"We must bring change, so that nothing will in fact change."

"We must bring change, so that nothing will in fact change." - Burt Lancaster in Il Gattopardo (1963)

Let's hop in Doc's Delorean if you will, and head back a few years to November 30th, 2003. In case you've been living under a rock, I'll set the scene once again for you. Frank Solich, a lifelong Husker who gave his best years to the football program he loved, was fired by Steve Pederson for finishing 9-3. To paraphrase the dictator on 10th street, Peterson claimed that he would not withstand Husker football finishing in such a manner that would embarrass the greatest fans of all time. It would be his duty to his fellow Husker fans to find a coach that will take the program into a new direction...away from horrible 9-3 finishes to a place they rightfully belong.

Four years later, apparently 9-5 finishes are OK.

The 2006 season is in the books with yet another close-but-no-cigar loss for the Huskers against a superior team in both personnel and coaching. As I stated a few weeks ago, I am not about to get into the daily pissing match you people get into with each other in regards to Bill Callahan vs. Frank Solich. However, what I will do is not tell you where you are going, but tell you where you are in relation to where you've been. All week long and now after the Cotton Bowl, I've read and heard nothing but positive spin regarding the future of your program. One guy in my offic stated this morning over the coffee pot, "We're in such a better place now."

Really? "better"?

Let's go back to one other time when you ended an era...namely the great Husker era of Tuner Gill, Irving Fryar and Mike Rozier. The 1982 and 1983 Husker teams, regarded by many as the two greatest college football teams never to win a National Title, led into an age of ineptitude seldom acknowledged by those in Husker circles. Perhaps you remember those days following those two teams.

Tom Osborne's team finished 10-2 in 1984 with wins over #8 UCLA, #12 LSU and #9 Oklahoma State. That team only had four games in which the opponents scored 10 points or more. In 1985, a down year by Husker standards, the Hicks still finished 9-3, yet beat #5 Oklahoma State (again), and lost to all three other ranked teams they played. (#5 Oklahoma, #5 Michigan and #17 Florida State). For many years, this was considered one of Osborne's worst teams. The 1986 team finished 10-2, beating 2 of the 3 ranked teams they played that year, including a 30-15 win over LSU in the Sugar bowl. The 87 team finished 10-2 as well, beating 3 of the 5 ranked teams they played, falling to #3 Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl. That team averaged 38 points a game, giving up just under 14. The 1988 and 89 teams went 11-2 and 10-2 respectively.

And this was the DOWN period of Husker football, prior to Tom Osborne recruiting criminals, thugs and rapists. But that must leave your head filled with questions.

"Hey Asshole, why would you go into such detail about how great we were back then. We know how great we were."

That's the whole point. Now let's look in a historical perspective at the 2006 team who finished 9-5. Yes, they won the Big 12 North, (How many of TO's teams would have won the North if it was divisional? All but twice in 89 and 90 by my calculations in 20+ years.) but they also lost 5 games. Something that had only happened twice since 1961. TWICE.

And yet you're in "such a better place now"? Are you freaking kidding me?

Look, I'm not about to get into an argument about how great you used to be, because you people do just fine on your own. However, for you to even compare your team now to what your teams used to be a complete joke and a slap in the face to those who played for you during that time. 5 losses for only the 3rd time since 1961? Yes, you must be thrilled. Think about it this way, if you were located in the state of Oklahoma, you'd be the third best team in the state this season, and I'm not so sure you would beat Tulsa if given the chance.

But wait, you can counter that?

"Hey asshole, we lost to Texas, USC, Oklahoma, Auburn and Okie State...not exactly cream puffs."

Well sure, but how much of that is "talent gap" and how much of that is the fact that your NFL coach plays not to lose big in those games? Look, Clownahan isn't stupid. He knows that he was nearly lynched a few years ago for trying to bring you people back from the stone age. The last thing he can do is get destroyed 70-10 again by anybody. So what does he do? He uses the NFL mentality of grinding it out...stick around...and hope you have a chance to win at the end. That's EXACTLY how NFL teams win on the road. In fact, in Callahan's history at NU, I can only name one game where his team went out and blew the doors off of anybody (not named Troy or Nicholls State), and that was Colorado, whom as we've mentioned before...completely quit on their coach by that point in the season. In every other instance since that 70-10 game, he NFL genius has gone out and played it safe. (How else would you explain the rushing game this year getting about 180% more touches than previous years?)

Again, I'm not saying it's bad. I"m just stating that Tom Osborne wasn't exactly a gunslinger with a headset on, and he managed to beat the living shit out of people for 25 years.

So what's my point? My point is, you are so far from "order restored", it's not even funny. I never thought I'd see the day where NU fan was satisfied with 3 point Cotton Bowl losses and 5 loss seasons, but I guess it's happened...especially without a single Frank Solich player on the roster. Perhaps it takes a fan of a team whom you crushed for so many years to remind you just how dominant your teams were and just how far you've fallen in the meantime. You will never ever win National Championships anytime in your lifetime again, because you haven't even learned how to beat ranked teams yet. (I believe Callahan has beaten only four, but I could be mistaken. (CU, Michigan,A&M and ISU for some reason who was #23 in 2003). Four ranked teams? Your old team used to beat four ranked team in DOWN seasons...let alone in 4 year spurts.

Or is that it? Couldn't it also mean that the old Big 8 was really really shitty, and Tom Osborne did nothing but run it up on patsies and cripples until the chips were down at the end of the season?

I guess we have 9 whole months to discuss it.

Congratulations on your fine five-loss season. I hope you can find room in your trophy case for that all-important Big 12 North Participant ribbon. With the way things are today, it's about as lofty as your expectations should get.



PS - Fire Mike Kemp