Nerves of Steal

PYB drops a rewind after watching a DVR rewind of Nebraska's momentous 23-9 win over Bitchigan Saturday in Lincoln. In honor of Tim Beck's herky jerky playcalling, we'll jump all over the board with our down-the-line observations:

--Another "big game" at Memorial Stadium started inauspiciously, as Taariq Allen's right knee got treated much like South Carolina's Marcus Lattimore's did earlier in the day.

--David Santos looks like a good linebacker -- one that can tackle AND stay within two yards of receivers in coverage. He led NU with 10 tackles against the Wolverines. Maybe we should temper our enthusiasm, however, considering Sean Fisher had seven tackles. Fisher is a 4.0 student in pre-med, in case you didn't know.

--The first-half pass rush (translation: when Denard Robinson was in the game) was pathetic. NU's front four used its patented pattycake technique, one time giving Robinson TEN (we counted) seconds of unmolested pocket time, before relinquishing four-yard scramble on 3rd and 3.

--Ameer Abdullah had a solid game, rushing for 104 yards. Where the FUCK was Braylon Heard? Zero plays despite averaging 7.3 yards per carry this season.

--Ameer Adbullah needs to either get the green light to return punts again or be benched for someone the coaches trust to make plays. The Santino Panico Act won't cut it.

--As if the "Clap & Snap" wasn't annoying enough to watch as Ohio State bottle blasted the Cornhuskers......now Private Pinelli has adopted it as his own and has Taylorina Martinez doing so. Another infusion from the state of Ohio, as NU molts into an irrelevant Big 10 dinosaur right in front of our eyes.

--Starting center Justin Jackson sucks. We counted at least five horrible plays on his part, highlighted by a drive-killing personal foul and a holding call that negated a 15-yard penalty against Michigan.

--The quick screen pass to Jamal Turner was a nice play and gained 10 yards. We are really happy that he only gets one touch per game. We are even happier that he was wide open for a touchdown, but lost the ball in the lights because T Vagic threw it three yards behind him.

--PYB has never been so bored watching NU games. The Big Ten is just so bad that watching one's own team become a mind-numbing experience. True to form, the first quarter ended with the score 0-0.

--Private Pinelli should send a thank you note to the Michigan coaching staff, who has deeemed it a good idea to try to meld Denard Robinson into a pocket passer -- much like Beck has done with Martinez at NU.

--Nebraska used its first defensive timeout at the 10:01 mark of the second quarter -- surely a record for Pinelli in a "big game".

--Thankfully, for the Cornhuskers, Robinson left the game for good with 3:52 remaining in the second quarter and Michigan on NU's eight-yard line. At that point, the studio-gangster Blackshirts showed up to kick sand in the face of freshman fuck Russell Bellomy. Michigan failed to scored a TD on the drive, when Bellomy missed an open receiver and had to settle for a field goal to make the score 7-6 NU.

--Nebraska's brain trust followed up Michigan's scoring drive by butchering a chancle to increase its lead before halftime. NU started the next drive with 2:38 left in the first half, and moved the ball to midfield with 1:30 remaining after a couple nice Abdullah rushes. Instead of pushing the ball downfield, where even an interception deep in UM territory would have been meaningless, T Vagic racked up an illegal substitution penalty and then fumbled the ball away at his own 45-yard line on the very next play. Pure idiocy, consistent with Beck's horrendous late-half strategy over the last 19 games.

--The referees were atrocious (both ways), and brought back memories of the Big 12's pathetic officiating. Let's recap, so we can take a short break from trashing Nebraska's latest JV performance:

1. Ruling Roy Roundtree's long first-quarter catch as a completion, when the ball clearly hit the ground.
2. Calling Ciante Evans for a personal foul the very next play after slight contact out of bounds.
3. Personal foul on JP Smith for "targeting" the UM receiver, despite the fact he was falling with the ball.
4. Personal foul against UM when a defender barely brushed Taylorina one yard out of bounds.
5. Personal foul on Josh Mitchell for using his shoulder to break up reception attempt
6. Tacking on an unsportsmanlike call against Pinelli on the same play, when he had the gall to object.
7. Pass interference in the endzone against Andrew Green, when he didn't touch the receiver.
8. Pass interference against Michigan's defender, when he didn't touch Kenny Bell while in coverage.

--ESPN2 produced a subpar broadcast. Mark Jones continued his two decades' of shoddy work, calling Nebraska safety PJ Smith, "JP", at least five times. The sideline reporter added nothing to the game, except for making us all wonder why she mixed a green hat, blue scarf and black & white plaid gloves in her Winter ensemble. Brock Huard put the other two stiffs on his shoulders, giving solid commentary all game, while reminding us that he's a hell of a lot better in the broadcast booth than he was on the football field.

--Taylorina followed up his ignominious first-half finish by fucking up the beginning of the third-quarter. Ninety seconds in, he missed a wide-open Kenny Bell deep in Michigan territory. One play later, he decided to commit the cardinal quarterbacking sin of throwing back across the field and racked up a senseless INT. Luckily, UM's offense had been neutered by Robinson's nerve injury in the second quarter and couldn't capitalize on the blunder.

--PYB urges Pinelli to save this game tape. Blitzing the opposing QB works, even if it is just a 155-pound freshman weakling.

--Bellomy was so bad that NU's defense intercepted him three times. The first came on a fortunate carom that JP Smith corraled and returned to the four-yard line instead of to the endzone because he was not fleet enough to outrun the white Wolverine QB.

Never fear, T Magic was here and brought Tim Beck with him. They Dynamic Duo dialed up a sloppy QB run up the middle, followed by a pathetic two-yard out miss to fat Mike Marrow, followed by the biggest copout call in all of football -- the goal line fade route! Martinez threw three yards behind Turner, who lost the ball in the lights. The only coach with a pass to run this play is the Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator, since he has Calvin Johnson. Any other coach who calls it is just telling the public he has no idea how to beat the defense for a touchdown. Another chance to KO the opponent missed. Field goal. 10-6. Amateur hour at its finest.

--NU blew its next opportunity to put the game out of reach, starting inside Michigan territory and working the ball down to a first and 10 from the eleven yard line. One poorly designed screen play and two bad passes towards Kyler Reed later, the Huskers settled for yet another field goal and a 16-6 advantage. It was a textbook lesson on how to pull defeat from the jaws of victory when playing a good team -- or even a mediocre team like Michigan when its starting quarterback is healthy.

--Damon Stafford, as Mark Jones called him, even got an interception. To make sure the Cornhuskers didn't blow anybody out, Stafford leapt up for the ball and fell straight to the ground. Never mind the fact that there wasn't a Wolverine within 15 yards and a long return was imminent.

--Our friends at Daake Design got some much-deserved publicity, as ABC showed an extended shot of the Heisman room that DD designed for the NU Athletic Department. We tried our best to forget that Eric Crouch occupied one of the podiums and that Tommie Frazier did not.

--Porky Meredith managed to get outrun by the lead-footed Bellomy, proving -- again -- that he belongs at defensive tackle....at Nebraska Wesleyan.

--Abdullah topped off the win with a rushing touchdown to make the score 23-9, and Pinelli promptly took the air out of the ball. Rather than pushing for another touchdown or two, to pay the Wolverines back for running up the score last year, he pulled a Frank Solich and ran the clock out for a pedestrian 14-point win.

So, Husker fans, rejoice! There's fool's gold in them there hills! NU played a team so crippled after losing its best player that the Huskers' normal stumbles, bumbles, blunders and boners didn't hurt them as much as usual. The defense got fat by feasting on a freshman quarterback. The offensive coordinator's lack of identity was quite apparent, but irrelevant this Saturday, as Bitchigan had no bullets left in the chamber.

On, Nebraska. On toward that contrived Rose Bowl goal. On to a battle next week in East Lansing against a fading Michigan State team with a defense too stout for Ms. Tee Magic. On to the national rankings once again.

On, Husker fans, as you watch for four more weeks to see if NU can navigate this minefield of mediocrity without tripping over itself. It's the fool's gold standard. The new, lowered bar in Lincoln. A bar so low that this team might just belly flop over it and into a berth in Indianapolis. Oh, my my. Oh, hell yes.

Pic of the Day -- October 27

One for the Thumb

 “For a second there, I felt like I was watching the film, a replay of last year’s game (against Northwestern).

Hello, Bo Pinelli. Welcome to the club. Welcome to our world, where we've watched your teams for five years, only to see the same missteps, mismanagements and misfortunes game after game after game.

Pinelli and his bumbling Cornhuskers tallied another fools-gold win Saturday in Evanston, as they beat the real NU 29-28. The late-game comeback, the second in three games against a pedestrian team that dropped the game into Nebraska's collective lap, will surely have blind Husker fans exalting their team's heart.

Reveling in a win over Northwestern (yes, Northwestern), they'll surely dismiss the realists as 'haters', only to recoil in horror the next time NU is slaughtered by 30 points against a team that is smart enough to utilize its mobile quarterback and that can hang on to one of several gifted interceptions.

Northwestern did neither yesterday, and Private Pinelli's troops live to fight another day.

Let's get to it:

--We will refrain from documenting all the boners individually. The Omaha World-Herald did a fine job of that this morning. Here. Here. Here. And here. But, they're worth noting as a whole.

Quarterback:
 Taylor Martinez racked up 342 yards passing. Remember, this is the same player who eclipsed 350 passing yards as a freshman against an atrocious Oklahoma State defense. We know he's capable of doing this against bad defenses. This is especially so against teams that drop easy interceptions on multiple occasions. That doesn't happen against top-tier conference teams, even in this year's Big 10. Try it against Michigan next week, and it'll be another 25-point loss

Regardless of the gaudy statistics, Taylorina was at her best in other facets of the game. Misread zone plays, missed receivers, incompletions jammed into triple coverage and a horrible pocket presence. Ignore it if you want now, believe us the next time he's playing against a defense with a pulse.

Offensive Line:
Two penalties for linemen not being on the line of scrimmage. That's not high school stuff. That's junior high stuff. Barney Cotton has gotten a free pass this season, due to all of NU's other catastrophes. But the senseless penalties are again on the rise, and his unit's spotty run blocking forces offensive coordinator Tim Beck to rely too heavily on the pass.

Relying on the pass is not a ticket to victory, when your quarterback is a poor decision maker, your offensive tackles routinely whiff on their assignments and your center is prone to being driven back 10 yards by the opposing defensive linemen.

Running Back:
Rex Burkhead's career at NU is ending in disastrous fashion. Husker coaches should have had the guts to shut him down and redshirt him after the initial injury. Ameer Adullah is a worthy back, but has a fumbling problem on rushing attempts and while fielding punts. Braylon Heard has looked very good, and gets one touch Saturday. Makes sense.

Receiver:

A continued bright spot. This group would be unstoppable if Nebraska had an accurate, smart quarterback who could read defenses. Kyler Reed's fumble was disappointing, but it's part of a Pinelli team's DNA. Kenny Bell was his usual self. Quincy Enunwa had a breakout game, despite talking a lot of shit given that he hasn't done shit over the long haul. Jamal Turner looks ready to explode into a game-changing player, so of course touches the ball three times. Check that, it would have been four if T Vagic hadn't missed him in the end zone in the first quarter.

Defense:

Hand out the Blackshirts! Or so goes the line of fans who believe a victory over Northwestern means that Nebraska is beginning its run at the Roses. Northwestern's best game is an 11-point loss to Penn State. The Mildcats gave up 41 points to Syracuse and own a resume only slightly better than Wisconsin's. Opposing coach Pat Fitzgerald somehow forgot to use Kain Colter, who shredded Nebraska last year in Lincoln.

Apologists say that the 'Skirts only gave up 221 yards, if you discount the 80-yard touchdown run they gave up. Huh? The run that put the team down two scores doesn't really count, when trying to make a case for how well the defense played? Got it.

Anyway, we also noticed the following:

--Porky Meredith moved to defensive tackle, because he sucks at defensive end and fat players belong at defensive tackle.

--Daimion Stafford continues to be a liability too often. Missed assignments are the norm, and he added a stupid personal foul penalty yesterday that cost the team a turnover.

--Stanley Jean-Baptiste talks a lot of shit as well, for a player who apparently learned his technique from Erwin Swiney and looks lost any time he tries to make a play on the ball. Actually, the entire secondary's continued poor play on long passes is concerning.

--No pass rush. As always.

Coaching:
--There is no doubt that the aforementioned errors are due to coaching. Misalignments, sideline penalties, three lost fumbles, two special teams drops, a shanked punt. Each of those offenses alone will get a team bottle blasted on the road. Put two, much less all, of those ingredients together and the fact that NU won yesterday is nothing short of amazing.

In the end, the players are the ones making the miscues above. However, the biggest error that hasn't been mentioned is the fact that Private Pinelli opted to go for two points after a touchdown, with Nebraska trailing by five -- in the THIRD QUARTER! Amateur hour at its best. Another case of a kid playing Madden 2012 knowing more about game management than a head football coach making $3 million a year.

Had Northwestern's last-second, 53-yard field goal not sailed wide right, Pinelli's gaffe would have cost his team the game. Just an amazing fact in its own right, made even more amazing because nobody has mentioned it thus far.

So, there it is, another shredding of a Nebraska win. Sure, we're happy that the team found a way to win, but this dysfunctional group has too many problems to count. Problems that have existed from day one under Pinelli and continue to exist. We know a solution can't be close, because they don't get better -- only worse.

The formula is in place -- beat some patsies, get overrated and overhyped, get blasted when playing a good team. Justify it. Go back to square one. Beat another patsy. Repeat.

For $3 million a year, don't we all deserve more? Or do we get to keep watching the same replay that Bo Pinelli finally noticed yesterday?

It's time for him to 'point the thumb' and figure it out, or it's time for him to use that thumb to hitchhike out of the Star City for good.

Hurtin' for a Skirtin'

PYB chimes in early Saturday, ambivalent to the day's plans, as work commitments take us to a better college football game and a better conference. We'll be in the stadium as Texas Tech visits TCU, missing another Cornhusker debacle. This time, in Evanston. Would we rather be watching....Yes. Do we need to see this movie again? Hell no.

--Anyway, the Omaha World-Herald's Tom Shatel said it well today.....

--Heard this all before. If you want to waste five minutes reading crap you've read 1000 times about this Nebraska team, here you go.... Our heart goes out to the poor sportswriter who is charged with penning this story each week. Word has it the team is "angry and purposeful." If the players suck, doesn't matter how pissed they are...were they not pissed against UCLA and Ohio State?

--Here's the OWH's breakdown of the game. PYB's key factor to watch: the coaching matchup. We still have vivid memories of 2011, as Pat Fitzgerald coached circles around Private Pinelli. Sure, it's a not too uncommon occurrence, but the intelligence disparity was on full display a year ago.

--Our call on what the score SHOULD be, if NU had good coaching and reliable players: Nebraska 49 Northwestern 17. Our call on what the score WILL be, due to bad coaching, mostly bad players, and a turnover-heavy QB: Northwestern 41 Nebraska 25.

This team does what it does....turn 14-point victories into three-score losses. South Carolina. UCLA. Don't despair, though, those are the good days. The bad days are when NU turns coin-flip games into all-out bottle blastings....Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State. Enjoy!

--Assistant coach Terry Joseph says NU needs to force more turnovers. He's right. Too bad the Blackskirts lost the only three good players they had after last season. So, his wish won't come true for at least another 10 months.

--Finally, we chuckle after doing a little test run on the huskerboard.com forums. We've already been called out for knowing nothing about football for hammering T Vagic's horrid play and read that he's primed for a "Heisman run" in 2013. The thought that anyone could still be that delusional is mind numbing.

That's all we got for now. Hopefully, we're wrong with our pre-game prognostications. But, we know we aren't -- too much past proof. Too many bad players. Too much inane coaching. Book it.

Enjoy your weekend.....PYB

Uncle Taylor

PYB would like to thank the Omaha World-Herald's Jon Nyatawa, as he replied to a Twitter request that asked him to further dissect some statistics he'd published earlier this week. We had asked him to sort Taylorina Martinez's passing stats by weeding out the games against inept teams, leaving just games against UCLA, Wisconsin, and Ohio State. Of course, these teams are marginal in their own right, but are obviously a notch above the Idaho States of the world:

Throws of < 10 yards: 67%. This proves what we already know. Tim Beck likes going sideways with meaningless passes against better defenses, even if it means giving Ohio State seven free points to start the game by telegraphing a seven-yard out pattern.

Throws of 10-25 yards: 39%. These are the throws that would be meaningful to success in close games. Passes that would move the chains and keep better teams off balance. As you can see, a mere 31% under T Vagic's season-long goal of 70%.

Throws of > 25 yards: 80% (4/5). A couple meaningful gains, and the rest garbage-time desperation passes. Irrelevant, for the most part.

Completion percentage on 1st and 2nd downs: 67%. When Beck can dink and dunk for three or four yards, trying to sugar-coat Martinez's numbers.

Completion percentage on 3rd down: A very unsurprising 30%. When the money is on the line, Martinez is terrible. Always has been, always will be.

This will never change and is why Taylorina should have been jettisoned two years ago. None of this really matters, though, Nebraska can still make the Rose Bowl.

PYB again thanks Mr. Nyatawa for the time spent on this and for providing us solid sportswriting without the ego shown by some of his OWH counterparts. We urge PYB readers to send  him thanks as well at @JonNyatawa as you have time....

Joker, Joker.....Joker!!

PYB drops some bye week tidbits, while chewing on the fact that Indiana played Ohio State to within three points. While watching countless mediocre teams, almost all of which have a quarterback better than Nebraska, we were left wondering why the Cornhuskers can't at least be average in this watered-down age of college sports.

--One reason: No speed. The Big Ten made NU irrelevant, as the brain trust in Lincoln got suckered into thinking it needed to bulk up and slow down. In two games combined versus the Buckeyes, while Braxton Miller was healthy, Bo Pinelli's squad was outscored 90-44.

--Another reason: fat players, also with no speed. We wondered how not more than a couple current Huskers show one ounce of muscle tone. We found some answers at Porky Meredith's twitter page, @camyoufeelit , where nearly every posted picture was of -- you guessed it -- food. Of course, it wasn't protein shakes, fruits, vegetables and the like....it was pizzas, pastas, carbs, fats -- the fuel of portly toads everywhere.

--Mack Brown continued his stranglehold on the title of the NCAA's most overpaid coach after taking his annual bottle blasting at the hands of Oklahoma. 63-21 this time around. 36-2 at halftime. Bo Pinelli still has some work to do if he's going to catch the Texas head coach.

--Kansas State: just win, baby. The Mildcats continue to do everything it takes to win...and everything loser teams like Nebraska can't and won't. KSU could be the worst top-five team ever, but one must admire the efficiency and focus they demonstrate each week.

--Did we say worst top five team ever? Maybe second worst, once the Notre Dame Fighting Irish leap into that group after their 'amazing' goal-line stand and victory over Stanford. Cardinal fans can cry all they want about the replay that wasn't, but their coach's last-minute playcalling was the reason for the loss. Frank Solich and Bob Stoops loved the calls, but the rest of the country watched in horror as the final series unfolded. We have just one final wish: ND vs. Alabama in the BCS title game with Tommy Rees starting at quarterback.

--So much for Geno Smith's Heisman. Does Matt Barkley take the lead in that race after leading his USC Trojans to a HUGE, 10-point win over Washington?

--Ohio State held off Indiana, 52-49. Good job, Coach Pinelli! Three MILLION dollars a year for a coach who fields a team that is 22 points worse than Indiana...in football. That might earn the NU hoops coach a raise, but that's way too many zeroes in the paycheck of a boneheaded buffoon who hasn't learned a thing after five seasons as a head coach.

In true fashion, ESPN raved about Miller, Urban and the Suckeyes and failed to mention that they beat Indiana by just three. Another Ohio State 'blowout' inked in the annals of Buckeye lore.

--Glad to see aTm hang on for a two-point win over Lousiana Tech, 59-57. The way the Aggie players were standing around and missing tackles in the second half, we though Private Pinelli had taken command in College Station.

--Nice job, Missouri. Have fun in the SEC.

--PYB sadly has had to take in another lost football season in Lincoln and was bracing for another worthless basketball season. That was, until Friday. We feel so much better about NU's chances on the court this winter.....

-Finally, a little preview of what awaits Nebraska in Evanston next Saturday. A Northwestern team that dominated them last year, and a coach that plays chess in comparison to Pinelli's game of checkers. PYB may have to miss the contest due to a work engagement at another college football game -- and we're not broken up about it.

Do we really need to see Pat Fitzgerald, savvy on the field and off (executing a strategy and engaging the media instead of bullying), run circles around the Blackskirts and their 'leader?' No.

Crown his ass, Private Pinelli.

Another Loser Anthem

Taylorina Martinez is a sniveling cunt. Having been covered 100 times on PYB, any analysis of his play would be redundant. He threw three interceptions, handed Ohio State 14 free points and tallied countless other strategic and game-management errors. Another tank job completed.

Still, this moron holds strong to his cluelessly arrogant ways, stating that the offense played "pretty well" because it racked up 38 points. Forget that 38 should have been 59. PYB was laughed out of the room Saturday night, when making the claim that we'd take Zac Lee over T Vagic right now. Ninety minutes later, we had a little more support from those who had laughed.

Martinez should never play another down at Nebraska. After another big-game failure, he's gone back to the company line that the game didn't really matter -- all goals are still in sight. The game wasn't that important....god forbid the team show some pride and beat a perfectly beatable rival on the road. If at first you don't succeed, create a new, watered-down goal to sell to the public. Aim lower, then fuck that up too.

“We all know that we can still go to the Big Ten championship and still play in the Rose Bowl,” quarterback Taylor Martinez said. “So this game really didn’t matter a lot. But we lost. Too bad that we lost. We could have won. But we can still go to the Rose Bowl.”


Can't wait until the next bad loss to see what leveling of aspirations Martinez and Bo Pinelli have in store for us all.....PYB offers this link....from our Wisconsin recap last year. Besides the only three good players NU had on defense being gone, has anything at all changed?

We thought about a dozen different ways to shed new light on this shit show in Lincoln. Couldn't add anything new. And this team doesn't deserve the effort. Just look at the bitch-assed expression on Taylorina's face in the above photo, which came after yet another game-tanking gaffe. The same look you get from a kid who looks to daddy in the stands every time things don't go his way.

This is a guy who's stupid. A guy who's scared to play under any sort of pressure or versus any opponent that hovers at .500 or above. A guy, still, who is cocky as fuck and gives insolent answers to the media despite being one of the worst QBs in NU history. A guy, who will somehow go down as a four-year starter, casting loads of shame on a once-proud program. A guy, who will be a four year starter who will spraypaint his name all over the Nebraska record book, and back that up by not being able to beat one above-average team the entire time. Fuck him.

As for Bo Pinelli.....Frank Solich called and wants his Rat-in-the-headlights face back. Who wouldn't take Scott Frost as head coach right now? Who doesn't think that Joe Ganz would be better at calling plays than Tim Beck? Surely he knows that he wouldn't have to use all 1000 plays in his repertoire come hell or high water.

The more PYB thinks about it, and to risk sounding like a xenophobic Nebraska bluehair, the more we think that NU needs a Cornhusker at head coach. Now, and always. There are too many traditions, caveats and unique aspects to the job that must be done a certain way to succeed in Lincoln.

Given the limited local recruiting base, a coach must know how to mix in the right number of skill players from out of state with foot soldiers from Nebraska. He must be committed to giving Nebraska an offensive and defensive identity -- one that will highlight the attributes of the aforementioned mix of speed and slow and get the best players on the field in less than 2.5 seasons.

One that will work in the elements and against all teams -- shitty Big 10 teams and good teams if NU ever earns a decent bowl trip again. Savvy enough to gain support of the stodgy fan base, while being able to incorporate a new flavor that will make Nebraska a viable brand for the next 25 years. Bullheaded, obtuse and arrogant won't get it done.

Easy job....no. Would hundreds of coaches kill to have it, without bitching that NU doesn't keeps a private jet? Yes. But with each added bottle blasting on national television, that number certainly dwindles.

Help Wanted: Desired characteristics include: Gentleman. Scholar. Innovator. Motivator. Leader.

Hell, we'd settle for one of those......right now, we're stuck on stupid.

PYB

See Ya Suckeyes!

As PYB remembers happier times....well at least a time when we were able to taunt Suckeye fans in person. As Lee Evans streaked down the sideline for an 80-yard Wisconsin TD in Madison, we were able to stroll to the betting window to cash a winning ticket the season after Ohio State cashed in its fraudulent national championship ticket in Tempe.....

These were happier times, since taunting OSU fans was possible. Come tomorrow, as we squirm through another elf-in-the-headlights T-Vagic meltdown, we'll be taking the brunt of the abuse....

A few thoughts:

--Can this fat fuck go away? How is he shown by national television cameras EVERY week? Loser.

--The Suckeyes are clearly our most hated program in college football. Always a media favorite, adored for their 20-6 "blowouts" of Akron, while other teams are reviled for only beating a patsy 38-10.

--How can Tom Osborne and Harvey Perlman not be on the same page about the hiring of a new athletic director? Was it because Perlman knew how badly TO butchered his only other major hire while at NU -- Frank Solich as football coach? Or was Osborne too busy building a deluxe equipment shed while forgetting to field competitive athletic teams?

Sources say TO was disappointed he wasn't more of a factor in the hiring. Two solutions to that: don't quit or don't trash the football program in the first place by making a sympathy/loyalty hire. Fifteen years in the shitter and counting...

--Shit effort here, by the normally solid Tom Shatel.

--PYB is going to Ring the Alarm! Both sides of the Dwight Howard / Shaq O'Neal feud are ridiculous. Howard is a prima donna pussy that still hasn't developed a post move after eight years in the NBA. O'Neal couldn't do it on his own in Orlando, so jumped ship and headed to Los Angeles where he could gravy train Kobe Bryant's will to win to NBA titles. Now Howard does the same thing.

Neither could raise his free-throw percentage above 55%, but are/were involved in all kinds of media spectacles. Neither deserves any respect. Both of them are jokes. Kazaam!!

--Moving from two fools who don't deserve any attention to two people who do: PYB wishes them the best in an awful situation.

Go Huskers....we'll have the post-mortem Sunday....

Pic of the Day

Thanks to Andy Murray for this submittal....