The Blackshirts are back

They'll probably change their view on handing them out early when this defense isn't giving up 400 yards rushing to one player, 70 points to a 7-5 team, almost 100 yards rushing to Garrett Gilbert, or allow northwestern to march down te field in our house for a game winning score.

 
ColoradoHusk said:
Moiraine said:
ColoradoHusk said:
Ugh, this whole idea of who had the tradition of the Blackshirts right is really lame. I don't think we were bitching about how Bo handled the Blackshirts in 2009 and 2010. He used them to motivate the team in a different manner.

But, now that all things Bo must be criticized endlessly, his POV of the Blackshirts is the worst thing ever.
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People have been complaining about it for at least 4 years now. It's never been a huge deal to me but it's still amusing to see recent players saying this "new" way is wrong, when it's actually the old way.
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Old way, new way, who freaking cares. What matters most is how the D plays on game day. Gangwish can cry and say how much it means for him to be a Blackshirt, but it won't mean jack sh&t if he doesn't play well on Saturdays.
I loved Gomes when he was a Husker. He is one of my favorite Huskers of the past 10 years. I don't have any ill will towards him just because he was part of a team that did things "differently".
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I don't think anybody is really thinking any less of Gomes. He was just coached in a different era with a different mentality towards the Blackshirts. But, regardless of WHEN they're handed out, they still have to be earned.

Personally, I think the "meaning" of the Blackshirt gets blown out of proportion, at times. Over the years, being a Blackshirt has transitioned from simply being a "starter" jersey to being a starter playing at a certain level. I still think it's important to play at a high level as a Blackshirt, no doubt about that.

If the guys finished the season with the 10th overall ranked defense, or the 30th overall ranked defense, they'll still be Blackshirts to me.

 
The takeaway from this should be: Gomes still cares. A lot. And we were, and are, damned lucky to have him. And Lavonte David. And Suh.

I didn't like Bo's method of handing out the Blackshirts. I understood it, but I thought it was ineffective, and caused unnecessary distractions.

 
ColoradoHusk said:
The Dude said:
Who said anything about ill will?
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There are a lot of implications of "look what Gomes is tweeting".
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It has been obvious that both Roses were out along with Carter. Along with those 3 is Boaz and a backup OL

 
The guys that wore the Blackshirts do hold a little more weight in the discussion, and this is a passion filled subject for all Huskers and fans.

Respect the opinions of all involved but in my opinion there is only one right way to do this.

You give the Blackshirts at the beginning of the year, but the right to keep them should be earned. If you aren't playing like a Blackshirt, then you shouldn't be wearing one. I'm not talking just about statistics here. We've all witnessed some "Blackshirt" defenses recently that have laid down and took it. Those aren't Blackshirts. Passion, aggression and effort should be instinctive.

Good thing about all this discussion between fans, and current and former players, is that its obvious a lot of people care about this tradition. That can never be a bad thing.

 
I liked what Peking did the first year he was here. He made the defense earn the shirts after a really bad year. Every year after that though it became a distraction. When was pelini Going to hand them out? After a bad performance was he going to take them away? Unnecessary drama that ended up growing over time into a big joke.

 
It's really a crying shame that some former players and many fans don't understand the black shirt tradition, what it really means, and how/when/why they were distributed, before Pelini, before Callahan. Just goes to show how much damage can be done to a tradition in such a short amount of time. Sad. But at least it appears to be headed back in the right direction.

A primer for those of you with the wrong ideas.

1- The black shirts are our best defensive players, typically the defensive starters.

2- It doesn't matter how good or bad those players are, the best we have ARE the blackshirts. Period.

3- There is no magic level they have to perform at to be considered a blackshirt. But there should be a great amount of pride and desire to perform at the highest level.

4- Those shirts are earned, in practice, each and every day. If you don't bring it, that next guy will take it from you.

The blackshirts got their reputation for hardnosed defense over the course of many years. Many of those defenses were stifling (the ones we choose to remember) but some were only average and even poor on occasion. We have chosen to assign blackshirt quality defense to the best of the 90's defenses but that is not how it came about. Sure we all want to see that dominance again but traditionally the blackshirts are simply our starters, the best we have to offer. If you can't live with that when they aren't particularly good, we'll then you just don't know squat about the tradition. It's just sad that some former players don't get it. At least they have an excuse though, they did it Bo's way so it is understandable that it means something different to them.

 
whateveritis1224 said:
Every year after that though it became a distraction. When was pelini Going to hand them out? After a bad performance was he going to take them away? Unnecessary drama that ended up growing over time into a big joke.
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Definitely.

Also, in order to bring the tradition back with pride, we'll need to see more like Jack Gangwish. That's awesome. You can tell it's not everybody, but it has to start with somebody. Lead by example!

 
Gangwish seems like he could bee that ever-elusive vocal leader we've been looking for the last decade or so.

 
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