VectorVictor

Ah yes, the fabled negative safety. I heard about it once when I was a boy. Actually another way to score -2 is to kick a field goal threw the wrong goalposts. That is usually accurate. However, there is an obscure caveat to that rule, which states that if you have a fan in the stands with a sombrero and corncob guns you actually get -1 1/5 points. The -1/5 is deducted from the team's most influential booster, unless you can prove that it was actually Boone T. Pickens who purchased the corncob guns. Then everyone gets a fajita Runza and the game is suspended for a two hour siesta. Is the two hour siesta so everyone can cope with the explosive diarrhea they'll get from eating a Fajita Runza?

FIRE 'EM ALL! I wouldn't mind seeing us have a Memorial Stadium 'b*******' or seeing an alternate 'blackshirt' jersey or helmet for the defense. Same thing with Wisconsin, and possibly Ohio State and Indiana--wear black.

I suppose he would be, had he not caught an acute case of the death.

In case anyone happens to stumble upon a batfeces-insane politician from Texas that advocates a state's right to secession from the union, this Supreme Court case should be reference enough to shut them down: Texas v. White Cliff Notes version: The post-Civil War Texas state government said that the bonds from the Compromise of 1850 they sold to finance their part of the Civil War during their time in the Confederacy were sold illegally, and therefore the state was not obligated to honor the bonds. Supreme Court said that Texas continued to be a state from the first day of its admittance to the Union, and never ceased to be a part of the United States, despite that little 'confederacy' thing. Therefore, the state was obligated to honor the bonds accordingly.

One of the biggest problems with China's emergence is that they're on the cusp of becoming a political and cultural hegemonic power--this is what strigori alluded to in his post by saying any country we deal with starts to resemble us. Hegemonic influence and power is nothing new--this has been going on for as long as there has been trade between nations. What *is* of concern is the ability for America to remain the supreme hegemonic power in the world--as our fiscal influence dwindles internationally, our political and cultural capital will soon follow. In short, we should be striking while we still have an iron in the fire to play--Europe and Asia (read: Russia and China) have beaten us to the punch in Cuba, but there is a *lot* of money to be made on both sides--more than what Europe and Asia have pumped in so far. China is already being sought out by Cuba and (recently) Italy for fiscal and (ultimately) political guidance. If we have learned anything, it's to make sure we're friendly with the countries around us, lest we have Cuban Missile Crisis 2: Electric Boogaloo on our hands. I know this still rankles the former Cubans in South Florida, and I do feel for them...but ultimately, we're not going to be able to get them reparations from Castro's government for what they lost--records, data, the people, and events are too far gone. What we can do is expose Cuba to what they've missed out on for the past 50+ years, which could be a boon for the financial and cultural (read: Hollywood) sectors, and maybe we can normalize relations at some point so we don't have to expend any more political capital on them?

But what scares me is: What happens when Delaney steps down? Who takes over and are they going to stand up to Texas (if Texas isn't the one that took Delaney's spot)? And will Texas be able to install their own patsies, like they did with Beebe and the Big XII, or Walt Anderson and the Big XII officials? And one positive to come from this--I'm sure the Big 10 would lift their restrictive scholarship rules on college baseball if Texas comes to town. That puts Nebraska and Texas squarely in the catbird seat for owning Big 10 baseball, and the inclusion of TX would help the conference's RPI more than Nebraska's inclusion.

So with apologies to the local Seattle press, it's looking quite unanimous that Nebraska will pull this out? At least we'll know that holding will be called, what with Big 10 refs and all.

By the way, no one has posted Shakers, or our Indiana Jones' favorite place, the Night Before?

Would hold off on a 3D TV purchase--sets aren't selling well, and they're projecting excellent bargains around Christmas and the Super Bowl this coming year. And the 3DS is nice, but the 3D is a gimmick that most people can stand for more than 30 minutes at a time. Hence, Nintendo making 3D optional (and not mandatory, as it was) for 3rd and 1st party titles. Even still, hold off on a 3DS--the Vita is looking great, and Nintendo is going to re-release the 3DS with a second analog stick sometime next year, which completely screws over any of the current adopters.

No, but when the games get close, they know enough to get loud, even against directional schools playing above their talent level. Even the blue-hairs get in on the act in those places. Ours are content to tune out the bad performance and discuss domestic matters, as if they're preferring to ignore the missteps of a child in their care, hoping they soon grow out of it.

Yes, Misty's, Lazlo's, the Mill, the Indian Oven are all well and good... ...but make sure to stop down for a Runza. Not at the stadium, but get fresh at one of the places around town. Bring a spare liver for "O" street, and make sure to get your grub on at Oso Burrito, Ya-Ya's Pizza, or Ali Baba's Gyros. If you like greasy, southern-style fried chicken, Lee's is still pretty good. Not as good as it was back in the day, but it's still worth a stop-down. And if you have the time, don't limit yourself to Lincoln--Omaha has a lot of great places. We like to stop down at Brother Sebastians in Omaha for a good steak or prime rib--not as good as Misty's, but the atmosphere and wine list more than make up for that. Most importantly, this. Yeah, no draft sucks, but the band is funny and loves fusing R-rated humor with music and mocking everyone's fight songs.

Voted. All red, except for the ND/Michigan State game. What? I fully expect Washington to be a blowout by the half. ND/MSU, not so much.

Could any of the freaking out about Cassidy be deflection from concern about the secondary coaching change?

Who's on first?

Dunno Carter. The Notre Dame hockey bit has legs, and the Notre Dame and Big 10 TV contracts line up. The Texas bit is the one that's odd, but we do know for a fact (via FoIA) that the Big 10 and Texas did talk about membership in 2009-2010 (remember the "tech problem" emails from Ohio State re: Texas?), so it's not out of the realm of possibility. The thing is, I seriously doubt that Pearlman and Osborne would let Texas get a free pass to membership. If anything, I'm sure the Big 10 is pumping them for info on Texas so Bevo can be sufficiently neutered before joining.

It looks like Notre Dame threw up on MSU's uniforms, and the team manager was *just* able to get it to look something like a MSU uniform instead of a 'domer one. Color me unimpressed, though I wouldn't put the creators on trial in the Hague for crimes against humanity like I would for the creator of the Maryland uniforms.

ESPN does have the overall say in the LHN's programming--remember, this is the very argument that Texas used to allow high school football games, as *Texas* wouldn't be choosing the games, per se, ESPN would. And from what I saw in the FoIA contract the Aggies got, I don't think the contract gets 'torn up' when a conference move happens. If anything, I don't think it's really covered (other than what broganreynik posted--thanks broganreynik), so there may be some legal hand-wringing going on with this. You can't just have your school change conferences and everything else remain intact, especially if no other conference wants the channel as-is. Then again, considering the status quo has ESPN taking a massive fiscal hit on the network, it may be in their best interests to just provide a number, have the Big 10 or Fox cut them a check, and then the LHN becomes the BTN 2-Electric Boogaloo. Or, the clause broganreynik found could be ESPN's attempt to force Texas to go independent, as the contract outlines that ESPN gets something like a 60-day bidding window before anyone else for all Texas games should they go independent. Also, don't think that ESPN playing patty-cake with the Big 10 will keep the network in their good graces, even if they roll over on conversion of the LHN. Fox Over-the-Air (read--Fox broadcast flagship, not sports or other Fox cable channels) is expected to bid for the Big 10's upcoming ESPN/ABC rights for 2015, and CBS' SEC rights when they're up (2012?). That's why Fox was so eager to grab the Big 10 and Pac-12 championship games--it's dipping their toe in the water, and all signs point to Fox jumping in.

I originally scoffed at this, but I've since heard other non-Texas school items that make me think that there are legs to this. And as my friend reminded me the other day, Delaney wants to expand the Big 10 into the South--what better way to do it than grab Texas? And yes, Texas is the hawt, yet bat feces crazy chick that you can't stand to wake up next to in bed. But if you take away some of her toys, put her on Prozac, and use a firm hand when necessary, then she can actually change her mannerisms.

With the inflation of number of games played per year, would this be on par, better, or worse than what Dr. Tom managed with nine wins/season?

The obvious compromise in all of this is to move the student sections to the first rows--you get your rowdiest fans closest to the field to make noise. Unfortunately, that won't happen while Dr. Tom is the AD. Sad, really--his treatment of the students will possibly taint his perception among some of our younger fans and doesn't help replace fans that are getting too old for the stadium.

So, in short, ESPN is either kicked to the curb or neutered to a minority share holder in the channel (not unlike how Fox is a minority holder in the BTN), and the LHN becomes BTN2. Dunno if ESPN is going to go for that--they put a lot of money and effort into that channel to start it up. Getting ESPN to give it up to Fox may cost the Big 10 a lot...assuming that ESPN's ego won't let them become a minority shareholder in the network. And now the BTN has not one, but two channels they are expanding with nationally--it was like pulling teeth to get the BTN on Lincoln and Omaha carriers--image trying to get a second BTN channel set up locally all through the Big 10 footprint. Plus, remember all of the hand-wringing that took place about our baseball program going to the Big 10? Multiply that by x100 with Texas. This may have legs, but Texas will really have to prostate themselves before the Big 10. Texas is *finally* aware of the negative image they've given themselves, and while I'm sure Delaney wouldn't have a problem admitting them, the shenanigans Texas made means there will need to be certain assurances. Plus, I'm sure Dr. Tom will make sure that Delaney pushes for certain stipulations to avoid the problems experienced in the Big XII. Namely, that the offices of the Big 10 stay in Chicago, the title game either rotates between the JerryDome and Indy or stays in Indy... I wouldn't say that. They're still one of the most valuable college sports properties out there, their merch still sells (lots of t-shirt alums in Texas), and they sell at least 75% of their stadium (though for how much longer?) Plus, remember that the SEC will now be raiding Texas thanks to A&M. The Big 10, IMO, is the only conference that could counter any sort of cultural shift in Texas recruiting--fighting fire with fire, if you will. I don't see the Pac-12 as being able to go in and fight off SEC culture--at least until their TV network is up and running. Frankly, if Texas doesn't fight what A&M has done, their recruiting will ultimately suffer and they will be perennially what they have been in the past--a has been.

That's their alias when they're running from the cops. Fixed. Been a long day. Sorry.

Actually, EbylHusker, Fresno State has a history of 'sticking it' to Top 25 teams--most notably, Big XII champion Colorado *and* a #1 ranked Oregon State on OSU's home turf, both in the same year. If Carr holds out and that O-Line improves (both likely), Fresno State would be contending for a Pac-12 title, were they in the conference, and likely in the upper half of all BCS conferences, save for the SEC. Then again, this may be more of an indictment on BCS conferences and Pac-12 football than a statement on how good Fresno State has been, historically.

While I wouldn't be shocked, Orangebloods.com isn't exactly a reputable news source.

Was this on Ameer's TD return? If not what quarter and time? I'm gonna rewatch the game tonight and will be looking for this. Mid 4th Quarter. The TV crew actually caught the full reaction and calls it out after the TD replay--Bo looked like he didn't know what the hell to think.