Nebraska Football Show.....Bo calls out the fans

[beanman]

I'm sorry, but I think it's warranted. Every game I go to I'm disappointed with the crowd. Every time something goes wrong our crowd sits and pouts. It's lame. I don't even like going to games anymore because I get sick of being the only one yelling. It's not just old folks either, there's plenty of younger people that sit there as well. And it's not just against teams like Kansas. Missouri was the exception. I swear our fans will b!^@h about anything. Pretty soon Bo will get fed up with our whiny fanbase and move on. Then we'll get stuck with another Callahan. Then you'll have something to b!^@h about.

It is not warranted. Bo put oatmeal out there and expected a filet mignon reception. They scored 20 points against Kansas, they bumbled around, and the crowd was subdued when the offense was out. It is unreasonable to half-a$$ it and expect us to scream full-bore.

What kind of message does this send his team? "We're going to put the reins on the offense, but we expect our crowd to cheer our mediocre production." Great message! Half-a$$ it, but expect full praise.

I agree with Bo on 99% of things, but I most certainly do NOT agree with this. He's flat-out wrong. And if you think the crowd's reaction to that vanilla offense is going to cause Bo to move on, you misunderstand Bo completely.

Our offensive line isn't injured, are they? No depth issues, no hidden problems, right? Then where were the pancake blocks? Where was the push? This is the 110th-rated rush defense in the country, and we managed zero 100-yard rushers. That is a lack of effort, pure and simple.

It's easy to be critical on a message board, but keep in mind that these guys are trying to go to school at the same time as playing these football games. If I was one of them and saw Kansas on the schedule, I'd probably worry a little more about school that week and be a little less focused on the game. Sometimes we lose focus or intensity; it's human nature. I just don't understand how I can go to games like Texas or Texas Tech last year and right from the start the crowd is out of it. Like I said, we'll find anything to b!^@h about here.

 

[Overland Park Husker]

A lot of people are saying that the offense gave them nothing to cheer about. While I agree that the crowd celebrates when the players do something good I find my self wondering should the team be the ones picking the crowd up and making them cheer or should the crowd be the ones cheering picking the team up?

I was at the game and something just seemed off. Late tail gaiters, bars relatively mild, etc. Lincoln as a whole seemed dead. 

 

[Nebula]

It's easy to be critical on a message board, but keep in mind that these guys are trying to go to school at the same time as playing these football games. If I was one of them and saw Kansas on the schedule, I'd probably worry a little more about school that week and be a little less focused on the game. Sometimes we lose focus or intensity; it's human nature. I just don't understand how I can go to games like Texas or Texas Tech last year and right from the start the crowd is out of it. Like I said, we'll find anything to b!^@h about here.

If you're using the word "school" as a euphemism for stunningly beautiful, scantily clad women with loosely defined morals then yeah, totally.

(j/k)

 

[knapplc]

I'm sorry, but I think it's warranted. Every game I go to I'm disappointed with the crowd. Every time something goes wrong our crowd sits and pouts. It's lame. I don't even like going to games anymore because I get sick of being the only one yelling. It's not just old folks either, there's plenty of younger people that sit there as well. And it's not just against teams like Kansas. Missouri was the exception. I swear our fans will b!^@h about anything. Pretty soon Bo will get fed up with our whiny fanbase and move on. Then we'll get stuck with another Callahan. Then you'll have something to b!^@h about.

It is not warranted. Bo put oatmeal out there and expected a filet mignon reception. They scored 20 points against Kansas, they bumbled around, and the crowd was subdued when the offense was out. It is unreasonable to half-a$$ it and expect us to scream full-bore.

What kind of message does this send his team? "We're going to put the reins on the offense, but we expect our crowd to cheer our mediocre production." Great message! Half-a$$ it, but expect full praise.

I agree with Bo on 99% of things, but I most certainly do NOT agree with this. He's flat-out wrong. And if you think the crowd's reaction to that vanilla offense is going to cause Bo to move on, you misunderstand Bo completely.

Our offensive line isn't injured, are they? No depth issues, no hidden problems, right? Then where were the pancake blocks? Where was the push? This is the 110th-rated rush defense in the country, and we managed zero 100-yard rushers. That is a lack of effort, pure and simple.

It's easy to be critical on a message board, but keep in mind that these guys are trying to go to school at the same time as playing these football games. If I was one of them and saw Kansas on the schedule, I'd probably worry a little more about school that week and be a little less focused on the game. Sometimes we lose focus or intensity; it's human nature. I just don't understand how I can go to games like Texas or Texas Tech last year and right from the start the crowd is out of it. Like I said, we'll find anything to b!^@h about here.

That's a fine post. Unfortunately, it refutes none of my points.

Sure, it's easy to be critical on a message board - it's also easy to mindlessly pump sunshine, too. The fact is we played a team we were WAY better than Saturday, and we flat-out underperformed. We had no line push, no rushing performances to speak of, mediocre passing (bad passing, to an extent), and some brilliant catches by Niles. That's the sum of our offense. Expecting the fans to mindlessly cheer for this is absurd.

The crowd wasn't out of the Texas game immediately. The crowd was PUMPED for Texas - the team came out and laid an egg from the start, taking the crowd out. You've got the cart before the horse here. It wasn't the crowd failing to pump energy into the team against Texas, it was the team failing to pump energy into the crowd.

Can you tell me something? Did you see Gigli, the movie with Ben Affleck and J-Lo? Did you cheer and clap through that movie? Did you see the Bruce Willis movie Cop Out? Did you holler and hoot for that movie? If you did I seriously question your taste, because they were awful movies. The acting was awful, the plots were awful, and the performances were awful. To use your mode of thinking, we should have said nary a bad word about these movies. The audiences should have laughed and cheered these movies, because that's what fans of Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck and J-Lo do. But that's silly - these were horrible movies, unworthy of these actors. They can do better, and when we pay our money to see their movies, we should get better. You're telling us that, no matter how horrific the acting job is, if we're Bruce Willis fans, we have to applaud his effort. That is 100% wrong.

 

[beanman]

It's easy to be critical on a message board, but keep in mind that these guys are trying to go to school at the same time as playing these football games. If I was one of them and saw Kansas on the schedule, I'd probably worry a little more about school that week and be a little less focused on the game. Sometimes we lose focus or intensity; it's human nature. I just don't understand how I can go to games like Texas or Texas Tech last year and right from the start the crowd is out of it. Like I said, we'll find anything to b!^@h about here.

If you're using the word "school" as a euphemism for stunningly beautiful, scantily clad women with loosely defined morals then yeah, totally.

(j/k)

I like the way you think. But seriously, I had to stay away from the Union after my freshman year and stick with the engineering library so I could concentrate. I'm just saying, I didn't have to try to play football and handle that stress on top of everything else. Plus the women. They are also very distracting. Oh to be young again. :hmmph

 

[knapplc]

Every football team has to balance the burden of being a student. This argument is a non-starter. You can't use the excuse that the Huskers are students full of stress and that's why they played poorly - Kansas' team is full of students with stress, too. This is not a valid excuse.

 

[beanman]

Every football team has to balance the burden of being a student. This argument is a non-starter. You can't use the excuse that the Huskers are students full of stress and that's why they played poorly - Kansas' team is full of students with stress, too. This is not a valid excuse.

Just trying to say that it's easy to get up for a game when you're playing Nebraska. Playing against Kansas? Not as easy to come out like your hair is on fire. All I'm saying is that no matter how many times our coaches say we are focused on the task at hand, the fact is there were probably plenty of players that thought we could walk all over them and weren't as focused as they were against Missouri. You don't balance the burden the same way every week as a student and I would assume this is the same for a student-athlete. There are a lot of people on this board that are overly-critical. We're spoiled and expect perfection every week and when we don't get it we don't cheer as loud. I get it. You win. I'm done with this thread unless that Nebula fella shows back up and starts talking about the girls with a lack of morals again.

 

[WYHusk]

Part of the article:

He said that NU's fans are better than the consistently-loud folks at Texas A&M, but he took the goose/gander route Tuesday when asked if fans would feel a disconnect based on his criticism. “I don't get disgruntled when people criticize me,” he said.

But fans don't get $2 million per year to ease their frustration. They pay good money for three hours of escapism inside a football stadium, where their boss, their unemployment their bills, their disappearing 401k, their farm, their boyfriends, their lousy in-laws, their lazy kids, their indigestion, their sinuses and their piece-of-crap car don't really matter. They expect a return on their emotions. They go to get well again. It's their Husker fix. It is, for some, no less of an addiction than any other.

And while that's not any good for the soul, the revolution to re-jigger American priorities isn't knocking on anybody's door. What the heart wants, it gets. So if the offensive line can't push around one of the nation's worst defenses for those three hours, it's not much of a high. It feels more like a scrimmage.

Ranked No. 8 in the BCS polls and 9-1 overall, NU football hasn't been this good since 2001. But damn if it doesn't feel like a dirge. The Huskers keep winning, which should break the tension and generate confidence. But you don't feel that. You feel, instead, the edge Pelini creates in his team. Almost a latent dread that, if Nebraska lets down its guard for one second during the week, it risks ruining its own performance on Saturday.

Like its head coach, NU seems distant and remote, a band of travelers getting in adventures, occasionally returning to base camp, their eyes forever on the road, where they feel most at home.

Maybe this is how the best college football teams scale peaks in 2010.

It's just that, in year three of his tenure at Nebraska, I thought I'd see Bo Pelini settling in.

He continues to stand apart.

I pretty much agree with this sentiment: Bo's the one making the $2 million a year. He damn well better be able to stand some criticism.

Look, I think Bo's a great coach; 9-1 testifies to that. I'm not complaining. I just wish he'd have a little more respect for the program, for its traditions, for the ones who are ultimately paying his salary. You and me, I mean.

Take the whole Turner Gill thing, and the end of over a century of playing KU. "I don't care about that," he said (I'm paraphrashing.) "We're moving on. And Turner Gill - whatever - it's just another game."

But to the fans - us - it's not just another game. Turner is one of the all-time Husker icons. It did mean a lot to see him return (maybe that had something to do with the crowd noise ...?). And all those long years of playing Kansas, well, I don't know about you, but I'm a little sad about all those traditions going by the wayside, although I think the move to the B10 is both brilliant and necessary for NU.

Bottom line: Bo could throw us, the fans, a bone. This "us against the world" stuff is wearing thin. How hard would it be to just be a little more respectful, be a little less of a leashed mad dog all the freakin' time?

And does anyone else think that maybe, just maybe, Bo's teams come out playing flat all on a fairly regular basis is because of Bo never has any middle gears? Can 18- to 22-year olds - hell, can anybody - really be 100% on, all the time, and at the same time know that if they don't meet Bo's standards of perfection, knowing they could yanked at any time, play with confidence and fired-up enthusiasm?

Just some thoughts. Bo's here to win. I understand that. I'm sure as hell glad he's doing it, compared to where we were just a few years ago. But would it kill him to have a little more respect, to be, well, a little more Nebraskan?

GBR!

 

[beanman]

I'm sorry, but I think it's warranted. Every game I go to I'm disappointed with the crowd. Every time something goes wrong our crowd sits and pouts. It's lame. I don't even like going to games anymore because I get sick of being the only one yelling. It's not just old folks either, there's plenty of younger people that sit there as well. And it's not just against teams like Kansas. Missouri was the exception. I swear our fans will b!^@h about anything. Pretty soon Bo will get fed up with our whiny fanbase and move on. Then we'll get stuck with another Callahan. Then you'll have something to b!^@h about.

It is not warranted. Bo put oatmeal out there and expected a filet mignon reception. They scored 20 points against Kansas, they bumbled around, and the crowd was subdued when the offense was out. It is unreasonable to half-a$$ it and expect us to scream full-bore.

What kind of message does this send his team? "We're going to put the reins on the offense, but we expect our crowd to cheer our mediocre production." Great message! Half-a$$ it, but expect full praise.

I agree with Bo on 99% of things, but I most certainly do NOT agree with this. He's flat-out wrong. And if you think the crowd's reaction to that vanilla offense is going to cause Bo to move on, you misunderstand Bo completely.

Our offensive line isn't injured, are they? No depth issues, no hidden problems, right? Then where were the pancake blocks? Where was the push? This is the 110th-rated rush defense in the country, and we managed zero 100-yard rushers. That is a lack of effort, pure and simple.

It's easy to be critical on a message board, but keep in mind that these guys are trying to go to school at the same time as playing these football games. If I was one of them and saw Kansas on the schedule, I'd probably worry a little more about school that week and be a little less focused on the game. Sometimes we lose focus or intensity; it's human nature. I just don't understand how I can go to games like Texas or Texas Tech last year and right from the start the crowd is out of it. Like I said, we'll find anything to b!^@h about here.

That's a fine post. Unfortunately, it refutes none of my points.

Sure, it's easy to be critical on a message board - it's also easy to mindlessly pump sunshine, too. The fact is we played a team we were WAY better than Saturday, and we flat-out underperformed. We had no line push, no rushing performances to speak of, mediocre passing (bad passing, to an extent), and some brilliant catches by Niles. That's the sum of our offense. Expecting the fans to mindlessly cheer for this is absurd.

The crowd wasn't out of the Texas game immediately. The crowd was PUMPED for Texas - the team came out and laid an egg from the start, taking the crowd out. You've got the cart before the horse here. It wasn't the crowd failing to pump energy into the team against Texas, it was the team failing to pump energy into the crowd.

Can you tell me something? Did you see Gigli, the movie with Ben Affleck and J-Lo? Did you cheer and clap through that movie? Did you see the Bruce Willis movie Cop Out? Did you holler and hoot for that movie? If you did I seriously question your taste, because they were awful movies. The acting was awful, the plots were awful, and the performances were awful. To use your mode of thinking, we should have said nary a bad word about these movies. The audiences should have laughed and cheered these movies, because that's what fans of Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck and J-Lo do. But that's silly - these were horrible movies, unworthy of these actors. They can do better, and when we pay our money to see their movies, we should get better. You're telling us that, no matter how horrific the acting job is, if we're Bruce Willis fans, we have to applaud his effort. That is 100% wrong.

J-Lo and Ben don't care about what you think. The players do. Being a fan means you should support them. OK now I'm done.

 

[krc1995]

Today day at his weekly press conference, Bo said that Nebraska fans were better then A&M fans. Talk about bulletin board material.

 

[knapplc]

Every football team has to balance the burden of being a student. This argument is a non-starter. You can't use the excuse that the Huskers are students full of stress and that's why they played poorly - Kansas' team is full of students with stress, too. This is not a valid excuse.

Just trying to say that it's easy to get up for a game when you're playing Nebraska. Playing against Kansas? Not as easy to come out like your hair is on fire. All I'm saying is that no matter how many times our coaches say we are focused on the task at hand, the fact is there were probably plenty of players that thought we could walk all over them and weren't as focused as they were against Missouri. You don't balance the burden the same way every week as a student and I would assume this is the same for a student-athlete. There are a lot of people on this board that are overly-critical. We're spoiled and expect perfection every week and when we don't get it we don't cheer as loud. I get it. You win. I'm done with this thread unless that Nebula fella shows back up and starts talking about the girls with a lack of morals again.

I don't want to run you off, and it's not about winning. Sorry if I'm coming on too strong. I'm just ticked that I have given my heart and soul to this team for three-plus decades and Bo gets pissed and calls us out. I yelled my a$$ off throughout the game, and I didn't deserve this. I disagree with Bo, but I'll forgive him. He's still young for a coach, still learning OTJ.

 

[knapplc]

I'm sorry, but I think it's warranted. Every game I go to I'm disappointed with the crowd. Every time something goes wrong our crowd sits and pouts. It's lame. I don't even like going to games anymore because I get sick of being the only one yelling. It's not just old folks either, there's plenty of younger people that sit there as well. And it's not just against teams like Kansas. Missouri was the exception. I swear our fans will b!^@h about anything. Pretty soon Bo will get fed up with our whiny fanbase and move on. Then we'll get stuck with another Callahan. Then you'll have something to b!^@h about.

It is not warranted. Bo put oatmeal out there and expected a filet mignon reception. They scored 20 points against Kansas, they bumbled around, and the crowd was subdued when the offense was out. It is unreasonable to half-a$$ it and expect us to scream full-bore.

What kind of message does this send his team? "We're going to put the reins on the offense, but we expect our crowd to cheer our mediocre production." Great message! Half-a$$ it, but expect full praise.

I agree with Bo on 99% of things, but I most certainly do NOT agree with this. He's flat-out wrong. And if you think the crowd's reaction to that vanilla offense is going to cause Bo to move on, you misunderstand Bo completely.

Our offensive line isn't injured, are they? No depth issues, no hidden problems, right? Then where were the pancake blocks? Where was the push? This is the 110th-rated rush defense in the country, and we managed zero 100-yard rushers. That is a lack of effort, pure and simple.

It's easy to be critical on a message board, but keep in mind that these guys are trying to go to school at the same time as playing these football games. If I was one of them and saw Kansas on the schedule, I'd probably worry a little more about school that week and be a little less focused on the game. Sometimes we lose focus or intensity; it's human nature. I just don't understand how I can go to games like Texas or Texas Tech last year and right from the start the crowd is out of it. Like I said, we'll find anything to b!^@h about here.

That's a fine post. Unfortunately, it refutes none of my points.

Sure, it's easy to be critical on a message board - it's also easy to mindlessly pump sunshine, too. The fact is we played a team we were WAY better than Saturday, and we flat-out underperformed. We had no line push, no rushing performances to speak of, mediocre passing (bad passing, to an extent), and some brilliant catches by Niles. That's the sum of our offense. Expecting the fans to mindlessly cheer for this is absurd.

The crowd wasn't out of the Texas game immediately. The crowd was PUMPED for Texas - the team came out and laid an egg from the start, taking the crowd out. You've got the cart before the horse here. It wasn't the crowd failing to pump energy into the team against Texas, it was the team failing to pump energy into the crowd.

Can you tell me something? Did you see Gigli, the movie with Ben Affleck and J-Lo? Did you cheer and clap through that movie? Did you see the Bruce Willis movie Cop Out? Did you holler and hoot for that movie? If you did I seriously question your taste, because they were awful movies. The acting was awful, the plots were awful, and the performances were awful. To use your mode of thinking, we should have said nary a bad word about these movies. The audiences should have laughed and cheered these movies, because that's what fans of Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck and J-Lo do. But that's silly - these were horrible movies, unworthy of these actors. They can do better, and when we pay our money to see their movies, we should get better. You're telling us that, no matter how horrific the acting job is, if we're Bruce Willis fans, we have to applaud his effort. That is 100% wrong.

J-Lo and Ben don't care about what you think. The players do. Being a fan means you should support them. OK now I'm done.

What does supporting the team mean? Mindlessly cheering no matter how bad they play? That's not support, that's enabling. It's why Niles hasn't learned as a Senior that you can't make the kinds of bone-headed mistakes he keeps making - this coaching staff won't bench him and play someone else.

I support this team. I yelled my a$$ off Saturday, came home once again with ringing ears and a sore throat. But I didn't scream and holler and clap when they went three-and-out the first two series against a crappy defense, I face-palmed and threw my hands in the air, and they deserved it.

You know who else did that? Bo freakin' Pelini. Bo chews the players out for underperforming all the time. It's not just Bo who has a stake in this team - it's every fan, every booster, ever person who's ever paid $50 to see a game. If Bo can do it, so can we. And frankly, I've been around Nebraska a lot longer than he has. If he thinks he's disgusted when the team goes three-and-out against Kansas, he's got nothing on me.

 

[Saunders]

Just some thoughts. Bo's here to win. I understand that. I'm sure as hell glad he's doing it, compared to where we were just a few years ago. But would it kill him to have a little more respect, to be, well, a little more Nebraskan?

GBR!

Like Devaney???

Oh wait......

 

[beanman]

Every football team has to balance the burden of being a student. This argument is a non-starter. You can't use the excuse that the Huskers are students full of stress and that's why they played poorly - Kansas' team is full of students with stress, too. This is not a valid excuse.

Just trying to say that it's easy to get up for a game when you're playing Nebraska. Playing against Kansas? Not as easy to come out like your hair is on fire. All I'm saying is that no matter how many times our coaches say we are focused on the task at hand, the fact is there were probably plenty of players that thought we could walk all over them and weren't as focused as they were against Missouri. You don't balance the burden the same way every week as a student and I would assume this is the same for a student-athlete. There are a lot of people on this board that are overly-critical. We're spoiled and expect perfection every week and when we don't get it we don't cheer as loud. I get it. You win. I'm done with this thread unless that Nebula fella shows back up and starts talking about the girls with a lack of morals again.

I don't want to run you off, and it's not about winning. Sorry if I'm coming on too strong. I'm just ticked that I have given my heart and soul to this team for three-plus decades and Bo gets pissed and calls us out. I yelled my a$$ off throughout the game, and I didn't deserve this. I disagree with Bo, but I'll forgive him. He's still young for a coach, still learning OTJ.

I think Bo realizes that there are plenty of people that were yelling, but when I look around at games, I see a heck of a lot more people sitting or standing quietly than I see yelling. As I said, I feel awkward and out of place a lot of the time because I'm the only one around me that's into the game. The only exception I've seen was in the student section, but even there, we're tame compared to most schools. I just wish we had a crowd like Oregon or LSU. I just think it's sad that the coach has to say something to challenge our crowd to be louder. I remember it being much louder when I was younger(but then again the world seemed a lot bigger then too). Gotta put the kids to bed. Later.

 

[knapplc]

I think Bo realizes that there are plenty of people that were yelling, but when I look around at games, I see a heck of a lot more people sitting or standing quietly than I see yelling. As I said, I feel awkward and out of place a lot of the time because I'm the only one around me that's into the game. The only exception I've seen was in the student section, but even there, we're tame compared to most schools. I just wish we had a crowd like Oregon or LSU. I just think it's sad that the coach has to say something to challenge our crowd to be louder. I remember it being much louder when I was younger(but then again the world seemed a lot bigger then too). Gotta put the kids to bed. Later.

I know what you mean, though. I'm the only person in my section - heck, probably the only person in the North Stadium - shouting the Husker Prayer along with the pump-up video. I may look like an idiot to some, but I don't care.