knapplc

Nebraska fans are very good at treating visitors right. In that respect we deserve the best fans in college football. But as we've seen this year, when it comes to purely internal things, we leave a lot to be desired. In that respect we're no different than most other teams.

What have we done wrong? And by "we" I mean the 85,000 people who pack the stadium every week, and the other half million or so spread across the country who go to ridiculous lengths to see the kids play whenever they travel near, or who travel two towns away because some crummy bar is playing the game. What have those fans done wrong?

If you're calling me and all those other people out because some jackasses have made stupid comments to the players, coaches and the coaches' families, then I'm not taking that blame. I didn't do it and I don't condone it. The thousands of Husker Fans I grew up around wouldn't do it or condone it, either.

So who exactly are you talking about, Ebyl? And I'd like that question answered by anyone who thinks I'm a bad fan, or the rest of the people in Memorial Stadium like me are similarly bad.

Personnally, I wish we had Freeman. He looked good when he was running like a scared little girl on that 4th and 24 at the end of the first half!!

Do you mean for entertainment purposes all season long, rather than just for one game?

I have to say, I was unhappy when Freeman de-committed, but I cannot complain with Zac Taylor, Sam Keller and Joe Ganz so far. These kids have HEART.

Just another reason why Nebraska fans aren't "the greatest fans in college football". They are pretty average IMO.

 

Just a question for you Dave H. Who are the "greatest" fans in college football?

 

Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, Florida, Michigan, Ohio State, etc?

 

Who is it? The overwhelming consensus nationwide is that NEBRASKA fans are. That is based on much more than just our history this year. I don't know of any state or fan base that is as knowledgable as ours. I don't know of any other team that stands and claps for the opponent, Win or lose.

 

There is NO place like Nebraska... when it comes to the GREATEST fans in the country!

 

 

Yeah that's what I'd like to know from the people who want to trash ALL the fans for the acts of a few.

 

If Nebraska fans aren't the "greatest" fans in college football then who are and why?

 

The last time I went to a game in Memorial (2005) there was a couple Iowa State fans cheering and mouthing off over a poor call. A nebraska fan challenged them and started poor mouthing them. Instantly about a dozen fans told him to cool off and reminded him "that we're better than that." Name me one other crowd, College OR pro that you're going to see that sort of pride in sportsmanship. I saw similar stuff at the orange bowl when we played Tennessee.

Any time you Fan Bashers want to answer these questions, I too am all ears.

Seriously, after the season we've had, let's not start talking smack. Colorado is a better team and they get us at home.

Quoted for truth.

Especially the underlined part.

CU is having a tough stretch right now. It's hard to say which team we'll get. If it's the team that played against OU, AND we show up like we did today, it could be one heck of a game.

I'm not counting on a win, I'm not counting on anything. And I for DARNED SURE am not about to start talking smack to anyone about that game. Even if we win, we've got six losses this year. There's no boasting to be done about that.

Freemason, exactly what "ilk" am I? After 500 or so words on a message board you know all about me? Please, fill me in.

The thread is about WHY he did what he did! And I'm telling you WHY he did what he did and THAT involves the treatment of others. It IS relevent because people wanted to know WHY he didn't acknowledge the fans. THAT is what the thread is about and I have stuck on the topic and given my reasons WHY he didn't acknowledge them.

So.... when did Callahan tell you that the reason he ignored his team and 85,000 Husker Fans is because of how his family has been treated?

Are you sure you're not projecting your feelings on to this situation?

i can't believe everyone is willing to forgive and forget all the cally b.s. for one lousy win against K State!.......damn people, come on, this experiment has not suddenly changed.......cally is still wrong for our program! can him!

I haven't seen anyone forgiving or forgetting

Why should we? What in the world makes you think Callahan is the least bit remorseful for what he's done to this program? Just because he says he is? Are you daft?

 

Let me put it this way - I could tell you that I'm the IRS. Are you going to pay me your tax money from now on?

 

Where is your head?

 

What if TO keeps him? where will your head be?

 

There is no way on Gods green earth that TO keeps Callahan!

 

Get used to the idea. He's not going anywhere. Osborne operates on a much higher level that you.

Ya, but I think for all parties involved it will be best to just part ways. Too many bridges have been burned by Callahan in the way he has run the program and dodges questions and the way he's been treated (Some of it justified). I think all parties will part happily and move on with life.

Agreed. See? We can agree.

____________________

Freemason - if you believe after what's happened this year that Callahan is going to be our coach next year, I've got a bridge to sell you.

Stop making excuses for a guy who has done a HORRIBLE job in his four years here. How can you look at Callahan's body of work as a coach here and think he's done a good job? Point to the good things he's done, PLEASE!!!

I'm not talking about the bad play if you would read my posts. I'm talking about the way his and the other coaches families have been treated. I'm not saying he's a good coach and I said I don't want him to coach next year but forgive me for defending someone because of the off the field barrage his and the coached family has gotten and then when he isn't so forgiving and forgetting when fans say good job, and no one has even said he acknowledged fans in the first place after game. My point is he's under such a microscope that when he does a good coaching job today that he's still $hit on for not acknowledging fans like he should bow down and kiss their feet. It's obvious that people want to just rip him no matter what when they WIN 73-31 and they have to find something to bitch about so they find this!

 

HELLOOOOOO!!!! This is a FOOTBALL FORUM!!!

 

Dude, get a clue! If you want to talk about family issues, GO HERE.

 

In this forum we focus on the job he's done as a coach, and he's done an exceedingly sh#tty job of it here. If you're here to defend how he coaches, expect to get flamed. If you want to talk about how his family has been treated... use the link.

I didn't start the thread buddy. It wasn't about football when it started so why do I have to make it about football now??!!

This thread isn't about his family, yet you're bringing that up, buddy.

This thread IS about what Bill Callahan did AT THE FOOTBALL GAME, however. See how that works?

Family stuff belongs on family forums. Football stuff belongs here. Get it straight.

Good lord. With continued crap like this, and if you consider yourself a "fan," I can see why he would send a big F-U your way.

 

Quite honestly, he isn't a media whore. He has always avoided the media, and he is pretty private as a whole. He is just trying to do his job.

Based on his job performance he's going to be fired soon. If you think the fans are wrong for not liking the guy who has systematically ruined what this program has been about, then maybe you don't know what being a Husker Fan is all about.

I'm not talking about the bad play if you would read my posts. I'm talking about the way his and the other coaches families have been treated. I'm not saying he's a good coach and I said I don't want him to coach next year but forgive me for defending someone because of the off the field barrage his and the coached family has gotten and then when he isn't so forgiving and forgetting when fans say good job, and no one has even said he acknowledged fans in the first place after game. My point is he's under such a microscope that when he does a good coaching job today that he's still $hit on for not acknowledging fans like he should bow down and kiss their feet. It's obvious that people want to just rip him no matter what when they WIN 73-31 and they have to find something to bitch about so they find this!

HELLOOOOOO!!!! This is a FOOTBALL FORUM!!!

Dude, get a clue! If you want to talk about family issues, GO HERE.

In this forum we focus on the job he's done as a coach, and he's done an exceedingly sh#tty job of it here. If you're here to defend how he coaches, expect to get flamed. If you want to talk about how his family has been treated... use the link.

This isn't the same Blaine Gabbert who "decided" he was going to Nebraska a while ago, is it?

I'm not too concerned with this kid's decisions until Signing Day.

I'm defending human civil behavior and the fickleness of what people expect. If you feel his children and the coaches children should be treated like they are for his coaching actions then where's you head at?

Then go cry about it in some human relations forum. Here we talk about football, Dan. NOBODY thinks it's OK for his kids to get taunted at school. How could you even think the majority of Husker Fans think that?

Regarding his kids - it's shameful to treat them poorly because of the football team's situation. Case closed.

Regarding his job as a coach - it's shameful that he has destroyed our team and our legacy like he has. Case closed.

Got it?

i can't believe everyone is willing to forgive and forget all the cally b.s. for one lousy win against K State!.......damn people, come on, this experiment has not suddenly changed.......cally is still wrong for our program! can him!

I haven't seen anyone forgiving or forgetting

Why should we? What in the world makes you think Callahan is the least bit remorseful for what he's done to this program? Just because he says he is? Are you daft?

Let me put it this way - I could tell you that I'm the IRS. Are you going to pay me your tax money from now on?

Where is your head?

There's a forum for rumors and their discussion on the top of this board (Rumorville).

Yes, I was at the game and he left the field in a damn hurry. Didn't stay to celebrate with players/fans/band or anything. It was pretty shameful after a huge win

Not as shameful as how he's been treated for 5 weeks. THAT'S SHAMEFUL!

Let's see - Cally has spent four years here tearing down everything that made this program great. I'm not talking about anything that happens on the field - I'm talking about all the behind-the-scenes stuff, like the huge walk-on program (pared down to nothing under Callahan), our ties with former coaches and players (gone - they're not welcome amongst the new coaches) and the fans (coachspeak instead of straight answers - that's not Husker Football. Nope).

You are defending a guy who has destroyed what Husker Football was all about. A guy who is more interested in how things look than how things are. A guy who is more interested in saying nothing rather than saying something of substance. Callahan has not been a man of his word to the very fans who make Husker Nation great.

And you're defending that?

Dude, where's your head?

Why not? They alllowed Tommy Lee to come here.

I know they have eight-man in Nebraska and Iowa (played it there), but up here in Minnesota, they indeed do have 9 man football.

 

 

That's because it's Minnesota...you need the extra guy for when your DB gets lost in the snow or carried off by giant mosquitos.

One thing we can all agree on is that Minnesotans are fun to tease.

If the majority of our fans were truly great, they would not stand for such crap from the minority of fans who do stuff like this. There would be such public pressure on the minority, that it would bring them back in line. Instead, the majority doesn't say a word to the people doing the act. I think it is probably that silence or indifference by the majority that causes DaveH to say that we are not the greatest fans...

 

What exactly are we supposed to do? Indifference? Look on this board - there are literally hundreds of Husker fans denouncing this stuff!

 

I don't get how I'm supposed to stop these guys. Can you tell me that? And what are YOU doing to make them stop?

 

I don't think anonymously denouncing such behavior on an internet message board is going to have much affect. And I'm not saying you or I have had the opportunity to do something to these specific people, but there are plenty of the "majority" of good fans who have had the opportunity to do something. There are the parents that have acted innapropriately themselves and set a bad example for their children who go to school, and then refuse to discipline appropriately, etc., etc. As for bad fans at games who heckle the players and shout obscenities, etc., the vast majority of the "majority" that you speak sit there and don't say or do a word. There are plenty of things that could be done, but most do not. Does that make the "majority" bad fans, or bad people? Absolutely not. It just doesn't make them the "greatest fans"....

All I'm asking is what you think the "good" fans should do about it. When have the "majority" had the opportunity? Where? At games? On the streets of Lincoln?

I'm as angry as you about these things, but there's simply nothing we can do to stop it. You can't prevent someone from being a jerk. It's a nice thought that the "good" fans will stop the "bad" fans, but in reality it's not possible, short of assault.

Name is spelled right now...

But they still show him having 17 bowl appearances.

What kind of half-wit organization is this? Sheesh. You'd think they'd have enough money to pay for some qualified people to work there.

If the majority of our fans were truly great, they would not stand for such crap from the minority of fans who do stuff like this. There would be such public pressure on the minority, that it would bring them back in line. Instead, the majority doesn't say a word to the people doing the act. I think it is probably that silence or indifference by the majority that causes DaveH to say that we are not the greatest fans...

What exactly are we supposed to do? Indifference? Look on this board - there are literally hundreds of Husker fans denouncing this stuff!

I don't get how I'm supposed to stop these guys. Can you tell me that? And what are YOU doing to make them stop?

Here is an email I received from a LSU fan (now there is a ugly group!)

We had an argument that the about what we were expressing vs. what how the clapping was being received.

What do you think - are we making the other fans feel like we think we are better than them? And is this similar to are thinking we are "Footballs greatest fans?"

 

- For years, Nebraska fans have been lauded for the way they politely clap for the vanquished opposing team after home games. The shoe was on the other foot this week as Kansas fans clapped for the Nebraska as it walked off the field. Several Nebraska fans have commented on how condescending the nice gesture really feels to the other side.

Your LSU friend is welcome to think that Husker Fans are "condescending" towards our opponents when they walk off the field. Frankly, that argument holds no logic. If it were true, we would not give the exact same ovation to the teams that beat us as they walk off the field.

Tell Mr. LSU about the inscriptions on the stadium:

“Not the victory but the action

Not the goal but the game

In the deed the glory”

And:

"Courage; Generosity; Fairness; Honor;

In these are the true awards of manly sport."

These are the tenets of Husker Football. I knew these sayings by the time I was ten years old. Many teams pay lip service to the concepts in these inscriptions, but the Huskers lived them for the better part of my life. I’d like to believe that our fans still do, even if the current coaches seem to have forgotten all about them. That’s why we give our opponents that ovation, win or lose.

It’s not condescending, it comes from a legitimate appreciation of the effort they gave and the sport they play. It has so very little to do with whether we beat them or they beat us. It’s not surprising that an outsider wouldn’t know this. I just hope that everyone who calls themselves a Husker Fan today knows these things, and goes to the games with an intention to live up to them.

Now, I have no idea why KU fans gave us that ovation. I'd like to believe that they were doing it for the same reason we do. Maybe someone who was at the game can shed more light on that, but unless that ovation was accompanied by some overt form of derision, I have no reason to believe they were doing anything other than offering their thanks for our part in the game.

Someone else said he would have taken the job if it was offered in 2003.

I remember hearing that as well. He made it clear (as I recall) that he would take the job, but Pederson didn't even look his way.

I have no idea how Kiffin would turn out as HC, but he for sure couldn't do worse than BC, and for certain we would not have alienated the players from past years.

I think it's important to remember that the term "greatest fans in college football" is something Lee Corso put on us years ago. It's not self-given. We were the same good fans through the 70s, 80s and 90s (from my personal observation) before Corso felt it was necessary to call us that.

There's no way to determine who's the best. And really, who cares? It's enough for most of us to know that we're well-regarded in the eyes of the greater college football world. We really couldn't care less if we're the "best" fans. All we need to be is good fans, polite fans, knowledgeable fans, and leave it at that.

The bottom line is this - Corso could have called us anything he wants. He could have called us "the worst fans in college football." Instead, he saw our unity, our knowledge of the game, how well we treat our opponents in our home stadium and how well we comport ourselves when we travel. Whether that makes us the "best" or the seventh-best fans, at the very least it means that we're doing something right.

Let's keep our focus on doing whatever it is that made the rest of college football regard us well, and do our best to drown out the people who give us a bad name.

In the end, that's the only thing we have control over.

Ironic how some people can throw garbage on a field and because I wear a certain colored T-Shirt I am automatically typecast by the same people in this thread that refuse to be typecast for the actions of a minority of their fan base.

Cry me a river. I was on your side in that conversation right up until you refused to hold the students accountable for their actions. At no time did I ever typecast ALL Colorado fans. I directly stated that I believe that upwards of 95% of Colorado fans are fine people, and it's the minority that gives you a bad name. You choose to ignore that, but focus on anything that casts you in a negative light. I have no sympathy for that mindset.

Dave, I don't want to get into it with you, but your understanding of what makes fans “great” is... wrong. By your statement it can easily be construed that NO COLLEGE TEAM ANYWHERE has good fans, and that they are in fact all bad.

There isn’t a single team in this country whose fan base doesn’t include the kinds of people you describe. What makes one team’s fans “better” than another team’s fans is the frequency with which those actions take place. At Nebraska, they are by FAR the minority of actions.

The whole “best college football fans in the country” label is a joke. We’re great fans, but there is no non-subjective standard by which this can be measured. It’s been around for a while, and by and large Nebraska Fans show that they fall somewhere around that description, so it’s stuck for some time.

But today it’s being used as a cudgel against us because some fools out there do stupid things. Despite the fact that the vast majority of us loathe the very thought of picking on the children of a coach, there are idiots out there whose boundaries of Right and Wrong allow them to behave this way. Those folks can go to a store and buy Husker gear just like any of the rest of us, and they can get tickets to a game just like the rest of us. That doesn’t make them just like the rest of us, though.

What strikes me as terribly odd about your assertion that Husker Fans are NOT the best in the nation is that you call yourself a Husker Fan. You’re essentially saying that your association with those kinds of fools negates YOUR level of fandom. How in the world does that make sense to you? Are you saying that you’re just like the guys who threaten Cosgrove’s kids? If so, WHY? If not, how is it so difficult for you to realize that we abhor those actions (much like I assume you do?) and we, the Husker Fans as a whole, ARE NOT responsible for those actions?

There is no freaking way I am associated IN ANY WAY with anyone who would ever think it’s OK to say the things this article says were said to Cosgrove’s family. They have nothing to do with me, or with any Husker Fans I know. If you want to associate yourself with them, Dave, I would seriously suggest you reevaluate your loyalties.