Ulty

Well, I feel that if I have to put a "sarcasm" emoticon next to every sarcastic comment, it's like having to explain a punchline.

This isn't exactly on topic, but Kaepernick was truly great at Nevada. And no, Taylor will not get the record. But having two conference championships would be nice for him I'm sure. Even further off topic, Kaepernick saw some playing time against Nebraska in 2007, going 1/3 for negative one yard. I was at that game, and I knew right then that 2007 was going to be a special year.

I'm gonna go ahead and prepare to be very happy right now, so I can avoid the rush.

If you are a coach or player, maybe... As fans, overlooking an opponent costs us nothing. No reason for us to worry about Iowa. I do worry about Wisconsin because rematches so often go the opposite way from the first game.

If TO had coached for five more years, we would have had a minimum of eight more national championships. No doubt in my mind.

He has the speed to produce the sort of signature Heisman moments that look good on the highlight reel. He has the WR corps to produce really good numbers throughout the year. He'll have the type of career numbers that help a lot of Heisman candidates in their senior years. He has the team and schedule to rack up a lot of wins next year and keep a high ranking. The potential is there.

Other things John L. Smith is very optimistic about: 1. Finishing the season with a winning record. 2. Making a profit on Hostess stock. 3. Getting to an NHL game this year. 4. Mitt Romney being sworn into office in January. 5. The new Twilight movie being awesome. 6. Enjoying himself at Guy Fieri's new restaurant.

Having said what I said above, in 100% of the investigations I worked on with that job, and even years later when I worked for the state of Nebraska investigating employment discrimination, serious problems in the workforce could always be traced to upper management. It starts at the top. Good businesses with good management either have a good relationship with their unions or keep the workforce satisfied enough that they don't want to form a union. In my example above, management was weak and incomptent, allowing the union to basically take over the entire culture and fill the leadership void. Corrupt unions don't exist in a vacuum.

I used to work for a corporate investigations firm, and when we had to go into a facility to interview alleged wrongdoers, we'd have to deal with the unions - most of our cases were in factories with strong unions, and most of our bad guys were drug dealers, gang members, etc. The Supereme Courthave held, under a case called Weingarten, that union employees have a right to union representation in any meeting during investigatory interviews, so we'd often have union stewards sitting in while we talked to the bad guys. Many times, they obstructed the process. I remember one case in particular where we had a guy admit to working on a factory production totally wacked out on drugs, and he had also sold drugs to coworkers and had been responsible for injuring coworkers because of being under the influence and being a part of others being threatened by the pro-drug community in the factory. The union rep stood up for his druggie brother and threatened to have his union buddies shut down production if the investigation continued or if the company started firing employees based on the damning stuff we found (and there was mountains of evidence in additino to the employees outright admitting what they had done). The union steward said to us: "I don't give a f#&k about this company. I only care about the union." At the end of it all, we had done our investigation very well and had billed approximately $50,000 to the factory for our efforts. We found lots of bad guys, drugs, evidence of other crimes, and policy violations up the yin-yang. The company did not discipline a single person, let alone fire anyone. They were afraid of the union, despite having full rights to fire people. They also should have fired the guy who specifically said (on recording and in front of a supervisor) that he didn;t care about his job. Now, I am liberal on most issues and generally pro-labor, and unions do serve a valid purpose, but sometimes (often?) they get too big for their britches and go beyond what they were supposed to do. If the purpose of a union is to protect the workforce and ensure people have safe and fair working conditions, one would think a good union rep would be outraged at the employee who admitted to selling and using drugs on the job, because it endangers his fellow workers and the workforce altogether. In the case og Hostess, a good union would see the forest beyond the trees and think that keeping the job for now is better than shutting down entirely, and maybe keep up on diplomatic negotiations with the company (easier said than done, and perhaps Hostess management were being strong-armed asses, I haven't read enough about it), but in either case, the result is certainly not in the best interest of the workers. In my example above, I ran into many similar situations in other investigations where the unions had the same attitudes and enabled (or even encouraged) illegal or inappropriate behavior and held management hostage, as opposed to actually making the workforce and the workplace better. To be fair, I've seen quite a few good union reps who care about their work and their employers, but the problems I often saw were from the largest and strongest unions. Corruption and power became more important than quality of work conditions. It happens too often.

Would be cool to see a lot of option plays and fullback handoffs on Saturday. And maybe the coaches can all put their names on their headsets with an old school label-maker.

If this Bradley dude is committed to Tennessee, maybe he's just coming to scout out Bo Pelini, since he'll be coaching in the SEC next year ya know.

He never got a proper sendoff at his last home game as a coach. It was a freezing, windy day in which we were up on Iowa State 63-7 at half time. The stadium was half empty by the fourth quarter started. No one knew at the time that Tom was never going to coach another game at Memorial Stadium.

I have a 3 year old son and one year old daughter. I love, love, love watching football with them and teaching them the important gestures (touchdown, throwing the bones, and first down), but if my kids want to play sports when they are older, I'm going to steer them to things other than football. The more we learn about it, football just seems too dangerous, especially looking at it as a parent. I wouldn't go as far to forbid it, however. With my genes, my son wouldn't be seeing the football field anyway. We're an Ultimate frisbee family. Sports are an important way of learning socialization, teamwork, and toughness, and freaky injuries can happen in any sport, but the near-inevitabilty of long-term damage in football players is something a parent like me doesn't want to deal with, especially brain injuries.

...including the football programs at Kansas, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, etc.

I think Bo has things going in the right direction here, too, and I hope he stays at Nebraska as long as his sideline demeanor doesn't seriously hurt the recruiting process (sarcasm). However, I don't think he's accomplished enough yet to justify any deep-pocketed program buying out his Nebraska contract and giving him a new one with a raise. (Although I guess that still puts Auburn in the mix, since their last hire was a slimy coach with a losing record.) **edit: I don't mean to say Bo is a slimy coach, I mean he would be an upgrade for Auburn, although an expensive one**

Start him at QB and do nothing but safe handoffs all day. Gets him on the field and saves both Rex and Taylor from further injury!

And Nebraska has never won a National Championship except for the five they have. Always nice to just dismiss someone you don't like rather than give them credit for what they can do. I'm sure telling you that he's the sixth-leading rushing QB in the nation this year and that only three QBs with more rushing attempts than he has have a better yards per carry average won't change your mind but maybe someone else will appreciate it. Perhaps you should have read my entire post, brah.

I was honestly not much of a fan of Martinez his first couple of years, more sizzle than steak, ya know. And I never considered him a good runner, except for his straight-line speed. He never used to be able to escape the pocket, make more than one cut, or break tackles. If it wasn't a designed run with a lane in front of him, he was going down easily. But this season is different. I think his running this season is like night and day compared to his first couple years. I've been more impressed with his improvements in running ability than his passing improvements (which I also really, really like). He is actually picking up chunks of yardage on a scramble, getting away from pressure, putting on the moves. He is taking big hits, and delivering a few of his own, and breaking some pretty good tackles. I'm not ready to put him up there with the all-time Husker greats yet, but I've turned into a big fan of Martinez. It's been really cool to see his development into a tough, poised leader on the field along with his improved skills.

You make a lot of good points, and I am certainly no expert on all things Notre Dame, but I would think that they have plenty of pull on the west coast, as strong as a nationwide brand as they are. Notre Dame has traditional rivalries with USC and Stanford and plays in California every year. When they got their deal with the ACC, they had to consider some of their long-standing rivalries, and they chose to keep USC and Stanford while dropping Michigan. And I think it would be short-sighted for the Rose Bowl committee to be looking at having Notre Dame available for the taking and choosing a low-ranked PAC-12 team just because they were stuck with TCU a couple years ago, and the ratings were lackluster. If it is about prestige and money, and everything is these days, Notre Dame would be a no-brainer. In terms of ratings, perception, and fans, Notre Dame is not TCU. The Rose Bowl took hits in relevance over the years due to their stubborn loyalty to the PAC and Big 10 when the Bowl Coalition and BCS came about. Traditions and loyalty are important, but if the Rose Bowl wants to be the Grand-Daddy of Them All, how many opportunities will they ever get to have Notre Dame in their game? If ND is available, they would be stunningly stupid not to take them. The Rose Bowl has made foolish decisions before, though.

I can't remember another season as entertaining as this one. I mean, the reason why we watch and love sports is because of drama and competition. Of course I miss the dominant days of yore, and blowing out all of our opponents was fun, and those times are what built the tradition and pride in the program that most Nebraska fans and alums have now. But these games, as sloppy and imperfect as they often are, cannot be matched for excitement and the thrills that are provided on a weekly basis. The 90s were great times, and there was a lot of value and satisfaction in stomping another team and letting the local walk-ons get some playing time. It would be nice to get back to that level. But in those days, we were rarely glued to the TV )or the bleachers) for all 4 quarters waiting for the final moments for either the thrill of victory or agony of defeat (and when it did get that far, it usually didn't end well, except for that glorious night in Miami). This season, we have that anticipation and drama, and it has actually been ending in our favor most weeks. I think this season is awesome.

Michael Bay is not the face of Transformers. I mean, I wouldn't want my kid to watch those movies.

There are many coaches who are volatile hotheads and/or insufferable douchebags who manage to pull in the best recruiting classes in the country.

I liked Bo's response, too. Bo's reputation as a hothead was well-earned in his first couple of years, and the cameras love to pan over to him even if something went slightly against Nebraska, in hopes that he has another meltdown like at TAMU 2010. That's just good TV. And the perpetual look on his face makes it appear to many as if he might blow up again at any time. However, he has improved considerably in the last couple of years and probably isn't any worse than lots of other coaches, except for his facial expressions - but that's just who he is, he ain't no babyfaced model. The only times Bo's demeanor have really caused problems is when it has led to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and when he is surly at a press conference (that doesn't really hurt the team, it just feeds into how he is perceived). His reputation, due in large part to one single game where the refs clearly raped us in the ass, will probably follow him around forever. The caller was right to be worried about the penalties, but otherwise was just trolling, and Bo appropriately put the douche in his place without turning into a ball of rage that the caller was probably hoping for.

Um...I don't think this is unique to Carter Lake. I like Carlfense's post, to see if the prosecuter will cut you a deal. Otherwise, any attempts to weasel out of this might seem kind of, um, weasel-ish. You admittedly broke the law and got caught. Sometimes in life you just gotta take a bite out of a sh!t sandwich and move on.

Might be fun to speculate... How about this: 2008: NU hires Grobe. Pelini stays at LSU. LSU goes 8-5 (as in reality), but this time the administration does not resist the fans' unrest, knowing Pelini is ready for a HC job. They show Les Miles the door and promote Pelini. Miles ends up replacing Fulmer at Tennesse, making some LSU fans nervous that he stayed in the SEC. Miles was also in consideration for Auburn, Boston College, and Purdue. He wishes he would have taken the Michigan job the year before. Lane Kiffin, fired from the Raiders, never gets a HC job, and the douche is never heard from again, other than being a whiny assistant somewhere. Grobe goes 5-7 with NU, but after being jaded by the Callahan years, there is not a great uproar yet. 2009: Pelini goes 9-4 at LSU. Grobe goes 5-7 again at NU. Osborne, having just hired and invested in a guy he respects, does not want to fire Grobe, but it is clearly not working out. Meanwhile, Turner Gill had been courted by Auburn the year before and was now fielding potential offers from other schools, including Kansas. Osborne decided to pull the trigger, firing Grobe and hiring his good friend Gill. 2010: Gill goes 9-4 in his first year, without having to flip an entire culture as he would have at Kansas, with Zac Lee having a good senior season. He loses to Texas, Okie St, Mizzou, and TAMU but gets a victory over Iowa in the Insight Bowl. Pelini goes 9-4 again with LSU. By virtue of OSU and MU winning over NU in this reality, those two meet in the Big XII Championship game. Ratings suck. Oklahoma's self esteem is even lower, and the Big XII's angst is at an all-time high with NU and CU already on the way out. With OU hurt, and OSU emboldened, they begin an uprising in the conference and finally stand up to Texas. Texas decides to go independent, TAMU goes to the SEC, Mizzou stays, and the Big XII adds TCU, BYU, and Boise, to begin in 2012. 2011: NU and LSU are both 9-4 again. With LSU not in the National Championship picture, Oklahoma State faces Bama in the NC game (losing, of course). Without the added controversy of the rematch we saw in reality, there is no impetus from the BCS Presidents to entertain any idea of a playoff. The regular BCS format is extended through the year 3000. Having been emboldened by the football coaching change, Osborne decides to pull the trigger on Doc Sadler as well and hires a top-notch replacement. NU basketball begins to rebuild a year ahead of schedule. 2012: Urban Meyer's return to coaching falls flat, PSU goes into a decline from which it will never recover, and Turner Gill's NU team goes 13-1, losing only in an upset to Michigan State the week after a hard fought comeback win versus Michigan (in a game in which Denard Robinson is hurt, eerily similar to the 2011 Ohio State game). NU is Big Ten champs and beats Oregon in the Rose Bowl. Pelini goes 8-5 with LSU, and their fans start to grumble. The National Championship game features West Virginia, having gone undefeated in a crappy Big East that they never left, losing to Oklahoma. After the season, Oregon, Alabama, Auburn, and Ohio State are rocked by major recruiting scandals. Ohio State, already on probation, gets the death penalty. Oregon's entire staff is fired in the fallout. Scott Frost returns home to take an assistant job under Turner Gill. With Bama and Auburn now crippled, LSU fans don't feel so bad about Pelini, and he gets an extension. 2013: Nebraska dominates the Big Ten and beats independent Texas for the National Championship. Taylor Martinez wins the Heisman. LSU wins the SEC, but the damaged conference does not produce another NC contender. Nebraska Basketball also wins the Big Ten. Osborne retires for good. 2014: Due to the pervasive corruption in all of college football, except Nebraska of course, and the worsening information about concussions in the sport, the NCAA and majority of schools abruptly cancel all football-related activities at the college level, pending further research and regulations. Nebraska is forever regarded is the last, and best, champion in the annals of college football history.