CWS Mania and the Countdown to Week 1

Good lord, is it September yet?

I’m not sure about you, but it seems a lot of people are hitting a wall in terms of looking forward to the upcoming football season. It seems the analysis and trash talk hit it’s peek in mid-May, and is now winding down to the sultry dog days of Summer.

Or perhaps you idiots are just hanging out in the Rosenblatt parking lot, swigging jack and cokes with a couple of dirt farmers from Mississippi, as you reminisce with stories about the great players of yesteryear, such as Phil Nevin and Alex Gordon. Regardless of whatever you do with your free time, and whatever farm animal you choose to spend it with…fall IS coming, and will be here before you know it. However, that’s not to say I can’t bitch about a whole lot of other stuff in the meantime. As you know, the end of the CWS usually signals the final stretch run toward the season, and as soon as the 1st game is over (15-10???), we’ll start thinking about it.

Let this be a lesson to you idiots who want to keep Rosenblatt. A launching pad on a hill with the fences brought in does not lead to “entertaining” 15-10 games that last 4 hours. Then again, nobody is paying attention in the stands anyway. God forbid you look at the field long enough to see an actual play…you might miss the ball girl drop a ball off the net, so you can boo her like Barry Bonds at a DARE meeting. The sooner they take a wrecking ball to that dump and move into the 21st century..the better.

**Speaking of steroid pushers….no Huskers (that we know of), were arrested in Lincoln this past weekend. CONGRATULATIONS!!! Looks like Callahan has righted that ship, and order is restored….sort of.

Regardless, the anticipation continues…albeit stemmed for a week or so…for what should be the most competative season in the North in years. What’s that you say? The North sucks? Well just because Nebraska won it, doesn’t mean it completely sucks…although that’s a pretty safe bet last year. The key to this season is going to be K-State and Colorado. I know a lot of my Missouri friends and pretty much every Husker fan I know has written off the Cats and Buffs as stuck in a rebuilding mode that should take somewhere between 20-30 years. However, any team with Josh Freeman makes me a bit nervous..as does a Dan Hawkins coached team, whom I thought was way way way better than their record.

I realize I said this last year, but certainly any sane person doesn’t feel that those two programs…who have been the class of the North for years…are going to stay down for long. But alas, all focus is going to be on 10/6, where the hype and buildup continues at breakneck speed. I’m not quite sure a 2 or 3 loss Nebraska team is going to bring that much excitement to the stadium, but hey…and 8pm start and ESPN cameras will add a few jolts to the good folks in black and gold. (That and a few extra Jagerbombs…but that’s for a later post.)

**Speaking of TV contracts and bad people..nice to see Big 12 mortician Kevin Weiberg jump ship for the Big 10 network. No word yet on whether or not he will be manning the phones in a call center, but needless to say, it’s got to be a good thing to get rid of the guy who signed on Versus to carry Big 12 games.

BUT WAIT…who is heading the committee to fill his vacancy? None other than Mr. Anti-Playoff Harvey Pearlman, Nebraska Chancellor. I guess it could be a bit worse…at least the greed will be aimed toward the north rather than the Dallas Ft-Worth area. But I have about as much confidence in Pearlman doing the right than I do expecting a 1-0 pitchers dual in tonight’s Arizona State vs. UC Irvine game.

I’m sure whomever gets the job will see to it that the Nebraska gets their fair treatment in conference decisions. Expect to see a Husker influence, as well Big 12 Volleyball on the Food Network as soon as the decision is made.

T-minus 77 days and counting.