The Long March to the Front Lines - 10/6/07
I'm not going to lie to you guys. I haven't really been in football mode at all this spring, despite the Sam Keller bashing and the mocking of Steve Pederson. I haven't really followed any injury news, police blotters, attempted suicides (allegedly) or recruits hardly at all. It's not that I don't care...I certainly do. I just can't get into it until at LEAST after the College World Series is over.But what I have noticed since the end of last season is a development of something special. Gone are the days where Husker fan got all fired up over Florida State. Gone are the days where you called into ESPN Radio or the Jim Rome show...spouting off about all you and your fans have to offer. Nope, these days...after several seasons of turmoil and unrealistic expectations, the "order" has been restored to this: your public enemy #1 is me.
I'm not talking me as in blog guy. I'm talking as me the Missouri fan.
Some of you longer-term readers may know this, but I don't write here to be a cheerleader. I don't spout off about how great my team is. I don't give you the rundown on the depth chart. I don't break down recruiting classes. I'm WELL aware of my team's shortcomings, just as I'm aware that I had no choice to root for this team. I was born there. I lived there. I went to school there. I'll die there.
But what has changed...at least for the time being is the spark of hatred that I like to think has emanated from this space over the past two years. For you see, Florida State isn't your enemy any more. Bowl games with Miami are no longer your goal. The one thing standing in the way of you sitting back down on your throne (in your own mind), is a team in black and gold with a history of ineptness, led by a coach with a history of underachievement. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I try not to get into this "me vs. you" stuff...but the landscape of the Big 12 has dictated it to be this way.
I talked last year about the nuclear armegeddon that would have resulted from a Missouri win in Lincoln. Like Khrushchev before him, Gary Pinkel decided to stand down, and you were left to go on your marry way with an ear of corn in your pocket and a sigh of relief. However, this coming season...there is no cushy home game in December with a brand new QB on the other side of the field to deal with. This season is a road trip to a place of many recent horrors. This season, your DB's will be faced with a pair of 6'7" tight ends. This season your gnome-like DB's have to face not only a hostile crowd thirsty for blood, but also five of the best young wideouts in the league in Maclin, Saunders, Franklin, Perry and Alexander. Nebraska counters with JC Keller, Marlon Lucky and whatever other mediocre player you guys start propping up as a Heisman candidate.The point is, everything is looking already as if this will be yet another crack at armegeddon. Nebraska will travel to Columbia with two losses, and a third one to the Tigers would put them at 3-3 on October 7th. (Unless you lose to Nevada.) I don't have to tell you what happens around here to Clownahan, Steve-O and JC if you are sitting at 3-3, two games down on your biggest threat in the north. Whatever happens, I can guarantee you two things: 1) I will be highly intoxicated and taking my wrath out on every single jackass in Red I can find prior to the game and 2) You'll be sweating Paris Hilton in church the week prior..if anything knowing you'll have to deal with me when it's all over.
For now however, we still have 6 months of baseball, NFL draft, soccer, Iraq and anything else we can find to talk about. Keep in mind for the next 164 days that the street fight is coming. It will be ugly. It will be messy. It will entertaining to say the least.
Viva la Football and may the the best team win.
posted by A J at 2:27 PM
11 Comments:
I'm assuming you are counting at Wake as a loss, which I am not so sure I agree with you on (God knows I hope they lose that game, but I'm not optimistic). I watched a handful of Wake games last year and you wanna talk about a team that put it together with smoke and mirrors. They were really an average team. That ACC championship game might have been the most god awful display of football I have seen. I don't know what they have returning and all that, but that is a game if they lose we will hear nothing about how they beat the defending ACC champs all season.
It's on the road though, and those people are going to be jacked out of their minds. It should be a pretty big coming out party for them. I remember 1620 interviewing some guy from Winston-Salem earlier this spring, adn the guy said it is the one red-letter game of the year.
Nebraska has not faired well in those types of games in recent years.
In fact...I'd ALMOST....ALMOST...give you more of a chance beating USC at home. (Almost = lose by less than 40)
Who you calling "we"? I didn't come here to get insulted, I am a Colorado fan :)
That being said the biggest crowd in Wake history is not going to be all that scary intimidating, have quite a few friends here in SCarolina who went there this year (for the Clemson game) and they said it was nothing, certainly not worse than A&M (where NU won this year).
Again I HOPE you are right but put me on the list of folks who think Wake is a fraud.
Youch. My mistake. I tend to forget sometimes after being electronicly assaulted with propaganda. My sincerest apologies.
I disagree with you on Wake though.
PS - Where did the Husker fans go?
The only positive experience that ever got out of Missouri was the siting of billboards spelling MIZZOU or whatever the hell dumbass name Missouri calls itself. Cool billboards, however MU football will continue to strugle to reach mediocre status. No way NU loses to Wake by the way, MU maybe.
where is this shitty podcast?
1) I said "in the next few weeks". It's been 3 days. Relax.
2) Wake will ass-pound NU. How you're going to waltz in and beat the defending ACC champions on a Saturday night (it most likely will be) is beyond me.
saw your comment about weiberg over on mike's blog, thought maybe you'd enjoy my latest blog post, primarily devoted to trashing the tool of a commissioner our conference has.
I hate making predictions this early. Yes a Husker fan that hates making predictions, especially lofty predictions. Wake concerns me though, with the gimicky type offense that they run and NU having a brand new d-line. The D-line is absolutely crucial against an offense like Wakes. The atmosphere will probably be less than that of what they will see in a few other games this year, namely Mizzou. That one can go either way. If it comes down to coaching... NU=screwed
I can say with 100% certainty, Nebraska's secondary sucks. A spread offense like MU's or OSU will have an overwhelming advantage. I still think that Pinkel can coach them right out of that one though... I got to think that Coz will come up with another great scheme at Mizzou.(HA)
Don't get me wrong, I am a husker fan, born and raised. I really didn't have much of a choice. But I don't ever remember a season where the team could either win 10 games(unlikely) or 5 games.(also unlikely) The thing I hate is the fact that this coaching staff can come up with schemes that are about as legitimate as a child of an NBA superstar.
I live in NC and saw Wake a lot on TV last year. First their "stadium" when packed seats 30k. They were lucky last year to win the ACC, but also beat FSU on the road in a SHUT OUT. Sure FSU wasn't good but neither was Texas Tech a couple of years ago. Wake is well coached - a problem for Callahan (or Pinkel for that matter).
What is funny is that NU will get beaten by a solich-like offense. It has a lot of misdirection and spread-veer stuff. They do option, fullback dives etc.
Cosgrove will have no idea what to do.
Again, many have commented on this before but who did Wake beat to win the ACC Championship that they defend? Was it Virginia Tech? No. Was it Florida St. then? No. Was it ACC newcomer Miami? No. Boston College? Clemson? Maryland? No, No, and Hell No. They beat bottom feeding brethren Georgia Tech in one of the worst conference title games I have ever seen (It was the equivalent of a post-season baseball score). The ACC had a shitty year last season and Wake came out on top. Does this mean we shouldn't give respect to the Demons? No, but I'm more worried about our Big 12 road trips next season then this little non-conference "semi-trap". That being said I feel this will be a somewhat tough game, since it's on the road, but not one in which we get "ass pounded." Maybe AJ was having fantasies about JC Keller giving it to him when making this comment.
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