Stuck in the middle

[Redux]

Not allowing ones self to be optimistic is like never allowing yourself to love again because your highschool girlfriend broke your heart.

Or perhaps the so-called "optimistic" ones are really so insecure and actually pessimistic about their chances of finding a better girl that they stubbornly stick with the girlfriend who continues to disappoint them.

Our girlfriend right now is a pretty good gal most of the time: she's charming, speaks her mind, and we'd do anything for her. But she also has an embarassing temper in front of our friends, and she won't go "all the way." I won't even mention the big nose, that would be superficial.

Do you keep your girl, or keep waiting for her to stop being a tease and finally put out?

(Okay I'll quit trying to counter these metaphors.)

THe problem is there isnt a good 3way analogy. Thats the only way we all win. Hot girl on girl action.

 

[NUpolo8]

And plenty of players, some of who, are in leadership positions, who think what they're doing is more than ample.

Care to elaborate?

If I give my example, the thread will be derailed. But rest assured, the sniping of certain people, who could be a leader on the team if he cared, and is wildly popular, is part of the problem.

 

[walksalone]

http://www.sportsone...into-the-future

"The question becomes, what's best for Nebraska? It's unreasonable to expect yearly 12-win seasons, so what would be more acceptable: four straight 9-4 seasons, or maybe two .500 seasons and two major bowls? It's that boring, flat-lined middle ground that causes trouble, because the same thing year after year gets tiring when it's a step down from national prominence -- the same sort of problem that middling NBA teams face when they're not contenders but also not bad enough to pick near the top of the draft. They have little hope for a championship, but there's also no hope for an injection of newfound life.

While expectations are probably too high, becoming restless is not unreasonable. To this point, the Pelini era has both been a model of stability, but also rudderless. There's little sense that the program will elevate to a higher level. So in 2014, an ultimatum is justified: Major-bowl-or-bust in the weakened Big Ten is an acceptable goal, and in the likely event that it's not achieved, it's become pretty clear that a new breath of life is needed.

Never getting worse is admirable, but it's OK to become frustrated with never getting better, lest you be forgotten."

Pretty good article overall, the beating a dead horse crowd will sigh but a worthwhile read in my opinion.

 

[Ulty]

And plenty of players, some of who, are in leadership positions, who think what they're doing is more than ample.

Care to elaborate?

If I give my example, the thread will be derailed. But rest assured, the sniping of certain people, who could be a leader on the team if he cared, and is wildly popular, is part of the problem.

Who are you talking about? This comment doesn't ring a Bell.

 

[Excel]

Bucky I'm curious as to what Wisconsin's expectations are year in and out, do you expect Rose Bowls yearly or are happy with one every few years.

I can't speak for everyone but for me it really depends on the year, I don't expect the RB every season but once every 3-5 is reasonable. At the very least I want/expect us to beat Minnesota, be above .500, lose no more than one home game if that, not lose to anyone in a blowout and be in the top 15/20 for rushing. If they do that I'll be happy.

The three Rose Bowls we just had were great but they haven't changed expectations for me probably because the last two were earned in scenarios that aren't likely to repeat. I didn't expect us to win the division last year but I believe that it is an attainable goal this year. I would accept winning the West and losing the Conference and chalk it up as a successful year for Andersen. 2015 I expect to be competing for a RB.

 

[True2tRA]

Bucky I'm curious as to what Wisconsin's expectations are year in and out, do you expect Rose Bowls yearly or are happy with one every few years.

At the very least I want/expect us to beat Minnesota,not lose to anyone in a blowout

Ouch......low blow dude.

 

[sd'sker]

Bucky I'm curious as to what Wisconsin's expectations are year in and out, do you expect Rose Bowls yearly or are happy with one every few years.

At the very least I want/expect us to beat Minnesota,not lose to anyone in a blowout

Ouch......low blow dude.

how did they ever hire a new coach with those kinds of expectations?

 

[Excel]

Bucky I'm curious as to what Wisconsin's expectations are year in and out, do you expect Rose Bowls yearly or are happy with one every few years.

At the very least I want/expect us to beat Minnesota,not lose to anyone in a blowout

Ouch......low blow dude.

Way to creatively quote me there. I honestly didn't mean that as a shot against Nebraska.

I was more thinking of the last season when I got really frustrated with Wisconsin Football and felt they weren't meeting my hopes/goals/expectations whatever and that was 2008. We were ranked in the top 10 going into Big Ten play and drew a rough first four games: @Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and @Iowa. BB lost all four. UM and OSU were close (within 3) but PSU and Iowa were absolute blowouts and I still can't get that Penn State game (lost by 41 points at home) out of my head six years later. BB then almost dropped the axe to Minnesota in Madison but a 4Q rally allowed us to beat them by 3. I was pretty annoyed at the time.

 

[HuskerNationNick]

Bucky I'm curious as to what Wisconsin's expectations are year in and out, do you expect Rose Bowls yearly or are happy with one every few years.

At the very least I want/expect us to beat Minnesota,not lose to anyone in a blowout

Ouch......low blow dude.

Way to creatively quote me there. I honestly didn't mean that as a shot against Nebraska.

So Bucky, from a fan from a mildly successful school, would you personally be happy going from what Nebraska was before Bo, to where they are now? Obviously expectations wouldn't change, but sometimes, you have to except the circumstances with some of the obstacles you had to face.

To other fans... Accepting a season because it doesn't reach your expectations and being okay with it, doesn't make you a fan who is lowering their standards. Last year we were withered with a ton of injuries, relied on a walk-on 3rd string QB, scout team offensive line and a young defense to win us games. Had we have had the players we had when played Georgia, we could have been walking out of the season with 10 wins, or if Bo would have pulled Martinez in the Minnesota game, 11 wins. We were 13 freaking points away from beating the team who won the Rose Bowl over a very talented Stanford team WITH having 5 turnovers. These of course are a bunch of "would haves", but it could have very well been possible. We also accomplished a lot without our 4 year starter. There has been a consistency of problems, but there are things we are continually getting better at.

2012, better on penalties

2013, defensively improved and stupid penalties (false starts) were cut down.

Were gradually improving, and THIS is why Bo is still here. Being a realist isn't a bad thing, but always EXPECTING us to just asinine. I just don't see how someone can continue to support or keep visiting boards on updates if they don't ever expect things to get better. You have to have SOME sort of hope. If you don't see any improvement from this team, I don't think you have any right to bash someone who is positive, because you clearly are wearing your blinders, just like optimistic fans.

Me, I think this team will continue to improve. Do I think we will have an undefeated season next year? No, but I absolutely hope we will and I will be rooting for us like we will be! Until we fix our known issues, we will have fans who can't be 100% believers, but you/they can be 100% supportive.

 

[Excel]

Bucky I'm curious as to what Wisconsin's expectations are year in and out, do you expect Rose Bowls yearly or are happy with one every few years.

At the very least I want/expect us to beat Minnesota,not lose to anyone in a blowout

Ouch......low blow dude.

Way to creatively quote me there. I honestly didn't mean that as a shot against Nebraska.

So Bucky, from a fan from a mildly successful school, would you personally be happy going from what Nebraska was before Bo, to where they are now?

Hard to say. Am I imagining myself as a Nebraska fan or am I imagining Callahan-esqe years at Wisconsin with Bo coming into replace him and then having the seasons he's had?

- If I'm approaching this as a Wisconsin fan, imagining he's coaching the Badgers, I'd be moderately pleased with him. His seat would be room-temperature-to-slightly-chilled.

I'd love the four division titles though the blowouts and occasional random dropped game would annoy me. The win/loss totals wouldn't bother me much and I think I'd be comfortable with 9-10 wins a season though I'd like to see more every three to four years. I can't translate what Bo has done against rivals because you guys are in a weird rival limbo but I'll just assume Bo never loses to Minnesota. If he dropped one I'd be pissed. Two and I'd Barry to start looking at options.

- If I'm a Nebraska fan I'd say Bo's an improvement over Callahan and that his first three years were great and showed a lot of potential. The four loss pattern and blowouts would really bother me especially given NU's reputation on defense and Bo's background. I'd say that in his seventh year Bo had better seriously have his team competing for a B1G Championship...in the game and playing competitively if not winning it....or his seat would be extremely hot. If he doesn't prove to be competitive for the West...which he should be as the coach of the only elite power in the division...I'd want him gone.

The difference is in expectations. I expect Wisconsin to be in the top seven teams in the conference in a tier with Iowa and MSU. When they exceed that expectation and win the conference I'm extremely happy. I expect Nebraska to be in the top four-to-three teams (not sure where PSU is going to land) in the B1G and competing for the CC every or nearly every year.

 

[HuskerNationNick]

Hard to say. Am I imagining myself as a Nebraska fan or am I imagining Callahan-esqe years at Wisconsin with Bo coming into replace him and then having the seasons he's had?

- If I'm approaching this as a Wisconsin fan, imagining he's coaching the Badgers, I'd be moderately pleased with him. His seat would be room-temperature-to-slightly-chilled.

I'd love the four division titles though the blowouts and occasional random dropped game would annoy me. The win/loss totals wouldn't bother me much and I think I'd be comfortable with 9-10 wins a season though I'd like to see more every three to four years. I can't translate what Bo has done against rivals because you guys are in a weird rival limbo but I'll just assume Bo never loses to Minnesota. If he dropped one I'd be pissed. Two and I'd Barry to start looking at options.

- If I'm a Nebraska fan I'd say Bo's an improvement over Callahan and that his first three years were great and showed a lot of potential. The four loss pattern and blowouts would really bother me especially given NU's reputation on defense and Bo's background. I'd say that in his seventh year Bo had better seriously have his team competing for a B1G Championship...in the game and playing competitively if not winning it....or his seat would be extremely hot. If he doesn't prove to be competitive for the West...which he should be as the coach of the only elite power in the division...I'd want him gone.

The difference is in expectations. I expect Wisconsin to be in the top seven teams in the conference in a tier with Iowa and MSU. When they exceed that expectation and win the conference I'm extremely happy. I expect Nebraska to be in the top four-to-three teams (not sure where PSU is going to land) in the B1G and competing for the CC every or nearly every year.

Thank you so very much for your input and the time you put into it Bucky. I have always respected your opinion, and I agree with what you said.

I expect Bo to in a B1G hunt, but I am not a "make it or fire him" type of person. As long as we are in the hunt, I am okay with that. I mean, what if we go in conference play, have only one loss (to Wisconsin and it was a very competitive game) and Wisconsin goes undefeated or 1 loss as well. Wisconsin gets the tie over us, goes to the CCG game and we don't. Fire Bo? This is why I hate the "he needs to make it to a conference game or we need to fire a new coach" mantra. There are too many variables that can happen to say something like that. We lose 3 conference games, and we aren't in the hunt, then I agree, the talk is very deserved.

 

[husker_99]

Hard to say. Am I imagining myself as a Nebraska fan or am I imagining Callahan-esqe years at Wisconsin with Bo coming into replace him and then having the seasons he's had?

- If I'm approaching this as a Wisconsin fan, imagining he's coaching the Badgers, I'd be moderately pleased with him. His seat would be room-temperature-to-slightly-chilled.

I'd love the four division titles though the blowouts and occasional random dropped game would annoy me. The win/loss totals wouldn't bother me much and I think I'd be comfortable with 9-10 wins a season though I'd like to see more every three to four years. I can't translate what Bo has done against rivals because you guys are in a weird rival limbo but I'll just assume Bo never loses to Minnesota. If he dropped one I'd be pissed. Two and I'd Barry to start looking at options.

- If I'm a Nebraska fan I'd say Bo's an improvement over Callahan and that his first three years were great and showed a lot of potential. The four loss pattern and blowouts would really bother me especially given NU's reputation on defense and Bo's background. I'd say that in his seventh year Bo had better seriously have his team competing for a B1G Championship...in the game and playing competitively if not winning it....or his seat would be extremely hot. If he doesn't prove to be competitive for the West...which he should be as the coach of the only elite power in the division...I'd want him gone.

The difference is in expectations. I expect Wisconsin to be in the top seven teams in the conference in a tier with Iowa and MSU. When they exceed that expectation and win the conference I'm extremely happy. I expect Nebraska to be in the top four-to-three teams (not sure where PSU is going to land) in the B1G and competing for the CC every or nearly every year.

Thank you so very much for your input and the time you put into it Bucky. I have always respected your opinion, and I agree with what you said.

I expect Bo to in a B1G hunt, but I am not a "make it or fire him" type of person. As long as we are in the hunt, I am okay with that. I mean, what if we go in conference play, have only one loss (to Wisconsin and it was a very competitive game) and Wisconsin goes undefeated or 1 loss as well. Wisconsin gets the tie over us, goes to the CCG game and we don't. Fire Bo? This is why I hate the "he needs to make it to a conference game or we need to fire a new coach" mantra. There are too many variables that can happen to say something like that. We lose 3 conference games, and we aren't in the hunt, then I agree, the talk is very deserved.

The multiple blowout losses is what Bo really needs to stop otherwise i don't think even winning 9 games every year will save him from that. He has shown we don't need to have multiple blowout losses. If he did that this year atleast i'd be happy with it even if we went 9-3.

 

[HuskerNationNick]

The multiple blowout losses is what Bo really needs to stop otherwise i don't think even winning 9 games every year will save him from that. He has shown we don't need to have multiple blowout losses. If he did that this year atleast i'd be happy with it even if we went 9-3.

We finish the season at 9-3, we might have problems (where's the bowl game in your equation

) 3 conference losses next year would be unacceptable in my opinion.

 

[Excel]

Hard to say. Am I imagining myself as a Nebraska fan or am I imagining Callahan-esqe years at Wisconsin with Bo coming into replace him and then having the seasons he's had?

- If I'm approaching this as a Wisconsin fan, imagining he's coaching the Badgers, I'd be moderately pleased with him. His seat would be room-temperature-to-slightly-chilled.

I'd love the four division titles though the blowouts and occasional random dropped game would annoy me. The win/loss totals wouldn't bother me much and I think I'd be comfortable with 9-10 wins a season though I'd like to see more every three to four years. I can't translate what Bo has done against rivals because you guys are in a weird rival limbo but I'll just assume Bo never loses to Minnesota. If he dropped one I'd be pissed. Two and I'd Barry to start looking at options.

- If I'm a Nebraska fan I'd say Bo's an improvement over Callahan and that his first three years were great and showed a lot of potential. The four loss pattern and blowouts would really bother me especially given NU's reputation on defense and Bo's background. I'd say that in his seventh year Bo had better seriously have his team competing for a B1G Championship...in the game and playing competitively if not winning it....or his seat would be extremely hot. If he doesn't prove to be competitive for the West...which he should be as the coach of the only elite power in the division...I'd want him gone.

The difference is in expectations. I expect Wisconsin to be in the top seven teams in the conference in a tier with Iowa and MSU. When they exceed that expectation and win the conference I'm extremely happy. I expect Nebraska to be in the top four-to-three teams (not sure where PSU is going to land) in the B1G and competing for the CC every or nearly every year.

Thank you so very much for your input and the time you put into it Bucky. I have always respected your opinion, and I agree with what you said.

I expect Bo to in a B1G hunt, but I am not a "make it or fire him" type of person. As long as we are in the hunt, I am okay with that. I mean, what if we go in conference play, have only one loss (to Wisconsin and it was a very competitive game) and Wisconsin goes undefeated or 1 loss as well. Wisconsin gets the tie over us, goes to the CCG game and we don't. Fire Bo? This is why I hate the "he needs to make it to a conference game or we need to fire a new coach" mantra. There are too many variables that can happen to say something like that. We lose 3 conference games, and we aren't in the hunt, then I agree, the talk is very deserved.

Well yea I think I see where you're coming from and agree with you there. An 11-1 or 10-2 regular season and second place West finish without a blowout loss would be acceptable I guess. Anything less than that and....I don't know. But the West being what it is there is no good reason for NU to ever finish below second barring catastrophic injuries.

 

[HuskerNationNick]

Well yea I think I see where you're coming from and agree with you there. An 11-1 or 10-2 regular season and second place West finish without a blowout loss would be acceptable I guess. Anything less than that and....I don't know. But the West being what it is there is no good reason for NU to ever finish below second barring catastrophic injuries.

Like this year

We have too much depth at almost every position to be in the same situation as last year. Almost every position to the 3rd string is on scholarship. Unless something freakish happens, 2nd place finish or higher. I believe the NU/WI game is going to be the decision maker. With it being at Camp Randall, its a little more in your guys' favor, but you guys have a lot of question marks in multiple positions. Right now, its hard to say who is going to finish where. When conference play starts, we all should have a better idea. With the talent Iowa lost, they are easily the biggest concern in our division.