OldTimeHuskerFan

Prior to the start of the conference schedule, a national analyst commented that Nebraska would be very fortunate if they would get any breaks from Big 12 officials. This has certainly proven to be very prophetic. I haven't taken the time to go over the statistics, but I'm willing to bet that Nebraska is likely to prove to be the highly penalized team in the Big 12 this year. And why ? Are they a "dirty team" ? I think not. Are they undisciplined ? I don't really think that is the case either. In looking over the past few games, most of the calls which have been made against them have been purely subjective and "unreviewed." In any game that one team is penalized 145 yards and the other 10 yards, it immediately arouses some suspicions of bias. Like it or not, the Big 12 hates the fact that Nebraska is leaving the Big 12. It hurts them financially and that's what it all boils down to in college football anymore. There is no point in going through every penalty. There were absolutely penalties which the Huskers earned and should have been called for, but at the same time, there were far more that were called against them, that should never have been called and possibly as a result cost them the game. The films clearly show Cotton kicking, but why ? Some one mentions in this thread that he was being mauled in that pile up and was attempting to free his leg. Otherwise why would he be kicking at all ? Films clearly show the ball was in Husker hands and yet the officials allowed a full 7 seconds without blowing it dead. This happens consistently in the Big 12 where the quality of officiating is substandard to most of the other conferences. Pass interference is one of those really subjective calls. When a player is turned around by an opposing player yanking his jersey from behind, shouldn't that play at least be reviewed ? Anyone who watches college football or NFL football for that matter knows there is holding on every single play. So it's simply a matter of when an official chooses to call it. It becomes very obvious that it is called after a large gain on the same team on numerous occasions. And the same might be said of "procedure calls". Why isn't it called prior to the snap, instead of waiting until the outcome of the snap ? Surely the official can see that there is a violation before the snap. Do I think this is some kind of a conspiracy against the Huskers ? No I do not. But it does raise the question of consistency in the officiating among officials and perhaps a small bias on the part of the Big 12 which has a rather large ax to grind and who of course hires and fires said officials. As for Bo ? I'm proud to have a coach that loses it once in awhile. He knew damn well he was getting the shaft and was not the kind of guy to bend over and take it. He let his players know he was behind them 100% and isn't that what a coach is supposed to do ? He didn't cost us the game, the officials did. We will win against the Buffaloes, but get ready to get screwed in Texas against The Cowboys. Without a 100% healthy Martinez, there is no way we are are going beat them and a hand picked crew of officials who are going to be rewarded with bowl game assignments, and you can take that to the bank. Ever wonder why Brent Musberger hates Nebraska so much ? You have to go back to Sep 1981, the year we beat Florida State and Bobby Bowden called Husker fans the greatest fans in the country. Brent doesn't have fond memories of that trip however. You'd have to check the police blotter of the Omaha Police Dept to understand why and a certain incident at the Tower Motel on West Dodge :-)

At the beginning of the season while watching one of the pre-game shows, one of the announcers said that Nebraska would be lucky if any close officiating call would go their way all season during a Big-12 game. It didn't mean much at the time, but as the season rolls on, I'm beginning to see how prophetic that statement was. I've been a Husker fan since 1962, through the good and bad times, the great and "Callahan" years, and I have to admit to a certain amount of partiality when it comes to officiating. Like many true college football fans, I rejoiced when the current review system was initiated, thinking we would finally see a more fair and balanced system. College level officials still are comprised mainly of fairly well to do men who can afford to take time to be away from their regular jobs and live vicariously in this part time activity. They are NOT PROFESSIONALS, and they are HUMAN, which means they make MISTAKES, and they have PERSONAL BIAS as well. Most of them are not in the kind of shape they once were or SHOULD BE and are most often OUT OF POSITION to make accurate calls. All that having been said, this has been the absolutely worst year of BIG 8, and subsequently BIG 12 officiating I have ever seen. There is HOLDING by both teams on every since play, so calling that infraction becomes purely arbitrary. When it is called 70% of the time on one team, questions begin to arise. There are current concerns about injuries occurring from helmet to helmet contact. There is a simple solution. INSTANT EJECTION for the offending player. You don't call that on one player and then let it slide when it occurs 2 minutes later from a member of the other teams defense. If INSTANT EJECTION was used, perhaps coaches would stop "coaching" it as a means of dislodging a ball from a player. And you don't really have to have a degree in rocket science to know when a player's forward motion is stopped. When six defensive players are holding the runner in such a way that he can't FALL DOWN while they rip the ball from his hands, do we really think that's a FUMBLE ?? Just because the player's legs are churning doesn't mean he's got forward momentum. And how much time should elapse after a player is on the ground before a whistle is blown ? Can't he be DOWN without a knee or elbow physically touching the ground ? A look at ACL injuries will clarify that question very quickly. We really need to take a closer look at officiating in a world where BIG BIG MONEY is involved in college football. I'm not suggesting for a second that officials intentionally favor one team over another, but I am suggesting that Nebraska has had more than their share of call go against them this year and some of them have been quite blatant. I have one more comment before climbing down off my soapbox. Does anyone else feel there is another sports announcer alive who can ruin a good football game like Brent Musberger ? :-) I am so sick of this tired old windbag and his anti-Nebraska harping. Not that it's only Nebraska. Brent has nothing good to say about whoever is on the field against Oklahoma, Southern Cal, Ohio State, Penn State, Florida State. He is the greatest cheerleader on the air. Let's all drop ABC an email and ask them politely to put this old workhorse out to pasture where he belongs where he can share his glory days of standing next to Roger Maris at a urinal in Yankee Stadium once or how his Grandson played in the same Pop Warner league as Joe Namath's bartender kid. Hang it up Brent......