beorach

If we're going to be angry with anyone, it should be with ourselves. We knew about that storm for days and didn't move the time up. I never understood why Akron would be a night game besides. Save that for bigger names.

Did we have a Tom Osborne Day? I wonder if Coach would rather have a restraining order after that move from Dollar Store Lex Luthor...

C'mon, all-reds!

That's taking a lot away from the coaching staff when you phrase it like that.

Trap to Rathman

Having a friend over and will do the two set thing because I want to see ND-Meatchicken as well. I sort of spaced that it was happening because there was such a big deal made of the series ending not so long ago... I seem to recall Terry Bowden had been coaching Akron even as recently as last season? They liked to run the ball under him and that's about as much as I recall. The rest of our "non-con" is much more interesting this season, to be fair.

I gamble based on the statistical nature of matchups so I'll bet for or against the Corn like any other team. I just hope NU becomes a more attractive favorite than they have been for too many seasons. I'm generally not going to bet on a favorite with a sorry turnover margin, for example.

If there was a "Best OT," I don't see how that could have also fit the "Most disappointing" criterion?

I'm just going to talk about the ones I've seen in person. Most fun was probably that game against KSU when the dude's helmet came off on the kick return... That was pretty satisfying, too. The loudest was probably the one against Texas late in the Callahan era. Nunn fumbled a pass that cost us a chance at a winning FG, I believe, in that one. The most disappointing game was against Mizzou. We had the Westboro folks in attendance so that was fun explaining to my young child at the time...and then things were pretty much over by halftime. All we had to hope for was that we'd knock Gabbert around when he came in to relieve Chase Daniels. The only OT game I've been to was against Notre Dame in their stadium. What I remember about that one was how "low-class" Davie was to blame his QB afterward for not going for the win at the end of regulation.

BLUF: Don't worry. They'll **** up the 8-team just like they have the 4-team playoff. It's not like the playoff is the only problematic element of college football anyway. Look at how few meaningful games there are between good teams during the regular season and yet we all act as if we know which teams and conferences are the best. Wall of text: Seed the teams per rankings that matter and have home games if you want the regular season to have meaning. There's not enough interconference play to make a call about which conference champion is bad or great. Any playoff is going to have teams left out. Remember how you wanted the regular season to matter? We've always had meaningless games both during and after the regular season. Not every champion is going to be undefeated and the playoff is just trying to allow teams to establish themselves as the best on the field. Rankings are based on human perception of limited data as it is. More teams in the playoff means the best teams are playing more so there's more data. It would be nice to have that data from the current season but, again, see BLUF. I don't think any conference should have more than one team in a playoff and not having the two SEC teams play early in the last one was a mistake in my reckoning. Would you rather have regular season and "postseason" champs? This seems to be a matter of a playoff versus just having a vote almost and not a question of 4 or 8 teams in a playoff. As I've shared many times, I think home games would be great for at least part of the "postseason."

I love that story!

Yeah, that winter thing is a crock. France is a (colonial) power. They were the favorites to win the last Euro and it took the Germans to put them out in the previous World Cup. I'm glad the game wasn't a 1-0 yesterday but it still stunk to have the first two goals come off of the head referee's decisions (the first of which was clearly the wrong one - even the announcers noted that Griezmann was on the ground before any contact was made). Croatia played the better football and France was fortunate before earning some goals from the run of play on the counter...

I wasn't a fan of the Croatian squad before the final but I was pulling for them yesterday and will Sunday. I think the English got more calls in their game and their one goal came from one of them. The checkers had to earn their goals from the run of play. That first goal was pretty sick. The dude's left leg was up about as high as the defender's shoulder and he used the outside of it - not sure how he could have added anything to that ball's momentum and still beat a damn good keeper in Pickford.

It's super frustrating for casuals and other folks. France was doing some flopping and getting the calls pretty consistently. I thought Eden Hazard was fouled late in that game but no kick was given. It's like Nebraska playing basketball against Duke or something. You have to be one of the blue bloods to get the calls. I've shared above, I think, that the Danes played good soccer this World Cup but weren't getting any calls despite not flopping. I wish they'd have used the VAR to punish the divers instead of just checking on whether penalty kicks should be given or whatever...

The Belgians' luck ran out. Anyone who saw that headed cross that went in for their first goal against Japan knows what I'm talking about. I think Croatia has the goods to beat England but I always wonder how healthy teams are. It's not like this is the Stanley Cup finals but it matters. I think Uruguay could've taken France down with Cavani, for example. If England win today, I guess I have to root for the French (though I'm always going to be a fan of Pickford's regardless - I want him to do well and just have his team lose so I guess I'd hope for an own goal or something). Think of stoppage time as the portion of the 90 minutes we all spent watching people roll around. I love that we don't have to worry about commercials breaking up play in soccer. p.s. - I find it incongruous that the author of this cartoon is a fan of Le Coq: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1999235813723139&set=a.1386099735036753.1073741827.100009102194551&type=3&theater

I hate Beilgium for Everton, always choking despite having a wealth of talent, and now Japan but still hate the French more for being a team of divers. Anyone who watched the first half of their game against Peru should understand. I can deal with a team having one or two prolific diving attackers but when your defenders are getting into it like Umtiti was in that game... Out of all the games I've watched this WC, the team I've wanted to win has come up with a whopping two wins. They weren't all underdogs, though. I wanted some of these aging stars in the mix late but it wasn't to be.

ND did play Mia-OH last season and it was pretty sad. They generally do better than most, though, and it's not like they didn't earn their independence (which seems appropriate to point out this week somehow what with the Irish having a lot to do with this nation in the late 18th century). On April 2, 1784, Luke Gardiner, afterward Lord Mountjoy, told the English Parliament, “America was lost by Irish emigrants … I am assured from the best authority, the major part of the American Army was composed of Irish and that the Irish language was as commonly spoken in the American ranks as English, I am also informed it was their valor that determined the contest …“

I always thought he was annoying as "the panda tangent" on Rivals. I don't mind his articles in general, though. He seems to know something about football, at least, unlike Sipple.

I have to abstain from voting due to ignorance but wanted to share my appreciation for the thread with more than a plus. I like reading about these guys I didn't see. Thanks for sharing! p.s. - I think I do remember Jeff Quinn playing basketball at Millard South in some kind of exhibition game. Maybe they played the Indians or some teachers? I remember my dad telling me he thought JQ might be able to dunk anyway.

I mainly play WoW still because it's cooperative and the only mature gamer friend I have will only play it. I got access to the beta for the next xpac but haven't finished leveling. I think Legion was really good but, as always, balance between classes is non-existent. It's funny how I mostly am just trying to get new legendary items now a la Diablo 3 (which doesn't really encourage cooperative play in my experience). Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, Nier: Automata, Horizon Zero Dawn, and FFXII: The Zodiac Age are all titles I halfway intend to play but my PS4 mainly gets used when I have to work out inside on the elliptical/exercise bike.

I don't play my PS4 much of late either but I'll add some. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen was cheap at this point and seems fun. It's sort of like Monster Hunter. Nier: Automata gets a lot of great pub but I haven't devoted a lot of time to it and the save system seems odd. It's another action RPG. I like the Event Horizon one you mentioned but I haven't gotten terribly far into that either. As for shooters, I think the Plants versus Zombies series is one that does a lot right. So many games don't allow for a lot of cooperation and multiple roles, I mean. Overwatch, Rainbow Six, Battlefield, and Call of Duty just get most the attention. I sometimes want to get back into Borderlands games but not enough to actually do it. My boys always get me to try something and then aren't playing it by the time I level up. Destiny 2 was the last time that happened. I suppose the issue there is not enough content so they'll probably play again once an expansion comes out. I don't really like how the PVP works out considering I'm not playing the titan class this time around.

I'm not one who would argue Frank didn't have to go but to say that the assistants in question had no culpability isn't fair either. I don't think we really have a difference of opinion, I mean.

To anyone who's confused about why Solich was fired, I don't think you have to look beyond recruiting. I'm not going to say it was bad under him. What I'm getting at is that the perception was he wasn't long for the job. I'm sure people have already covered how Frank had some folks on his staff who were practically retired in place, too. That's still partly on him. My favorite Solich memory, that I've shared here before, was of a billboard I saw in Omaha around the time he took over from TO. It was a picture of Frank with a caption along the lines of: "Shirt size: M Expectations: XL"

I guess we're done voting but I'd have gone with Bo's first loss to UCLA because I remember thinking we had a coach entering his 5th year at the time going up against that Mora in his first season and they were clearly more disciplined, organized, etc. That was the writing on the wall game for me, in other words, as far as Bo was concerned. As far as the worst loss in terms of embarassment, though, I just think there were too many for one to really stand out. Iowa State probably makes the most sense. Part of me thinks the win against McNeese State was really a loss. If not for Ameer's heroics, we're as big a joke as Michigan. How many batteries does it take to beat scUM? I suppose that maybe that didn't work by then if we were going with FCS instead of AA but you get the point...

I remember Jamelle Holieway better but there's no question you have a point.