Phoenix Open

PYB offers its limited pictorial from this past weekend's Phoenix Open, thanks to the gestapo security detail, the new tee box that is 15 feet farther from the ropes and the prick caddies that insisted on standing between the players and the gallery on the 11th tee.

Still, we thought you might enjoy Hefty's back fat and Rickie Fowler's Strawberry Shortcake-like bonnet, Green Edition. Those who look closely can even see Bubba Twatson, King of the Chicken Strut, in the background.

Sadly, with attendance at a paltry 131,000 Saturday the talent of the snatch was amazingly lower than in past years....hence the lack of pictures. Apparently, the attendance of fake racks increases exponentially as the weather breaks the 70-degree mark and at least half of the 40,000 fans missing from prior years were hot bitches.

First-time attendees were surely cheated, though they didn't know it. They were instead treated to sluts and skanks trying to pull off the outfits that only girls who are in shape should attempt. But judging by the mass alcohol consumption that was still present, they probably got some drunk guy to give them the dick by last call.

Oh well, there's always next year.

Super Bowl Thoughts

It seems this column on Yahoo! Sports has stolen some of our thunder but wanted to cover the subject a bit.

1. Obviously the gal that butchered the national anthem is getting lots of shit, but she had to be rusty. It has been some time since her heyday with Wilson Phillips.

2. Flyovers have been played out for some time (unless of course you're Frank Solich at the Rose Bowl), but when they go with the flyover over a closed roof it is time to put this dog out of its mistery.

3. Do we need to talk about the Black Eyed Peas' so-called performance? All we will say is that they are the biggest sellout act in many years and that we have honestly heard better versions of Sweet Child o' Mine at Karaoke night. At least we didn't have to see Fergie's GUNT like we had to in that Dr. Pepper television commercial.

4. Is it just us, or was the game as boring as hell despite the 56-point performance?

5. Had Jay Cutler tweaked his knee like Ben Rapelisberger did in the first half, would he have left on a stretcher?

6. When's the Pro Bowl?

7. Too bad Blake. These NBA stars won't take your cheap shots and pushes in the back like the saps in college did.

Tarred & Feathered

PYB offers another belated thanks to Seth Svoboda for filling in to cover NU's bottle blasting, as he offers a post-mortem which asks the direction of the Conrhusker program as we sit two thirds of the way through the season.

We say, at this point, one has to take a big-picture view when gauging success. With the current roster, NU will be outmanned athletically in almost every game. But the opportunity to win 19 games is still there, so one should forget the idea of style points while looking at the final record. If Doc's group could somehow make the NCAA tournament, it's the best season in Lincoln in more than 10 years. If they make the NIT, sure it sucks, but it's progress over last season.

So thanks again to Seth, and we promise to get these posted in a more timely fashion and feel confident we can deliver that promise since there are no more Phoenix Open weekends in 2011:

State of the Program: Nebraska Basketball
By Seth Svoboda

What exactly are the expectations of a Husker basketball fan? Where are we heading, and how long will it take to get there? I bring this up because something occurred to me with about 10 minutes left in the second half, as I sat squeezed in my seat about three quarters of the way up in the Devaney Center yesterday: we are never going to be elite with our current style and mindset...never.

I love Doc Sadler because he has brought hope back to Husker basketball fans. He took a program that was flatlining and jolted new life into the lifeless corpse known as Nebrasketball (editor's note: a gay term that needs to be 86'd if the program wants to be taken seriously).

Around here we love comeback stories, underdogs and getting your hands dirty. We live in actual "communities" where we know our neighbors, we farm, we fight hard for what is right and are full of heart, we extend a helping hand, and damnit we're proud of that. That's why we love guys like Ryan Anderson and Lance Jeter, Zac Taylor and Barrett Ruud (Editor's note #2: well PYB hates him but Nebraskans love him). They bust their ass to prove the unheralded recruit can play with the big boys.

Nebraska is in many ways the essence of the unheralded recruit--as a Nebraskan you can't help but feel like you're deserving, but that nobody else thinks you are, so we eat that underdog shit up.

Sadler brings those kind of guys in and we have worked hard to move in the right direction. When push came to shove we didn't have a chance yesterday. KU made just about everything they shot (55% from the field and 54% from behind the arc) and we were no match for the mighty Jaycocks. But we have a chance against most Big 12 teams. I want more than a chance, I want expectations. Unfortunately, the very style of kid--the gritty, disrespected, overlooked guys we love so much can only get us so far. Every once in a great while that team shocks everyone and wins a game...maybe two in the NCAA tournament. That's not enough for me, if I wanted that I'd be a Creighton fan.

We are built like a solid UTEP (Sadler's former school) team. If this collection of players was with Sadler at UTEP, they would dominate their conference (Editor's note #3: NU dominating any conference might be a stretch), go to the NCAAs every year and win a game there every 10 years or so. That just isn't going to get it done in the Big 12 now or the B1G TEN in years to come.

The reason is simple. Nebraska kids have the mindset that they aren't as good as most of the teams they play in conference but that they have to win with defense, playing harder, and catching a few breaks. That mentality never breaks .500 in conference play. (Editor's note #4: Nebraska high schools haven't produced a Division I impact player since Erick Strickland and Andre Woolridge in 1992.)

I'm not calling for Sadler's job...yet...I'm just saying that he better start selling the shit out of the new arena that Lincoln residents just approved, in order to start getting players that don't trying to win by being scrappy but because they're better than their opponent. If he isn't able to do that, we need to thank him for shifting us in the right direction, and then a throw a big payday at somebody who can bring the type of talent it takes to fill a new 14,000 seat arena. (Editor's note #5: who would come to NU? PYB can't think of anyone.)

By the way Husker fans, I want you at the games, just do everyone a favor and educate yourself about basketball before laying into officials and opposing teams. While the behavior itself is only mildly embarrasing, the real problem is lack of knowledge that spews from your mouths and makes us all look bad. It's always the guy there with his wife and two kids that is yelling about the refs throwing the game. Cheer at the game and have a conversation about it sure, just don't embarrass me anymore please. (Editor's note #6: A-FUCKING-MEN)

That goes for Husker football and baseball fan too. If the Husker football, basketball, or baseball games are the only games you watch, you probably think you know your shit, but you don't...and you are also that same dad needs to quit coaching his son's youth sports team. You are actually making your kid and his friends more obnoxious and less knowledgable.

I'm really in more of a big picture mode right now, but I'll give you some quick hits from the game yesterday. Jeter played another great game, he had a double-double (10 points, 10 assists), Brandon Richardson has been playing much more assertively--he scored another 16, and Brandon Ubel put in a solid performance with seven points and five rebounds. Caleb Walker also has been making strides offensively as he finished in double figures with 10.

Ubel's performance was better than his line. Jorge Brian Diaz and Andre Almeida were thoroughly dominated all game underneath the basket, and Ubel really stood out as the guy in the low post trio with the most potential. He's more athletic and physical than Diaz and Almeida combined, but he does need to be more selective on his fouling. He commits too many fouls that are unnecessary, instead of saving those fouls for trying to block shots or send a message in the lane .

Diaz is more polished offensively at this point but doesn't offer much in terms of rebounding and defense. Almeida travels about every time he touches the ball and he fouls like crazy because he is slow and doesn't have good body control. We need to transplant about 40 pounds from Almeida to Diaz if either of them are ever going to be better than just serviceable.

Devaney was really loud yesterday...especially with about 5 minutes left and all the Husker fans were leaving and the KU fans (probably 20-25% of those in attendence) cheered their asses off as our fans piled out early as usual.

Belated CBB

PYB apologizes to its newest correspondent for not getting his Big 12 preview up until after Saturday's games, but when an alcohol-laced Phoenix Open weekend is involved deadlines are easily missed.

We look forward to some pictures from the KU vs. NU bottle blasting, and say that all is not lost as NU sits at 3-5 in conference play. With the next three games at Baylor and against Oklahoma State and Oklahoma, winning at least two is an absolute must. A road win in Waco seems unlikely against the more athletic Bears, but is possible given their low-scoring ways.

Why TCU and Boise St are Bad for College Basketball
By Seth Svoboda

The only way to prepare for a nice long weekend of Big 12 basketball is a late Friday night online poker session. I crawled into bed ready to take over the world one sit-and-go at a time. As usual my ultra aggressive style helped me jump out to an early chip lead. Next thing I knew it was 4:30 and my wife was taking my glasses off of my face and I was sitting up in bed with the computer in front of me. I fell asleep in the middle of the tournament and obviously lost all my chips and money. A new dad like myself can't stay up past 11:00 unless changing diapers is involved.

Back to the basketball, every weekend from here on out becomes very crucial. We're halfway into conference play and each loss becomes harder and harder to overcome. Teams are fighting for higher seeds in the conference tournament and trying to get a look from the NCAA tournament. Nationally, the Big 12 isn't getting much respect, outside of KU and Texas. This is bad for the conference because it swallows NCAA bids and ships them to less-qualified teams.

The recent success of TCU and Boise State in football makes people think that we've been overlooking the little guy for all these years. While they do deserve a shot, don't get carried away. I know everyone has a hard-on for Jimmer Fredette, but let's be reasonable--BYU and San Diego State are quality teams and will play tough in the tournament. But they are both ranked higher than Purdue, Villanova, and Georgetown?

If you think they are better than those teams on a neutral court you just keep drinking the mothership kool-aid, and my bracket will prevail come tournament time. BYU and San Diego St are good teams and deserve high seeds in tournament (3-5 seeds if we are honest with ourselves), but I'm sure the committee will give at least one of them a two seed. The ACC is also perceived as being down this year and that might cost them a berth or two. I don't want to see six bids coming from the Mountain West. What sounds better to you, Maryland vs Kansas State or Air Force vs Idaho?

Let's take a look at the Big 12 today:

Oklahoma @ Oklahoma State

Oklahoma has won four straight games in Big 12 play and that is no easy task. Beating Baylor earlier this week was impressive for the Sooners, but they are such a poor rebounding team (12th) and near the bottom in ppg (10th). Oklahoma State has momentum of their own having beat Mizzou by 16 this week. Their only loss in conference play this year was against Texas. Look for Oklahoma State to seal this one at the free throw line with Keiton Page late. Pick...Oklahoma State 77-71

Kansas State @ Iowa State

Kansas State won impressively over Nebraska Wednesday. The Huskers really never had a chance to win, it was a balanced attack from KSU with three players in double figures. I blasted Kansas State last week for quitting on the season but I am eating those words and although James H. Hilton Coliseum is normally a tough place to play, it's not with this Iowa St squad.
Pick...Kansas State 84-72

Baylor @ Texas A&M

These are two tough teams to figure out. Both are loaded with talent but have underperformed thus far. Baylor is led by Lacedarius Dunn but he was injured early in the game against Oklahoma and should play, but likely is 100%. The issue for Baylor is poor starts to games. They came back from after being down huge against Colorado and then it took a 24-3 run to make the Oklahoma game close. Texas A&M is coming off a dissappointing loss in Lincoln last weekend followed by an embarrassment at home on Monday against Texas. I don't trust Baylor and I hate road teams. Pick Texas A&M...69-61

Kansas @ Nebraska

This feels like a tough spot for the Huskers, they are coming off their worst game of the season at Kansas State and Kansas is rolling on the road. Kansas recently played that same Kansas State team and outclassed them on every level en route to an easy 90-66 win. It seems like every year Nebraska plays tough in Lawrence and gets run out of the gym when the two meet in Lincoln. This could be a tough game and Nebraska has a chance, they've won 14 straight at Devaney. Just like Texas ended Kansas home winning streak, Kansas ends the Husker's. Pick...Kansas 72-57

Colorado @ Missouri

This is a battle between two of the top three scoring offenses in the conference. When these teams met in Boulder early in conference play Alec Burks had a career high 36 points which catapulted the Buffs to an upset at home 89-76. Cory Higgins also had 18 in the contest and Colorado was able to break the Missouri press effectively. Colorado also beat Missouri up on the boards 47-33. Missouri is a team that continues to carry a high ranking that is based mostly on reputation and star power; Marcus Denmon, Kim English, Laurence Bowers. It feels like Missouri is poised for a big win at home in a payback game. Pick...Missouri 84-72

Texas Tech @ Texas

Tech has managed 3 wins in conference play so far, but two were narrow victories over Nebraska and Oklahoma State at home. Their other victory a road win over hapless Iowa State was a shootout 92-83. Mike Singletary is a really solid player and he leads the team in ppg and rebounds, but other than an occasional hot shooting game from John Roberson there just aren't many good options for this team. Texas on the other hand is packed full of studs.

I am under the impression that this is the most talented team in the nation. They played one poor game where they lost on the road to USC, they're other two losses were at Pitt and at UConn by three points combined. The trio underneath of for Texas will be just too strong for Tech and if you want to see an exciting player pay attention to Jai Lucas. When he comes into the game for Texas it becomes a track meet and Texas wins every time. It won't be as ugly as the previous matchup won by Texas by 31 in Lubbock but it might be close...Pick Texas 88-64

Hard 17

Make that 17 out of 21. The Nebraska basketball team was bottle blasted in a game that wasn't as close as the 69-53 final score indicates. It was pure domination from the outset, as the Huskers were outclassed by KSU's long and athletic big men (something NU dearly lacks) and by Jacob Pullen. And for the 17th time in 21 games, the Mildcats smashed the Cornhuskers in Manhattan.

NU had 11 turnovers in the first nine minutes. In most games, even when overmatched, PYB will keep watching because of the team's effort. Not this time--we were scanning for late night bets by halftime, pissed that we hadn't loaded a few hundred on Frank Martin's squad. Luckily, new PYB correspondent Seth Svoboda once again did the heavy lifting and provided us a recap. Let's hope for better Saturday against KU, as PYB will provide a late recap once more....we'll be out getting blasted at the Phoenix Open that day and will have to analyze via DVR:


Not Worth the Trip, by Seth Svoboda

I had the crazy idea that I should see this game in person. I had my room booked, the search for tickets had begun and I was ready to experience Aggieville in person. The roads were questionable and my buddy that was supposed to go with me was nice and cozy on his couch and couldn't be talked into making the trip...thank God.

If you were unfortunate enough to have coverage of this game in your area make sure that you write your congressman complaining about a lack of decent programming on TV. I knew this game would be tough for the Huskers, but for them to come out and play so poorly and get outhustled like that was really embarrassing. They went to Manhattan two days early to beat the weather, but the storm that played out on the court was far worse than the icicle boogers I've had the last week.

What it takes to win on the road in the Big 12: rebounding, defense, and taking the crowd out of it early. The Huskers were outrebounded (29-20), gave up 12 points more than they average giving up (69), the crowd had plenty to cheer about early and by the time they were out of it the Huskers were out of it too.

Turnovers and rebounding were the real issues that the Huskers couldn't overcome. They had a season high 22 TOs and allowed nine offensive rebounds. That is 31 times that Kansas State had an opportunity to score where the Huskers failed to get a shot to match. What did this look like specifically? Eight more field goal attempts and 9 more free throws for 17 total shots more for the Wildcats who shot 21-25 from the charity stripe against us compared to their woeful season average of 62% for the season, that doesn't hurt either.

I know that Brian Diaz went through a lot this week with the travel and emotional issues that arose from attending his aunt's funeral back in Puerto Rico, but he never really showed up for this game. He picked up his second foul about 3 minutes in to the game when he made a turnover and compounded the issue with a stupid foul 60ft from the basket.

Congratulations, Toney Mccray, what a total horseshit display of basketball. He managed more fouls (4) and turnovers (7) combined than points (6) and rebounds (3). I don't think he put a body on anybody unless they were shooting, he got pushed around underneath and it showed that his lower body strength is not where it needs to be to play around the rim in the Big 12.

Lance Jeter put up his usual decent numbers but made a couple of stupid turnovers out at the top of the key in our half court offense that killed a couple of momentum swings we had in our favor when we were trying to get back into this one. (editor's note: he was also dominated by Jacob Pullen most the game.)

Bottom line is that Nebraska played a better team and played them on the road. The Huskers played pretty well, and NU played poorly. There is no way to win on the road against a talented opponent when you have a poor offense to begin with and turn it over 22 times. Sadler's squad better clean it up before KU, or this will look like a close game.

Some parting words here, I read an article by Jason King who writes for Yahoo! Sports where he said, "Other than Texas and Kansas, is anyone any good in this league? Half of the schools already have losing conference records."

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that every game has a winner and a loser. The notion that the conference isn't any good because somebody loses every game in conference doesn't make any sense.

Take a look at any conference in NCAA basketball and they will follow the same bell curve of a few teams at the top with a bunch of wins, a few teams at the bottom with only a few wins and most of the conference hovering around .500 in conference play. In the Big 12, with the exception Iowa State, anybody can beat anybody. That's a sign of strength, look at SEC football.

Bo, WTF is Your Problem?

Canceling the signing day press conference, as 25-year tradition? Why? Who gives Bo Pelini the right to piss on this day, the only day NU football fans have to look forward to between the Holiday Bowl debacle and the first game.

Pelini continues to amaze PYB as an absolute PR disaster. He doesn't respect the NU fans, or the media that tries to publicize his team to the folks funding his salary. And now, he obviously doesn't respect the NU tradition. It takes more than a 10-4 fizzle-out season to pull stunts like this. Lord knows he needs some good publicity given the fact that the last few images Husker fans have of him are: meltdown at Texas A&M, choke job against Oklahoma, disaster against Washington.

What is the harm here? If you're too embarrassed to field questions about your terrible offense and mediocre-at-best coaching staff, then that's a problem in itself. Maybe Taylor Martinez ordered Pelini to cancel it, not wanting future QBs Bubba Starling and Jamal Turner to get a jump on replacing him as Nebraska's next darling.

But, if a coach is a prick enough to cancel his yearly Football 101 clinic, which benefits breast cancer, then it's obvious he doesn't get it at all. Never will. Either Bo is content digging his own grave in Lincoln, or has one foot out the door anyway.

Right now, the inmates at the NU AD are getting away with murder: Pelini and Martinez---and don't forget Mike Anderson. Hey TO, wake up. You have an athletic department to run.

Mike Anderson? You're Still Here??

--So Mike Anderson wants to leave the Big 12 with a bang. Or a whimper. PYB is fully prepared for another season of excuses, laments about not executing and Coach Anderson's woes about losing three players to the MLB draft over the last four seasons. We recognize these as staples of the John Sanders era in Lincoln.

Seemingly, another staple of Sanders' tenure at NU has returned. An embarrassing schedule. Sure, NU gets home dates with preseason number-one UCLA and 2008 national champion Fresno State. And we're sure Anderson will blow two or three of those with his overbunting and poor game management.

Gone, however, are important tough foes in their early season tournaments. Goodbye Rice, LA-Lafayette and Stanford. Hello Texas State, Air Force, Washington, Missouri State and Northern Colorado.

Scan the rest of the slate and you'll see games against Doane, South Dakota State, four against North Dakota, and TWO MORE against Northern Colorado for a grand total of four. Also gone is that mid-season home series against a tough division opponent (Arkansas, Alabama, Coastal Carolina in previous years). All in all, in that desperate search for a .500 record, are 15 games against cupcakes. Trademark John Sanders. That should really put butts in the seats on the beautiful 46-degree days at Haymarket Park. NU will soon be reliving the days when the sports information staff is guessing the attendance for the next day's newspapers by picking the number off a 409 spray bottle.

Looking at the past few seasons, this shift to a puffier schedule has happened gradually, right under our noses as Anderson's squads have gotten worse and worse and finished 10th and 9th in the 10-team Big 12 the last two seasons. Silly us. Silly Tom Osborne.

The venerable TO had the perfect opportunity to make a change last spring, but refused. Now he's ranting about how character determines success, not wins. Either way, an empty multi-million dollar baseball complex doesn't scream success. It screams Buck Beltzer. And just like that, NU's top-10 baseball program has turned to dust. Poof.

--A little late, but good stuff from Kevin Durant. Apparently, he hated all the summertime stage flexing from Chris Bosh as much as the rest of us.

--It was nice to see Tiger Woods show up as a nonfactor again this past weekend at Torrey Pines, finishing 74-75 for a T44 and $18,000. Is that 18k wired straight to Sweden? Anyway, ESPN thought enough of Woods' gutty peformance to lead its tournament coverage with his round's highlights and fully ignoring the great finish between Bubba Watson and Phil Mickelson. It was the first time PYB had seen a player have his caddie tend the flagstick for a 72-yard shot--something surely lost on the golf halfwits at the "Worldwide Leader."