HuskersNC949597

Glad my 1-3 expectation was avoided. Of course Nebraska has still lost something like 45 of their last 60 conference games, which is totally unacceptable and gets just about any coach anywhere else fired. . .

I've noticed maybe 2 games televised on FSN this year. The Big 12 tv deal across all sports sucks.

Did you ever stop and wonder why, say, Zach Herr would want to sign a contract despite being a really late pick? Answer: to flee Anderson's iron fist. It's not enough to just say the draft destroyed us, how about looking at why everybody wanted to leave? Why is it that David Stewart and Jed Hanson transferred despite showing great potential in the few opportunities that Anderson gave them? Oh I suppose after yesterday's wild pitch-fest, I'm dreaming if I think having another catcher around might have helped. And of course we won't need a new right fielder in 2011, so Stewart's no great loss, right? What happens when Mariot, Yost, Ryan Hughes and a number of other players sign contracts this year? Do we reboot the draft excuse? This isn't football where freshmen and sophomores have to hit the weight room and gain 50 pounds. Many teams are playing with just as much, or more, younger players, and that's just in the top 25. Nebraska had as much senior experience in Bailey, Belfonte, Farst and Bubak to go with pretty good juniors on the pitching staff. I imagine we're looking at moderate improvement next season at best, and the best we can do is claim that we're a northern school and thus can't compete

See I don't think conference affiliation will matter that much, provided that other conferences merge into the superconferences as rumored (who knows.) So long as Nebraska schedules a good non-conference slate, they should be able to dominate the Big 10 and they'll be right there in the postseason anyway. Using the conference as an excuse to keep a lousy head coach or not pursue a better one is unnecessarily defeatist, IMO. NU still has a lot of things going for it (great facilities/stadium, fan support so long as you're not blowing smoke and/or excuses about the draft up our butt). And really, the Big 10 has much better media exposure via the Big 10 network. Good luck finding a Big 12 baseball game outside of NET's (usually tape delayed) broadcasts on CBS College Sports.

It's a long shot, but Brian O'Connor needs to at least be looked at. Yes, he is the current head coach of the #1 ranked team in college baseball, but he was raised in the Omaha area, pitched for Creighton, and apparently is in love with our program. I have no idea if he would actually accept the job here, but I've heard from some people that he would probably at least listen closely.

I hope so, it seems like after losing Van Horn and Childress to that type of situation, the powers that be owe us a coach who wants to come back to his homestate.

Uh oh guys, it's our fault

Where was the swirling negativism in 2004 that flushed that season down the toilet? Where was the vitriol at the end of '06 and '08, when the team collapsed when it counted most after highly successful regular season runs? I was very optimistic at the start of '09, this year I thought the team would make a regional. Most people I knew felt roughly the same. This is getting stupider by the day.

I suggest that after Anderson falters again next year we look at Will Bolt as out next head coach! I know he is young but he apparently has what it takes!

The guy took over a pretty successful program at Texarkana, and :gasp: has managed to maintain that success, and before anybody says Anderson did for a while as well, Bolt hired his own staff from the get-go and did not have a crutch like Rob Childress to carry him through his first (and so far only) 3 seasons. I'd take Will Bolt in a heartbeat.

http://www.texarkanacollege.edu/athletics/baseball/coaches.php

You don't need to be a seer to notice Mike Anderson is a bad head coach. Now that all pressure is off and they are mathematically eliminated from the Big 12 tournament, I think the team finishes with a 1-3 record to build some momentum going into next year

Seriously though, next season is going to be depressing, unless he gets canned in the middle.

I'm only buying it this year if Suh is on the cover anyway (unless they stick him on Wii or something).

Ive heard it several times from players. Most of them dont like playing for Anderson. He is not well respected in his own dugout. You think this would come through in recruting, but I think its hard for many players offered by NU to pass it up based on the past success, however, I think that may begin to fade if nothing is done.

You've heard it from players themselves? Not asking you to name names, just want to make sure this is a 1st person account, because I think not everybody believes it yet, and applaud TO for being so inscrutably wise in his decision making in this situation

 

I have heard it from 2 players. They also said there are quite a few players that feel the same. To put it blunt, they said hes a complete jackass. Maybe thats just them being sensitive, but maybe thats how it is. But overall, something isnt right.

Cool, thanks for sharing. People have been saying this for years, so at some point it eliminates the probability of merely oversensitive players and it becomes a severe cause for concern regarding the personality of Mike Anderson. And yet it seems most Nebraska fans only care about football and just go with what the read in the LJS, MOD EDIT - Language and making excuses for him.

It's OK to be upset about what's going on, but let's keep it clean.

Ive heard it several times from players. Most of them dont like playing for Anderson. He is not well respected in his own dugout. You think this would come through in recruting, but I think its hard for many players offered by NU to pass it up based on the past success, however, I think that may begin to fade if nothing is done.

You've heard it from players themselves? Not asking you to name names, just want to make sure this is a 1st person account, because I think not everybody believes it yet, and applaud TO for being so inscrutably wise in his decision making in this situation

Tom Osborne speaks out in support of Anderson:

 

Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne said Monday he looks forward to seeing Mike Andersons young Nebraska baseball team maturing and enjoying brighter days ahead.

 

And yes, Osborne said, Anderson will be coaching the Huskers next season.

 

Osborne told the Journal Star that the teams young roster, and recent strong recruiting, are reasons for optimism. Whats more, Osborne said, Andersons resume over his eight seasons as NUs head coach should be taken into account by the coachs critics.

 

LINK

 

I've waffled on Anderson's fate over the last two years. The recruits being poached by MLB had me thinking he needed more time when people started calling for his head last year (or two years ago?), but this year has been really hard to stomach. This team is dead in the water, and young as they are, you would have to think there would be a way to get something out of them other than lackluster play and blowout losses.

 

Another problem I have is that so many of us (me included) have been saying that Doc Sadler needs new facilities to make his program take off. I think this is fair for Doc, but Mike has those facilities. Haymarket Park is one of the best parks in the Big 12, and has to be way up near the top echelon nationally. If it's not the facilities, what's the problem?

Where are the players, past and present, speaking in Anderson's defense? I don't see any. That's a red flag.

few things: 1 - nebraska baseball is terrible

2 - did anyone else see adam bailey's quote after the game? summarizing: going to the ball park everyday is hard for him to do because they suck so bad, he wishes he would have went pro. seriously, he said if he'd known it was going to be like this he never would have come back.

3 - talked to a very reliable source (i know, i know, i usually roll my eyes at other people for saying the same), take it for what it's worth, but they said the team in general loves this coaching staff except anderson. exact words used were "arrogant" and "just weird". personally, i would think if they loved the whole staff that well they could look past hating the head coach, but apparently not.

 

i hate to ask people to not support a team, but in some ways i'm sorta hoping the park is empty tomorrow, i mean empty, to really get tom's attention. i'm just afraid that if people continue to come, he will decide to give anderson another year and i do not want to watch another season of this crap.

#3: interesting. Don't know if we'll ever know for sure but it falls in line with what was said about the '05 team, which was basically held together by senior leadership and Rob Childress.

I also felt the same when I heard Bailey said that. Kind of a weird thing to say. The attendance has already dropped about 2% from last year's sharp decline. Basically, if you compare this series to comparable series past, the crowds are about half as big as they once were (and totally passive), and while I feel bad because the players deserve support, what else can you do?

The media is beginning to turn against him.

Childress feels Huskers pain

Unlike Anderson, I won't blame any of the players. He's got them playing so tight and anxious, it's a joke. If he survives this season, then my belief in a just God will be severely shaken

Unsportsmanlike Conduct can kiss my tookus. That horde of knuckle-dragging clownshoes can continue to attempt to alienate the dissenters. Apparently we're dissenters...according to the B-Team.

 

If one questions leadership, i.e., Anderson - well, I guess we're just a bunch of cynical bastards. Either way, if anyone doesn't see a trend AND a problem...then they don't watch, follow, and attend Nebraska baseball games.

I don't listen to Unsportsmanlike Conduct, so I don't know what the context of their comments were and I don't care to listen to the podcast to find out but IF they think that we're some sort of minority opinion, I don't know what they're smoking. The fact is, hardly anybody's attending Nebraska baseball games anymore, so there's exhibit A.

Iowa is in 9th place (out of 10 teams, Wisconsin doesn't believe in baseball except in that den of iniquity called "Milwaukee"), so that gives you an indication of where Mike Anderson would have NU in that conference

I agree with everything you've said. I was all for giving him a chance at the beginning of the year. Guess what, he got his chance and failed miserably. The only thing I'll say is that he does seem to recruit fairly well - there is definitely young talent on this team - but he obviously can't win games. I don't even get mad anymore, I just laugh when they blow it... IMO, when the fans start thinking that way, it's time for a change.

They've regressed. Losing a 1-run game to Rice in the first couple weeks of the season is OK, provided the team learns something from it and comes back and takes care of business in the latter part of the season against the weaker competition. So what does Nebraska do? Loses to Iowa. That's bullcrap. Mike Anderson should not be allowed to finish the season after tonight's pitiful display.

Next question: how bad do you have to be to get fired around here? Anderson/Newman can't develop a reliable bullpen, there's no excuse for it, it's not like they threw a bunch of freshmen out there tonight (2 juniors and a senior I think).

Supposedly when they renegotiated his contract after the 2008 season, Osborne lowered Anderson's buyout (I don't know the number) Yeah he'll still get paid, but it's like Osborne knew this was coming. . .

It sounds like Osbourn is going to keep him!

Osborne And I've heard otherwise, for whatever that's worth.

GAWD

it's obvious that anderson doesn't give a crap anymore - he's got to go

 

 

Yep I waited to comment all year on Anderson and he has to go.

I wanted to give the guy time after the first month. The team has gotten worse. We can not blame injuries, because the bats are all intact at this point, and I know pitching has its problems, but the offense can't even score in Sunday games when teams are usually throwing their worst pitchers. They went at least 4-5 innings tonight without a hit and/or baserunner! It's reaching the point where the only "compelling" argument I find from Anderson's last supporters is that "Nebraska will never be consistently good in baseball." Well, sure, with that kind of defeatist attitude, you get coaches like this and your prophecy becomes true.

And that ignores the issue of how Anderson treats his assistant coaches and players. Somebody posted a comment on Channel 6's website about this, but said they weren't going to share any more info than that I say why not? Hell, most of it is on display when you go to a game and see him shouting down players on the field for missing a sign.

I feel a little better now

Can't watch this Creighton game without hoping Mike Anderson gets fired shortly after it ends, even if Nebraska's hitters find a way to bring the team back. Anderson loves to talk about pitching and defense, yet (allegedly) micromanages the two coaches who are in charge of those aspects, and we see the results. Walks, HBPs, wild pitches, 7 unanswered runs. And this is exactly what happened last year. It's stupid.

This team isn't going very far. Pitching is killing them.

Scoring 1 run on a Sunday game against an average Kansas team does not speak well for the hitting. But they scored 11 on a Friday night. . .

There is no problem that can be narrowed down to any singular aspect of Nebraska's baseball team. Now that we're in mid April and approaching May, it is clear that the team has regressed and is incapable of putting it all together for any extended period of time (and by extended period of time I mean 3-4 games in a row.) Pitchers will throw a great game and keep us in it, but the batters will do nothing. The batters will put up 8 or more runs but the pitchers will give up double digits. And occasionally, neither facet will show up and the 10-run rule rears its ugly head. The team is entirely inconsistent and that goes back to the head coach who after 7 years in charge I fear will not recognize that his current methods have dragged the program from the top of the Big 12 to dead last.

I was hoping they'd do a competition i.e. last year when Matthew Stafford was throwing footballs at plates.

And you should've watched this show when it started last year, awkward doesn't do it justice. Not every night is a winner, but it has improved faster than I expected.