it, talent evaluation is simply opinions and even the best frequently get it wrong.

That doesn't mean that Harrison Beck is a bust...far from it. The pedigree that the recruitniks awarded to Beck isn't worth anything. The questions that some raise about Beck will eventually need to be answered by him...and on the field. If he answers the call and develops into the quarterback people claim he is, people will remember that pass he threw into the West Stadium against and laugh about how far he came.

Update: Another article via the Omaha World-Herald from the Washington Post about the NFL Draft and how it frequently is a crap shoot.

Forbes: KC Royals made $20 million

Tonight, the Kansas City Royals snapped an 11-game losing streak against the Cleveland Indians. In the past 2 years, the Royals have forced their remaining fans to suffer through losing streaks of 19 games, 9 games, and 8 games (three times!). Ah, the woes of a small market team; they just can't afford to pay major league salaries.

Or is it that they just don't want to?

According to a Forbes story, the woeful Kansas City Royals made over $20 million last year; their payroll for this year is just over $47 million.

It sure looks like Royals owner David Glass is running the Royals like he ran Wal-Mart. While keeping costs low may be good for business, it's bad baseball. We saw this last summer when the Royals tightwad ways kept former Husker Alex Gordon in Lincoln last summer instead of in the minor leagues.

A lot of frustrated baseball fans in Kansas City blame Allard Baird, and while he probably hasn't helped things any, the blame belongs higher. Dick Howser and Ewing Kauffman must be rolling in their graves, wondering what has happened to their franchise.

Remembering Brook Berringer

Has it really been 10 years? April 18th, 1996, Husker fans were anticipating the celebration of Nebraska's back-to-back National Championships when the horrible news came out about Brook Berringer's death.

Berringer wasn't the greatest football player, but he may have been one of the greatest people to ever wear a Nebraska uniform. And that's no knock on his football talent; he was in line to be drafted by the NFL. Berringer took over the Huskers' after Tommie Frazier was sidelined with blood clots and directed the team into the 2004 National Championship game in the Orange Bowl against Miami. The next season, Berringer found himself back on the sidelines as Nebraska repeated, yet didn't allow his disappointment to become a distraction in a season full of distractions.

I think Tom Shatel summed up the feelings of Husker fans everywhere with the final line of his column today:

Just let me get a tissue first.

Some other links:

• Omaha.com: "Ten Years Later, He's Still Touching Lives"
• JournalStar.com: "Berringer's Memory Lives On"
• JournalStar.com: "Remembering a Husker Hero"
• Sawyer Brown: Lyrics to the "Nebraska Song"
  

Husker Hockey?

Chris' Western College Hockey Blog today speculated on the potential of expanding college hockey. Annually on USCHO, the idea of a Big Ten hockey conference gets raised, raiding the WCHA for Minnesota and Wisconsin and the CCHA for Ohio State, Sparty, and the Weasels. Could this happen if Iowa or Penn State were to elevate their club programs to Division 1?

Outside of the Big Ten, Chris feels that a fertile ground for expansion of college hockey would be Lincoln, Nebraska and the Cornhuskers. And, on the surface, this makes perfect sense. Nebraska USHL teams in Kearney, Lincoln, and Omaha draw well. And let's face it, there isn't a Husker sport that doesn't have a decent fanbase. (Some people might consider men's basketball an exception, but history shows that hoops fans are likely just hibernating...)

Could the Huskers start a Division 1 hockey program? In the immediate future, the answer is no. The Memorial Stadium expansion project is going to eat up any and all resources for the forseeable future. But long term? I'd have to say the idea sounds very intriguing.

There are two existing roadblocks that immediately put Husker Hockey into the penalty box:

• No Arena with ice
• Title IX

However, Lincoln is already discussing a new arena to compete with the Qwest Center. And Title IX issues could be easily addressed by simply adding women's hockey.

Would Husker hockey steal fans from the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks? Perhaps some. However, Creighton certainly holds their own fanbase in sports; they even outdraw the Huskers in men's basketball. If anything, a Husker-Maverick rivalry might provide a natural rivalry for both programs and would attract new fans to both programs.

Personally, I don't see this happening for a little while longer. But deep down, I think this is a winning idea long term.

Update: Revisiting Husker Hockey.

Spring Game Recap

Well, the third Spring Game in the Callahan era was much the same the previous two --- an uncompetitive blowout. I skipped this year's game due to a combination of the Easter holiday, the limited seating, and the expectation that the game would be uninformative. And from the sounds of things, I didn't miss anything. With the current format of Starters vs. Reserves, this game is really only suitable for two groups: families who want to introduce kids to Husker football at a reasonable price and the obsessed who will gladly jump on any opportunity to wear their red to Memorial Stadium.

This year's Spring Game featured a heavy dose of the running game, which is welcome news to those of us who feel that the Callahan version of the "West Coast" has been too dependent on the passing game in it's first two years. Tom Shatel of the World-Herald attributes this to a need to prove his committment to the aerial game to recruits. I've heard this theory from others in the past, and it makes sense. During the Osborne/Solich era, pro-style quarterbacks and receivers usually didn't consider Nebraska, and Callahan probably felt that he needed to prove this to skeptical recruits. However, the over-emphasis on the passing game undoubtedly cost us a winning season in 2004 and cost us a win or two in 2005.

So what did we learn? Well, Steve Octavien is a difference-maker, at least against out-matched competition. The gap between Zac Taylor and his backups Joe Ganz and Beau Davis (and apparantly Harrison Beck) is growing larger and larger. And Nebraska still doesn't have much depth on the offensive line, as the reserve offensive linemen were no match for the Blackshirts up front.

It appears that Marlon Lucky has made some progress in the last few practices to move into a tie with Cody Glenn as the top I-back. A lot of folks think that JuCo Kenny Wilson will make a solid case to start in the fall, but unless Wilson is a master at picking up blitzers, Wilson will probably only see spot duty. (Think Brandon Jackson in 2004, Lucky, and Glenn. 1st year running backs seem to be limited to specific roles in this variant of the WCO.) The starter this fall may very well depend on who blocks the best. For Nebraska to have any success in 2006, keeping Zac Taylor healthy is going to be priority #1. (If anything, Saturday's scrimmage proved that point...)

Folks looking to extrapolate Saturday's results to greatness next season should stop first and remember the false hopes that emerged from the last couple of spring games. Lee Barfknecht of the Omaha World-Herald reminds fans that the successful ending to 2005 needs to be tempered by the fact that Kansas State, Colorado, and Michigoon were in shambles at the end of the season. (KSU and Colorado completely changed their staffs, while the Weasels hired new offensive and defensive coordinators.)

A few Spring Game Notes

From the sounds of things, Matt Herian is cleared to take the field for the first time in 18 months for tomorrow's Spring Game. For some reason, I think the first play just might be a deep pass to Herian, who deserves a huge ovation. Let's hope he's back to his pre-injury form in the fall...

Harrison Beck is also cleared to play despite his sore shoulder. Beck was struggling in camp before being injured, so I won't be surprised (or disappointed) if he doesn't play well.

The Kansas City media apparantly just heard about Bill Callahan's quip about Josh Freeman last month. It's sad when the 18 year old recruit shows more maturity than Nebraska's head coach. Freeman's response? "Life goes on. I play for K-State now."

Speaking of immature responses, apparantly Husker Information Minister Jim Rose is all in a tizzy over the Omaha Press Club's selection of Todd & Tyler as the next "Faces on the Barroom Floor". Apparantly Rose is leading a campaign advocating the cancelling of memberships over this. The Press Club provides a public service to the community, sponsoring debates this year for the US Senate and Nebraska governor races in the past month. But apparantly that's not as important as protesting a roast of a couple of morning show DJ's... During the uproar over Nebraska's coaching change, Rose continually belabored the point that the protests were hurting the program. Rose's protest of the Press Club over something as silly as a roast of Todd & Tyler hurts the community.

More on Beck

Harrison Beck missed his 5th straight practice yesterday with injuries to his hamstring and throwing shoulder. While the injury itself may not be serious, the loss of valuable practice time is. Let's face it, practice observers were reporting that Beck was still struggling before the injury. Meanwhile, Joe Ganz continues to impress, though nobody gives him much of a shot. In any event, this makes this weekend's spring game almost a non-event since Zac Taylor will probably only make a token appearance. Ganz and Beau Davis will likely take most of the snaps on Saturday, because even if Beck makes it back to practice, they probably will hold him out of contact.

Beck's injury also means that Callahan and Norvell have to make a tough decision with less to work with...and that is whether to target a junior college quarterback, especially one that can arrive at the semester break. I wouldn't be surprised if that recruiting isn't already underway, encouraging potential targets to take enough classes over the summer to become eligible by Christmas.

Steve Attempts to Explain the NET Baseball Debate

Steve Pederson in today's Lincoln Journal-Star tries once again to explain the ill-fated decision to dump Nebraska ETV for Husker baseball. The first change in the story is that NET only asked to do 3 games, 2 of which conflicted with the Big XII's agreement with FSN. The implication is that it wasn't worth it to only have 1 game on NET, so that's where Cox came into the picture.

Of course, nothing is said about whether the athletic department ever gave NET the opportunity to try some other dates. We are left to assume that NET was denied the opportunity to look at other dates.

The next broadcasts on Cox will have a slightly larger audience. Charter Cable (which covers Kearney, Grand Island, Hastings, North Platte, and Scottsbluff) will carry the game as well as Cox cable systems in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, and Kansas. Still not the same reach as CSTV, though.

Pederson also implied that Kevin Kugler played a part in the decision to dump NETV, though he claims it has more to do with "branding" than Kugler's criticism on KOZN radio:

“As we do with Pinnacle and everybody else, we have made the request that we be able to select the talent for our broadcasts. A lot of that is branding. We want to use our people. We try to use Jim Rose as much as we can. We try to use Greg Sharpe a lot. He did the basketball broadcasts for us. We have asked (to have) input on that, which as far as I know, is pretty typical for most universities.

“Our issue is not one announcer. Our issue is we want our own announcer brand in our product, and that’s a pretty reasonable request on the part of any university.”

"Branding"? Does that mean that Steve Pederson will be requesting that ABC use Sharpe instead of Brent Musberger?

In other words, Kevin Kugler: "Good Night and Good Luck."