Stop the countdown - Huskers pick up (maybe) new QB
I'm putting a pause on the opponent preview for two reasons:
First, after NU loses to USC by 70...they may be so distraught, they may not win another game and throw the whole thing off. Second, I'm missing real Husker stories prior to the season that need to be addressed. And no, not in the same propaganda method most Husker fans are used to seeing....where Steve Sipple or Sean Callahan spew whatever they want to hear into a microphone, and the soybean nation eats it up.
Take this for example....
Seems that rumors are flying that (now former) ASU quarterback Sam Keller is nearly signed, sealed and delivered as Nebraska's new starting quarterback for the 2007 season. According to sources (ie random internet message boards, where guys with "handles" like "HuskerSackAttack" and "BigRedFan582" ), Keller has narrowed his college search down to Oklahoma and Nebraska. (Apparently the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots are now out of the running)
Keller, who has Joe Montana's smarts, Warren Moon's arm and Joe Namath's flair is destined to be a future hall-of-famer once he steps foot on the NU practice field this fall. Then again, should he sign with Oklahoma, he will have never been that good anyway, a complete failure, and will be mocked as just another reason to hate that damn cheating Oklahoma.
I have a couple of takes on this.
First, who cares? Yes he put up some decent numbers in the Maginot Line-esque Pac-10. But HOW many times has Husker fans soiled their overalls, bragging about what is GOING to happen? I remember waiting for years for DeAngelo Evans to win the first of his 3 Heismans...never happened. I remember David Horne being touted as the second coming of Barry Sanders...that is before Husker fan realized he wasn't that good, and started bashing him for being a quitter. I waited and waited for the excellence of such QB's as Curt Dukes, Odell James and Jamal Lord to be recognized on their way to Canton as the quintessential Top QB's that Husker fan claimed that they were.
And....maybe not.
NOBODY on earth is more guilty of buying hype than Husker fan. If I had a dime for every single "can't miss" recruit, transfer or sasquatch who was supposed to turn college football on it's ear...yet failed to pan out...I'd be loaded. Can't you people just wait and see what happens? I understand you're excited, because you have the 7th best QB in the Big 12 returning this year...and his backup stiffed you...but CONTROL yourselves a little bit.
Don't you have a little bit of concern that you "might" be getting a guy who up and left a beautiful campus and successful program in Tempe...just because their head coach gave the starting job to somebody else? Isn't that what you were just bitching about a few weeks ago when Beck did the same thing? Does it bother you that you're squealing like little girls because you might pick up ASU's 2nd string table scraps? Doesn't that make you hypocrites?
Of course you don't realize this, because you're blinded by false history and myopia. You have absolutely no concept of reality, and the fact that sometimes kids pan out..sometimes they don't. Who the hell knows how Callahan can piss this kid off between now and September of 2007. And this is even if you DO end up getting him. SO many things can happen, it's not even funny. Yet, here you are anyway...already giving yourself the North crown the year after this one, because some second string, injury prone backup QB from last year's Insight.com champs is giving you a second look.
Kudos to you on wrapping up the conference for 2007, 17 months in advance.
God you're good.
posted by A J at 10:57 AM
8 Comments:
He didnt leave, he was released from his scholarship by the coach. Yes he is/was the 2nd string QB at ASU, but that still would make him the 1st string at NU this year if he didnt have to sit out. I am not defending Husker-ism, but I am defending Sam. I became a big fan of his last season.
This is God's work you do my son.
Keep fighting the good fight!
"He didn't leave, he was released" is exactly the myopia that Husker fans get criticized for. We'll wait and see what is up for this kid. Unlike some of the other hyped recruits, he actually has produced on the field.
But the mutiny against him by his teammates is very disconcerting. I don't blame him for asking for his release; if half your team went to the coach and said you shouldn't play, then you probably aren't welcome there. But I do wonder about the circustances that led to this.
AJ,
Awesome as always. Just know that you provide priceless entertainment to many with this blog.
I can just picture all the big, red faces, so incredibly pissed with each additional word. The truth hurts...but not as much as the stitch in my side.
PLEASE keep it coming.
P.S. The North is up for grabs (as usual) Husker fans. Mediocre talent and experience only go so far. It's anyone's game, and you have Callahan...
Mike, I hear what you're saying and I'm glad you "get it". I think it's an outstanding get for NU on the surface...but you and I are on the same page. There is something fishy about a guy who just bolts like that right before the season..especially when the rest of the team doesn't want him.
SHould be very interesting.
Thanks to the other replies for the kind words. I do what I can and it's just going to get better as the season gets closer.
AJ
Even if Keller comes to Lincoln-- he has one year of eligibility, and he's going to learn this complex offense and run it better than Mike Ganz or whoever the projected Husker starter is?
I think Keller needs to get it through his head that he is not good enough to be the starting QB on any decent college team (which must be where his interest in the Huskers somes in). The fact he is leaving over a coach's decision makes me think he's the second coming of Eric Crouch. I am not impressed.
Then again, I've yet to be impressed with any Husker QB from Brook "Hey, I Can Fly" Berringer to Scott "Edward Scissorhands" Frost, from Turner "I Coached Eric Crouch" Gill to Jammal "I'm A Leader, Just Like the Real" Lord.
The excitement over picking up the quitting trash of another school, just shows there is absolutely nothing of any interest in this godforsaken state.
Something CorNation needs to think about is that Keller might not qualify for enrollment in Lincoln-- does he have a criminal record?
aj,
I live in Omaha and I'm one of the few Buff fans living in the area, so I know how you feel about the idiocy of Fusker Nation. They happen to be the biggest collection of hypocrites in all of college football. Beck goes from signing autographs as a HS Senior to a pariah overnight, yet Keller takes his ball and goes home and they welcome him with open arms...unbelievable.
Anyway, if they DON'T get Keller, they are majorly screwed next year at the QB position. It's starting to look like the kid is looking at other options...which would be sweet music to any non-fusker fan's ears.
As for those questioning the kid's talent...he's a stud QB. I've seen him play on several occasions and he would have probably been one of the best in the country this year if he hadn't had his starting spot yanked. The dude LIT UP LSU's defense last year.
What happened was that Rudy Carpenter would have transferred had Keller been named the starter...that is a rumor that has been confirmed by several insiders (ASU's QB coach is now the OC at CU). So many of the younger ASU players went to Koetter at ASU and told him that it would be a big mistake for the future of the program if he didn't name Carpenter the starter (and from what I understand, Carpenter is just as good if not better than Keller).
Oh well, let's hope that Throatslash doesn't get his free agency wish with Keller...it could be the difference between the fuskers being really good next year to HillBilly getting fired.
I read the comments through a couple of times, and I'm more distressed with how many position players are leaving colleges due to disagreements with coaches, disobeying team quidelines, etc. I believe that this will continue to get worse as people continue to beleive the hype out of sources like Rivals, and the like. The sports media helps fuel this fire, rather than put it into perscpective. (College used to be a place where you worked four years to get a degree, show the work force that you could work four years towards completing that degree. If I was a head coach, and a player wanted to transfer in, it had better be for reasons other than the aforementioned, because if it was, it shows me the kid has no heart.)
So far as Huskers being the worst fans about "can't miss" recruits, I would say that is subjective and always open to debate. I have a friend of mine who is a Buffs fan (We played D2 ball in college), who will call me with news stating so and so just got signed, and he got to go into Gary Barnetts office. I believe that when you're at the epicenter, it always seems "the worst". (I had no intention of picking on a Buffs fan, I could have used my cousins husband who believes that WSU is in contention for the national championship every year, outside the year Dan Fouts was at Oregon. Or, I could have used my brother-in-law, or a guy in my college dorm who caught a cockroach and kept it just so he could refer to it as, "Boomer".)
I played high school ball with a "blue chipper", or at least that what top propsects were called 20 years ago. This guy got calls during school from Bowden, Holtz (N.D.), and the list goes on and on. I knew this guy had the physical ability to play, but didn't believe he had the heart or desire. He took a full ride, and was out of a D1 program by the end of the first sememster. So your assessment of "busts" is correct. So many of these kids have the physical and or mental, but may not have a combination of both in order to complete the package. Too many people project their hopes and aspirations on these kids, and then have to rationalize in the event the kid leaves, or does not meet expectations.
When I hear Rivals, ESPN, etc., etc. speculate on a player, team, or situation, I remember something my grandfather used to tell me to describe B.S. "It's like a moron calling and idiot, stupid."
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