Bo closes practice to former players indefinitely

[kchusker_chris]

I thought this team was a part of the university, and functioned on it's behalf - representing the university, which is an entity of the state. This isn't the NFL. Saying this is "his" team isn't the entire truth. It's the state's team, and everyone that feeds into the university. It's why I'm not always on board w/ the shaft they give the students. If we want the team run like the NFL, as it's own entity apart from the university then they can pitch that. Until then, it's University of Nebraska's team - not Bo's. He just leads it.

You are correct in your assessment but Bo is not beholden to us to make sure the state or fan base is 100% happy 100% of the time

I 100% agree, and I don't disagree in any way with what Bo did. I just don't like all of the "this is Bo's team he can do whatever the hell he wants" stuff. I don't agree with that. This is just another negative of where college football is going. We often treat the Huskers like an NFL franchise and they aren't, and I don't want them to be. It's a business, and I'll be the first to admit that. But it sucks, because it's not just a team with a bunch of fans. It's an extension of the state of Nebraska, the alumni, the students, the fans, etc. It's one of the primary reasons I love Husker football so much - it's way way bigger than just a football team. Comments like "it's Bo's team, just pay for your ticket, enjoy the show and shut up" kind of upset me. Because that's how you follow the NFL, not the Huskers.

[Junior]

It's Bo's team.

 

Disagree. It's our team. Without us, he has no job. Without him, we'd have a different coach.

 

Who's the last recruit you signed?

What play have you ever called from the sideline?

What practice have you ever organized and ran?

What game plan of yours has the team ever executed?

Name one team/player issue you have ever directly dealt with.

If it's your/our team to control then you/we must've hired/retained Bo because he is here.

 

That is the context in which I stated "It's Bo's team".

 

Exactly... he is the CEO of this organization, but not the owner. He still answers to the shareholders, and sometimes it would seem that he could use a reminder of that.

 

LOL, you make it sound like Bo is some out of control power hungry lunatic who isn't doing his job. Bo's popularity/job approval is just fine, even if he did have to answer to shareholders, which he doesn't. Are you suggesting that the Athletic Department is a publically owned company?

 

Fans are not shareholders. They are customers.

 

Did I say that he's a power hungry lunatic? I'm just pointing out the fallacy of "this is Bo's program". He does, in fact answer to the fans. Without the fan interest that he clearly dislikes, he wouldn't be getting $4 million a year to deal with silly issues like when the Blackshirts get passed out. If people get peeved enough, they'll vote with their donation dollars. And don't take my words out of context and suggest I'm saying people should hold back their donations over this, I've not said that at all. I'm really not overly concerned with the idea of closing practice to media or former players from time to time, however Bo could have been out in front of this by issuing a statement stating that he's doing it and why. Or he could... gasp... talk to the media about it. Maybe he doesn't "owe" it to anyone, but its still smart PR.

 

The shareholders/owner analogy is just that. An analogy. Customers might be a better analogy for an NFL team, but not necessarily for a college program. Either way, they are dependent on the fans. There is a reason these teams make such an effort to make the gameday experience as good as possible. They HAVE to have fans attending the games, and HD TVs and ticket costs are making that more difficult. So why rub fans the wrong way if you don't have to?

[HuskerNationNick]

Lol I honestly can't believe people actually get so upset over something so stupid like WAHusker and Goal-line.

 

I really think you two need to buckle your seat belts, and sit back, because Bo won't be going anywhere anytime soon. I personally wish he would close practice EVERY day and let media in once in a great while. The media is out to make a story. Whether it being something good or bad. Same goes for former players. You don't think some of those guys don't talk? Since when does closing practice kill PR? I think it should actually make us feel like he WANTS to do something for HIS team. I guess us knowing starters, the style of defense, and plays is whats best for us, and while we are at it, we will go ahead and show our opponents, just to ensure we don't go in a foot ahead of them. Come on... what goes on in practice and fall camp should be a privilege, not a right. Oh wait... it is. I actually commend and support Bo for this and I stand by it, not that it matters.

 

girlknowsfootball hit it right on the head and quite honestly, I wish I could +1 this more than once.

 

I say this to say that History shows that when Bo closes practice and access to his team to the media, it's because he has something really good that he wants to capitalize on secretly. He doesn't close practice to hide that they suck... he closes practice to protect and hide something really good.

[AFhusker]

It's Bo's team. He can do what he wants. I don't have a problem with limiting media or former player access to practices. I do hope there are some legitimate reasons forthcoming about why this has apparently been extended/widened to include former players though. Pretty leery after the crap Cally pulled but am a lot more confident that Bo would only do this for very good reasons.

 

Too often the media and fans feel/act like they have a "right" to know everything that goes on in the program. We/they actually have no such right. There are tons of good and legitimate reasons to keep secret what could be viewed at a practice. But it's also a double edged sword. If you play it this way, you sure as hell better put a product on the field that is worthy of being kept under cover.

 

I do not know you so this is not a personal shot at you, but what you said here pretty much sums up the hypocrisy of a majority of the Nebraska fan base. And I think it is pretty disgusting how so many excuses are made for Bo when he does the same things that Callahan did.

[EZ-E]

I guess I don't understand the banning of former players part in all of this. Guys who played a big role in making this program what it was can't stop by and simply watch a practice anymore. Umm o.k. Bo.

 

For me the last thing I would want to do is leave a bad taste in the mouth of guys who helped make this program what it was.

 

The e-mail was read this morning Sharpe and Benning. It didn't seem like that big of a deal. Benning is a former player and member of the media, and he didn't think it was that big of a deal. The e-mail didn't say "forever" it just said they were closing practices "indefinitely". That could be 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, who knows.

 

Thanks for clarifying. At the same time it still seems ridiculous. Let's see how long 'indefinitely' is.

 

I have it on very good account that there is nobody more inviting than Bo when it comes to this. There has to be a very good reason.

[Count 'Bility]

It's Bo's team. He can do what he wants. I don't have a problem with limiting media or former player access to practices. I do hope there are some legitimate reasons forthcoming about why this has apparently been extended/widened to include former players though. Pretty leery after the crap Cally pulled but am a lot more confident that Bo would only do this for very good reasons.

 

Too often the media and fans feel/act like they have a "right" to know everything that goes on in the program. We/they actually have no such right. There are tons of good and legitimate reasons to keep secret what could be viewed at a practice. But it's also a double edged sword. If you play it this way, you sure as hell better put a product on the field that is worthy of being kept under cover.

 

And I think it is pretty disgusting how so many excuses are made for Bo when he does the same things that Callahan did.

I know you're serious, and I dont even understand why. Hence, I dont really know why I'm responding to this, but Bo is lightyears above and beyond the shenanigans of Petersen and Callahan-and that's on a bad day. You can attack Bo's credentials on the field all you want. Folks that do so have a legit gripe. But when you attack what he's done behind the scenes in trying to restore the special intangibles of this program from pre-2003, and compare what he's done with such to what Bill Callahan did, it shows an obvious agenda against Bo as a person and a complete ignorance of anything regarding the Nebraska football program on any common sense level.

 

In other words, it's time to pull head from rear.

[sd'sker]

I do not know you so this is not a personal shot at you, but what you said here pretty much sums up the hypocrisy of a majority of the Nebraska fan base. And I think it is pretty disgusting how so many excuses are made for Bo when he does the same things that Callahan did.

it is all about context, bro. callahan completely dismantled husker tradition and history. we do not know enough about this to really make an opinion at all.

[ColoradoHusk]

I love when the BCers come out of the woodwork to defend their hero.

[Ulty]

It's Bo's team. He can do what he wants. I don't have a problem with limiting media or former player access to practices. I do hope there are some legitimate reasons forthcoming about why this has apparently been extended/widened to include former players though. Pretty leery after the crap Cally pulled but am a lot more confident that Bo would only do this for very good reasons.

 

Too often the media and fans feel/act like they have a "right" to know everything that goes on in the program. We/they actually have no such right. There are tons of good and legitimate reasons to keep secret what could be viewed at a practice. But it's also a double edged sword. If you play it this way, you sure as hell better put a product on the field that is worthy of being kept under cover.

 

I do not know you so this is not a personal shot at you, but what you said here pretty much sums up the hypocrisy of a majority of the Nebraska fan base. And I think it is pretty disgusting how so many excuses are made for Bo when he does the same things that Callahan did.

 

There are some preeeety big differences between Pelini and Callahan though. Being competent at your job earns a lot of leeway. Besides, Callahan didn't just close practices, he took down pictures of previous eras and put them in storage, he shunned former players, he openly dissed Osborne, he trashed the walk-on program, and he lost a hell of a lot of games.

 

Closing practices is something most coaches do. The hyperbole about targeting former players is bunk. Bo has shown respect for tradition (unless you wanna argue about handing out blackshirts, lol) and has grown in his job, and is looked upon favorably by most of Husker nation. That's not to say Bo should be immune from criticism, we should be free to criticize as much as we want. But this is honestly not a big deal, and to compare him to Callahan because of it is downright silly.

[Mavric]

Which generates more conversion: having media reports from practice or arguing about why we don't have any media reports from practice?

[TAKODA]

Ha ha!

 

I see this thread picked up momentum!

 

ummmm; Why? (not a big deal guys) really, yes really. Ok, maybe I'm wrong. Carry on!

 

LMAO!

[Landlord]

Without the fan interest that he clearly dislikes....

 

 

Can you give me some documented evidence that shows how Bo Pelini clearly dislikes the fan interest at Nebraska?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Landlord]

Lol I honestly can't believe people actually get so upset over something so stupid like WAHusker and Goal-line.

 

 

 

Ummm.....are you sure because...

 

 

 

Ok, I haven't cared much for Kirk Herbstreit, but since his whine baby attitude when we beat out Miami in the '95 Huskers vs '01 Miami competition, I have began to get a HUGE disliking for him.

 

Well tonight, I decide to see how much he doesn't like us, and watch the Herbie Awards.

 

Start off, he doesn't believe Oregon will have the same offense, since Frost has never called a play.

 

He was asked who in the B1G could take the reigns from the SEC, he mentioned tOSU of course, then second team was Wisconsin. Even without Beliema he thinks they will be a legitimate threat, and then he called Michigan a powerhouse. No mention of us.

 

Who does he think will make it to the CCG... tOSU and MSU. If Michigan is the power house, why would he think it would be MSU? "Their defense will get them there"

 

More to come the further this shows progresses lol.

 

This guy is a douche!

[Saunders]

And I think it is pretty disgusting how so many excuses are made for Bo when he does the same things that Callahan did.

You mean like closing practices a week before our first game like just about every other coach in the country.

 

Oh, I forgot...

 

[JJ Husker]

It's Bo's team. He can do what he wants. I don't have a problem with limiting media or former player access to practices. I do hope there are some legitimate reasons forthcoming about why this has apparently been extended/widened to include former players though. Pretty leery after the crap Cally pulled but am a lot more confident that Bo would only do this for very good reasons.

 

Too often the media and fans feel/act like they have a "right" to know everything that goes on in the program. We/they actually have no such right. There are tons of good and legitimate reasons to keep secret what could be viewed at a practice. But it's also a double edged sword. If you play it this way, you sure as hell better put a product on the field that is worthy of being kept under cover.

 

I do not know you so this is not a personal shot at you, but what you said here pretty much sums up the hypocrisy of a majority of the Nebraska fan base. And I think it is pretty disgusting how so many excuses are made for Bo when he does the same things that Callahan did.

 

No problem- not taken personally. But, I think you're wrong in saying this sums up any type of hypocrisy. We apparently have different views but I see absolutely no similarities between Bo and Callahan. I mean it, nothing in common whatsoever. I feel this is so ludicrous I won't even go into to details as to how they're different. The only vague similarity would be that most fans got to the point of hating BC and wanting him gone. With BP there are a small handful that dislike Bo and want him gone. If you're in that small minority, it probably does seem sort of like the same thing.