Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Random Thoughts Dec. 19, 2012

As the year is winding down I hope you and yours are having a very happy holidays.  Just some random thoughts for the evening.  It's been a while since I've been on so it's time to do some catching up.

First of all, my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Newtown, Connecticut as are the prayers of millions of Americans from coast to coast.  Every time I hear of a shooting at a school or any place else I have to wonder to myself, what is wrong with people?

Johnny Football deserves the Heisman.  It could not have gone to anyone else.  Of the other candidates, Klein took himself out of the running with his stinker vs Baylor and if Suh couldn't win it three years ago then Te'o should not have won either.

Josh Hamilton has probably thrown his last bit of goodwill in Texas away by signing with the Rangers archrival.  I cannot WAIT till the first week of the season when these teams clash at Rangers Ballpark.  The boos will be deafening.

So Roger Goodell has been contemplating eliminating kickoffs.  What is this sport going to be in five years, flag football?

The Texans get shellacked in Foxboro against the Patriots then the Patriots get beat by the Niners six days later.  It goes to show there is no momentum whatsoever in the National Football League.

I like Texas Tech hiring Kliff Kingsbury.  The guy seems to have a swagger about him and can win some games in Lubbock.  He is very inexperienced though.

Last Saturday was a tremendous college sports day.  Butler and Indiana was a classic basketball game that had an NCAA tournament feel.  Arizona and Nevada in the New Mexico Bowl was tremendous and Arizona also beat Florida in a great basketball game.

Dallas may have saved their season by beating the Steelers and has put Pittsburgh in peril.  As for Dallas, they have to beat New Orleans and then have to beat Washington.  New Orleans they should win, Washington on the other hand...

Final thought: Nebraska is not all that good but should play with a chip on its shoulder in the bowl game.  Teams always want to play better after getting blown out.

Until next time....


Monday, December 3, 2012

Big 10 Championship Post Mortem: Where Do We Go From Here?

Saturday night was supposed to be the night. That was supposed to be IT.

The night all the demons were erased, all the trials and tribulations of winning no conference title in 13 years for the Nebraska football program...all of it was supposed to go away Saturday night.

Talk about a fanbase that was lied to. We were served an enormous batch of fools gold, again.

First thing's first - I have to give Wisconsin credit. They came out well prepared and they executed well all game long.

That said, that was one of the most disheartening performances, from the star players all the way down to the water boy, that I've seen from a Nebraska football team in my lifetime.

The thing is, the reason we got Bo Pelini is because we hoped that the 60 and 70 point games that we suffered under the Bill Callahan regime would stop.

We were sold fools gold.  Again.

Because here we are in year five and take a look. 63 points given up to Ohio State and 70 points given up to Wisconsin, when the lights were the brightest.

I'm not telling Nebraska fans anything they don't already know, but these are the kinds of losses that kill a program, that drive away fan interest. It's one thing to lose a close game and generally most of the time when Osborne would lose, those teams wouldn't get humiliated. They might lose, but they wouldn't be totally embarrassed.

The fact is, five of the seven losses Nebraska found a way to lose in embarrassing fashion. That cannot happen at any school, much less Nebraska.

So the question I pose again is: Where do we go from here?

My theory is this: Bo should not be fired. He found a way to win 10 games again, as miraculous as that sounds that is the truth. However, this program has glaring flaws everywhere. There need to be changes in the staff and they need to happen immediately.

The first thing Eichorst needs to do when he gets in that AD chair on Jan. 1, 2013 is he needs to tell Bo that there needs to be massive changes on his coaching staff. I think at least three or four coaches need their walking papers for one thing.

I do not envy Eichorst. He has a massive task ahead of him.

Until next time...