knapplc

I don't think JFK commented on the subject. I'm betting he did. The fact he had a gay friend doesn't mean JFK commented (publicly, which is implied but I'll state it directly this time) on homosexuality.

Not sure what to make of Pierre. He exploded his Freshman year, taking over after Turner broke his leg. Allen should have been better and better, but he just never seemed to improve.

I saw Jared Crick coming out of math class a couple days ago. He's as big as the doorway. Seems like a lot of football players take summer classes. I've always thought that must be awesome for the ones who graduate in the summer and then in their senior season they're free to just play football. Yeah, I think a lot of the athletes are here during the summer taking classes and training. I see tons of them as I swing around the stadium by the weight complex doors. Just yesterday on my walk I saw: Gina Mancuso, Lara Dykstra & Jordan Wilberger (VB players), two gymnasts whose names I don't know, Baker Steinkuhler and later KC Hyland and probably another WR whose name I didn't know, plus Harleen Sidhu and Jordan Hooper as they ran up to Lindsey Moore's car. You can't swing a stick without hitting two Huskers this summer.

That's the thing about Crick's stats being comparable to Suh's in their Junior years. NOBODY thinks Crick is going to be another Suh this year. But hide the women and children if he's even close. I work myself up so much thinking about stuff like this. If B Stein improves even some, and Crick improves even some, and Camstache improves even some, and EMart is an upgrade over Allen... good God that's a scary D Line. That's 2009-esque, that's what that is. With David & Co. at LB and Dennard & Co. in the secondary, this has the potential to be a scary defense.

I can't imagine that this is true. Children of professors or deans don't get automatic full rides to college, why would the children of coaches get that? I would imagine they get a fair chunk of their education paid, if not a full ride. My dad worked for a local college for many years and had I lived near enough to go to school there, I could have taken classes on a major discount - and he wasn't even an Admin or professor. Maybe they don't get full rides, but I'm sure family of UNL employees get their education FAR cheaper than us regular folk. But I'm sure the NCAA frowns on having star players on your team that aren't counted against your scholarships, which is why the Cotton boys all will be on scholly. It's an NCAA issue. They had better be talented enough to earn them, though. Bo's nephew is on the team, and he's a walk-on, I believe.

To be fair to Steinkuhler, though - the dude was an underclassman this whole time. He's a Junior this year, and he could very well have a big leap in noticeable production. I say noticeable, because for armchair quarterbacks like us, we're apparently not seeing what the coaches are seeing (which is why nuance's source is saying Stein grades out well on film). I just want to see chaos and mayhem, dammit. That's what the Blackshirts are all about. EDIT - and I think I actually spoke to Baker the other day, now that I look at his bio and pic. I walk around the stadium at lunch every day and I see a lot of the players, but some I don't recognize. They all look the same with those helmets on, after all. I exchanged a couple of words in passing with a pretty large, shaggy dude, and it turns out that must have been B Stein. Saw Caputo on Monday or Tuesday this week, too. He's shorter than me, and he walks all bow-legged. Thick as a tree trunk, though.

Let's just hope these gloves don't have shrinkage. It could get ugly if there's a rainstorm.

My opinion - on this year's D Line, the spotlight shines harshest on Steinkuhler. We know what Crick brings, and if Steinkuhler can step up his game that could open Crick up to a monster year. But if Stein can't get it done, he's got to step aside.

Quick Knapplc, delete his post so we didn't just spend all that time arguing about something that was quite literally nothing. And that would be different than the last four months.... how? While the rancor was regrettable, the conversation itself was welcome. There's just nothing else to talk about right now.

I just finished these early this year. VERY good reads. I didn't think I'd like them much, but I got hooked. Do you have the Classics two-volume series from Barnes & Noble? That's where I got mine. You can't beat the price. I will definitely be reading this again, soon. @Carlfense - if you like history, specifically ancient history, I recommend Colleen McCullough's Rome series, starting with The First Man in Rome. It is an absolutely brilliant series. Her Julius Caesar is an incomparable character. I also highly recommend anything by Pressfield (who focuses on the ancient Greeks). Start with Gates of Fire and work your way through the Alexander series. Crazy-good stuff. I have insomnia, so I read a lot while I wait for the pills to kick in. Right now I'm re-reading some schlock I picked up as a kid, the Mordant's Need series by Donaldson. It's cheesy, and the first book is incredibly dull (and the characters are vapid), but it picks up in the second book, IIRC. I've read over 300 novels since I started this campaign in January, 2007. It's been a lot of fun.

We. Are. Bored.

Yeah, McNeill got the shaft last year when we went with Martinez, who wasn't nearly as prolific a passer as Lee. With Lee at the helm I bet we pass a LOT more, and McNeill's numbers look tons better.

I would offer you the same advice. Don't just argue your point, but actually read what I'm saying. The players you're talking about will not think they are Blackshirts because of these gloves. They know what a Blackshirt is, and they know whether they've earned one or not. As I've said several times, the logo on these gloves is a marketing tool, not an actual Blackshirt. Putting this logo on these gloves doesn't cheapen the tradition of the Blackshirts any more than putting it on a kite does. No they don't think that, but people who are not familiar with the tradition will. Younger fans, unfamiliar fans, other people in the Big Ten. We've all heard how ridiculous some announcers are when they talk about "traditions", next thing you know Ed Cunningham or some douche is referring to all Husker defenders as Blackshirts. People bitch about having any black in the uniforms, having a b*******, adding piping or changing the uniforms in anyway, changing any traditions whatsoever, but you're a-ok with this? Honestly, while I think the N gloves are cool, I'd prefer to keep the gray gloves we've worn the last few years. I think this is gimmicky, and overall I'm not a fan of either glove as part of the uniform. But if you were to buy me a pair of those N gloves for Christmas, it's entirely possible I would wear them.

I agree that the N gloves are cooler. The defense gloves look too cluttered.

You've gotta love our situation at TE. We've got Cotton, the blue-collar bulldozing blocker, and we've got Reed, who has the wheels and hands of a WR but the body of a TE. Reed is a matchup nightmare for any DEF. I love the guy.

I would offer you the same advice. Don't just argue your point, but actually read what I'm saying. The players you're talking about will not think they are Blackshirts because of these gloves. They know what a Blackshirt is, and they know whether they've earned one or not. As I've said several times, the logo on these gloves is a marketing tool, not an actual Blackshirt. Putting this logo on these gloves doesn't cheapen the tradition of the Blackshirts any more than putting it on a kite does.

I don't either. They're just gloves.

So if we put the Blackshirt gloves on them, would that make them Blackshirts?

Brogan, you are reading way too much into this conversation. Why would I insinuate that you were stupid? That doesn't make any sense, man. I just got done doing a completely voluntary hot chick draft with you. Why would I include you in that if I thought poorly of you? Let's drop this animosity - I have none toward you, and this is nothing to get personal about. Cool?

I didn't call anyone stupid, or attack anyone's intelligence. Calm down. Again, the logo that you're talking about is a marketing tool. It represents the Blackshirts on merchandise, not on the field. On the field, the ONLY thing that represents the Blackshirts are the actual factual black jerseys in the pic I posted. But to show you that your premise is incorrect, you're saying that these are Huskers because they wear the N on the field: And that anyone wearing the N on the field is a Husker. To directly quote you, "...when you wear it on the field, you're a Husker. It's about ON THE FIELD." By that logic, these are also Huskers: These girls are "on the field," and they are wearing the N. But of course they're not Huskers, they're cheerleaders. Nobody thinks that because they are wearing an N tattoo (which the University sells licensing rights to, by the way), that they suddenly become Huskers. There is a huge difference between what the actual tradition is and what the University markets to make money.

Abso-smurfly.

OK, that's what I thought you meant. That's why I asked how you felt about the shirts, shorts, kites and other merchandise you can buy with that same logo on it. If the gloves take away from the history, don't those things? And if not, why?

That just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?

But wouldn't he open himself up to perjury charges? Maybe I'm not remembering this very well, but didn't he deny killing Nicole on the stand?

I'm aware of the title of the thread - I wrote it. So you're saying you don't think this dilutes our tradition? You're OK with these gloves? Or what are you saying?