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My only thoughts on that game: Alex Henery won't have to look for a date for months. Women will be beating his door down.
Now, onto more serious thoughts.
I've watched as many games as I could this year and several opinions, notice the word opinions, have formed in my head.
First, Woody Paige is still a hack of a journalist. He wrote an article last week thanking Nebraska for returning to something resembling prominence. He made a few Nebraska jokes and seemed very pleased with himself for his humorous take on Nebraska's decent season.
Now, Woody, before we go thanking Nebraska for coming back to prominence, I must only ask one question: When was Colorado ever prominent or relevant? Remove that small stretch of time from 1990 to 1994 when Colorado actually won a national title and seemed like they may be a consistent national player, the Buffaloes have been remarkably mediocre since.
Because, you know Woody, Nebraska kind of won three national titles after that. I'm just saying.
Woody made several references to the Huskers struggles over the last few years. This made me think and I did a little research. I have since misplaced the research and really don't want to go find it but over the last five years, Colorado's record is something like 29-35. Nebraska's over that same time is around 35-27.
Nebraska's worst record during that time? Five wins and seven losses. Colorado's? Two wins and ten losses.
Let me do my math for a moment. That would seem to indicate that Nebraska has a better record than Colorado over the last five years.
Hmmm, maybe we Nebraska fans should write an article for Woody the moment Colorado actually becomes or stays useful to the national picture for more than five seasons.
I realize that 35-27 is not what we Huskers are accustomed to but the days of prolonged dominance, unless you are USC and you can provide favors for your players and the NCAA won't do anything about it, are probably over for most teams.
Second point of the day: I still find myself struggling with the question of 'are we reallly better than we were a year ago?'
Yes, the Huskers did go 8-4 this year, a marked improvement over last year's 5-7 complete and utter meltdown. But there is still this nagging doubt in the back of my head.
It is true that the Huskers could very well be 10-2, had the Virginia Tech and Texas Tech games gone a little different. But they could also just as easily be 6-6 or 5-7 had some things gone differently against Colorado, Kansas and Baylor.
Perhaps the fact that they found a way to win those last three games I mentioned is the mark of an improved team. And perhaps any critiques I could throw out there about the defense are less a product of the defense's improvement and more a product of the crazy-ass offensive production this conference spews out.
I will give this team a huge bit of kudos for making things interesting. Throw out the Missouri and Oklahoma debacles and this team was in every game they played.
And I must once again look back to the Oklahoma game as a moment that may have turned around Bo Pelini's coaching career. After he was lambasted for days over his sideline tirades he seemed to become a more calm and passified Coach Bo. And when the coach is under control, the team plays the same way. He never panicked against Kansas or Colorado when things got interesting. He may have had his moments when the defense gave up the big play or his own decisions came back to bite him. But he kept his cool. And so did the team.
The sole fact that Coach Bo owned up to some bad calls and didn't blame anybody else for those mistakes is something that should be commended and will probably shine brightly in the eyes of potential recruits. Any coach that will take the brunt of the blame and not say that a faulty play by an athlete or poor execution is someone that every kid should want to play for.
Third, I sincerely hope that the Huskers get the opportunity to play in the Gator Bowl and have the chance for a New Year's Day showcase. Anytime that you can be on television the day most of the country will be sitting around the tube and nursing a hangover is a day you want to play. National exposure and the chance to possibly prove that the Huskers are back. Or at least returning to something resembling back.
We have really only begun to see what kind of transformation of the program that Coach Bo will lead. This season has seen Michigan, West Virginia, Auburn and Clemson all tank epically. Some of those programs with coaches that have been around the team for awhile, some of them with new coaches.
With the extra weeks of practice now ahead for the Huskers, the chance to begin to develop the younger players begins substantially earlier than it did a year ago. And the chance for so many of the underclassmen that will return to improve their skills and prepare for a bigger campaign next year is invaluable.
But I offer this caveat: Next year's schedule will not be pleasant. At Virginia Tech, Missouri, Kansas and Baylor. Home games with Oklahoma and Texas Tech. There are the probable wins out there, like the three other non-conference teams Nebraska plays, as well as Iowa State, Kansas State and Colorado. But you have to admit, you can see those other six games going either way, some of them most likely the wrong way.
In the end, this season has been fun and with a game to go, it could be even more fun. It has been nice to see a coach that has brought back the walk-on program, embraced the culture of football in this state, used the legendary Athletic Director as a person he will go to for advice, and a team that has found the way to bounce back from adversity a couple of times.
Are the Huskers back? I don't know. I witholding judgment until a further date. But are they fun again? Yes-sir-re-bob.
This is Pete,
Over and out.
This won't be very well thought out rant. But I felt the need to come back. Like Brett Favre. Or Michael Jordan. One just can't stay retired for very long.
So let's talk Nebraska Football.
Like most Husker fans, I was fairly excited about the play of the Huskers this past Saturday. Notice I said 'fairly' not overly excited. Just to put into context most of the stuff I will say later on.
They came back from a potentially devastating interception in the opening moments, righted the ship and played fairly solid football the rest of the way.
My thoughts are the following:
1. The offense is clicking on a fantastic level. Joe Ganz is playing as well as he can. The running back committee is all doing something productive. The receivers are making plays. The offensive line is starting to gel. And Shawn Watson now knows what kind of talent he is dealing with. The offense is geared to the skills the kids have. One now must have the feeling that this group can execute the quick strike score or bludgeon the other team with a time consuming drive.
2. The defense is still a work in progress. They have played adequately the last two weeks. If not for the interception for a touchdown and the kickoff return, the defense would have held a productive offense to only 14 points. Not too shabby. But, with one linebacker suspended, another always hurt, several talented secondary players still sitting on the sideline for whatever reason, this group still needs to start making some big plays. Outside of the D-line, how many guys on the defense are making the big plays?
They are playing hard right now but it is time for somebody outside of Suh and Potter to step up and start making something happen.
3. Our kickoff return and kickoff coverage teams suck. That is all. Watch the games. You know it.
4. Since Coach Bo got blasted by the media after the Oklahoma game his sideline demeanor has changed. Now, I recognize that it is far easier to be calm when one is winning or playing well but his less over-the-top personality recently has been interesting. If the coach isn't having a grade-A level freakout, then sometimes the team doesn't either. A coach can be passionate and fiery all he/she wants during practice, but during a game if the coach isn't composed, the players won't be either. Coach Bo seems to have picked up on that and the kids have responded very well.
5. I'm still not drinking the Kool-Aid. The Huskers have played well the last two weeks. But let's be honest with each other. We're sitting here hyping a win over a very average Kansas team and totally sucktastic Kansas State team. I realize that Bill Callahan left things a little poopified but I have said all along that this team has more talent than people give them credit for. It was just a matter of them performing. I'm not going to cite recruiting rankings for you but this team is filled with guys that should be able to play. Yes, they could have won against Texas Tech and Virginia Tech but they didn't. And they could have very easily lost to San Jose State and Kansas. So we sit at 7-4. Could be 9-2. Or it could be 5-6.
I'm not asking for a national title team every year but I'm also not going to get overly jacked about wins over teams these guys should be beating. You should expect to beat the teams you're better than and you should expect to beat the teams you are equal with.
6. We are a solid bowl team now. And the only reason I bring this up is because it gives these guys a few more weeks of practice and learning.
7. I was pumped to see the back-up quarterbacks get real time on the field.
8. That is all. I'm spent.
This is Pete,
Over and out.
Let me state it loud and proud.
I hate the BCS.
It is the single dumbest sporting thing ever conceived since Major League Baseball decided that home field advantage in the World Series would be determined by who won the All-Star Game.
I've heard the arguments that we don't need a playoff in college football because the bowl system is just so darned interesting.
I've heard the arguments that we don't need a playoff in college football because every week is in a sense, a playoff. Win and go on. Lose and hope.
There is the argument that we can't demand that much time be taken away from these students being in the classroom. Has anybody actually ever looked at how much time college basketball or college baseball players miss during their seasons?
And, if I'm not mistaken, I believe that every other level of football, clear on down to high school, plays a playoff to determine the champions.
I heard the argument that a college aged kid can't be expected to have his body hold up over that long of a season.
Then why do we ask the lower levels of collegiate football to do it? And why do we ask young men that have hardly entered puberty to do it while still in high school?
We get the rationale that the BCS gets it right every year. That the best two teams end up playing.
I think that 2001 might disagree, when we got to watch the Huskers get pummeled by a Miami team they had no business matching up against.
We had an undefeated Auburn team get shunned by the system one year.
And this year we could be looking at total anarchy with the system. Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, USC...all of them with one loss. And all very freaking good.
Just wait another couple of weeks. You're probably going to have Alabama and Texas Tech each with a loss as well.
If 'Bama and Texas Tech run the table, then there will be no debate. But they're probably not going to.
So then we put the National Championship game into the hands of the computers. This is only the first step to the Matrix or Terminator becoming a reality. Just you wait. We'll all be in pods feeding the machines.
And I forgot Boise State and Utah. Both of those teams have knocked off BCS conference schools in bowl games over the past five years. I doubt that anybody really wants to play either of these teams right now.
I hate the BCS.
I'm not going to go into my plan for how to decide the title. That I believe I have done in the past. But every week that I see more of these teams play and realize that there are so many good teams out there, I recognize that some of the more deserving teams may not even be given a chance.
That is wrong and every single commissioner of a conference knows it. But they can't see past the dollar bills floating around them.
Just wait. Over the next few weeks you are going to hear screaming and ranting from Penn State and USC that they should still be considered.
Pete Carroll will speak to the media and people, mainly the writers, will swoon to his lilting tones. And then USC will jump in the ranks.
Mack Brown will rant in a few weeks when Oklahoma jumps them because Oklahoma's schedule is tougher down the stretch. Even though Texas beat Oklahoma soundly.
Urban Meyer will scream to the heavens that if his team beats Alabama they should be in the title game.
Joe Pa will pull his usual schtick and question why USC jumps them in the polls, even though his Nittany Lions beat the team that beat USC.
How about instead of a beauty pagent, we make it a real contest.
Make it not about who looks the prettiest but who is the best team on the field. Match them up. Let all these teams slug it out.
I am on record as saying 'just win your games.' Which in reality is what these kids are being asked. Just win your games and then there is no reason for you to complain.
Conference championship games don't cost teams the chance to play for the National Title. Losing does. Just win. That would take care of everything.
But let me add a caveat to that. The other day I heard somebody on sports radio saying that the reason college football is so fun is because every game is a playoff. That nobody would have cared about the Texas Tech-Texas thriller a couple of weeks ago if a playoff was in place.
With respect, I must put in my two cents to disagree.
People watch college football because of the affiliations with schools or because of the fun and creativity the game displays.
If we were to believe that argument then I would pose the question, why should we watch the NFL? If regular season games were made moot by the implementation of a playoff, then every single NFL game is by definition 'boring.' There would be no need to watch them.
Just wait for the playoffs and then tune in. So sayeth the radio genius of that broadcaster or caller.
Further more, if we don't hold the pros to some sort of standard for achievement then why do we make the college kids do it?
The NFL lets teams into the playoffs that have barely winning records. Some divisions of the pros are so crappy that feedlots seem aromatic by comparison. A few years back, the Steelers won the Super Bowl even though they were the sixth seed going into the playoffs.
And people were heaping praise upon them because they were just playing the best football at that time.
Last year, the New York Giants won the Super Bowl over a previously undefeated New England Patriots team and people chatted for hours about the team that was playing the best won the game. Or they were geeked about the incredible and unthinkable upset.
Yet, we don't give college kids the same chance.
Who amongst us wouldn't want the chance to see an Oklahoma-Texas rematch. Or USC play Texas Tech. Or Florida take on anybody. Or, dare I even whisper it, Boise State or Utah take on one of the big baddies from a BCS conference?
That would be fun. Three rounds of pure shenanigans. But no. Dollar signs float. People refuse to change. And ESPN is becoming more and more toolish as we age.
This is Pete,
Over and out.
I love reading articles on ESPN or Fox Sports that deal with college football.
I can't get enough of them.
And it is not the articles that I enjoy so much. It is the comments afterwards. Those, my friends, are absolutely priceless.
Random off-topic and stupid comments. People being nothing more that homers for their school with blind views of their programs abilities. Comments that are so poorly written that you have no idea what they are trying to convey. And people that make comments so baseless that they stagger the mind.
The comments yesterday that amused me were when several fans began throwing around the term 'running up the score.'
On an ESPN article, a debate started between some of the posters, all of them arguing that Nebraska used to run up the score on teams or that Missouri is dirty now for trying trick plays when they are far in the lead or that some other team is guilty of unrequited poor sportsmanship.
I find the entire topic amusing.
Running up the score is a route of whining that people use to complain about another team when their own team isn't the best.
Now, I'm not saying that running up the score doesn't happen. Sometimes in revenge games, if the coach is a rather unscrupulous character or the team in the lead isn't used to such success. But most quality coaches and programs know what the right thing to do is.
Running up the score is a viable argument if a team is trying trick plays with their starters when they are up by a herd of points. Or it is when a team is leaving their starters in to run up some stats.
But in the days, mainly the 1990s, when Nebraska was killing people on the field (and no Lawrence Phillips references, please), the last touchdowns were almost always scored by the second, third and fourth unit guys. And those guys were merely executing their offense. Nebraska ran the football. That is what they did.
If you can't stop the run, then what is the offense supposed to do? Punt on first down? Yeah, that's only a little humiliating. Down the ball three times and punt? That sounds like a great plan, too.
Even in this day and age of the spread offenses and pass happy attacks, the teams that are racking up huge victories are doing so by running their offenses. You can't ask a second, third or fourth unit guy to go in and not try. They want to play just like everybody else. If your entire offense is a 'fling the ball around and see what happens' kind of scheme, then the kids should all get the chance to execute what they practice all week.
If the other team can't stop it, then tough. Get better. Teach your players better. Find better athletes. Just get better.
That is the some of the best advice that an important member of my family ever gave me. If you're not playing or you're losing, tough. Get better.
And stop your whining. They didn't say that last part, that is my advice.
Unless the coach is a complete and utter jackass, then don't complain. Tom Osborne was too good of a person to intentionally humiliate a team. Bob Stoops could have tried to hang 100 on the Huskers Saturday, but he did the right thing and called the dogs off as the game went on. Most good coaches know the difference between right and wrong when it comes to scoring.
But they can't control the play of their kids once they are on the field. The kids are going to play hard. And if they keep piling touchdowns up, then so be it.
I hate it now that the Huskers are mired in mediocrity. Like most Husker fans, we all yearn for the days of dominance again. I hate seeing USC, Texas, Florida, etc being on top of the hill. But those things happen.
When we get clubbed these days, I don't sit and scream at the opposing coaches that they are trying to 'run it up' against us. I recognize that we just aren't that good right now. If the other teams have wide receivers running wide open or running backs gashing our defense, I accept it. We aren't that good right now. If our offense turns the ball over, it means that we aren't that good right now.
Deal with it. And then hope that somebody your team will be on the other side of the ledger. Then you can feel that your team was just playing hard and the other team can whine about 'running it up.'
This is an argument that will go on forever and many fans will never let it die. That is sad. Knowledgeable people know the difference between running it up and a good team facing a bad team.
This is Pete,
Over and out.
I thought I'd take this to put together my own top ten list for college football.
Mainly because the NBA is far too early in the season to include any of those teams and the only three NFL teams that are even a little worthy are the Giants, Titans and the Steelers. And I'm not sure the Steelers are any good.
These ratings are not going to take into account records. Each of the teams that I place on here will be rated according to how good I think they are. Notice the word 'think' included in the last sentence. This is going to be a very subjective list. Which is different than all of my other lists, which are based entirely in the scientific method.
So, the Coachpete NCAA Football Top Ten...
10. Boise State and Utah. I know, it's a cop out to have a tie but I couldn't cut either one of them. They both can score, they can defend a little bit and they are a ton of fun to watch.
9. USC. They have a grand total of one good win. And that is over Ohio State who is continually proving themselves to be overrated. They have all the talent in the world but seem to lack a consistent motivation.
8. Oklahoma State. They're probably going to drop another game or two but these guys are a squeal to watch on offense. If they were in any other conference on the planet, they'd probably run the table and people wouldn't be able to stop talking about them.
7. Penn State. They are in the Big Ten. Therefore, they will garner no good conference wins. They may have speed and talent but they scored a grand total of 13 points against Ohio State. They may have clubbed the team that beat USC but other than that, they are most likely going to end the season with one, count them, one win over a ranked team. Eesh.
6. Alabama. For all the yapping about the brutal SEC schedule teams have to play, as it stands right now, the Crimson Tide will end the season with only two wins over ranked opponents. Granted, the implosions of Auburn and Clemson doesn't exactly help the Tide but their offense doesn't blow my skirt up, averaging about 25 or so points in the last month. Their signature win is by eleven over a Georgia team that Florida just got done dismantling.
5. Oklahoma. They tripped and fell against Texas but thanks to their clubbing of Nebraska on Saturday night, I think they are much like Stella. They got their groove back.
4. Texas Tech. Yes, yes, I know. How, Coachpete, can you place the team that just beat #1 in the four hole? Easy. I love watching Texas Tech play. They are physical and fast. Their offense is like watching a group of speed-addict clowns running around the circus. It is awesome. But their win on Saturday night did actually cause me a couple of questions. Tech dominated that entire game on both sides of the ball yet they still managed to find a way to crap away their lead. In a night game, with that environment, the Red Raiders should have put a stake in Texas' heart instead of letting them crawl back into the game. They've still got Oklahoma and Okie State on the schedule so there are chances for them to stumble. I think Tech is a very good team and like Oklahoma State, if they were in any other conference they would roll. Still, I think it would be a riot to watch Mike Leach and his boys play for the title.
3. Texas. Yes, I can't stand Texas but I still think they might be the best team in the country. Despite shooting themselves in the foot on Saturday, they still managed to claw back into the game. Texas Tech might stumble once or twice down the stretch and Texas might still find themselves playing for the Title. It might be very interesting to see all of the tie-breaker possibilities in the Big 12 South if Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech all finish with one loss in the conference.
2. Florida. I know they have a loss but in the past four weeks they have outscored their opponents 201-43. By my math, that means an average score of 50ish to just under 11ish. And two of those opponents were media darlings Georgia and LSU. Since that upset loss to Mississippi, they aren't just beating people, they are crushing them. They might be playing the best football in the country right now.
And the Number One Team in College Football is...
1. The Cincinnati Bengals. They may only have one win in the NFL but if this team were in college, they would be dominant. They have all the momentum in the world right now, after their first victory of the year. These guys would run the table in the NCAA. They have all the necessary requirements to be a dominant college program. Lawbreakers, gamebreakers and look-at-me guys. These guys could be the next great college dynasty. Go Bengals.
This is Pete,
Over and out.
I could rant and rave about my thoughts on the quarterback situation, the running backs, the offensive line, the defensive personnel in general but there is no point in that. I have only one thought right now.
I'm not going to sit back and just say because we like Bo that things will be different. At some point, progress needs to be seen. Not necessarily this season but soon. We all became hyped when Nebraska qualified for the Big 12 Championship game and thought we were on the path back. And then disaster struck.
The Huskers five wins this year are over teams with a combined 21-23 record. Granted Western Michigan is 7-2 and San Jose State is 6-3 but those are hardly bragging material. The record of the teams we have lost to is 29-6. Very impressive but two of those games were blowouts and a third, against Virginia Tech, wasn't as close as the score indicates.
Against teams that are better than us or close to us, we are getting killed.
Though, I did make the decision on Sunday that I wasn't going to call out any one player. I'm calling out all of them. It is high time for them to start showing improvement.
Oh, the memories.
Just the games since I've been watching still give me either chills or nighmares.
The games of the 80s were almost always two highly ranked teams, the Huskers usually on the wrong end of the score.
The 1990 game where Mickey Joseph was pasted into a bench and had to leave the game. A game the Huskers were thoroughly drummed in, 45-10.
That was the last win the Sooners would have for almost a decade. The Huskers would roll the Sooners in seven consecutive games, including a frigid 1993 game that I witnessed in Lincoln. My toes lost feeling about three minutes into the game but the atmosphere didn't let me recognize that fact until well after the game. My brother and I were sitting in North Stadium and we watched Calvin Jones score, running right at us to give the Huskers the win. We also watched Trev Alberts leave that game with a severely injured arm.
There was the 1995-97 stretch where the Huskers would win all three by a combined score of 179-28, in what must have been some of the darkest days for the Sooners.
There was the 2000 game, where NU would score the first 14 and then give up 31 unanswered to the Sooners, propelling them on their way to the National Title that year.
Mike Stuntz to Eric Crouch in 2001 was one of the loudest moments you'll ever hear in Memorial Stadium. Say what you will about Eric Crouch, but that moment, that response was incredible.
Since those days, the rivalry has lost a bit of luster. Thanks partially to the classless remarks made by former coach Bill Callahan and the recent struggles by the Huskers.
But now both teams have passionate, intelligent coaches that are determined to keep (or get) these teams to the top of the hill. Both of the teams will be well coached and play hard the entire time, if not always entirely smart.
Saturday will be a very interesting measuring stick for the Huskers. Is the solid defense (for the most part) and the ball control offense we have seen over the past three weeks going to be the norm? Or is it just an aberration of a team that is riding a nice high right now?
The spread is nearly three touchdowns for this game and most people expect the Huskers to get throttled. I'm a little torn on this issue.
I just question whether the Huskers will get killed in this game. They have simplified pretty much every aspect of the game and the athletes have responded in a great way. By making it easier for the kids now, the coaches can gradually increase the demands on them each week. We have seen goofy formations on offense and guys you've never heard of on defense make huge plays. Confidence breeds success and that is what the Huskers have right now.
The Huskers have to play again without a key defensive player, this time Phillip Dillard. Against Texas Tech, the defense without several players still managed to get a couple of huge stops. One could make the argument that Tech was overlooking Nebraska but the fact still remains, when Nebraska needed a couple of stops, they got them.
Will Oklahoma make the same mistake? Will Bo Pelini and the rest of the defensive coaches come in with a good gameplan or make the same great adjustments that they made at halftime against Baylor? Will the offense be able to exploit an Oklahoma defense that is vulnerable against the pass and is missing their middle linebacker?
That last statement alone makes me giggle. The media is making a huge deal about this kid going out against Texas. There were articles and commentary written that the lost of that kid is what cost the Sooners. They claimed 'they weren't the same team' after this kid left.
Ugh. The Huskers played without at least four different main contributors against Tech and still managed to hold them to their second lowest point total of the year. It was actually the lowest point total of the year if you only consider regulation play. If you are recruiting the kinds of players that Oklahoma gets every year, there is no excuse for failure when a single athlete leaves the game.
Granted, that defensive success (or stability) had a great deal to do with the Husker offense keeping the ball away from them.
The Huskers need that kind of offensive performance again. And they will need a defensive performance like we saw against Iowa State and the second half against Baylor. There is almost no way that they will shut down the Sooner offense but they will need to generate enough stops that the Sooner offense isn't on the field consistently.
Do I think the Huskers can win? Yes. From what we have seen this year in college football, anything is possible. Do I think they will? No. But after the last three games, I feel a great deal better about this game being at least a little interesting than I did after the Missouri game.
Unless things go south very early for the Huskers, this game will be better than most people think. Even then, there is still a little voice in the back of my head screaming at me. It is saying, the Huskers got down against Tech on the road and came back. They allowed Iowa State to muster some confidence and then squashed it. They allowed Baylor to take a lead and then storm back to win.
This is not the same team we saw play Missouri. They don't carry themselves the same way. They'll need a good start against the Sooners but even then, I have this feeling that they will just hang around.
If the Huskers can emerge from this game having made things competitive, then they will be in great shape to run the table the rest of the games against Kansas, Kansas State and Colorado.
Most likely, the Sooners will win and probably by a couple of scores but the Huskers aren't going to lay down. This game will be better than most people think.
This is Pete,
Over and out.
There are a variety of reasons.
1. I don't get a great deal of feedback or comments on the posts. That is all well and good because I don't do this because I care what you people think. I do this just to get thoughts off of my chest. But commentary is still nice because it lets me know people are reading them.
2. With no cable I don't get the chance to watch many sports these days. Unless I go to someone else's house. And I don't want to be a pest. This means that I am not the most informed person about the happenings of the sports world. I used to love watching every single thing sports related on TV but these days, that is not really an option and to best honest, not a great loss in my life. All of the information or commentary I get is from what I see on Saturday, Sunday or read off of one of the many sports sites. And I hate commenting on other people's articles.
3. I miss coaching a ton and every time I comment or think about game plans, strategy or where to put personnel, it kills me. I don't miss teaching for a moment. But coaching is something that I miss enormously. And unless I'm getting paid to talk about sports, I'm just a little torn these days about my commentary. If I were getting paid to make obnoxious comments or interview major personalities, I would be more than happy to comment. As of right now, I hold back on most of my thoughts because I don't want to be 'that guy' who just says things that are anger inducing, hateful or just rude.
4. I'm really into movies, writing, reading and fictional shows right now. In just over four days, I have churned out 64 pages of the screenplay that I have wanted to write for some time. It just took a revelation for me to get my ass in gear. And it took throwing everything else that I had written away about that topic. Those 64 pages started at 3 AM Monday. And that is where they stand as of 2:30 PM Thursday.
That really is the main reason. I sit at this computer and type. That is what I'm doing. Pondering scenes, dialogue, how to build tension, calling people and asking them what they would do, asking people how they behave around others. That is really my singular focus. Get busy living the dream or don't do it and wonder.
5. Outside of Nebraska athletics, college football and college basketball, I could really give a crap less about the No Fun League or the Not Basketball Association. Baseball is now done and I can't say that I'm going to be depressed about it. It was fabulous that Philly won and that Tampa Bay made the series but other than that, I find so many flaws and things to complain about with that sport. I don't care about MMA, NASCAR, Golf (that much), Tennis, Boxing, and I can't find the NHL on TV so that takes it out of the equation. So once Husker football and volleyball are done, I'm not going to have much to talk about.
I'll still probably do some commentary over Husker games and preview most of them or maybe throw something odd out there every now and again, like the Coachpete Power Rankings or a list of The Bottom Ten or some other random thing that crosses my mind but right now, this site is not my primary interest.
Let me know your thoughts, if you still have an internetwebtube connection.
This is Pete,
Over and out.
There are a number of people or teams that are in a tailspin or just looking very badly right now.
So let us get to it...
An Honorable Mention first of all to North Texas Football for reports that 15 of their players failed drug tests earlier this fall.
10. Kansas Football. They still have a winning record but the team picked preseason top 15 by almost every poll or publication just got destroyed by Texas Tech. At home. On, what I believe, was their homecoming. Oops.
9. Indianapolis Colts. They have been one of the most powerful teams in the league the past decade or so. Right now they stand at 3-4 and sit in a massive tie for fourth in wild card standings. They have looked old, injured and like a team that needs to start getting desperate. If things continue on this path, Peyton Manning and his boys may miss the playoffs for the first time in quite a while.
8. Clemson Football. Preseason top 10. Now they sit at 3-4 and fired their coach. They probably have several players on their roster that will be high NFL draft picks yet they still find ways to underachieve every year.
7. Auburn Football. Preseason top 20. They currently sit at 4-4 and have canned their offensive coordinator. Guess what? Their offense still sucks. And their vaunted SEC defense was just dismantled by a West Virginia team that put up 34 points on them. By the way, West Virginia came into the game averaging less than 23 points a game.
6. Jose Canseco. He is now sorry for writing his book and dropping names. Good thinking. Write a book that helped to pull baseball out of the steroid era and then feel bad about it. It is basically the only decent thing he has done for the game in the past twenty years and now he feels bad about. Brilliant.
5. Bud Selig. Right or wrong he is taking a ton of abuse for suspending World Series Game 5. This is only one of many verbal assaults this guy has taken over the years. It seems like he is a lightning rod for controversy or people that want to criticize everything he does.
4. Greg Oden. He hasn't don't anything to warrant being on this list. But it is what has happened to this poor kid that causes his inclusion. He sat out all of last year with knee surgery and on opening night his sprained his ankle and had to leave the game at halftime. I actually feel badly about this kid because he genuinely seems like a good young man. I blame Sports Illustrated. They jinxed him again by doing a fantastic feature on him in their NBA preview. Nice job, SI.
3. Cincinnati Bengals. They just suck. They have given up the second most points in the league. But at least if you have a crappy defense, you can rely on a powerful offense to bail you out, right? Wrong. Their offense has scored the second fewest points. Their franchise quarterback is not playing. Ocho Sucko continues to do little to nothing useful on the field. Their management undermines the authority of the coach by bringing players of ill-repute back to the roster. This team is a mess right now.
2. Michigan Football. They were preseason top 20. And now they stand at 2-6 after losing four straight. None of them were really close, outside of the 13-10 loss to MAC team Toledo. Their offense is stuck in neutral. Their defense can't really stop anybody. I know that there is going to be a transition period while RichRod gets his scheme and players in place but give me a break. This level of futility is horrendous. Even the Huskers, when they brought in Callahan, looked at least competent on offense at times. This team needs to win its last four games to even get bowl eligible, and they still have to play Minnesota and Ohio State.
And that brings us to our top, or bottom as it were, spot in this list...
1. Officials. It doesn't matter. Pick your league. NFL. MLB. NCAA football. NBA, even though just starting, is going to be on the radar for this list as well. Officials have been under the microscope in every league for suspect officiating, questionable conduct and overall shoddy decision making. It seems that there has not been a game go by this summer and fall where there isn't at least a couple of calls that makes fans scratch their heads. I realize that these guys are human, and therefore fallible, but we have seen so many calls that drive fans nuts. These guys are going to make mistakes and many people will say that they are not full-time officials that also have other jobs. But if you are going to a job and get money for it, be prepared to take some heat when you don't do a good job.
There it is.
This is Pete,
Over and out.
This week was particularly difficult to come up with a top ten. I'm tired of ranking the same college football teams every week. The baseball playoffs are now into the World Series, making the number of baseball teams to pick from fairly minimal. The NFL is starting to sort itself out but I'm weary of ranking those teams. Still, I forced to pick from mostly college football and pro football. Sigh.
Anyway, here are the rankings...
10. Jimmie Johnson. It is NASCAR. He is leading the Chase for the Cup. That is all. I could give a crap less but it is their championship so I guess I should at least recognize it.
9. Navy Football. They beat SMU 34-7 on Saturday. Their record stands at 5-3. Neither of those things are really remarkable. But they are on the list because they did so without throwing a single pass. They didn't throw one single time. That, my friends, is incredible.
8. Tulsa Football. They have the top rated quarterback in the nation. They are 8-0. Looking at their remaining schedule, they should most likely be 12-0 by season's end. Sadly, they have almost no chance to make it to a BCS game but they are putting up obnoxious offensive numbers and would be a preparation nightmare for any team they played.
7. Texas Tech Football. They grilled the Jayhawks, in Lawrence, and they just keep rolling on. I include them because the best thing that happened to them was the Huskers pushing them to the limit. The last two games they have played with a purpose and next week they have Texas at home. Regardless of what happens against the Longhorns, these guys are playing at a very high level right now and need to be included in any discussions over BCS games.
6. Michigan State Football. They beat Michigan. I love it. That is all.
5. Joey Porter, Miami Dolphins. He is on pace to breaking Michael Strahan's single season sack record. The guy is vicious and fast and leading a Miami Dolphin team that is not the laughingstock they were a year ago. Perhaps, if he gets close to the record, Brett Favre will show up to quarterback the opposing team and just fall down in front of him.
4. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints. He is on pace for over 5100 passing yards. He has thrown for over 300 yards in six of their eight games. This guy can flat out play the quarterback position. I still giggle at all the bashing he took when he entered the draft from Purdue. He doesn't have the prototype body but the guy can play. Isn't that what is important?
3. Tennessee Titans. They are the only undefeated team left in the NFL. They aren't pretty. They don't score a ton of points. But they play defense, take care of the ball and just win games. They may not go all the way but they established themselves as very viable contenders after their beating of Indy on Monday night.
2. Nate Swift, Nebraska Cornhuskers. He is the most prolific receiver in the history of Nebraska football, in terms of receptions. He may not be the best receiver we have ever had but the kid has managed to stay healthy, be a viable option and a team leader over the course of four years. He may have his flaws but the Huskers would be in serious trouble without this kid.
1. Mike Singletary, Head Coach of the San Francisco 49ers. This guy is possibly the greatest middle linebacker in the history of the NFL. He has a fire and passion for the game that few people can match. And he will not tolerate lack of effort or insolence. He sent his starting tight end to the locker room in the middle of the game. Told him to take a shower and come back and watch, because that way he would help the team more. Mike said he would rather play with ten guys on the field and get clubbed than play with eleven that don't care or are selfish. This is the single greatest NFL coaching move I have seen in years. Give this guy a team for an extended period and you will see 53 guys that will run through a wall for him. It will just take him some time to find the right guys but Coach Singletary is going to be successful.
This is Pete,
Over and out.
The pressure by the front four has been much improved, coverage breakdowns have been lessened and tackling has been better, as well. But anytime you run into an athlete like this, all of those items need to be at their sharpest.
The receivers seem to be getting open more. The trio of running backs all looked very able against Iowa State. And the tight ends, though not great road grading blockers, are showing that they are indeed viable offensive threats.
When you have an offensive line like the Huskers have, one that needs to relearn how to run block at a top level, they are being put in positions now to succeed. Not be criticized by people like me. Spread the field, let them do what they are best at for the moment but still continue to work on the skills that will make them great run blocking linemen.
Shawn Watson has done a very admirable job (I'll reserve the word 'great' for his efforts until the Huskers win a few more games) of adapting this offense to the talent that he has. I can't imagine Bill Callahan every deviating from his massive offensive playbook. Watson did what every good coach does. He looks at his talent, finds their strengths and then puts them in positions to get the job done.
I'm not limiting this little discussion to just football injuries. We have seen all sorts of them the last few months or years.
We have seen Shawn Livingston have his knee almost explode.
We have seen Tom Brady, Rodney Harrison, Champ Bailey, Boss Bailey and several other NFL stars go down with major leg injuries.
We've seen Kobe Bryant go down with a knee injury last night, though the extent is unknown at this point.
Deron Williams rolled his ankle the other day. Maybe not serious, but still painful.
And then one could cite stats galore about the greater percentage of female athletes that suffer knee injuries in athletics. Or the ones that get injured, some very seriously so, in cheerleading. That article was actually on the web the other day.
The NSCA or National Strength and Conditioning Association posted an article debating the point that Chemistry Boy and I were discussing.
You can read the article here if you wish: http://www.nsca-lift.org/Press/Release
Granted, the article only deals with the NFL but it still raises a very interesting point.
It really was a pretty good article and I would love to see some more studies done on the topic.
Does the increased strength, conditioning, speed and year round training of athletes have something to do with this?
The article by the NSCA doesn't necessarily come to a definitive conclusion on the topic, stating that while bigger, faster, stronger players and athletes makes for more powerful impacts and collisions and torque on joints, one must also take into consideration a variety of other variables like playing conditions, rest and recovery or warm-up methods.
Still, there is no debate that stronger and bigger muscles put more stress on ligaments, tendons and joints (the bone to bone kind, not the weed kind).
Could reduction of body fat, because of the strict and stringent diets and Ironman (the athletes that compete in brutal triatholons, not the superhero) level of workouts be reducing stability in joints. Body fat, despite the fact that when it is egregiously present and abundant, is a necessary component of the human body as padding and cushion for joints and vital organs.
By having athletes working out the entire year, pretty much at any level, are coaches putting them more at jeopardy for injuries? Are their bodies being pushed to unforgiving limits with no time for recovery? Or are the rash of injuries that we have seen over the past decade or so more the result of them happening to high profile athletes, rather than the number actually going up?
Without any access to the NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA, MLB, every high school Athletic Director in the country or any other leaders of sports leagues, it is nearly impossible to put together stats chronicling major injuries by year. And unfortunately, this writer does not have that kind of clout. I should call Jay Glazer or Chris Mortensen and try to get an 'in.'
Are athletes pushing themselves too long and too hard to reach their peak levels? Are athletes still utilizing antique warm-up and cool down routines because that 'is how we've always done it.' Are they utilizing new training methods that may not have been tested sufficiently?
So many questions that one could pose.
As a large proponent of the dynamic warm-up, it seemed to be a more efficient and effective warm-up method in which athletes are putting their bodies through athletic type movements for a warm-up rather than the age old 'sit and stretch' method. By putting this system in place, the percentage of kids sustaining pulled muscles, tweaked knees, shin splints, etc went down considerably the last few years of track for Chemistry Boy and me.
But that was just one sport. And the warm-up was only a small part of the entire program. And only a small part of the entire athletic endeavors of many of the athletes.
Granted, there are more than a few (and by 'a few' I mean tons) studies that have been done that a dynamic warm-up greatly decreases the rate of injuries in athletes at all levels and can actually improve explosiveness and performance.
I'd be very interested to do my own little science project on this topic. The only downfall of such an undertaking would be that it would need to be nearly a decade long and need to incorporate dozens of high school, college and pro teams. And then it would need to categorize every single one of the programs by their warm-up, training, cool down, and recovery methods.
But, it would still be a very entertaining experiment or study to examine.
Quite honestly, any type of research that can be done to improve the safety and performance of athletes is something that I find of interest.
So anyway, I'll repeat the question again: Is year-round training actually contributing to an increase of injuries or major injuries in sports?
Let the debate begin. I'm interested to hear what you have to say.
This is Pete,
Over and out.
I posted the first ever list of suckitude yesterday and I'm just a tad bitter because I didn't do nearly enough research to put together a complete or nearly appropriate list.
I left off suck worthy nominations such as Missouri Tigers football, the San Francisco 49ers, Jose Canseco or the EliteXC fighting league. All tanked gloriously this week. I'll learn my lesson for next time.
So now I have to try to find a way to put together a Power Ranking list when my chafeosity is immense.
Sigh.
Anyway, onto the list. And it probably will not be the best list I have done since I'm not going to edit this or put a great deal of thinking into it. I just got done driving six hours. I'm a little scatterbrained right now. But you already knew that.
10. 100% Cheese Free. All I know about this guy is his name is Syd Davy and he dons a remarkably awesome outfit for every Minnesota Vikings game. It is complete with a Viking helmet, the horned one - not the football variety, blonde pigtails, face paint, tattoos, and a giant wrestling championship belt. Plus, he showed up at the Patriots/Donkeys game on Monday night and had Randy Moss jump into his arms after a touchdown. If that doesn't warrant consideration, I don't know what does.
9. New England Patriots. Stories of their demise are a little premature. Yes, they are not the same team without Tom Brady and yes, they beat a remarkably crappy Denver defense like a Persian rug. But they put on a show Monday night and sometimes, just sometimes, one can never underestimate the heart and will of a champion.
8. Pittsburgh Steelers. Their quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger keeps getting smacked around but they keep on winning. I love the Black and Yellow. Don't call it Gold.
That's enough NFL teams.
7. Virginia Cavaliers. They were absolutely clubbed in their season opener by USC. They sucked the next two weeks as well. And then they seemed to have turned around things. Al Groh has his charges playing solid football right now. They may only sit at 4-3 on the season but they have put themselves in a position to save their coach's job and maybe work their way into an ACC title game. Of course, now that I have mentioned them, they will probably get crushed by Georgia Tech this weekend.
6. Colt McCoy. If there is a quarterback in the country playing better football than this kid right now, I want to meet them. This kid has rid himself of all the demons from last year and he is taking care of business. It kind of makes me want to puke that I'm acknowledging a Texas athlete, but the kid is getting it done.
5. Matt Grothe of South Florida. I felt I needed to put his school in there because most people don't know about this guy. He is only six feet tall but the kid plays like a lion. Take away his bad game against Pitt, a game they only lost by five, and this kid has put up some great stats all year long. He has chucked for over 1500 yards and 18 touchdowns while rushing for another three. I gotta love the smallish quarterbacks not named Chase that eat their boogers.
4. Penn State. I realize that they play in the Big Ten and I can't stand the Big Ten. But these guys are rolling people. They may have to travel to the Big Horseshoe on Saturday but I'm not betting against these guys. They are incredibly balanced on offense and their defense has only given up more than twenty points once, and that was to Juice Williams and a fairly potent Illinois offense averaging over 35 a game. There is a faint chance that a Big Ten team may actually have the athletes and speed to keep up with the USCs, SECs and Big 12s of the world.
3. William Hackett Jr. If you haven't seen this clip, by all means type in this guy's name and look it up. He was an umpire during the LSU-South Carolina football game and whether it was a deliberate action brought on by football instincts laid dormant for years or a just a plain accident, this guy smoked the South Carolina quarterback. Trust me, it is worth the view.
2. The Non-BCS Schools. Tulsa, Utah, TCU, BYU, Boise State. I recognize that BYU got clubbed by TCU a bit back and that TCU got clubbed by Oklahoma and that Oklahoma got clubbed by Texas. But these teams still make me giddy while watching them. I fully believe that if you gave any of these teams a month or so to prepare for a bowl game against a BCS powerhouse, they would make things very interesting. After all, what do they have to lose?
1. Nebraska Cornhuskers. I've been doing this silly list for over a month and a half now and it is high time that I threw my favorite team on here. Yes, they are 4-3. And yes, they have struggled at times against good competition. But after the great game against Texas Tech and the domination of Iowa State, it is time to recognize the children wearing the Scarlet and Cream. I will still say that the rest of the season could go very badly for them but right now, they have given much of the state hope that they have turned the corner. The offense is clicking, the defense is making enough plays that gives everybody hope these guys will be back as a national team.
There you have it.
This is Pete,
Over and out.
I don't want to.
They won. Hooray. They played well, they played from the front and their dominated a team that they should have. Enough said.
Today, I feel like posting a top five, or bottom five as it were, list of teams or players or people that should be feeling badly about themselves.
5. Brett Favre and Peyton Manning. Two of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the game looked like crap on Sunday. Manning was overwhelmed by a Green Bay defense from the moment the game started. Favre tossed two picks and for less than 200 yards against a remarkably sucky Raiders team. With all apologizes to Showtime, I'm still a huge fan of both these guys. They have done some incredible things in their careers but after Sunday, they both looked horrendous. They may be smart and they may possess child-like enthusiasm but right now, both of them look very mortal and very old.
4. Cincinnati Bengals. Could there be a more sucky team on the planet right now? Sorry, Bigsizzle, these guys suck. Ocho Suckfest is no longer relevant. Carson Palmer isn't playing. They had to sign Cedric Benson to fill their running back void. Wonder if he could pull himself off of his yacht long enough to attend practice. They let Mewelde Moore double his season rushing stats in one game. This team is quite possibly the worst in the league and I'm pretty sure both the Rams and Chiefs could hang five touchdowns on them.
3. Icing the Kicker. This is not directed at any one player or team. This is directed at every coach that thinks calling a timeout right before the game tying or game winning field goal is about to be attempted. In the last two weeks, we have seen this ploy utilized in the NFL. Both times it failed on a Havelian level. Arizona tried it against the Cowboys only to see the first kick look like it may have hit a lineman in the ass. Oops. The second kick just happened to send the game to overtime. We saw it yesterday from the Raiders against the Jets. Oops. The first kick clanged off the uprights and should have ended the game. In both instances, the kickers got their Stella Groove back on and drilled the field goals to send the games to overtime. Thankfully, the right teams, the Raiders and Cardinals, both won. But at what point will coaches stop this exercise in futility? Give me some stats or proof that this practice actually works. Otherwise, just let the game play out.
2. L.A. Dodgers/Boston Red Sox/ESPN/Fox. I lump all these guys together because even though I will be watching the World Series, most of the country probably will not. This was an epic loss for all of them. Fox is pissed because they, like most people, wanted two big market teams playing because somehow that makes the games better. They are near suicidal right now because they think the ratings for this will be in the crapper. The Red Sox and Dodgers both flamed out after dominating first round wins and I giggled the entire time during their second round failures. ESPN now has to find a way to make Tim Kurkjian, Buster Olney and Peter Gammons seems excited about this series. Even though all of them were pulling for a L.A./Boston series purely because of the Mannygasm it would have given them. I for one am jacked about this series because nothing is more exciting than watching the little guys battle it out. And as I said a couple of weeks ago, anytime two clubs like these, with payrolls like theirs, can fight for the right to be called the best team, that is pure bliss. Suck it Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers or any other team with a bloated payroll. Hope the golf courses are nice this time of year for all of those guys.
1. Dallas Cowboys. Let's see...sign Pacman. Oops. Placate T.O. Oops. Lose your quarterback. Oops. Sign Roy Williams which ought to make T.O. a happy camper. Oops. Lose three out of four. Oops. Have an owner that won't put his foot down on a player. Oops. Go from Super Bowl contender to a team that just hopes to make the playoffs. Oops. These guys may be called 'America's Team' but they are certainly not Pete's team. This is a soap opera every week and I for one enjoy watching them struggle. They may still come back from this brink of disaster but right now they are 'team turmoil.' There are a lot of players to like on the Cowboys team. I personally like Tony Romo and the way he carries himself. I like Marion Barber and Jason Witten. DeMarcus Ware is fun to watch. But I cannot tolerate T.O. or Jerry Jones or Pacman or the fact that Wade Phillips is just being strung along until Jones decides to give Jason Garrett the job. I realize that I am just one of herds of people bashing this team right now but I don't apologize for a second. You want to be divas and a show on HBO? That is fine. Just be prepared that when you suck, people like me will giggle all the way home.
There it is. The first Coachpete list of suckitude.
This is Pete,
Over and out.
The Huskers slogged through that brutal three game stretch that we all knew could end up with three losses. Unfortunately they did. Two were interesting until the end. One was not.
Now they get back to reality. They enter a stretch of games that they can win.
Iowa State is flat out a team the Huskers should club.
The Husker offense is beginning to show signs of clicking and finding an identity.
Joe Ganz is coming off of the best game he has played in his career. Ignore the last play of the Tech game. We've already talked about why.
Marlon Lucky, Roy Helu, Todd Peterson, Nate Swift and Mike McNeil are starting to become varied weapons, each with their own little role to cause damage.
Niles Paul is starting to look like that dangerous kick returner the Huskers have been looking for over the past decade.
Philip Dillard and Cody Glenn are back and ready to play.
The defense is in desperate need of forcing more turnovers and sacks but they are starting to carry themselves with a different air.
I realize that all of these comments are based upon one semi-solid effort against Texas Tech and ignoring pretty much the rest of the season. But sometimes one game is all it takes for a team to regain a swagger or confidence.
Maybe I have been drinking the Nebraska Kool-Aid and am just a bit blinded by my optimism and the fact that this team may be ready to take the next steps.
Still, I only have one thought going through my head right now.
The Huskers absolutely have to be looking at this team as one that they can pound. There can't be more than a few athletes on Iowa State's team that can match up with the Huskers.
This game is a must win. This game is a must dominate one. This game is one that the Huskers have to take control of from the get-go. They cannot play from behind again. They may have show their moxie against Virginia Tech and Texas Tech by coming back but now we enter the portion of the season where they need to announce their presence with authority.
Turn Joe Ganz loose. Let him redeem himself, if you will, from the awful and nasty feeling of last week.
Iowa State can't defend the pass and let this kid burn them. Let him run and throw and be jubilant. Let Helu run and Lucky catch. Let Peterson, Swift, Paul, McNeill, Holt and everybody else that can run and catch decimate a secondary that is just ripe for the picking.
And then hope that the defense can cause some turnovers, force bad plays, get to the quarterback and cause general havoc.
The game plan for this week is simple: Dominate. Do it early and do it often.
The Huskers need this one and after last week, I think they know they can compete.
This is Pete,
Over and out.
Let us dispense with the pleasantries and just get to the good stuff.
It is time for another week of the Coachpete Power Rankings.
First, an Honorable Mention to the Husker Volleyball team. They've been in the rankings for awhile now and it was just the time to give somebody else a chance. This season the Huskers are 17-0 and have dropped a grand total of 5 sets. This is worthy of recognition.
10. New York Rangers. This is a shameless ploy by me to include a hockey team. The Rangers are the only undefeated, untied team left in hockey right now and even though that team makes me hork in my mouth, I must at least acknowledge their start to the year. Even after they beat the N.J. Devils the other night. Jerks.
9. St. Louis Rams. We're number one. We're number one. Wait, we've won one. We've won one. After I was pretty much convinced they might be the worst team in football, they somehow put together enough plays to knock off the rolling Washington Redskins. They racked up a grand total of 200 yards but took advantage of three Redskin turnovers and former Husker Josh Brown kicked four field goals. At least they won't get shut out this season. Now our hope for a defeated season rests with the Cincy Bengals.
8. North Carolina Tarheels. I really didn't see the game or even know how they played but they beat Notre Dame and that is all that matters.
7. Penn State Nittany Lions. You know my feelings about Big Ten teams but these guys are rolling right now. They went into Wisconsin and hung 48 points on them. That just doesn't happen very often. Their spread offense is giving Big Ten teams fits. They may actually be a team from that conference that can compete with the speed in the rest of the country.
6. Texas Longhorns. This kind of makes me ill to put them in here as I was hoping that Big Game Bob Stoops would actually direct his Sooners to the victory in a big game but he and his troops tanked again. Plus, it is Texas. Ick. But anyway, Texas put their destiny in their own hands and if they continue to move the ball the way they did on Saturday, this offense will a be formidable challenge for any team left on their schedule. The rest of the season is going to be a major challenge for them to navigate but Colt McCoy is playing his best football since his freshman year and you can't tell me that they don't have a ton of other athletes.
5. Atlanta Falcons. A year ago they were a team dealing with the Michael Vick fallout. They had a coach that bailed on them. They won a grand total of four games and were one of the laughingstocks of the NFL. Now, they sit atop their division and have a rookie quarterback in Matt Ryan that doesn't play like a rookie. At least for six games. And on Saturday they pulled off the greatest eleven second drive in history that culminated with Jason Elam redeeming himself for an earlier botched kick to snatch a victory from the Chicago Bears.
4. Oklahoma State. They shut Chase Daniel and the rest of the Missouri Tigers the hell up. And they did it on the road. And their coach is a man. He's forty one. That poor guy will never live that down. Their version of the spread offense is a much more balanced version than anybody else in the conference and they can pick you apart with the run and pass. They've probably got a couple losses coming up but for the single fact that they smacked down Missouri, they get a high ranking this week.
3. Tampa Bay Rays/Philadelphia Phillies.
Hello, Tampa. They took a 2-1 series lead over the Red Sox on Sunday night and continue their fairy tale season. I've looked at their season offensive numbers and none of them are particularly impressive. But they have that knack for putting together the big innings or getting the clutch hits. Their pitching staff keeps giving them good outings. And the best part about these guys is that most of them are too young and too exciting of players to know that they aren't supposed to be doing this.
Hello, Philly. They took a 3-1 series lead over the Dodgers on Monday night. They are helping to put a kink in the major ESPN orgasm inducing World Series match-up of Sox versus Manny. They may have Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins but guys like Shane Victorino and Matt Stairs and a herd of other guys are providing just as many big play moments. These guys are carrying themselves with supreme confidence and just need to keep their focus for one more game.
There is still my hope for the Philly versus Tampa Bay World Series that will cause networks to implode.
2. Arizona Cardinals. Suck it, Cowboys. Despite the fact that they needed to win the game in overtime, these guys physically beat up the Cowboys. Tony Romo didn't throw a pick but he was smacked around on almost every pass he threw. Aside from the frantic fourth quarter for the Cowboys, this game shouldn't have been that close. These are not your father's Cardinals. After over a third of the season, this team really looks like they could be a playoff contender.
1. Earnest Graham. The starting tailback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers gets the top spot this week not for the yards he ran for or the touchdowns he scored. He didn't do either of those things very much. With the only two fullbacks on their roster out for their game on Sunday, he went to his head coach and told Gruden that he would play fullback and Warrick Dunn could start at tailback. By doing so, he helped the team avoid needing to revamp their game plan and move tight ends all over their depth chart to play fullback. Graham helped lead the way for Dunn to rush for over 100 yards. After the game he commented that the game was as much fun as he's had and he didn't miss carrying the ball at all. This was a selfless act by a man making millions of dollars and just ask yourself how many other starting running backs or other skill players would forfeit the chance to stack up numbers in favor of a victory. I'm guessing the list you come up with won't be very long. This is the kind of act that every high school and college team should be required to read about and learn from.
There it is. Another week of rankings.
This is Pete,
Over and out
And then I had a chance to sit down and think about it.
First of all, I doubt that anybody on the planet feels or felt as sick as he did traveling home Saturday. I hope that when he got home he sat down, flushed the interception as part of the learning process and then looked at all of the great things he did during the game.
Second, without that young man's play, the Huskers didn't have a prayer against Tech. The kid was 36 of 44 for 349 yards and two touchdowns. He consistently made the right decision and executed the game plan brilliantly.
Unfortunately, all we will remember is his pick. He is twenty-two or so years old and he has the eyes of entire (maybe not entire, but at least a decent portion of it) state on his play every week. And he must feel like sometimes that if he doesn't make the big play nobody will. That is a ton of burden on a single young man.
But if there was one thing that started going through my mind as the evening wore on, aside from a little embarassment that I put the whole loss on him initially, is that I have said ever since I was a coach that one play does not cost you the game.
Let us examine. Two holding penalties at the end of the first half that denied the Huskers a field goal chance. A dropped interception. Failure to pick up a first down on that one fourth down play. Tech, either by sheer luck of play call or a great audible by Graham Harrell, executing a perfect jailbreak screen to Michael Crabtree on their first touchdown against a near all-out blitz by the Huskers. Allowing Tech to convert an absurd fourth and five late in the game. Missed blocks or tackles. Breakdowns in coverage. Failure to rattle Harrell.
See? There were a ton of plays that could have made a difference. Sadly, for Joe, the only one that most people will point the finger at is the last one. Because that will be the enduring image of that game for right or wrong.
Joe Ganz gave the Huskers a chance to win and without his significant efforts, we could have been looking at Nebraska - Missouri all over again. The kid played his guts out and I felt badly for pointing a finger at him.
But there are a few other thoughts that I have right now about the game.
I realize that Ganz is our starter but I would kind of like to see the Husker offensive coaches begin to put in a couple of packages to get the younger quarterbacks on the field for some real game experience. I'm not talking about a two-QB system, but I loathe the thought of starting all over at quarterback next year with a guy that is greener than a new sapling. Just dabble in a series here or there to get Witt or Lee some time on the field.
It is fairly possible that the Huskers won't have a huge blowout victory the rest of the year. It is possible that Oklahoma might bang them around a bit but other than that, one could make a very significant argument that most, if not all, of the games will be tight. That means the backups won't see the field much or at all. They need a least a little trial by fire so that one of them is ready for next season.
The running game still didn't blow my skirt up even though it was effective enough. It was effective enough that Tech had to at least respect Nebraska could pick up some yards through that avenue. When those things happen, the playaction passing game that Coach Watson is fond of has an actual chance to work. Lucky is still not a between the tackles guy and I just need to stop saying it. He is going to be the starter the rest of the year for better or worse and I have to accept that fact.
I was glad to see some of the spread offense and zone read plays come back on Saturday. I still am not a huge fan of all the two-tight end sets the Huskers are using, mostly due to the fact that I think our wide receivers are better weapons aside from McNeil and I love to spread the field out, but again, the plays and the scheme were efficient. And if it works, who am I to complain?
The defense played with a ton of grit and character Saturday considering that Cody Glenn and Philip Dillard, Prince Amukumara and Ricky Thenarse didn't play a lick. Take four of the better defenders off of the field for any defense and they will struggle, let alone a team that has had its issues on that side of the ball and is facing Texas Tech. Just look what happened to Oklahoma on Saturday when their starting MLB left the game. They seemed like a different defense and that was just one guy. And that is...excuse me, was the 'best team' in the land. A ton of credit needs to go to the young men trying to hold down the Tech offense.
The final thought that I have about this team is fairly simple. This week they didn't quit and showed the kind of character and competitive fire that is all we ask of them. They still make too many stupid penalties and silly mistakes but the look in their eyes and the way they carried themselves Saturday was something that was missing all of last year.
There is still a long way to go but I can't for a minute think that last year's team would have ever mustered the smallest comeback against a team like Texas Tech. When the score was 24-10 a year ago, we could have all turned the televisions off or just watched a different game. I'm not bad-mouthing that group but they just never exuded a 'never quit' attitude. For some reason I can see last year's team discussing where they were going to hang out after the game or trying to give their defensive coordinator and head coach an atomic wedgie rather than playing sixty minutes of football.
The fact that we saw a team that managed to get the couple of stops they needed on defense and an offense that marched down the field to tie the ball game gives all Husker fans hope that this team and program is headed in the right direction. We still may struggle to get many wins the rest of the year, but for the moment, the boys look like they may have turned a corner. They may not be headed down the road right now, but they know which direction to move.
This is Pete,
Over and out.
With the Huskers traveling to Lubbock on Saturday, we all know what is a very possible outcome for the game.
The Huskers could get blown out of the water.
In 2004, the Huskers were beaten 70-10 but only trailed 21-10 at one point before the complete meltdown.
Will it be that bad this time? Doubtful, but it could be similar. If Missouri can put up 52 on the Huskers in Lincoln, then what could happen on the road at one of the most prolific offenses over the past decade?
The numbers tally is not a pretty story for the Huskers. Texas Tech dominates in almost every single measurable category. The Huskers do lead in passing efficiency, punt returns, I believe tackles for loss and strength of schedule but that last one is mostly due to Tech's weak non-conference slate.
After their dispatch of Kansas State, on the road, last week, any complaints over their early schedule needs to be ignored.
They are a talented team that can run if they need to and obviously can fling the ball all over the field. Their defense is vastly improved over the past few years and they have the look of a legitimate contender.
So what hope do the Huskers have? Not a great one.
They will have to play their best game of the year in every aspect. And for a team that has not left the confines of Memorial Stadium yet, this is asking a great deal.
The Huskers have the offensive weapons to put up points and they have the athletes on defense to at least minimally contain the Red Raiders explosive attack.
But the offense must find an identity that gives them consistency and potency and in a hurry. Possibly in no other game this year will turnovers be a bigger no-no. Give Tech short fields or extra possessions and things will get ugly.
The defense can afford only a miniscule amount of missed tackles or blown assignments if the Huskers are to limit the scoring chances of Tech. They will need to get stops and force some unfortunate field position for the Raiders so that they aren't.
As I said last week, if this turns in to a track meet, the Huskers are in trouble.
Still, as long as Coach Bo and the boys continue to keep their focus and develop a mentality of winning, I have no doubts they'll be successful someday. Just quite possibly not on Saturday.
I won't complain about an upset but I'm not going to bet any of my vital body parts on it. Maybe I'll be some of Bert's, Jim's or Vern's.
This is Pete,
Over and out.
First of all, I will almost certainly never address the elections, the debates or candidate policies. One must speak what they know about and that is not one of my strong suits or even one of my interests. Mostly I don't want to talk about that topic because it alway boils down to conservatives versus liberals and people will always see what they want to see or hear what they want to hear.
As I have said in the past, shouldn't we be looking at the person best suited to run our country? No matter what happens in any given debate, the people will vote for the candidate that they like. Obama could walk out there and say he is in favor of making squirrel meat the main food source for schools and people would still vote for him. McCain could step up to the podium and announce that he loves to kick puppies and knock bird nests out of trees and people would still vote for him.
The debates are nothing more than a chance for 'Spin Alley' to emerge so that both candidates can look as pretty as possible to their constituents.
This is a sports site and that is all. It is not here to change the world or be an outlet for political opinions. I could probably find something to talk about but it would be ill-informed and frankly, very boring to me. If you wish to have political insight, pick your network and choice of candidate and get the spin that you want.
Enough of that topic.
First off today, I've got a couple of things that I've been pondering over for the last few hours.
Auburn fired their offensive coordinator in the middle of the week, in the middle of the season. Their offense is horrendous but to make this decision right now just reeks of something else going on behind the scenes.
They are attempting a culture change with their offensive philosophy and they are going to find the same growing pains that Nebraska did when they made their change five years ago and what Michigan is going through right now. Their talent was recruited for a different scheme and one can only expect that problems will surface as they make the transition.
There must be the wonder if the former offensive coordinator didn't get along with the kids or the other coaches. Perhaps he wasn't making the best use of the talent that they have.
The great thing about the spread offense is that you can do so many different things with it. It is quite possible that he wasn't playing to the athletes' strengths and just doing what he wanted to.
Or maybe he was just a jerk. I'm sure that more will be coming out in the future and at least most of the questions will be answered. But it is Auburn and I really could care less. Still it was on my mind.
I read an article the other day that high school football players are getting larger. No kidding. With all of the studies being done on the increasing size of American school children is it any wonder that football players are also getting larger as well? This comes as the kind of a 'no sh#t' moment for reporting.
The Olympic Committee has requested the re-testing of 5000 or so athletes for banned substances. And Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps just happened to be two of the athletes called upon. Let us hope, for the sake of the Olympics, that both of them come out clean. I'd hate to have the incredible images that they both burned into my brain be sullied because they are cheaters.
Which is a nice segue to my next topic, a suggestion from the Bigsizzle.
Why don't we lump Barry Bonds and Lance Armstrong as fellow cheaters. And I'm sure that I could throw Mark McGwire (sigh, he was my favorite player for a while) and Sammy Sosa in this argument as well even though none of them have ever tested positive for a substance even if some of them admited to 'accidently' taking something.
Never mind that Shawn Merriman and several other NFLers have actually tested positive for banned substances and we don't hold it against them.
This is actually a very touchy subject. Do we give Lance a pass because he is a personable and good looking guy that beat cancer? Do we condemn Barry because he has been reported to be something of a jerkbag and prima donna to his teammates? Or, I hate to even say this, is this a race thing? The race angle is somewhere that I'll leave to professional writers. When I become a professional writer, then I will dabble in those controversial topics.
If we are truly going to claim ourselves as a culture that says all people are innocent until proven guilty then why are we stuck on such a dislike of Mr. Bonds? We can site all of the 'before and after' photos that we want about Barry but to this day he has never failed a drug test. And one could make a very strong argument that no amount of steroids or performance enhancing chemicals will make you hit a baseball better. Arguably, Barry had one of the most incredible powerful compact swings ever seen in baseball and regardless of any accusations against him he still was the most dominant hitter in baseball for some time.
And even though Lance is not a bulky human being, there are still things one could do to enhance performance that doesn't require getting huge. Such as blood doping. Now, there are reports or studies out there that claim Lance just processes oxygen better than most people and maybe he has been genetically blessed with that ability. But there are still questions lingering about.
Unfortunately in our culture, anybody that is special gets looked upon with a different eye and sometimes one gets looked at with a kind eye while another gets the evil eye. If we are going to cheer a guy like Lance then we also need to cheer a guy like Barry. We can't have it both ways, even if we want it to be.
The Bigsizzle also suggested I watch a NASCAR race from start to finish. Sadly, I have done this. I blame Curt. It was a painful experience, not because of Curt since he offered me booze to get through the entire trauma of a NASCAR race, but because the race is mind-numbingly boring for the first 90%.
I recognize that I am a track wonk and the two sports, with the exception of the road races, are basically both sports that require you to turn left for different amounts of time. So there are people out there that would call my a hypocrite for not liking both sports.
There are those out there that claim NASCAR takes a certain amount of athleticism to compete in. They cite the endurance and strength it takes to stay mentally sharp for all of the laps required to complete a race. And we all know this to be true because Tony Stewart is certainly a bastion of physical perfection.
NASCAR requires only one thing. Focus. You need to be able to focus for 200 or so laps and likely three or more hours. For a person like me, that would never be possible. I would lose my interest after about ten laps because I saw a chicken or something. So NASCAR definitely takes a certain amount of skill. Notice the word 'skill,' not talent or athleticism.
Watching an entire NASCAR race is remarkably boring for me. Here is why. Unlike track which requires you to continue on your race without any sort of stopping for its duration, NASCAR needs pit-stops from time to time to refuel and all sorts of other things. So at any point in the race, the guy in first place may go to the pits and lose his place for several laps. Until somebody else decides it is time to pit and then you get your chance to move back up.
Track doesn't let you step off the track to change your shoes or take a sip of whatever product ads are smeared all over your jersey. Track athletes don't have to mention every single sponsor they have after a race. Track athletes don't have to refer to their bodies as the '194 Athlete' that ran really well today. And if they fail to win, it isn't because their car was not as fast. They can't blame poor adjustments or a flat tire. They can only blame their own failures with race strategy, conditioning, or physical ability. Track requires talent and athleticism. You can't learn to be fast or explosive or incredibly strong. Those are things that are ingrained in your genes.
Granted learning to long jump, triple jump, javelin or pole vault or any other even does require a certain amount of skill and learning, you don't have a chance to be top flight in those events unless you already have a certain 'it' when your athleticism is looked at.
I will admit that I will tune into a NASCAR race from time to time. But only for the last ten laps or so. That is the only interesting thing about the race. Don't tell me the crashes are cool. Yes, watching another person possibly die is remarkably amusing. That was sarcasm for those of you who didn't get it.
I'm not condemning NASCAR or its fans. It is just that the sport is not for me. Much like hockey is not for most of my friends.
Which leads me into my next segue.
Bigsizzle, there still is a pro hockey league in the United States. It is called the NHL. It may no longer be one of the premier sports in the country but it is still out there. I realize that few people actually like this sport but I have been a fan since 1993 after some heated contests on the Super Nintendo version of NHL '94 against some of my dorm buddies.
This is not a sport for every fan but it is a sport for me. I love the speed, the agility, the skill and the fact that grown men have been given sticks and told to hit each other. I still venture into my street from time to time just to keep my skills sharp so that maybe one day the NHL will be giving me a call to play a third-line center.
And despite the fact that outside of a weekly telecast on NBC, you can hardly find this league on television, I still follow my New Jersey Devils. It is tough these days with minimal video ability to track them but I still pull for the boys whenever I can. I check their stats on ESPN.com or their home website. I look at the signings they have or the players they draft and ponder when they will win the greatest trophy in sports, the hallowed Stanley Cup. They will be back. Oh yes, they will be back.
Just a few thoughts I had on this glorious Thursday morning. And I realize that I will notice I have left out some great comments or points that need made, but remember, I have no editor. These things are typed in the span of one hour or less and then posted.
This is Pete,
Over and out.
That is all.
This is Pete,
Over and out.
