Paul in WI

Go team. Is that better? Knock yourself out.

Shavon is really going to come up big for us this year. His confidence seems to be getting stronger with every game. It is weird to see Walter still struggling with his shooting though. Maybe shaving his head messed up his aero. Lol

Typical game time basketball thread at a football school.

23 - 19 good guys at the break

We'll turn it around. We've been starting slow and finding our groove in the 2nd half. We'll get hot and go on a run.

Walter got up there.

I bought the PPV at comcast. Go Big Red!

He sure as hell stuck with what he knew would work and choked us on it in our own house. I've got to admire that.

I have to admit that the guy actually would do a better job than Bo. I'm just afraid that he might keel over on the sidelines. This just in: http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2014-11-22/nebraska-next-coach-jerry-kill-bo-pelini-hot-seat-minnesota-turnaround-big-ten

Seriously, does he strike anyone here as someone that will step forward and make a decisive decision? He strikes me more as a lap dog. You aren't going to hear boo from this guy until he gets instructions from his handlers.

I'll trade you. I've been sitting on a donut for the past few......years.

No way. He's scum. And he's just gotten done celebrating his first ever conference win at his new gig. I've gotten a bellyful of Bielema. All that I can say is that the man that made Bielema look good now resides as HC at Pitt.

That'd be something if a 408 yd performance only lasted one week. LOL

We can't afford to take the first half of the game off against Rhode Island. We're better than them and should win, but we don't want to be spotting them 15 points and have to work out of a hole.

AMEN! It is night and day different over here.

Nebrasketball is playing tonight at Rhode Island. Embrace it.

Absolutely. He's way ahead of the game as far as I'm concerned.

I've never seen a game thread like this after a (probable) loss. There just isn't any feeling anymore......

I have a feeling that we're going to score, limping through another win and keeping Pelini's nose just above water.

Lucky that we blocked that earlier FG for a touchdown, or we'd really be in trouble right now.

Carl, I've got some thoughts for you on shortening the time on butts (your times look pretty normal). I also will share my brisket method with you, BRB. It works for me. The problem is that I need to get a little wordy, and I'm only on a 7" tablet at the moment. So....I shall type more when a proper keyboard is at my disposal this evening. This thing is driving me nuts.

I've noticed and read about the moisture retention in electric smokers, too. When I use my pellet tray I usually leave the chip loader pulled out an inch or two and the top vent wide open to get as much airflow as possible. Do you think that the high humidity in the smoker might contribute to my really, really, long smoke times on pork butts? Humidity shouldn't effect the time. If I were to guess, your smoker is probably running an average temp that is cooler than you think it is. Here's where it gets tricky with electric smokers: If you put a digital thermometer on a probe in your smoking chamber, you might freak out when you watch it. It is very common to have electric smoker chamber temps wildly fluctuate during the course of a smoke as it cycles on and off. For example: If I set my Cookshack 55 at 225, the actual internal temp may fluctuate between 190 and 290 as it goes through its heating cycle. Don't sweat it, because that's normal. With electrics, you have to look at averages. How long are your butts taking, and what temp do you have it set?

For now I just have a Masterbuilt electric. It works pretty well with the pellet tray that I bought for it. (This: http://www.amazenproducts.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=AMNPS5X8) I've done a couple briskets with OK results and ~10 pork butts with average to great results. Smoked around 18lbs of pork for the first game of the season and every bit was gone in under 15 minutes . . . but the fact that everyone was a little tipsy played into that. I'd definitely like to get into charcoal. I'm intrigued by those electric controllers that you can use in Weber kettles or drum smokers. Supposed to be nearly as foolproof as electric but with the better results of charcoal. Every type of smoker has their strengths and weaknesses. For example: Electric smokers don't move much air through them, which makes them ideal for things like summer sausage where you want to retain as much moisture as you can to avoid shrinkage. I keep my Cookshack 55 electric around just for that purpose. I can hang a standard 25lb batch of sausage in it and the low draft (due to being electric) helps keep the moisture in and shrinkage to a minimum. Keep in mind that if you ever want to do competition like KCBS events, electrics aren't allowed. They also won't produce a smoke ring on your meats, due to the smoldering wood not generating enough nitrites to make that pretty ring. You need fire for that. These days, a good charcoal smoker is almost as easy to use as an electric. The aftermarket electronic draft controls make the things darn near like using an oven, although I recommend that people learn how to use their pits manually before adding an electronic control. Take a Weber Smoky Mountain (WSM) charcoal smoker as an example...... If you load up a charcoal basket and use the Minion Method, you can get 12- 18 hours out of a load of charcoal, depending on which size Smoky Mountain and how cold/windy it is outside. The things will hold a nice BBQ temp without an electronic controller. Add a digital control after you're comfortable doing it "old school" and you're set. The digital controls by Guru, Stoker, and PitMaster really have revolutionized smoking. Heck, with the more advanced models, you can be at work and pull up an app on your phone to check your temp, adjust it, and then set a hold temp for your meat once it is finished. It doesn't get much cooler than that.

I generally shoot for 195 with my butts, but if it starts getting very much over 200, you start having a very real chance of mushy meat. If the probe on my thermapen glides into the meat almost resistance-free, I'll take them off, make sure that they're wrapped in foil, and let them rest in an insulated cooler or cambro before pulling. Temp is just a guideline to get you close. I always do a visual and feel the meat with the probe. It gets easier with each cook. I built a faux log cabin on a 20' equipment trailer with a vending window out the back. I still have to finish off the inside. The smoker goes on the front, under the overhang. This keeps me from having to have a hood and halon system. I need to just get motivated and finish it off.

What's your best tip? Relax. Have a beer and keep the damn lid closed. Resist the the urge to hover, and did I mention to keep the damn lid closed? :-). It'll be fine.