blessed2bahusker

Wow, that is awesome. Maybe the best Husker related story I have heard! I know that i will be buying this book. It is Husker gold.

I agree, you are right about that. At the same time the first half of the 1900's baseball was America's past-time. However, society was changing and more and more baseball was not fast paced enough, wasn't "exciting" enough, etc.Then the strike happened and a lot of people who were on the fence just gave MLB the middle finger. Now I'm not saying that football's popularity is going to wane overnight, like others have said, but I think in time (a long time) football will lose a lot of viewers who crave the violent aspect. I don't know, maybe they will gravitate to MMA, maybe Hockey, maybe a new sport comes along, but you can't take away a sports essential element and expect it to be the same game, with the same following. It will change eventually.

Re-watched that game the other weekend, it was mamzing to me how much movement our OL was getting against UGA's DL. I know Jenkins was out, but his backup was supposed to be better than him. And Ameer ran so hard, there were a couple of plays were he ran through Ogletree. Yep. I just watched a couple weeks ago also. We were the better, more physical team for 3 quarters period...... and then the AA fumbles and we just lost something. Would have taken a big lead. Man we were so close.

Hey candyman I just finished sending an e-mail to our RB coach Ron Brown with links provided to your last post and to Rodney Anderson II hudl highlights as well. I am going to assume that the coaches already know about Mr. Anderson, but just in case I figured I would send an e-mail. If they are aware of him I am suprised he does not have an offer because he looks very good in that film for a sophomore, but I'll just defer to the coaches on that. They have proved they know what they are doing.

From what weve heard from our local newspapers all but a few of our incoming recruits are here right now starting summer conditioning. Adam Taylor was not mentioned as one of those who wouldn't be here until later, so I assume he is here getting settled in and I'm guessing already working hard.

MLB might have said the same thing a few decades ago. They seemed safe, but they are losing the battle right now.

Actually our offense was a scoring juggernaut if turnovers weren't getting in the way. IF. I realize that is a big IF, but I believe that is what most knowledgeable fans are resting their hopes on. That and to a slightly lesser extent a lot of returning, proven experience. But if you take away even half of our turnovers last year we are looking at a top five offense. As Dirk's turnover article pointed out exceptionally well it was an enormous improbabilty that we could have so much offensive success despite our plague of turnovers. I for one think this will be addressed this year. There is "talk" out there that the necessary steps are being taken. Words are wind but one can hope, right?

At first I was hoping this kid would be a D-end for us but after watching his film I am 100% ok with this kid staying at tight end. I think he could be an All-American there. I know that is a stretch from just watching a highlight tape, but dang, this kid is raw and he is still dominating. He has so much upside!

No doubt. That is about as good of film as you are going to see from a junior DB. He is as impressive on film as any kid we have recruited since I started following in 2004. He is only lacking the measurables. If he was 6'1" 190 he would be a high 4 star kid.

He is certainly explosive. His game is very Martinez-esque. He would be the best running qb on our roster if he were to committ and be given a chance at qb. I however would be shocked if some other big time school doesn't enter the picture soon and lure him away.

Ok, seriously though. We need to get back to the important thing here. Avery Moss's genitalia.

I think once you throw the word genitalia into a conversation serious goes right out the window.

How did he not go chasing anyone with it? He went into the store and flashed her. She was there working her shift so she couldn't just up and leave the store. Then, while she was stuck there working, he came back and harassed her again. People who work retail are sort of trapped. They have to be polite no matter how big of an a-hole the customer is. It's bad enough having to deal with your run of the mill annoying customers without having them start waving their penises around at you. There were more than one. I just finished laughing really hard You both need to learn grammars. its hard to remember proper grammar when I am laughing so hard I have tears in my eyes.

How did he not go chasing anyone with it? He went into the store and flashed her. She was there working her shift so she couldn't just up and leave the store. Then, while she was stuck there working, he came back and harassed her again. People who work retail are sort of trapped. They have to be polite no matter how big of an a-hole the customer is. It's bad enough having to deal with your run of the mill annoying customers without having them start waving their penises around at you. There were more than one. I just finished laughing really hard

It's not like any field with artificial turf is fooling anyone anyway. Might as well embrace it. It fooled the Iowa State cheerleaders long enough to catch some of them grazing on it.. Before I got to your last sentence, I thought to myself "either that or it will just be some new turf". Then I read it. Spooky. I always thought it was the alternatin' colors holding us back..and making our linemen forget the snap count. Hmmmm. I will take time to ponder this. Maybe we need to start a petition.

At first I laughed at the thought of him flashing his junk not being a a big deal, but I think you are right. I did some pretty rediculous stuff in high school and college on a dare or for a little cash, worse than flashing your junk. Who knows, maybe some of his buddies dared him to do it and they were all laughing their asses off about it. I hope it is more than just him exposing himself for thrill cause that makes me wonder if he is mentally stable.

Before I got to your last sentence, I thought to myself "either that or it will just be some new turf". Then I read it. Spooky. HaHa. Great minds think alike.

Yeah buddy! F U Urb!

There's really two ways this thing could go. Pollard could be correct that we won't even have football in another two or three decades. However, there is also another possibility. When one looks at the block by Bell, he could have just as easily got in front of the guy and stood there like a screen in basketball. By doing this, there's a very good chance Bell could have gotten injured. The way the rules are going, it appears as though the ones doing the hitting will eventually be the ones being hit causing injury to themselves. A screen may work well in basketball, but it's going to cause a lot of screeners on the football field injuries. The biggest problem with the new rules is how they're interpreted and then used by the officials. If a running QB flushes out of the pocket, there's a lot less chance a defender gets hit with a penalty for levelling the guy as opposed to a pocket passer who is flushed from the pocket and crushed. It's almost like there's two different sets of rules. I always go back to the difference with regards to sphering. A RB running through the line with his head down is never called for leading with the helmet while a LB or such is almost always called for it when making a tackle. Yep. I was thinking about this earlier. I am just trying to picture a blocker trying to sprint across the field to intercept a defender before he makes the tackle but right before contact he just stops and tries not to hit the guy too hard and just gets leveled himself. The rule makes absolutely no sense.

I think this is what has been holding us back all of these years. That last turf was put in under Peterson and we have been cursed ever since. This new turf will usher in a new era of Husker dominance. Either that or it will just be some new turf.

Yeah scoring touchdowns and not fumbling while not complaining about being used as a short down back when you were used to getting toss sweeps over and over again in high school definitely means you've proven nothing. Okay. So I guess he has proven to be a team player? That means he is a lock for the #2 RB spot? I don't want to argue with you about it. I like Cross as a RB a lot. But my point was that using him sparingly in mop up duty and on a few short yardage 3rd down runs doesn't PROVE anything he can do as a RB if he were suddenly put into the starting role. Look you have a guy that has been a SITUATIONAL running back...one that the COACHES LIMITED with how they used him. He more than answered the call they gave to him and PROVED that he could do exactly what they wanted him to do. This was on top of splitting reps with Heard. He stays after practice taking handoffs and catching balls AS A FRESHMAN...getting hundreds more reps per night than any other running back we have. He spends his spare time in the film room, going over any and every game we've played in the past few years and probably film from the greats we had in the mid nineties (I would if I was him and had access to it)...while other people are eating chow in the lunch room...he's taking a to go box up to the film room for more study. So, while I think Newby will one day be a great back...I do not see him leapfrogging over a guy that has Cross' ability and his study/work ethic. Cross is the real deal guys...when he is given the chance to run side to side with a 1 cut go type of play, go he will and he'll do it well. He just needs to be given that opportunity instead of short yardage. I see Cross as the solid number 2...it's his to lose. If he keeps going like he's doing now, there is no way a freshman comes in and jumps him no matter who it is...they'd just be too far behind on learning plays and as a pass protector. Those are the 2 things most high school running backs have to learn and Cross has put the time and effort to learn it...freshman running backs who haven't seen a practice at NU haven't. Referneces: http://www.dailynebr...19bb30f31a.html http://omaha.com/art...SKERS/712219888 http://admin.college....3914/1.2754614 http://www.dailynebr...1a4bcf6878.html http://www.huskers.c...TCLID=205669945 Since no one else is jumping in on your side I figured i would chime in. Off the top of my head I can't think of an example of a guy who has as much pure ability, intellegence and integrity as Cross combined with a work ethic like that who has failed (obviously not counting things like injury, etc.). Yeah, people are saying that he hasn't proven himself, but 90% of proving yourself has to do with how you go about your business during the week, not gamedays. If there is one player on this team who has proven himself it is Imani Cross. It will pay off. You know who hasn't proven themselves? Any of the true freshman. I like the potential of Taylor and Newby (I'm a big believer in Taylor) as much as anybody else, but i don't think either one of those guys will be hopping Cross, unless he is injured. Those guys will have a learning curve just like about every freshman we have ever had here and Cross has already pushed through that learning curve, and I don't see him letting a couple freshman catch him. And before someone says how Cross is just not fast enough, atheletic enough, blah blah blah go back and watch his sophomore film before he gained all the the muscle. He was much faster and shiftier and a more explosive back. He will have that this year even if it didn't quite show itself in the spring game. He is re-learning how to run optimally at his new weight, which is 15 lbs lighter.

I agree with you about the way they were doing it. Watching the highlights of a lot of our young players (Afalava, Anderson, Jackson in particular but I know there were others) they were very good at tackling with form and getting that ball out while still wrapping up. That's what I'm talking about. Not that stupid crap where you try to grab the ball and not tackle the player. Putting your helmet right on the ball, bringing your arm down so hard it punches the ball out all while wrapping up is the kind of technique I am talking about here, and a lot of these younger guys do it instinctually.

I think that while we statistically we will only be a little better this year, I truly believe it is going to feel like we have a lot better defense this year. And this is what I mean. Just a couple predictions. 1) It will be feast or famine for the defense early on. We will have a lot of busted plays, especially at the beginning of the season but we will have more big plays such as tackles for loss and turnovers forced - We have a lot of atheletic and aggressive players, notably at the LB spot who are going to be hitting hard, raking at that ball, trying to rip it out.I think our interceptions will go up this year too. We have a lot of experienced talent in the secondary. And we finally have the speed to get home on the blitzes from the LB spot. I think these too stats will go up significantly. 2) Way fewer missed tackles. We might have players out of position or whatnot quite often, but when we are in position I don't think we are going to see those whiffs nearly as frequently. Most of these guys waiting in the wings were very good tacklers in highschool and have the speed and atheleticism necessary. Obviously they are going to have to adjust to the speed of the game but they will be facing a pretty salty offense every day in practice. I think our missed tackles will drop significantly this year. I think that most of us can live with some of those mistakes from a young defense if we are attacking, physical, creating turnovers and tackling well. It was just so frustrating watching a veteran defense last year whiff on tackles, too slow to make up ground, getting pushed around up front and frankly not very aggressive trying to get the ball out. It might just be wishful thinking, but I really believe those things will get much better this year.

When i see this kids running style all I can think is Lawrence Phillips. I just can't see him ending up any where but RB. When you watch him on defense he has all the tools but he just doesn't have that high motor, ferocious nature that you like to see. Not that that can't be brought out in him, but it just seems he is just such a natural with the ball in his hands. Like others have said though, I will worry about all that later, just get him here. This kid is the real deal, and just down the road. A must get.

I'd put Nebraska over UNC. Yeah, and the stats claim that that argument can be made. Heck, you could put Nebraska over Clemson and Florida State, and have it not be totally weird either. Against Nebraska, UNC would probably have more success running the ball against us than normal while we would have less success running the ball against them as we normally do. One thing is certain, a game between Nebraska and UNC, Clemson, or Florida State last year would've been a fun one to watch. Not trying to flame here BB Big XII because I appreciate this work and think it is very interesting. I have a genuine question about the validity however. Does any of this statistical analysis take into account strength of schedule or offensive and defensive rankings? Could it, or is that just far too complex? I am just a novice when it comes to statistical analysis, so forgive the question. For example would this type of analysis place us third or fourth in say the WAC or Mountain West? No worries, it's a great question to ask. Every time research is conducted questions like these have to be asked, and the external, internal, measurement, and statistical conclusion validity must be constantly checked. I'll run an analysis with the WAC and really briefly summarize the findings. Here's the answer to your question, in graph form: This graph depicts the standardized amount of wins expected for each team in the conference (including Nebraska). As you can see, Nebraska was placed in a cluster all of it's own, and that cluster had the highest amount of wins, by a significant amount. The following graphs depict the offensive and defensive differences between each cluster of teams. This chart shows the offensive statistics. Nebraska is the bolded red line. It's easy to see why Nebraska would be the best offense: while they passed the ball fewer times, they executed with similar success to the next best cluster of teams. On top of that, Nebraska was far and away more successful running the ball. This graph depicts the defensive statistics. As you can see, while Nebraska didn't statistically have the best defense, the Z SOS score is provides such a huge discrepancy that those statistics really can't be compared. Nebraska put up better offensive numbers compared to the next best cluster; with a harder SOS it would be assumed that Nebraska would put up even better numbers if it played a WAC schedule. While Nebraska put up statistically worse defensive statistics, it did so against a much harder schedule; so it would be assumed that, with a WAC schedule, Nebraska would've put up much better numbers. So if I had to rank the teams in the WAC (including last year), it would be: 8. New Mexico State 7. Idaho 6. Texas State 5. Louisiana Tech 4. Texas-San Antonio 3. San Jose State 2. Utah State 1. Nebraska Awesome stuff! I appreciate the response. I will look forward to seeing the rest of your conference breakdowns. Again thanks for your hard work and sharing it.