HuskerFanChuck

The funny thing to me is... this is the exact type of commitment they WOULDN'T make when Nebraska asked for it... but now that they've saved the ut 12 (such as it is), they want to make sure nobody else can exit without some pain being inflicted. Not that the $$ Colorado and Nebraska paid weren't pain enough, or that T A&M won't pay enough... but they want to make sure it's worse for anyone else. If I were anyone else in the conference right now, I'd be looking to find my exit strategy, and find it before I ever signed the agreement. That's not a place you want to be permanently tied into.

Aye. Should be a great show. Thanks guys!

Post em if ya got em! Oh... and...

GBR!

OH MY WORD!!!!

The restaurant Toast in Lincoln has the BEST chicken salad. OR something to that effect... just trying to help the cause.

Not a lot else to say, other than what a fantastic showing by a team just moving to DI to draw an established DI team. Granted, it is exhibition, but from the highlights I've seen, it looks like they played well!

Interesting tidbits from accompanying articles to the basketball stories:

Apparently, they've still trying to decide on where to play men's basketball games this year. They're having trouble with getting a lot of home games, so they're trying to decide if it would make more sense to stay on campus, at least for next year.

Men's and women's games used to be played back to back, but now they won't necessarily be tied like they used to.

Or they go outside the ACC. Louisville has been mentioned as a possibility. Always a possibility someone that's not even on the radar screen for people will pop up as well. Regardless, I hope it works for A&M. I'll gladly throw support behind those that will battle the dollar-eyed monster that is Texas.

Don't know if this is the proper place to put this, but it seemed as good as any:

Shatel's take on A&M leaving

The most interesting thing I found in all of this was something new I hadn't thought of before. Not all the information pertaining to A&M leaving, and the initial blows dealt, but the idea of the Big East taking four of the Big 12 schools, and the b-ball schools breaking off into a new conference, and all of a sudden, Creighton enters an expansion mix. That was kind of a shot out of nowhere by Tom. Would be an interesting development. Granted, while I follow and root for the Bluejays, they are my third Nebraska team now, with the Mavericks taking that spot away. Still, I like to see any Nebraska team make a step up for themselves, and that would be an interesting prospect for Creighton in all of this. Food for thought, anyway.

Absolutely, redblooded. Football is one of the most expensive sports to maintain at a Division I level, even in the FCS. Put it simply, very few schools make money off of it, and most bleed serious dollars to keep it. There's a reason many don't play, period. One of the big things UNO could not afford to do going forward was have a program bleed money. For starters, you were talking about almost doubling the number of scholarships, and that was just to have a basement number that I believe FCS has, not even the limit. Football needed to go if the move to Division I was to made.

Whether the move to Division I needed to be made is up for debate, but considering many of the brilliant hiring moves that Alberts has made, it's tough to argue against him when it comes to the finances, especially when outside business people and an outside firm was brought in to look at the logistics and the finances of the situation. I'll give Trev the benefit of the doubt on how long athletics would have been around had the course remained the same. Even if you extend that twice as long, in ten years, you have no athletic department. Remember, the financial problems were not of Trev's making, and he was brought in to try and help fix them, and he did what he thought the program needed to do. I commend Trev for having the guts to do what he felt was necessary, even though he knew it would be unpopular. He's made up for that in spades with some great moves to attempt to create an atmosphere of excitement in the department. Specifically, the moves he has made with regard to the hockey program, and the hire he made for men's soccer have me excited for the future of Maverick athletics. The men's soccer program sounds like it's off to a fantastic start.

As far as wrestling, it's still tough to figure it out totally, I'll agree with that. I don't think it's stupid to want to bring yourself in line with the conference you're moving into, and something probably had to go in order to have at least five men's sports that are in the Summit League when you're moving into the Summit League. Wrestling would have needed it's own conference, and ultimately probably made the most sense of the sport to replace. Really bites to have to end a championship program. Maybe it can be resurrected at some point, but at this point, it is what it is, and you move forward.

I'm excited for what it will be, and ready to see what the Mavericks have in store for the future. I'm excited about having a third Division I school in the state, and more importantly, to potentially have more competition for the Husker athletic teams, to hopefully drive our teams to be better as well.

The toughest part is this first year, and the difficulty of scheduling teams. After this year, the Summit League schedules will ease the pain, and they'll be able to move forward into what hopefully is a bright new future.

My two bits, anyway.

Interesting that they're meeting on Tuesday... and the Board of Regents meeting for Texas A&M has been moved up to Monday, with the SEC people evidently voting Saturday or Sunday. I think this happens before that committee even gets a chance to say anything. Good for A&M, to take the wind out of the sails of politicians who don't even meet again until '13.

Edit: Gah... redblooded beat me to it.

The OWH is in their fourth day of an eleven day series on UNO sports and the transition to Division I. Monday was men's soccer, Tuesday was women's soccer, Wednesday was women's volleyball, and today was women's cross country/track & field. Tomorrow is men and women's golf, Saturday is men's and women's tennis, Sunday is men's basketball, Aug. 15 is women's basketball, Aug. 16 is women's swimming, Aug. 17 is baseball, and Aug. 18 is softball. They've done some pretty good pieces so far, trying to capture the goods and bads of moving up.

Here's the articles so far:

Men's soccer

Women's soccer

Women's volleyball

Women's cross country and track & field

Men's and women's golf

Men's and women's tennis

Men's basketball

Women's basketball

Women's swimming

Baseball

Softball

Here's the OWH Mavs page: World Herald Mav site Some good accompanying articles, especially a few regarding the soccer team.

Series completed on Thursday, August 18. It presented good information regarding the goods and bads of the transition. Should be interesting to see what happens over the next year.

To be honest, from someone that doesn't post often, and typically sits back and watches the conversations run their course, I have a few observations:

First, it appears something happened at the softball game, but exactly what is up to interpretation. Regardless, it sounds like it never should have been brought up in the context of Pelini at the University of Nebraska, because it has NO bearing on his efficacy in that position, or his ability to do his job. In that sense, it was a parent being a parent, and like it or not, even people in that position should be give the opportunity to do that without being under the microscope. My opinion. Heck, I know where Tom goes to church (I see him every so often in passing, and my father-in-law actually knows the man, though not really well), but that doesn't mean I'm going to come on here to let everyone know when and where he was at church, and what happened. Give Bo a tad bit of a break already.

Second, Endoquan seems to have some type of inside source, or knows the program a bit. That being said, it becomes VERY apparent in only a few posts on here there is a grudge being held against Bo for something. Whether it was a personal slight or whatever, Endo has made it very apparent he doesn't like Bo, and also holds Bo to a MUCH higher standard than most here. I don't know enough in the program at UN-L to know where Tom is situated in relation to Bo. However, I think to give impressions about where Tom is situated just smacks of 'I know more than you', and 'Bo will get his in the end'. I don't care who you are, and I don't care what your grudge is, but that type of commentary becomes petty, cynical, and quite frankly extremely annoying to many regarding a message board devoted to the team this man coaches.

Third, let me make my stance perfectly clear: I am a Bo supporter, but I am more than anything a Husker supporter. I supported this team, Pederson, and Callahan when that was the group in charge. Not because I liked them or everything they did, but because I support UN-L and the program. I was a strong believer Frank needed to go, but wasn't happy about the fashion it was done in. But that being said, this was the man a vast majority of Husker nation wanted as head coach, and the one a vast majority will go to the wall for in support. Endo, I think you're SERIOUSLY underestimating the good will Bo has built among Husker nation simply by leading the Huskers back to the 9-10 win seasons. I'll gladly give you your due regarding this if things play out like they do, but I think you underestimate Bo, his capabilities, and how many in Husker nation believe in what he's doing.

All right, now that I've written that book. Back to my lurking. Have a blessed Sunday and a wonderful week all!

I took my three year old son for his first trip to Memorial Stadium yesterday. I didn't get out of work until about a quarter til 3, so by the time I got him from daycare and got to the stadium, there were only about ten minutes left. We came in gate 3, so we just hopped in the OL line and got about 10 or so autographs from there. He loved being able to see the inside and how big it was. We walked across the field, saw several players, and had all kinds of fun. Several of the offensive linemen gave him high fives, which he absolutely loved. Really fun time! Have to remember how it's organized for the next time we go. Would have liked to have gone through the quarterback line, but this was the first time I'd gone, so had no clue what to expect. Still a very fun way to spend a bit of the afternoon!

I'm still not convinced that this won't blow up in the faces of the other schools. If anybody can get a copy of the contract, I'd certainly be interested to see the fine print, that may easily have a clause stating that it's for thirteen years as long as the conference remains together, and gives the conference/Fox a way out if someone leaves. There is still no long-term commitment from the member schools to the conference. As stated above, Beebe did us a favor. We'll be much better off, and much happier, with the no-nonsense, leave-your-ego-at-the-door attitude of the Big Ten.