TrueMizzou

If the sideline and off-the-field issues had been absent, would you have been okay with Bo keeping his job based on the team's performance? Conversely, if Bo was contending for conference and national titles, would those issues have mattered to you? Good luck in your search... I and a lot of other Missouri/Big-8 fans will be watching with keen interest. I wouldn't mind seeing Nebraska wreck the Big-10. I like the people and I like your state. TrueMizzou

Yes, Mizzou has won the East again. I don't know what implications that might have for Nebraska in the Big 10, but here's my take on why it's turned out this way for Mizzou... The SEC is a good conference with several good teams and one really good team, Alabama. That said, it's not as good as the pundits say it is, and not nearly as good as SEC fans believe it is. On the flip side Mizzou is better than they thought it would be. MU's record has highlighted both these realities and it has provoked a lot of hatred and hostility among the old guard. They thought that by allowing MU to join the conference, they would get another Vandy, just with 6 million TV sets. The Indiana loss was awful, but it's worth noting that Marcus Golden was out for that game, and the Hoosiers still had their starting QB at the time (I think they're on their 2nd or 3rd stringer now, and have been for a while). The horrible IU everyone has seen the past few weeks isn't the one MU faced. The ugly truth is Mizzou looked past IU and got punked for it. Even if MU wins the SEC title, it's going to pay for that loss when bowl season rolls around, and that is appropriate. It was a terrible, terrible loss. The loss to Georgia was on Mauk. The kid threw six picks and our defense was gassed by the 3rd quarter. Mauk single-handedly lost that game. Painful lesson for him. Mizzou is competing in the SEC, but it's not doing it as a Big-12 team. It's doing it with an offense that favors the run, and betting that our defense will take us where we hope to go. Did any of you watch today's game? We started slow, but by the 3rd quarter our DL was in command and by the 4th quarter or OL was dominating. Remind you of anyone? Maybe Big-8 era NU? The main difference being you guys did that from the opening kickoff. Pinkel is getting better. Game day is his weak spot. Always has been, always will be. His genius lies in the system he has put in place to develop players and the metric he uses to recruit for it. I don't think it overlaps much with Rivals or the conventional ranking systems. He uses his own criteria and you can't argue with the results. By the time they're juniors and seniors, 2 and 3-star recruits are performing at 4 and 5-star level. In recent years many of them have gone on to the NFL. Pinkel also develops them between the ears. More than anything, this year's team has poise and is mentally tough. They just don't panic when things aren't going well. That was evident again tonight. Mizzou will never be Bama or ever field a team as dominant as the '95 Huskers, but it's on to something. I think our D gives us a puncher's chance in Atlanta, but we'll need to do everything else right. Anything can happen. That is why they play the games, and that's why I'm booking a trip to Atlanta. Best of luck to you going forward...

Well it's been four years since we last faced each other, and much has happened since then. I thought I would check in, share some of my thoughts on our SEC experience, and collect some of yours regarding the B1G. What do you think of it so far? Given the dynamics that existed in the Big-12, do you think leaving was the right move? Do you feel you're being accorded an appropriate amount of respect by the other B1G fan bases? What do you think of the football that's played there? And how does it compare to what we had in the Big-8 & Big-12? With respect to Mizzou, I'm largely ambivalent. While I'm thankful we were able to get away from the Texas cancer, I hate the fact it was necessary. The Longhorns were homeless, the Big-8 took them in, and they ended up burning down our house. If we only knew... I miss the Big-8 in a huge way, but also recognize there is no way it would survive in today's landscape of mega-conferences with billion-dollar TV contracts. It would have imploded or been taken apart sooner or later. I'm pleased to be in the SEC, but have been shocked at the hostility of many of their fans. Mizzou has never been a dominant power, and we likely never will be, so I have a difficult time understanding the hate and venom that gets thrown our way on places like SECRant. We're no threat to the Bamas and LSUs of the world. Strangely enough, a lot of it is based on the Yankee/Midwest/Northerner thing, and has very little to do with football. And Southerners wonder why the rest of the country think they're backward. At first we were thrilled to be in the SEC, and football-wise we still are. But a lot of my fellow Tiger fans are starting to see the dynamics of the situation for what they are: When Mizzou wins an SEC game, all it means is that the other team sucks, has injuries, etc. When Mizzou loses, it only confirms that we suck. Our home loss to Indiana was devastating in that regard (thank you Coach Pinkel). It's a lose-lose situation. Truth be told, I think the old guard SEC types are threatened by any success Mizzou has; it upsets the perception they have of themselves. Whatever. We're there, we're not going anywhere, and we're taking our share of the revenue. As we finish our third season in the conference, I believe that Mizzou is a little better than some of the bubbas thought we were, and that the SEC isn't as good as they like to think it is. I still think it's the best conference, but the distance between it and the others isn't that great. Michigan State would definitely challenge, and perhaps 'the' OSU if they consistently played the way they did Saturday night. MU's success thus far has helped to expose that fact (along with mind-numbing games like LSU-Bama - two anemic offenses battling solid defenses), and I take some pride in it. At any rate, we'll continue to take scalps when we can and hang them in our solidly Midwestern tipi. I'm not all embarrassed to say that I miss seeing you on our schedule. Yes there was hate, but it was hate borne of respect for a hard-hitting program supported by fans who know their football. For all their self-professed fanaticism, SEC fans seem to want to talk about everything BUT football. I wish their board was like this one. Here's hoping we meet in a bowl game one day. That would be awesome. Best of luck to you guys... TrueMizzou

Great game by your guys tonite. They had plenty of opportunities to give up but hung in there. Anybody who has a 28-point run in the 4th after going dry for the first 3 quarters deserves the W. Increased mental toughness was the biggest difference I saw in your team. Lots of guts shown in a hostile environment, under some very poor conditions. You're definitely a different team from last year. Congratulations. Oh... And cream KU.

Great game by your guys tonite. They had plenty of opportunities to give up but hung in there. Anybody who has a 28-point run in the 4th after going dry for the first 3 quarters deserves the W. Increased mental toughness was the biggest difference I saw in your team. Lots of guts shown in a hostile environment, under some very poor conditions. You're definitely a different team from last year. Congratulations. Oh... And cream KU.

Good luck fellas. This Mizzou fan will be watching here in Papillion and pulling for your boys. Make the Big 12 proud...

Living here in Nebraska, the 'other' high point of the sports calendar for me (apart from college football) is the College World Series. Man that is fun. It's like March Madness, the state fair, and the World Series all rolled into one, with a bunch of tanned coeds thrown in for good measure. I talk it up to every non-Nebraskan I meet. That said, the period from January to June is a bleak one...

Big 12 is now 1-1 without looking good in either game. I really thought the Pokes were going to put on a show. One thing I will say is that Zac Robinson is one tough son of a gun. He took a beating out there. All in all the game was a bummer though. I hope the rest of our teams can turn it up a notch (or 10)...

I was kind of digging the little chiquita above them and to their left (viewer's right). Low-cut shirt and some nice cleavage coupled with lots of jumping up and down. Play it on T-Vo...

Well it looks like my Tigers pulled a victory out of a very ugly, stomach-churning game in San Antonio. Northwestern's obviously a better team than a lot of people gave them credit for being; they looked downright uppity out there. As far as Mizzou is concerned, well, we all know what that reality is... But nevertheless, a win is a win is a win, so I'll take it. Time for OSU, KU (I'll have to hold my nose when I root for those guys), and BIG RED to take care of business these next few games. I like how you match up against the Tigers. Clemson has suffered from mental weakness this season, and that's an area where you've shown a lot of growth. I know I've busted on Pelini in the past, but he deserves all the credit for making that happen. A couple drawn-out, grinding drives matched by some physical D (a la the Osborne era), may be all that's required to make them close up shop. Whatever happens, I'll be pulling for you guys to bring it home for the Big 12. Go Huskers!!!

We can all drink to that. Go Big 12!!!

Husker Nation- Well I've just returned from the beatdown in KC and thought I should check in with my new 'friends.' If I'm going to razz you when times are good, then I have to be here when times are tough. Especially when times are tough. Here are my conclusions for this season: - Let's say the '95 Huskers were an 'A+' team. The '08 Tigers have shown themselves to be a 'C+/B-' team in a 'C' division. - Mental toughness is in short supply, on both sides of the ball (especially on D). Unfortunately, Daniel also suffers from it. An argument can be made in both directions as to whether or not he should bear an additional amount of responsibility for the damage it does, given that he's the QB. I think he does, especially when I consider his cocky disposition, but have met with some vehement opposition on the Post-Dispatch's Mizzou board. It doesn't bother me. As a Mizzou fan, I have no problem accepting reality as I see it, and that's the reality I see. - Gary Pinkel has grown our program and for that I am thankful. I'll never forget what it's like to be lost in the wilderness, nor will I ever think our school is too good for a 9-3 season. However if he wants to take the next step, an element of ruthlessness will need to be brought into play. This will involve benching players (even star players) who don't prepare/perform, firing defensive coordinators who fail miserably, and running up scores in pursuit of BCS rankings. For me the real point of interest during these next couple seasons will be the adjustments Pinkel chooses to make (or not make). Given his often stubborn nature, personal loyalty (not always a bad thing) and glacial, deliberative approach to things, I'm not feeling very optimistic. Whatever happens, I'll be there. I'll always be there. In closing, I think the drop-off from this season to next may not be as great as I thought it might be. I say that not because we have a bumper crop of great new starters waiting in the wings (although I gotta admit I'm absolutely dying to see what Gabbert will do once he gets the baton), but because this year's team didn't come anywhere close to being what I thought it could be. Losing isn't by any means an unforgivable offense, but underachieving is. Especially when it results from lack of heart and/or focus. I really hoped that we'd do a better job of representing the North. Maybe next year. Maybe not. Good luck in your bowl game.

I think the pink ones are quite becoming...

I'm right here, getting ready for the Big 12 championship game. You remember what that is, don't you? I figured you would, knowing how much the past means to you. You can have it, I'd rather look to the future. I'm no bandwagon fan either. I've been going to Mizzou games since I was six, graduated from there, and live in BugeaterLand only because I'm here on military orders. I'm happy to serve you by the way. Oh, and one final thing: 52-17 Anything else?

*Yawn*

Meh.... By the way, feel free to name another team in the north to know, as you put it...true greatness.....I direct you to your empty trophy case to try and refute that. As for this year, you may have scoreboard, but we have.... -improvement as 2008 went on -tradition -a college football atmosphere that is better when our University is successful -the potential for a 9 win season that feels good for the first time in awhile -a history of greatness, not some great years behind two great Qb's But hey its all good. At least Columbia isn't an armpit...... You're right, it's not anywhere near as bad as Stincoln... I have an idea. On December 6th, you can go to Lincoln and stare at the trophy case for three or four hours. It seems to be at the center of the Husker universe, the floating piece of timber you cling to as you drift in a sea of irrelevance. Call me crazy, but I always thought the action was on the field. Anyway, while you're at it you might also want to polish that most recent crystal football - it has 11 years worth of dust on it. I on the other hand will don my black and gold, go to Arrowhead and yell like a maniac for my team as they take the field to hopefully secure a BCS bid. Win or lose, I think I'll have the better time. "Husker Nation: Eight-track Lovers in an MP3 World..."

Great game? Instant classic? What other superlatives do you have? Arguably the worst team in the conference has its way with your secondary on national TV and you consider a last-minute victory heroic? You guys can't have it both ways. You go on and on about being the only school in the North to know what true greatness is, jealously making every effort to keep everyone else 'in their place,' yet you turn around and celebrate a win over the Puffs as if it were a BCS championship. So what is it? If you truly are the 'NEBRASKUHHHH...' everyone else should bow to, why the big celebration? My, how things have changed...

This was posted in August....NU's record had nothing to do with anything at the time This thread is 4 or 5 pages long. I'm going to assume you read the entire thing including the back and forth replies as it matured You come on here and read a 5-month old post and then reply AFTER the season about how Missouri owns Nebraska and the North....Our coach has been around for one year and we're one conference win behind your 'ownership' of the North... This post was derived by reading multiple postings on this board alone about how great MU and KU were because of one good season. KU fans were going to win 10 this year and beat NU at home...and MU fans were talking National Championship all the way. That's going to be tough next year, as in my opinion...both teams are on the fall from last year and NU is rising. Losing your star players isn't going to help any. If you want to see hundreds of posts on the topic, just search the board. In fact, there are many posts within this thread about it I'm not going to reply directly to your "grow up" comment I'm sorry if this thread has offended you, but that's not the goal around here. In my experience, we typically get along great with fans from other teams that post. Your original post took the form of lecture towards MU & KU fans about what constitutes a great team versus a great program, blah blah blah... Your latest one refers to MU fans claiming - on this board - that a NC was all but a certainty. A possibility yes, but never a certainty, and I can't imagine that discussion ever being held by Tiger fans on a Husker board. Nor do I recall Mizzou fans coming to this board to talk about how 'great' our team is. Can you show me one post on this board that supports either of your assertions? I didn't think so. The funny thing is, I like Nebraskans. I've lived in Papillion for the last three years, and will probably be there for a few more. However the petulance and pettiness of some of the posters I see on this board is amazing, especially when one considers the "Greatest Fans in College Football" thing that's inscribed on your stadium. What hypocrisy. I don't understand it. Back when the Huskers were rolling and Mizzou was down (and there were a lot of years like that), it never occurred to me to slag NU or its fans, or look for some perceived slight to get up in arms about. All my frustrations were vented on my own school's team and program. It began and ended there. So we don't have any nat'l championships. You definitely got us there. But one thing we definitely can do is take a punch to the gut without crying about it afterwards. Tiger fans are tough, dedicated and committed to seeing their team improve in the areas that demand it. They don't waste a lot of time hating, unless it's KU. You think the last five years have been tough? Try fighting your way through 20 years of that kind of crap. And yet, we're still wearing the black and gold. Is that not worthy of a little respect? Does that not create its own kind of honor? I think it could be argued that it's at least on a par with the glory you try to confer on yourselves. It's easy to love a winner. Everybody wants to be on that bandwagon, especially when you live in a state that doesn't have any other big time athletic franchises. But to love a dog, year in and year out, for no other reason than that it's the flagship campus of your home state, a state that's also played in Super Bowls and World Series - now that's true love. So you're right. We don't have a great program. I don't even think we have a great team. Even if we win against the South on Dec 6th, it'll go down as a great victory brought home by a good team. Nothing more. But one thing you and your fellow Husker fans need to realize is that respect and nobility can be earned any number of ways. It can be earned through failure as well as success. Adversity as well as dominance. Witness the Spartans at Thermopylae. Success is a coat that anyone can wear, but how well can you wear defeat and humility? Do you have the guts to wear it without lashing out and denigrating others for some imagined offense? In that sense, I think some of 'The Greatest Fans In College Football' might have a little something to learn from us lowly Tiger fans.

Interesting to read a Husker manifesto about good teams and good programs when you have neither right now. The only real losers are sore losers, and your ilk seem to have a real sense of entitlement when it comes to other fans taking any pride in their team's accomplishments. I've never seen a fan base more surly or whiny when it comes to the success of others. God forbid if a Mizzou fan or KU fan gets a little excited about their football team - "B-B-BUT WE'RE NEBRASKA FOR GOD'S SAKE! THEIR PROGRAM DOESN'T HAVE THE STORIED HISTORY OURS DOES! WHO DO THEY THINK THEY ARE?!" What's your problem anyway? Your team is 7-4, likely to go to 8-4, and congratulations have been posted on this board from myself as well as a few other Tiger fans. Posts like the one that started this thread make me really wish that Pinkel would have hung 70 on you guys. It's not like he couldn't have done it... Your rant conveys nothing but weakness and insecurity. It validates one of two things: either my Tigers have gotten under your skin, or you're incredibly ignorant. I say that because I don't think you'd find a Tiger or Jayhawk fan anywhere on the planet who would claim their team has achieved a position anywhere near what Nebraska has achieved in its history. We understand that requires big-time victories and sustained excellence over decades, not just a couple years. 'Show Me' one post from a Mizzou fan on ANY board that even implies we have reached that level. I'm waiting... There, does that make you feel better? That said, you're more than welcome to keep enjoying bowl games from 10 years ago and yellowed photographs while in your rocking chair. You can also continue talking about how you're going to be back at the top in three more years. Rock-heads like you have been saying that for the last six or seven years now. Keep doing it, because fans from the other schools here in the North find it kind of amusing. It may happen, it may not. But if it does, and you have a clearly superior team, you're not going to see me assume the role of a pogue in trying to take anything away from it. Although I detested the way Osborne would run up the score against us, I still marveled at the talent and discipline of his teams, and had no problem with stating it as fact. Nor did any of my fellow Tiger fans. Whatever the future holds, we own the North right now, and we most definitely own you. At least until the next time our teams take the field. That's an 11-month lollipop my friend. Deal with it. And grow up. 'Seriously...'

Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. OU just scored another one to take it to 65-14, with Bradford still in. Big Game Bob's not showing his classy side tonite. Does he even have one? That said, I don't think anyone could beat the OU team that's out there tonight. They'd smoke UT and make Florida look like blowup dolls. Mizzou's going to have their work cut out for them, whomever they play... or ttech just crapped their pants and couldn't exploit OU's defense How could any team exploit the defense that OU has tonite? Especially the line? Sincere question..

I can't say it bothers me to see Harrell get his comeuppance. Last year after Mizzou spanked them he publicly threw his receivers under the bus. I've also noticed since then that after a pass play fails he has a habit of looking at his receivers and cocking his head, as if to say "WTF?!" Not a leader in my book.

Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. OU just scored another one to take it to 65-14, with Bradford still in. Big Game Bob's not showing his classy side tonite. Does he even have one? That said, I don't think anyone could beat the OU team that's out there tonight. They'd smoke UT and make Florida look like blowup dolls. Mizzou's going to have their work cut out for them, whomever they play...

If your assertions about Mizzou are true, it must really suck to be a Nebraska fan right now...

Wow, that's really bad. Seeing that would have absolutely infuriated me too. For a few minutes at least, your dad and crew would have had one p****d off Tiger as an ally. That in itself would make for quite a story...

Fro Daddy makes an excellent point with this thread, even if he did get distracted by a pesky beaker. A tip of the hat is due you and your team for the dramatic progress you've made this season. I never would have thought the Huskers would win seven games. Not this year. You really see what people are made of when times are tough, and I admire the way you've stuck by your team. The wit and humor exhibited has also provided me with a lot of laughs. I like hanging out with you guys - you're a cool bunch. KU still sucks of course...