Old School

One good video, featuring a couple of old bastards that have more fire than 99 percent of today's football players who hug at the 50-yard line after every game.

Speaking of the NFL, PYB is giddy with anticipation as we await today's Clash of the Titans as Matt Leinart and Blaine Gabbert go head-to-head. God only knows if yards per attempt will eclipse the 3.5-yard mark today.

If this matchup isn't enough for you today, you're also blessed with and undercard of Rex Grossman v. Tarvaris Jackson, Christian Ponder v. Matt Ryan, Cam Newton v. Curtis Painter, Caleb Hanie v. Carson Palmer, Mark Sanchez v. Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Josh Freeman v. Matt Hasselbeck. Looks like a good day to start and finish your Christmas shopping or to wrap up any other annoying family commitments.

Recapping and Christmas Rapping

--Solid 76-64 win for Nebraska basketball over South Dakota State, who had given Georgia and Minnesota trouble so far this season. Bo Spencer racked up 18 points, but more importantly had eight assists and just one turnover. Christopher Niemann played three minutes -- so much for the 15 that Doc Sadler guaranteed he'd play the day prior.

Onward to a Wednesday matchup against Wake Forest, who was most recently seen getting blasted by an average Arizona State team in an Old Spice Classic consolation game.

--Nice to see Roy Williams has started getting outcoached already this season. The Orleans Arena has always been known as a snakepit...white trash blackjack players and $3.99 steaks that resemble the sole of an old cowboy boot.

--Nice to see the Nebraska volleyball team has started its annual choke. Usually, they wait until the NCAA Tournament to melt down. This year the gals decided the first round of the conference tournament would suffice. So...under Title IX.....if NU blew its number-one seed and between two to four home games in the NCAA tournament, do the women have to pay back the lost revenue? Just wondering.

--PYB chimes in with a quick recap of the boring Iowa football game, an epic 20-7 battle that gave NU its first win of the contrived Heroes series. A game where the Hawkeyes barely tried to score. At least Penn State had an excuse with its horrible offense. Iowa didn't even try and certainly forgot the tried-and-true formula. Throw random deep balls over and over against any DB besides Alfonzo Dennard and get at least 14 points a game from it.

Nebraska won because of its three good players -- Rex Burkhead (overused), LaVonte David, and Dennard. Other than that, it was four quarters of completely unremarkable football. The only watchable part of the game was the Dennard v. Marvin McNutt matchup, which was a first-round TKO. Welcome to the Big 10.

In another side note, LaVonte David has racked up 274 tackles with one game to go in his all-too-short NU career. To put it in perspective, if he had two more seasons he would beat Barrett Ruud's career tackles mark by at least 100. PYB would give anything to see Ruud's name wiped from the record book, as he was one of the most overrated NU players ever. Considering how many times he saved the Blackskirts this season and that he made game-saving plays against Ohio State and Penn State, David may be one of the most underrated.

The game, however, did leave us with a clear big picture of the future. Next year will be rough, with an already porous defense losing its only two good players. The offense will be the same. Same shitty QB. Same menagerie of RBs seeking playing time. Same inconsistent line. Decent, but underused, receiving options.

All we know is that this program is not getting any better without a new quarterback. Three to four losses will be the norm. Taylorina Martinez can't pass downfield consistently. He can't complete a screen play. He can't run the option. He can't scramble. He can't run the zone read. He can't lead others. He can't put together a sentence of more than four words. What, exactly, does he bring to the table? This is a 100 percent serious question, and if anyone has an answer, we're all ears....

Any other point we could cover today would be something we've driven into the ground 15 times this year. Change must happen, and if it doesn't, we'll see you again next year at 9-3. All we have now is a horrible 11 a.m. bowl game in Florida, against an SEC also-ran that isn't that good but has way too much speed for a team with a bad line, slow defense and a QB who turtles at the first sign of adversity.

All we want for Christmas is a point spread under seven....For now, we're saving our breath.

Happy Holidays...PYB

Folks They're Not Booing....They're Slauson-ing....

If a face painter doesn't like you, should it hurt your feelings? Former Nebraska stiff and Jets hanger-on Matt Slauson took this opportunity to kick Ndamukong Suh while the Detroit DT is down. Curious timing, considering Slauson's had almost two full seasons to say something before now.

PYB says the source of his dislike is more the fact that Suh tossed him around like Haloti Ngata did last season than because he "wasn't a good teammate."

Keep in mind this is the same Slauson that was featured for fighting during training camp during the last season of HBO's 'Hard Knocks'. Looks like another attention grab for a player who couldn't block anyone while at NU and spent more time applying warpaint than pancaking opponents. We say he should just shut up and enjoy the sympathy starting spot that Bill Callahan gave him.

Hopefully, Detroit and NYJ can square off -- soon. We'll see the DT with the talent, strength and fire standing over the tattooed and painted pretender. Can't wait.

Duck Duck Lose

PYB received a bevy of texts and tweets and Blackberry messages from disappointed friends and fans last night, as the Nebraska basketball team was in the process of taking the fist up the ass during its 83-76 loss to the corn nuts from Oregon.

Comments included:

--JB Diaz is a pussy and lost the game. His 21 points on 8/11 shooting, six rebounds and three blocks say otherwise.

--NU still can't make free throws. NU went 21/25 for 84%. Unfortunately, the four they did miss were all front ends of one-and-ones. However, the last missed FT came with 5:45 remaining and the Huskers trailing 73-64.

--Terrible possessions. NU only had 14 turnovers (three coming on bullshit illegal screen calls. We thought Dick Bavetta had this fall off from work?) and PYB didn't see an inordinate amount of wasted possessions.

For some reason, PYB came away from this loss with a more positive outlook than negative. We're pinning this loss squarely on the officials and their untimely, horrendous calls. The illegal pick on Brandon Ubel with 1:07 remaining and NU with the ball and a chance to take the lead was one of the most atrocious calls we've seen in 25 years. Given the history of officiating in the Big 8/Big 12, that's saying a HELL of a lot. We've watched it four more times on DVR this morning, and it gets worse every time. The reach-in call on Brandon Richardson was nearly as bad.

Those calls and a couple other factors led to NU's first loss of the young season. Most importantly, outside of the ref job, was the fact that Oregon made shots in the second half while NU's wouldn't fall. The Quacks shot 45 percent from field and 44 percent from three-point range. Doc's crew had some tough misses and in & outs and shot 40 and 20 percent, respectively. Not an excuse, obviously, but some games the shots won't fall. This was one of them.

Our biggest concern is NU's lack of a good power forward. Despite bringing some assets to the team, Ubel will never compete with athletic big men on the boards and will never change opponents' shots. Toney McCray played just eight minutes and is just too up and down to ever be a reliable contributor. This team seems to be just one 6-foot-9, athletic shotblocker/rebounder/dunker away from being a true threat.

Bo Spencer had just 11 points, but Oregon made a point of shutting him down. Still, he had five assists and is clearly a team leader. His game-tying, double clutch layup into contact made the score 75-75 and was impressive. The fact that he's garnering so much attention opens opportunities for his teammates.

In the end, NU just couldn't get over the hump Wednesday. A fact made clear when Doc Sadler drew up a perfect play with NU down two points with 27 seconds remaining. Ubel swung it to the win to a wide-open Dylan Talley and the three barely missed. Two Duck FTs and missed Spencer three later, the game was over.

The referees had to be happy, as they had their fingerprints on another college basketball game. So did Dana Altman and the Ducks. Doc and his crew had to be disappointed, but if they're like PYB today, they have a lot of reasons to look forward to the rest of 2011-12. Maybe we're just searching for a team to believe in, with another lost football season on our hands. We loved the Thanksgiving Eve game. It should happen every year.

The game was by no means perfect, but at least it was an entertaining brand of basketball. At least the team didn't quit when it was down 15 points in the second half. At least 10,881 fans showed up and made a little noise. Perhaps they realize that the hoops team may be the only team on campus playing with heart and intensity this fall. Let's hope they don't quit coming to the games.

We'll have plenty of chances to see if this squad will develop into something, as tests against Wake Forest, Creighton and TCU remain in the non-conference schedule. (Side note: the BlueGays win over Iowa doesn't look as impressive this morning, as the Hawkeyes got destroyed by the Camels of Campbell last nite)

Onward and upward. Happy Turkey Day.

Ducks for Turkey Day

--Alonzo Whaley gets to share time as a starter with one of the worst Nebraska LBs in 20 years, because he got a good grade report. Holy shit.....we don't know where to start.....

--We're also glad to see the Blackskirts are so unorganized, that they can't get defensive calls in consistently....by game 10.

--Dear Tom Shatel: Please let this stupid obsession with a meaningless, hokey trophy die.

--The Nebraska basketball team tries to run its record to 4-0 tonight against Oregon. PYB is interested to see if the Huskers can keep up shooting, dribbling and scoring like a real D-I team.

--Apparently the PYB source, a PSU alumni, who told us Paul Posluszny got suspended five games for making prank calls was exaggerating.

PYB leaves the heavy lifting to someone else for the day. We love this OWH comment post from Joey.

Joey says:
November 22, 2011 at 5:47 am
I’m tired of people making escuses for Bo. 48-17, 45-17 losses, and LOSING to an UNRANKED TEAM WITH A LOSING RECORD, ON YOUR OWN HOME FIELD Is just INEXCUSABLE!!!! We could get BLOWN OUT the next game, and in our bowl game. T-Mart could throw 3 INT’s in each game, and coming next season T-Mart would STILL be our QB!!!!! All Bo will do is cover for him, and say he just had some bad games, it could happen to anyone. Something tells me T-Mart’s daddy is pulling out ALOT of Benjimans to keep T- Tragic in as a starting QB!!!!! I mean COME ON, ESPN has even commented on how ridiculous he plays!!!! It just feels like Bo is here to pick up his check and head home!!!! Bo talks as if Crick was healthy, it would be different!!!…lol.. Really?.. OK.. The games he was in, how many sacks did NU have??? 1 or 2 a game??? NU was getting blasted, NU still has T-Mart still in??? Now wouldn’t a GREAT coach put in the back ups to give them experience??? NOT BO!!! Is he AFFRAID Carnes, or Turner will do what NU fans ALREADY KNOWS what they’ll do???? Which is make Martinez look RIDICULOUS!!! Bo says were a GOOD team..hmmm. Did you fans pay hundreds of $$$$$$ for HOME GAMES to see a GOOD TEAM… HELL NO!!! YOU PAID TO SEE A GREAT TEAM!!!!!!!! Even more DEPRESSING, he said ” This college is about CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!” Really?… Where are they??? Oh I’m sorry Bo, I didn’t know you were referring to the Banana Bowls we won, in replacement of a Division Titles, and National Titles!!!! That’s a GREAT accomplishment to do what you’ve done… If you’re NMSU ( New Mexico State ). That’s like SEC fans should be grateful if they ONLY play in the Banana Bowls rather than a National Title..lol ( not that I wouldn’t enjoy every second of it!!!). I’m sure they would loooooove that idea… NOT!!!

Just Another Manning Monday

--Nice win for Doc Sadler's NU basketball team yesterday, as they crushed Rhode Island. Sure, we've seen them hammer teams like this in non-conference play before, but this squad looks different. They look, run, jump and shoot like real basketball players. Guys like Toney McCray don't have to try to handle the ball and look like fish out of water.

Bo Spencer provides a nice scoring punch. Dylan Talley looks like a legitimate player too. Caleb Walker is as athletic as any player NU has had in 20 years. If these guys can keep performing, and McCray and Brandon Richardson can focus on the things they do well (defense/rebounding/hustle), this team could have potential.

The Cornhuskers dominated the 83-63 win from the outset. They can actually shot over 30% from three-point range. We shall see, as the first Big Ten season will be a bitch. But at least they look like a real basketball team.

We know this, the team will play with heart and will never quit playing defense. That will buy at least a couple wins in the B10. Hopefully, our preseason prediction of 14-16 is way off.

--Speaking of quitters, the Omaha World Herald's Sam McKewon provided a nice recap on how the Michigan coaching staff toyed with its Cornhusker counterparts before crushing them in the second half.

--Actually, the strategy that Jon Nyatawa mentions here is not 'throw deep on NU', it is throw the ball anywhere on any Nebraska player without #15 on his jersey. The same strategy we covered yesterday.

--The OWH's Lee Barfknecht is on point today. He confirms what we all knew--that B10 football still sucks AND that NU's coordinators are setting a ridiculous example by skipping press conferences when they are outcoached yet again.

--In case you wondered, Eli Manning still sucks. It was great watching the Philadelphia defense plant him into the turf after another one of his patented INTs Sunday night. Lil' Elly couldn't do what even the Arizona Cardinals did this year, and beat the Eagles -- without Michael Vick and Jeremy Maclin. And he lost PYB money for at least the 25th time in his career.

On the bright side, former NU CB Prince Amukamara did get his first interception in his first NFL game. If you're counting, that's one more than he had all of last year during his senior season. That is, of course, because teams 'wouldn't throw his way.' Luckily, Vince Young underthrew DeSean Jackson by 10 yards, because Jackson had run right by Amukamara.

--We make fun, but we'd pay money to have Prince back at NU along with Dejon Gomes, who was second on the Washington Redskins yesterday with eight tackles. Sorry for the weak link, but the Washington Post's online coverage lacks in the organization department.