Methods to the Madness

34 days to go.

Although this time does fly by a bit more quickly than say….June, we’ve got a lot to cover in the next month. Last year during this time, we looked at the top 10 losses in Nebraska football history. (Go check the Archives, August 2006). This year, I’m still undecided, although top 10 thugs is still a possibility. Anyhow, there a bunch of questions running through my head about the season. Before we get to the news of the day, a couple of housekeeping items.

1) For those of you bitching about my pick of Colorado as ’07 Big 12 North champs, a few things of note. First of all, what do you think the odds of me picking NU were? (I stick with my 6-6 prediction for them.) Secondly, you…me and the nearly 3,000 people a week who hit this blog (Thanks by the way) ALL know who I think will win the North. Again, I may be crazy, but I’m not stupid. I know damn well what expectations do to a fan of my favorite team..so for me to state PUBLICLY this early in the year is just plain dumb. I know what I’m doing. Thank you all for your concern though. It was either CU or K-State…and although I like what Ron Prince is doing out there to a degree…I think Hawkins and company have a better shot of coming out of nowhere to challenge for the title. So again, thanks for the concern, but if you want to make your own picks, put them in your comments or get your own damn blog.

2) As you may have noticed, we here at BEL are gearing up for yet another website redesign. The prototypes look pretty good, so I’m excited to get it out there. (Probably wait til right before the season though.) In the meantime, I need you guys to vote in the poll this week and let me know if you want the crying kid and the Zeppelin to stay. Some people like it..others don’t care. I just need to know whether or not to incorporate that little doucehbag into my future design. Your assistance is appreciated.

OK….stuff that matters.

* What would college football in July be without rumors? God I love rumors. I love internet speculation. I love trying to guess what is really going on. (Like 50 different readers giving me 50 different accounts of the Mo Purify incident. That was classic.) But sometimes, a rumor is just so stupid, you have to call it out for being what it is. (And no, I’m not talking about you IDIOT geeks and your wild speculation about Blaine Gabbert and his new job as recruiting coordinator for NU. How hard is it to exaggerate? Not very) Enter this week’s rumor du jour of the flirtation of either Missouri or Nebraska leaving the Big 12 for the Big 10.

Now, I’m not about to speculate what the hell is going through Steve Pederson’s mind, (He's probably too busy dreaming up a new made-up trophy to present yourselves after the Nevada game.) but from a fan perspective, this makes no sense. I’ll give you all credit that the Big 12 has completely screwed itself by letting the Texas schools run the show. However, there is a VERY good reason why each school would never make that jump.

For Nebraska, it would be football suicide. Do you HONESTLY think there is room for a THIRD arrogant fan base to go along with Michigan and Ohio State? I could see it now, Nebraska – Ohio State showdown t-shirts are probably already in the truck, as Husker fan dreams of knocking out Michigan to take the place of OSU’s newest rivals. Ummmm…no. If NU went to the Big 10, the’d be paired with Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue, Illinois and Northwestern most likely. Man, nothing gets the fans more pumped up than a late November taking on Purdue. What the hell ever people. If Nebraska were to EVER bolt for the Big 10, it would only be that Order has never been “Restored”, and some idiot in Lincoln finally figured out that Nebraska isn’t even the most successful program in their own conference. If they moved to the Big 10…they’d be sitting behind four or five other programs…and that’s just stupid.

For Missouri, it’s a bit more complicated, but it all comes down to the battles with KU and K-State. Sure, they could play KU all the time as a non-conference team, but it really wouldn’t’ be the same. Perhaps I would think differently if I lived in St. Louis, but from this angle, the move just looks too risky to make. Besides, after 30 years of being in the toilet, is NOW the time to move? Doesn’t make sense to me.

* I see Mack Brown is now faced with dealing with a fairly good player in Sergio Kindle charged with DUI last night. Hmmmm…I wonder how a true “disciplinarian” like him will handle this situation? Should be interesting to watch, especially considering the “fair and balanced” sentence that a certain guy received from a certain ex-Raider coach. (“Cally is a true disciplinarian. Pffffffffft. You idiots)

* Finally, I need to tread lightly on this next subject, as not to piss some of you off unnecessarily. I realize some of you like recruiting A LOT. Obviously the internet has allowed some of you to follow 18 year old boys in new and exciting ways. (Wait..that sounded bad. I take it back.) And yes, I agree that it’s better to talk about college football in May than the Red Sox, the NBA playoffs or anything else that is boring and meaningless. But please…I BEG YOU..for the LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY…can we stop with the CONSTANT analysis of what these kids say and do? I can’t even imagine my ego if I was 17 years old, barely able to drive, and 5 million nerds with yellow foam corncobs on their heads were watching my every comment. From who I hung out with, to whom I text message.

It kind of reminds me of guys I played ball with when I was 13-14 years old. They were great athletes, they had everything going for them…but by the time they went through all the strains around them, including parents, college choices and the like..they just quit. I think some of you fail to realize just how young, stupid and fragile you are when you’re 17 or even 18 years old. To have an absolute fit over what some 17 year old did at a football camp 2,000 miles away…enough to actually BRAG to other adults about it? It’s completely insane. I’m not talking just normal insane anyway, I’m talking “why is Dancing with the Stars so popular” type batshit crazy.

Have any of you people looked at yourselves, after arguing with other grown men over the text messaging habits of an 17 year old kid? As you were writing that 79$ check to Rivals for the 4th year in a row, did you ever stop and think just what in the hell you are trying to accomplish? I didn’t even know what to have for lunch when I was 17, let alone where I was going to go and how I was going to get there. You idiots and your 5-star, 4-star, whatever-star bragging is just about the stupidest G*d damn thing I’ve ever heard…and I’ve heard you people throw out some whacked out stuff.

Who cares if we lost 5 games last year for only the 3rd time in 30 years? Who cares if our 4th year head coach only has a 68% win percentage? (Compared to what for Frank Solich?). Who cares if all you have is moral victories and choke jobs in your pocket..and YES you choked against Texas. TOM LEMMING says you are back, and that’s good enough for you.

If you can look in the mirror and actually base your actions on that sort of false hope? Then you’re a better fan than me. And isn’t that all you really want anyway?



(Thanks St.Louis Post-Dispatch for the picture of Harrison Beck)