But are you kidding?!  It's not just Shatel...there are websites whose entire existences are based on this rift and keeping it alive!  

However (as I'm guessing that some of the first couple of paragraphs may have been tongue-in-cheek) I do agree with the better part of what you had to say about the current NU situation.  The Husker program in 2007 is barely comparable to OU, post-Switzer.  It just goes to once again prove how out of touch Shatel is on the program that he's supposedly paid to be a beat writer for.  Although, he usually does a pretty good job of this whenever he sets out to write most anything.  The best was when he was whining and complaining about not getting the red carpet treatment (from a program that he's done nothing but criticize for three years) when he showed up to pick up a baseball media guide three weeks into the season!!  Way to let your readers know that you do zilch in the way of preseason reasearch on the teams that you cover, Tom!  If he weren't so clueless, he'd probably have known better than to spout off about that one...as it truly revealed the extent to which he's devoted to the tenets of his profession.

And is it totally lost on Shatel, "Husker Mike" and everyone else that TO is (and has been) quite visibly involved with the program on many occasions since Pederson took over?  I know for a fact that I've seen him being interviewed (either in the press box or on the sidelines) no less than a half-dozen times since then.  Uhhhh...they named a new freaking wing of the stadium after him?!  Exactly how much "personal involvement" do these folks think that TO should have?  I'm guessing that the extent of Switzer's being brought back into the fold is basically the same as what TO enjoys now...a photo op here and there (like the "Husker reunion weekend", the Osborne complex dedication, honoring Mike Rozier's induction into the CFB HOF, etc., etc., etc.), an interview during a game or two every year (like the one I saw with TO AND Switzer during the OU game in 2005), an appearance at an event or two (when schedules permit) to gladhand some donors.  I guess Shatel and everyone else are once again behind the curve as to the obvious actual comparisons to Switzer and TO "being involved" with their respective former programs.  

But here you seem to point to the naysayers wanting some sort of formal position be assigned to TO within the administration of the athletic department. (Which I agree is totally ridiculous.)  Now, I'm sure that Callahan would be more than welcoming to TO, should he want to attend a practice, hang out in the football offices or visit a team meeting and/or some other private team function (as this seems to be another hang-up of many proponents of the "Osborne's not involved" camp).  Callahan's publicly said so himself.  Did it ever occur to anyone that TO (for whatever private reasons that he may have) just doesn't want to go?

Like many Husker fans, I'm fairly knowledgeable about the public history of Osborne: I've read many books written by him and about him and watched several video productions of similar ilk...he was my representative in congress for three terms...I've heard him speak on a few occasions and was once even lucky enough to sit in during the taping of a television interview with him and meet him afterward.  Through all of this, I can say that he's always struck me as someone who can, at times, be rather stubborn about ideals that he holds true.  In some cases, he has so much as admitted when he was wrong for his past stubbornness in sticking with those ideals.  Could it possibly be that Osborne might be the one who's choosing not to take the high road in trying to mend whatever fences are broken?  Hey, I'm as big a fan of TO as the next guy...but until one examines all of the possibilities for that which is unknown, how can they be so quick to judge?  I guess it's easier for those trying to keep the rift alive to ignore any thoughts of any of this.

But you're right again when you say that winning will cure all that ails.  After all...it's evidently been forgotten that for over two decades, Osborne was nothing more than "not Devaney" to many fans.  So I just figure that Callahan also deserves a few more years to prove that he's not up to the task of taking the mantle of heir to Osborne's throne...At least as much time as Solich had to drive the program into the ground.  (And the greatest irony of all of this is that the Callahan-bashers apparently would've preferred that the botched Solich experiment had continued indefinitely.)  If nothing else, Callahan has already reversed the trajectory established by his immediate predecessor.

Good work here...a lot to chew on.

Good points all around. Osborne could run out of the tunnel with the team on game day and some would still be unhappy because "it was staged."

Just win. Winning will cure everything (and sell more papers for Tom).

I just hope the fans give the current program enough time to get there. These things don't happen over night folks. Remember the 80's?

First, DT...when you start rehashing Frank Solich, you yourself are guilty of contributing to the rift.  Many fans have moved on and are tired of the divide.  Solich is gone, and Bill Callahan is here, for better or for worse.

As for Tom Shatel, his fateful visit to Lincoln to get the media guide happened before the baseball season started.  He just didn't write about it for a couple of weeks.

I'm not sure what the role for Tom Osborne is, but I think it's more than using his name and likeness outside the stadium.  I think he wants to feel like he's contributing something.  What that is, I don't know.  But the guy isn't ready to fish 7 days a week.  He's helping out at Creighton, he's helping out Iowa Western.  He's teaching leadership at UNL.  I think you can find SOMETHING for him to contribute to.  Maybe it's to shepherd his former players and getting them or keeping them involved with the program...if only to keep multiple golf events from happening simultaneously.  I'm not sure what Barry Switzer's role at OU is a formal role either.

Bill Callahan has talked recently about Nebraska being the place he wants to coach the rest of his career.  If that's the case, I'm assuming he thinking about 20 years or possibly more.  Steve Pederson is from North Platte and a UNL graduate; I'm not sure he's interested in leaving either.  If Pederson and Callahan last 20 years, the credit won't go to Tom Osborne.  Both men will have a sizable legacy to stake their claim on, and the fact that they reconciled things with Tom Osborne isn't going to detract from that.

A national championship could certainly quiet the criticism, but the hurt feelings on the part of some will continue no matter what happens on the field.  And if the hurt feelings continue, those fans might not be as patient with Pederson and Callahan as they might otherwise be.

As Mike points out, TO works for my alma mater now. Creighton owns him.  He's ours. UNL can't have him back.  Sorry.