Preface; I rarely comment on team sports, even Nebraska College sports. Most of the time I pay very little attention to them (team sports) college or pro. (Bowl game & the World Series excepted) I do not have any inside information, my crystal ball is less clearer than most. The following is just things that have for no apparent reason been ricocheting around the inside of my cranium the past few years.
In fact I can usually be seen wearing an OU hat. Not because I am a big Sooners fan, I am not. I have some personal connections to the state of Oklahoma so I wear the hat in reminder of them. Even though I am not a member of the rabid "The sun won't come up Sunday morning if they lose on Saturday" Cornhuskers Fan Club, I root for the home town team and hope they win none the less.
GO BIG RED
Given history and recent events I am prompted to clear my head of some things Husker.
The Osborne era ends
I am sure that due to his success Tom Osborne had a free hand to run the program the way he saw fit without interference. When he retired and Solich took over I believe that he was pretty much able to do the same thing.
Enter AD Pederson.
I got a bad feeling about the Husker Sports program in general when Steve Pederson was hired as Athletic Director. At the time I thought he breezed into the job admonishing;
"Okay I am the boss now, things are going to be run the way I want them run and if you don't like it you can get the hell out of here"
Pederson struck me right from the start as one who wanted to micro-manage the staff to the point of back seat "My way or the highway" coaching the football team. Pederson was hot for the "West Coast Offense" and Solich wouldn't or couldn't give it to him. Early on Pederson seemed to cultivate "Just shut up and give me your damn money I'll will tell you how it is going to be spent spent" ill will with the alumni. I heard some even quit donating.
Perlman can't admit a mistake
But then what can you expect from someone that thinks a Prime Time television show about a hard drinking dope smoking washed up entertainer turned amateur porn star pretending to attend UNL is a positive image for the School.
At the time I am sure the Alumni were also supportive of Solich. He was winning after all. That could mean only one thing Solich had to go.
Say what you want about Solich and whether or not he needed to go. Based purely on his record I think he was sacrificed at the alter of "I am the boss here and I'll prove it to you Solich is history".
Enter Bill Callahan
Callahan was suppose to come to Nebraska and turn the Big Red Machine into Pedersons personal "You will coach the way I order you too" West Coast Offense semi-pro dream team. I think that much of the problem with the football program the last few years can be attributed directly to Pederson's personal "I know what's best, it's my way" involvement.
Time will tell
Now that Pederson is history I do not know if Callahan can turn this team around. I tend to think he can if Osborne will let him. Are there some coaching changes that need to be made? Probably.
It is rumored that the Big Red will get a bowl game. I keep having this premonition that if they do, come game day Osborne will be leading the team out onto the field as interim Athletic Director slash born again Football Coach.
The Second Coming of Osborne
I think he misses it, I think he wants it and after his defeat in the primary election in his bid to be governor I think he needs the ego boost.
If that is the case then Callahan will not get the "free from Pederson oppression" chance to prove himself. And that may be the worst thing that will have happened at UNL since Tommy Lee audited a few of the Underwater Basket Weaving 101 electives for Prime Time Television.
There you have it, a swirling torrent of unconnected random electronic synapses pulsating across the brain cells of my thought process.
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Monday, November 27, 2006
This has been a strange weekend, really strange
I spent the weekend watching 6 or 7 Football games
Why is that strange?
To set the record straight I have not WATCHED a complete start to finish televised football ball game (Nebraska Bowl games excepted) since the 78-79 Super Bowl, (if I'm remembering the years right) when the Dallas Cowboys whumped the tar out of the Denver Broncos. In that time I have seen portions of games here and there, but I never had the urge to follow a team let alone watch a game.
Yes I was a Dallas Cowboy fan
About that time our little 5 person Sunday football click pretty much all received another overseas assignment .....to different countries.
Bob was headed to Germany and got side tracked to Turkey, Tony went to Korea, I went to Alaska. It has been to long for me to remember where the rest ended up.
So much for the "whose turn is it to host the Dallas game this week rotation". It seemed that without some one to share the "thrill of victory and/or the agony of defeat' it just wasn't worth watching. By the way the wife and I watched that Dallas/Denver game alone after home roasting a few pounds of peanuts.
Go Big Red
Hell yes I root for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. We have only ever been to one game though (Neb. V. Ks. - kajillion to nothing Nebraska). I rarely watch them on TV unless its their bowl game. I do follow their season and hear portions of the games on the radio. No I do not even own any Husker apparel.
Who knows why I did it? (rhetorical)
Maybe it was because of all the instate rivalry games. Maybe it was just because I didn't feel like going hunting. Maybe I just wanted an excuse to stay in bed all weekend .... Yer damn right I did, got to get some time share use out of that big screen wall mount Mrs. Gun got for her Birthday too. (Yes she had to work this weekend) Maybe after a quarter century I was just jonesing for some football.
Notes on Nebraska v. Colorado
The most glaring thing that jumped out at me was how the two defenses differed. I was thinking at the time that Nebraska was playing pantywaist football. When the Cornhusker defense tackled a Buff they seemed to pull them down gently or they gave them a sissy type push out of bounds.
Conversely when a Buff took out a Nebraska player they hammered them. Watching the Huskers getting up after taking a Buff hit I could here the words of former President Clinton echoing in my head ... "Ah feel your pain".
Nebraska did open up on them late in the game and trounce them soundly.
Notre Dame v. USC
Was a good game to watch. There has been a lot of gnashing about who gets to face Ohio. Some say Michigan, but I think USC earned it.
NE Patriots v. "Da Bears"
For awhile I thought I was watching a tennis match.
Stereo typical example;
The Pats go 3 and out, Da Bears go two and fumble, the Pats go two and toss an interception, Da Bears go 3 and out, the Pats go 2 and fumble .. on and on back and forth.
The Patriots are my brothers favorite team so I am glad they pulled it out. That is about the only Pro game I paid any attention to but I find one thing interesting though;
Both teams seem to be playing the "pantywaist" type football I saw Nebraska playing.
Callahan was a Pro team coach and I can only speculate as to why it is probably a better way to play than the "hit them like a freight train" method. When you consistently hit somebody that hard you not only wear them down quickly, you wear yourself down just as fast. You also not only increase the likely hood of injury to the opposing player, but to yourself as well.
Keeping the troglodyte urge in check allows for more endurance down the stretch. And it was down the stretch that Nebraska opened up on Colorado.
Some final thoughts
I was in the Solich needed to go camp, I just did not like the way it was handled, especially the timing. I was also hoping that Bo Polini would get the job. Having said that I think that the Callahan decision was ultimately a good one. Very few college players get the chance to go Pro, but it would seem to me that with a winning record and 4 years of tutelage from a former Pro coach Nebraska Cornhuskers might have a leg up on a lot of other players when it comes to the draft.
Why is that strange?
To set the record straight I have not WATCHED a complete start to finish televised football ball game (Nebraska Bowl games excepted) since the 78-79 Super Bowl, (if I'm remembering the years right) when the Dallas Cowboys whumped the tar out of the Denver Broncos. In that time I have seen portions of games here and there, but I never had the urge to follow a team let alone watch a game.
Yes I was a Dallas Cowboy fan
About that time our little 5 person Sunday football click pretty much all received another overseas assignment .....to different countries.
Bob was headed to Germany and got side tracked to Turkey, Tony went to Korea, I went to Alaska. It has been to long for me to remember where the rest ended up.
So much for the "whose turn is it to host the Dallas game this week rotation". It seemed that without some one to share the "thrill of victory and/or the agony of defeat' it just wasn't worth watching. By the way the wife and I watched that Dallas/Denver game alone after home roasting a few pounds of peanuts.
Go Big Red
Hell yes I root for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. We have only ever been to one game though (Neb. V. Ks. - kajillion to nothing Nebraska). I rarely watch them on TV unless its their bowl game. I do follow their season and hear portions of the games on the radio. No I do not even own any Husker apparel.
Who knows why I did it? (rhetorical)
Maybe it was because of all the instate rivalry games. Maybe it was just because I didn't feel like going hunting. Maybe I just wanted an excuse to stay in bed all weekend .... Yer damn right I did, got to get some time share use out of that big screen wall mount Mrs. Gun got for her Birthday too. (Yes she had to work this weekend) Maybe after a quarter century I was just jonesing for some football.
Notes on Nebraska v. Colorado
The most glaring thing that jumped out at me was how the two defenses differed. I was thinking at the time that Nebraska was playing pantywaist football. When the Cornhusker defense tackled a Buff they seemed to pull them down gently or they gave them a sissy type push out of bounds.
Conversely when a Buff took out a Nebraska player they hammered them. Watching the Huskers getting up after taking a Buff hit I could here the words of former President Clinton echoing in my head ... "Ah feel your pain".
Nebraska did open up on them late in the game and trounce them soundly.
Notre Dame v. USC
Was a good game to watch. There has been a lot of gnashing about who gets to face Ohio. Some say Michigan, but I think USC earned it.
NE Patriots v. "Da Bears"
For awhile I thought I was watching a tennis match.
Stereo typical example;
The Pats go 3 and out, Da Bears go two and fumble, the Pats go two and toss an interception, Da Bears go 3 and out, the Pats go 2 and fumble .. on and on back and forth.
The Patriots are my brothers favorite team so I am glad they pulled it out. That is about the only Pro game I paid any attention to but I find one thing interesting though;
Both teams seem to be playing the "pantywaist" type football I saw Nebraska playing.
Callahan was a Pro team coach and I can only speculate as to why it is probably a better way to play than the "hit them like a freight train" method. When you consistently hit somebody that hard you not only wear them down quickly, you wear yourself down just as fast. You also not only increase the likely hood of injury to the opposing player, but to yourself as well.
Keeping the troglodyte urge in check allows for more endurance down the stretch. And it was down the stretch that Nebraska opened up on Colorado.
Some final thoughts
I was in the Solich needed to go camp, I just did not like the way it was handled, especially the timing. I was also hoping that Bo Polini would get the job. Having said that I think that the Callahan decision was ultimately a good one. Very few college players get the chance to go Pro, but it would seem to me that with a winning record and 4 years of tutelage from a former Pro coach Nebraska Cornhuskers might have a leg up on a lot of other players when it comes to the draft.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Target Stands and a Shooting Bench
It has been awhile since I have posted on any really personally gun related topics, so here you go.
While I have access to any number of ranges that require membership, when I want to spend some serious time soaking up some recoil I like to get off away from everyone else. In order to do that one has to have their own portable target stands and a sturdy shooting bench.
TARGET STANDS
I came up with this idea for a target stand a couple of years ago when I had a conference table that was no longer serviceable. I don't know whether this has been done before or not, but it works for us.
I made two of these target stand solely from stuff I had laying around. The frames are made from a piece of scrap plywood, 2x2's and is about 5 feet tall. As can be seen the base is one of the leg assemblies from a folding conference table. This really works well as the base can be folded back against the frame and stacked for easy transport.
Here is what it looks like 50 yards away -->
The frame cover that the targets are affixed to is a coregated plastic sign that you see mounted in most of your local Quick Stop Stores. (You know those two foot by four foot tobacco signs). they usually have the ad on one side and the other is plain white. When these plastic pieces get shot up they are easily replaced if you have a source for them.
A not as sturdy alternative is to simply use cut open brown paper bags over the frame.
SHOOTING BENCH
We have our own custom deluxe shooting bench as well. Made from 1/2 inch hinged plywood it can be unfolded and stabilized in just a couple of minutes. Take down is just as easy. This bench is so portable that it will fit in the trunk of a car with plenty of room to spare.
It is a very stable setup with the top being cut for either right or left handed shooters. We generally use some sort of folding chair with it.
I am working on plans for a different style shooting bench and will do a post on it when I get it built and tested.
While I have access to any number of ranges that require membership, when I want to spend some serious time soaking up some recoil I like to get off away from everyone else. In order to do that one has to have their own portable target stands and a sturdy shooting bench.
TARGET STANDS
I came up with this idea for a target stand a couple of years ago when I had a conference table that was no longer serviceable. I don't know whether this has been done before or not, but it works for us.
I made two of these target stand solely from stuff I had laying around. The frames are made from a piece of scrap plywood, 2x2's and is about 5 feet tall. As can be seen the base is one of the leg assemblies from a folding conference table. This really works well as the base can be folded back against the frame and stacked for easy transport.
Here is what it looks like 50 yards away -->
The frame cover that the targets are affixed to is a coregated plastic sign that you see mounted in most of your local Quick Stop Stores. (You know those two foot by four foot tobacco signs). they usually have the ad on one side and the other is plain white. When these plastic pieces get shot up they are easily replaced if you have a source for them.
A not as sturdy alternative is to simply use cut open brown paper bags over the frame.
SHOOTING BENCH
We have our own custom deluxe shooting bench as well. Made from 1/2 inch hinged plywood it can be unfolded and stabilized in just a couple of minutes. Take down is just as easy. This bench is so portable that it will fit in the trunk of a car with plenty of room to spare.
It is a very stable setup with the top being cut for either right or left handed shooters. We generally use some sort of folding chair with it.
I am working on plans for a different style shooting bench and will do a post on it when I get it built and tested.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)