Lincoln_Crossroads

4 hours ago, Husker66 said:

I have often wondered how many people there are out there like me.

 

I never missed listening , watching or attending a game from early 70's( I was born in 1966 in Lincoln) until about 5 years ago. I used to go to bowls, travel to games, buy junk, etc. then it became more sporadic in the last 5 years. Now? I didn't even know when the game started today and when I came in at half and saw the score, it barely registered. I left in the 4th to mow when we were down by 3 cause I literally didn't care, I had other stuff that needed to be done. When I came in I saw the final,  I just didn't care.  This has to be bad for business and spell  some kind of end for the program as we have known it at least in my lifetime. that football program supports everything up there.

 

I used to be a core customer, entertaining clients in Lincoln, buying stuff etc. there has to be a gazillion guys and gals like me with marketing budgets or just more discretionary money as we get older who have lost interest. that has to be 10s of millions of dollars to the economy and university..I know the full payout kicks in this year and its big, but it could be way bigger. Replacing this coaching staff and AD has to pale  in comparison to the lost revenue this university is facing? We paid over $2M for 2 mid major teams to come to Lincoln and as far as I'm concerned,  2 losses. We are playing at a mid level mid Major level now. this is V 4.0 of the "rebuild" and it s a failure.  And don't tell me its hard to recruit to Lincoln ..it hasn't impacted OU, K state and clearly not places like Penn state and Michigan.

 

And before you come after me as a fair weather fan, at least for me, at some point  you start asking yourself if there are other things you should be doing....there is just so much time and money...and in some ways I'm not convinced the university is working as hard for the fan as the fan is working to be at the game.

 

 

 

Read your post, saw you were a fellow Leawoodite and decided to post after two years of just reading message boards.  I remember losing games and having terrible attitudes during those following weeks.  I know that was not right and that I shouldnt let a game of football played by student athletes ruin my attitudes towards my family, friends and coworkers.  I did pull out of that phase realize there was more to life than football.  Part of it was I knew there wasn't hope.  Over the course of the past 10 years, there have been good games , meh games, and terrible games.  There were games that made me cringe , games that got me heated, and games that caused tears of joy.  Tonight's game against NIU was probably the first game where the hope seemed to dissipate.  I just don't care to invest my heart, time and money into a team that can't win.  It's just been so long since that feeling has occurred.  Nebraska football has slowly become the noise I listen to while mowing the lawn, rather than an activity to spend time for.

I have to say I did not like Pelini, and that when Riley was hired, I was excited even though I honestly had no idea who Riley was.  But after seeing him come to town and transition in the past few years I thought he was making progress.  It was just taking a while to get the right pieces from both a player and coaching standpoint.  As a Husker I still have to support him and give him the benefit of the doubt through the rest of the season, but looking at his career as a whole, his only consistency has been inconcistency.  I like Riley as a guy, but her sure isn't like any championship coach out there.

Successful coaches do take all shapes and attitudes, from Belicek, to Carroll, Osborne, Chip Kelly, Tressel, Dabo, Meyer, Saban.  One thing these coaches all seem to have that I haven't seen yet with Riley are their personal methods to light fires underneath their players.  Riley has not shown he can do this yet.  I do feel this is a unique trait that good leaders/head coaches possess.  Until I see different, I don't see our results changing. 

 

I wanted to reach out to the board see if you guys had any ideas or suggestions on how to get single game tailgate sports within 20 minutes of the stadium. South of O street is alright. I'm not a huge tailgater, but in spirit of the start of a new era for the Huskers, I thought it might be nice to get together a group 15 or so friends and family to grill up some brats and burgers throw back a few brewskies. What are the going rules for open container in private lots? I definitely don't need the hottest lot in Lincoln, but just something close enough we can walk to and from the game. Can you guys recommend any lots? What is the premium for a single non conference game spot? TIA

We are in lot 21 north east corner of haymarket softball.. It is a donor lot but after a certain time they sell spaces for $25.00 a vehicle.

 

Can you speak into the crowd that typically fills this lot? Is it an alumni crowd? I'll be attending with my wife, kid, parents, in-laws etc. I've been working overseas for the past two years watching games via slingbox, and can't wait to return to Lincoln to feel the atmosphere. What the story with beer? Is a group of adults drinking from koozys or solo cups enough to warrant a visit from a hyper vigilant cop or does the LPD typically, let the non-rowdy crowd enjoy their game day festivities? What is the access to porta-potties? How early do you have to arrive for an afternoon or evening game to get a parking spot or two? TIA

Parking across the bridge to the North of the stadium runs $5-$20 per car. You can find people selling spots in their yards. Some allow indoor bathroom access. You could probably find someone that would let you grill. As long as booze/beer is in a red solo cup, and you are not being belligerent, you are perfectly fine in private lots/yards.

 

Red cups and Koozies walking down streets is at your own risk. I've done it, but I usually get rid of it before a large intersection. The police are usually pretty sporadic and as long as you are being semi-covert, it is probably safe. I'd get rid of anything directly around the stadium or in the downtown area. Then again, I have seen many people with a koozie drinking around the stadium pre-game. There are so many people, it's easy to blend in.

 

I have also seen plenty of people carrying around cases of unopened beer or wheeling large coolers no problem, literally right outside the stadium.

Bradr, thanks for the insight. I assume you are talking about the North Bottoms neighborhood. I do remember in the past, folk selling parking spots in and around the homes for folk attending the game. My only concern would be that it would be pretty young crowd. I'm still under 30, but have a young'n and am slightly concerned with a rowdier college crowd. Believe me, I was hanging out in that neighborhood when I went UNL, years back. My only other concern is that the north bottoms is typically the exact opposite of where I myself, along with friends and family would typically park for free on game days. We typically park south of the Haymarket.

Do you have any other suggestions on tailgate spot. I definitely keep the North Bottoms in the back pocket, but would prefer something a little closer to the Haymarket. Do you have any experience tailgating at Haymarket park or any of the private lots downtown?

I wanted to reach out to the board see if you guys had any ideas or suggestions on how to get single game tailgate sports within 20 minutes of the stadium. South of O street is alright. I'm not a huge tailgater, but in spirit of the start of a new era for the Huskers, I thought it might be nice to get together a group 15 or so friends and family to grill up some brats and burgers throw back a few brewskies. What are the going rules for open container in private lots? I definitely don't need the hottest lot in Lincoln, but just something close enough we can walk to and from the game. Can you guys recommend any lots? What is the premium for a single non conference game spot? TIA

Watched the spring game a couple times now and it seemed that ZD was the only QB progressing through his reads. He obviously had a few throws where he did throw to the first receiver, however it looked as if ZD could read the defense well enough to tell where the open receivers would be. TA and Bush appeared to have set their targets without reading the defense, requiring them to throw into traffic or go for deep shots down the field. ZD did have three passes dropped, but two should have easily been caught.

IMO, ZD appears to understand the game in a manner that hasn't been seen by Nebraska quarterbacks in a while. Based upon the spring game, ZD appeared to show the most poise, patience, and command of the offense. I hope he stays healthy and continues to improve and impress the coaches.

 

Should we lose a close title game but still maintain an 11-3 or 12-2 record. Thats the corner weve gotta turn.

The corner is a championship. Your scenario should be a minimum

 

I think a victory in a nationally relevant game. Option 1a: Conference Championship , Option 1b: BCS Bowl Win Over Legitimate SEC/Clemson/Oregon would suffice in my book. Nebraska needs something to get the ball rolling, fans united and looking forward to next year with momentum.

Should we lose a close title game but still maintain an 11-3 or 12-2 record. Thats the corner weve gotta turn.

Okay . . . . .12-2 would indicate we'd probably win a BCS Bowl. 11-3. . . . . depending on scores, but at a certain point, trying your best isn't good enough. You just got to take home the prom queen!

 

Wow, what a difference a few years make. I'm unreasonable for expecting players to avoid things that are bad for their body and performance? Well f#*k me. Maybe, just maybe, this attitude that some others are proposing is why our football team has sucked ass for over ten years. I know all about the antics of those mid 90's teams but at least they brought their A game to practice and on Saturdays. Call me crazy but if my team is struggling with Wyoming, Minnesota, and Iowa, I'm sure as hell going to make sure it isn't their off field behavior that is the problem. When these guys start kicking ass and taking names, then I won't care how much they drink or toke. If that's unreasonable, too f'ing bad.

Lol.

 

So that's where this is coming from. You're one of those guys. Winning 9-10 games is "sucking ass".

 

Winning 9-10 games isn't "s#cking ass", but at the same time the past 10 years has not been on par with Nebraska's tradition nor legacy. Nebraska should be consistently competitive for conference championships. Nebraska was competitive in 2009 and 2010. Nebraska should be consistently ranked in the top 15, with a few top 10's and top 5's even sprinkled in. That's how it was with Osborne. Nebraska was competing for national championships, not division championships. I won't settle for 9-10 wins, we should be competing to win 11-12 games a season, because if we don't, we might as well call ourselves Missouri or Iowa. Now, some of you may say, winning 11-12 games consistently is unreasonable. Fine, if the Huskers win 12, 11, 10, 9, 12, 11, 10 games a year, we'd be going somewhere, but we have not. We're stuck at 10 wins.

Nebraskas goal should be winning the conference, worst case finishing third overall in the conference and just missing title game with a potential big bowl game.

 

We need to visibly see the progress. On the field, off the field, and on the record. If were gonna convince anybody this thing is turning around, it has to be obvious.

If that is the case, is losing in the BIG Conference Championship proof enough that Nebraska is turning it around? What if we lose by a field goal, touchdown, 21 points? All we do know is that Nebraska has consistently lost 4 games. The CCG against Texas was a heartbreak. I attended the NU-OU Championship game . . . . . . .and we've only fallen further behind in the BIG. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results, but at the same time, NU has not shown any changes this season that would differentiate it from any of the past few seasons. I'm excited about the the upcoming season, I truly am! I wish that we can finally win a conference championship and shut Iowa and Ohio State fans up, but I've felt this every football season to no avail. It always ends in ridiculous losses, blowouts, and excuses. I'll always cheer on our Huskers, but anything more than a 3 or 4 loss season will be above expectations.

:spooners

 

Our defense will be salty this year and the offense alone would be able to win half of our games. We shouldn't have more than 3 regular season losses.

That's what I think too. I just hope we don't lose a game that we shouldn't. Be consistent.

 

Me too. That's what I though last year, the year before, and the year before that, and the year before. . . . . .

I think comparing Bo's records to Osborne's and Devaney's is similar to comparing a the Iphone 5S to whatever computers existed in Osborne's and Devaney's era. Really no use in comparing them. The speed at which culture including football culture moves along at a complete different pace then in the past. Recruiting matter so much more today. I'm not going to go back and check (anybody please correct me), but I'm pretty sure that Nebraska won every game that they should have won and won fair share of games that they shouldn't have won. Bo has only really beaten the soft competition year in and year out and has been abysmal in games that have really mattered. In todays current scheduling with 4 non conf plus 8 conference games, a slightly above average team should win 3/4 nonconf (cupcakes) and 5/8 conference games. This is what I would have expected out of Illinois or Northwestern. You'd think any averagecoach would be able to walk Nebraska to a 8-5 season with the "prestige" and "tradition" the team has going for it. Bo has only added 1-2 wins additionally per season. Furthermore, during his losses, opposing teams would embarrass Nebraska nationally, such as has been seen since Bo has begun to play with his recruits. Nebraska has regressed to the point they've become nationally irrelevent, not to mention irrelevent in their own conferences. Ultimately, I'd like to wear my Nebraska hat where ever I go people know what Nebraska football is and not what it was.

What I would have expected from a Nebraska coach is a conference championship approximately every 3 or 4 years, with either close losses or 50% W/L in BCS Bowl Games. Meaning, Bo should have had a conference champion from the Big 12 and the Big 10 with a one BCS bowl win in 6 years. I expect Bo to recruit all year, get experienced assistants and have a top 15 recruiting class especially because Nebraska needs it to make up for the geography.

What does matter, just as in most other facets is staying ahead of the competition. Devaney and Osborne figured it out in their time, Bo has not done it in this era. Teams such as Oregon and Alabama have figured out a system that other schools are only trying to replicate. In Chris Petersen, in his own BCS buster kind of way has also figured out a little piece of that puzzle. You have coach innovatively and set the trend, not sit back and stay stubborn. You cannot just play "execution" and provide excuses.

He's talking about literally "Lane Kiffin"-ing Bo. Sending him on a plane to LAX, and then stranding him at the airport while the rest of the team busses home. I guess a closer airport would suffice, but you get the idea

Agreed.

If anything of the sort is done to our current staff I will lose all respect for our current athetic director.

Can you please clarify? Are talking about during mid season or the end of the season? If you don't think that Papuchis is simply filling a roster spot and holding a clip board, collecting a free pay check after the decline the past season and a half, I'm not quite sure what to say.

What does everyone think of Joe Moglia? Used to be on our staff in '10. Went to HC @ coastal Carolina and won a conference championship his first year and his team is Undefeated so far this seasob

Here's my comment with Joe, would any other perennial top 40 program in the FBS hire him? Not saying that Joe couldn't do, but he hasn't proven himself in my book. I also refuse to evaluate a coach on a single season complete season.

I am by no means endorsing the following, but wouldn't it be something if Joe brought together an all start team with Scott Frost + other proven coordinators and it actually worked out. Even less of chance than Nebraska getting Chris Petersen, but ya . . . . . .

it's not okay to hire "inexperienced" coordinators but it is okay to hire a new head coach with no head coaching experience? the logic exuded by some astounds me.

(edit) I agree, I would definitely not go after a candidate w/o HC experience. Again, this is Nebraska and Nebraska should not be the training grounds for any position.

Bo had his chances to bring in coordinators. We're past that stage. He blew it.

 

Really depends on how you look at it as I believe it has been mentioned before that Zook and Stoops were both offered the Co-DC job and chose other opportunities; Zook, to expand upon the business he does in South Florida, Stoops to coach with his brother.

 

The popular candidate to be the HC at NU was also offered a Co-OC position with Tim Beck and his offer was pulled.

 

If that is "blowing it" fine. But the thing people like to believe on this board was the Tim Beck and JP were Bo's only choices. Which is just flat out not the case.

Assuming what you've said his is true (a huge assumption without any kind of source), then yes he blew it.

 

da skers has also confirmed this.

 

So, we have more than just me saying this. Won't be enough for some, however on the off-chance that da Skers and I are correct, what do you do differently if you are Bo? Really doesn't appear that the money was an issue here it was those two not wanting to be here.

I'll be the first to admit I don't know the sequence in which coaches hire/fire coordinators. Bo's first issue was hiring what amounted to a graduate assistant who appears to have suckled along Bo's coordinator moves. What head coach in their right mind hires a coordinator that has no previous experience being a DC to be the DC of Nebraska and represent the blackshirts? I wish that was a rhetorical question, however I'd have to answer this question by saying a HC that doesn't trust his coordinators and would rather control the defense through a DC. Bo put himself in a position in where outside DC's perceive Nebraska DC position as a joke. Bo should have fired Papuchis a few seasons, and had serious talk with competent available DC's and told them that the defense was theirs. Anyone worth their salt can see, Bo has been playing Papuchis like puppet the past two seasons. And honestly, I think Papuchis appears to be a nice guy, and potentially a great coach. Unfortunately he will not get the opportunity here in Nebraska because of Bo.

With the current state of the 2014 recruiting class.....why not.

 

Explain and elaborate as to what is wrong. If you can't say anything other than "hes only a three star kid," please save yourself the time.

Bo hasn't recruited or developed a single team of his own. I'm sure this topic has been beat into the ground, but all of Bo's success at Nebraska has been without his recruits. When did Nebraska last have a defense? It was with hagg, gomes, and denard. Nebraska's defense has been a shell ever since with no consistency. Nebraska's offense has been similarly inconsistent overall. I will concede nebraska running backs have been excellent over the course of Bo's tenure but the o-line receivers, quarterbacks, tightends have only been unreliable in most situations. Furthermore, Bo has not developed a team of his own. Bo has proven that he either can't recruit the correct players or develop them. This has been the results that been seen the past few years. If anything, Bo should have been working harder and recruiting harder, but the 2014 recruiting class appears to be going the wrong direction.

Ultimately, Bo honestly believes he's doing everything correct and nothing wrong. We're tired of excuses about execution. Bo's job is to coach his players to execute. Yes, all teams have execution issues, but never do any of the great teams of the current era have this issue week in and week out as Bo as alluded most post game interviews.

Tradition is important, and does separate Nebraska from other programs. However, just as all thing are becoming more and more polarized in the world today, Nebraska won't be able to hang its hat on tradition much longer. The time and era of the original season ticket holders is slowly ending. If Nebraska can't give 2nd, 3rd + generation ticket holders a reason to buy tickets, tradition will soon turn to past history. Well thats my rant.