Take Two Ibuprofen and Convict Me in the Morning

--Anyone who has spent significant time in Lincoln knows that the city's police force is notoriously unhelpful and confrontational, especialliy with University of Nebraska students. So, we all know Alfonzo Dennard's conviction Wednesday was likely overblown--a situation borne from a small-town cop unable to handle himself in the middle of a melee.

But what is truly felonious, is Dennard's choice of threads for the big day. An NFL star, earning well into the six figures, opting to go with NO belt and a shirt wrinkled all to hell. Is Fonzie D just that young and clueless, or was he just trying to find common ground and identify with the jury of his 12 peers -- who were likely dressed in the latest fashions that 1994 had to offer?

--Rex Burkhead preps for the NFL draft by eating healthy food. Novel concept. Apparently, lean muscle mass means nothing in Lincoln. It's all about the Porky Meredith Plan. Get fat. Read the play. Waddle 20 yards behind the action. Pull jersey down over boiler. Repeat.

--Speaking of former Cornhuskers, PYB was reading a new book we got for Christmas and began wondering -- where the hell is Abdul Muhammad? Is he dead? Alive? In jail? Last we knew, he got busted picking up a pound of bud at the local mail store. Then, last we knew, he was accused of murder in Omaha. Well, turns out he works for the Boys & Girls Clubs in River City and looks old as shit. He looks nothing like the Muhammad we knew and met one time along with his pet piranha, and more like a cross between a 50-year-old Torry Holt and an Eddie Murphy movie character.....minus the awful jokes.

Guess it's true that THC really does age a person. Holy fucking cow. Anyhow, the positive side is, we found the cool photo from the Orange Bowl (above), with none other than Ray Lewis front and center. In the background is Reggie Baul. All three had brushes with the law. The good old days...

--Finally, Dirk Chatelain had two cool links at the end of his Feb. 18 blog in the Omaha World Herald, showing famous buzzer beaters at the Devaney Center. The first video is a conglomerate of Husker highlights over the years, the second and most important includes a Snake Peterson sighting.

All for now....PYB

SWAT Team

PYB returns from hiatus, after the world has changed to a place where Joe Flacco is now a Super Bowl champion. Of course, in an NFL where the game seems to be more rigged each year, we'll believe anything. Lord knows how someone who doesn't make a play all game gets MVP honors, unless you count Anquan Boldin saving his ass on jump balls and a San Francisco defensive back falling on his face as game-changers.

Cue up to today's collection of other random thoughts:

--PYB thinks it's safe to say when you're clowning around Phoenix, getting booted from your son's high school games, your NBA career is over. Well, it was probably over when Mike Bibby made a name for himself the last few years by bullying his way around the local LA Fitness courts in the offseason. That, in addition to stiffing waiters in town and hitting on shoe-store employees.

--Did anyone else hear that today is Michael Jordan's 50th birthday? ESPN is so awesome. They uncovered a gem of a story this week about MJ dunking on a short guy and then when a fan told him to pick on someone his own size he dunked on a taller guy the next trip down the floor! Never heard that one before.

--We are trying to contain our excitement for tonight's NBA All-Star game, but last night's dunk contest has us struggling to do so. What isn't thrilling about guys trying 10 times in a row to complete the same dunk, and then when they finally do so, getting a 50 from the judges?!! What made it more special is seeing NBA Alpha dogs dressing like limp-wristed Village hipster wannabe dirtbags.

--Bo Pinelli wants everyone to know that: 1. Barney Cotton didn't get demoted.  AND 2. They are stupid as fuck about football because they aren't named Bo Pinelli. Apparently, Cotton is 'invaluable' to Tim Beck. OK.  

Does that mean Beck does the exact opposite of what Cotton suggests, or that Cotton himself is responsible for the idiotic, drive-killing plays that come out of nowhere when NU is rolling down the field? (See: Burkhead pitch to Abdullah on January 1 or fade pass by Iowa State against Missouri to lose the B12 North title).

--Tim Miles' basketball team had to have set a record Saturday night for number of three-point shots they had blocked in a single game. In all, Michigan State swatted 12 Husker shots. Two in a row came when NU cut the Spartan lead to one point, only to try to post up Brandon Ubel twice in a row. He got dominated both times. Game over.

--Nebraska's baseball team has started 0-3 in Southern California, as the ghost of Mike Anderson can't yet be shaken. Hopefully, it's just a slow start that's typical for many Northern teams. More likely, though, is that Anderson's destruction of the program was so complete that NU won't win games like this for several years, if ever again.

--Supposedly, former Husker IB Ken Clark died. PYB can't find any details to this point, but he couldn't have been too much older than we. If it's true, RIP.