Wonders Never Cease - I Agree With Al Davis

There's not a lot happening. You know that. I know that. It's the calm before the storm, so enjoy it. I'm going to be taking a small boy on a Scouting adventure tomorrow and Saturday, so I won't be posting much over the next couple of days. My writing hasn't exactly been stellar lately, so it's not like much is missing.

I have been catching up on reading, and I have a gob of books I'll be reviewing. You might wonder why, as a Nebraska blog, would I post a review on "The Marshall Story" or "Pigskin Pulpit" - a book about the history of Texas High School football coaches.

Well, it's probably for the same reason that Ron Prince  speaks at the Nebraska Coaches Association Clinic. It's for the love of the game of football. Not just Nebraska Cornhusker football. Pretty much anything football-related (although I'll admit my love for the NFL has dropped quite a bit over the past few years, something about spending time with my family having a higher priority than watching football the entire weekend).

I have two autobiographies on the stack at home for Barry Alvarez and Bill Snyder, both successful coaches. There are some great lessons to be learned from these books - such as how to be successful in life, perhaps? How to treat people, how to teach young men? It's not like people are going to line up and buy Gary Barnett's or Rick Neuheisel's autobiographies, are they?

Have some history books coming up, and I have Peter Bean's "Eyes of Texas" and Stewart Mandel's new book in the wings. And I figure if I'm going to write a lot about college football, I'm going to learn as much as I can about it. Last - Nebraska's fans are supposed to be the
 Today, something truly amazing has happened. I agree with Al Davis. Twice!Yes, Al Davis who owns the Oakland Raiders. He wants to start an award in Bill Walsh's name.

Nice idea, Al. I remember reading that Bill Walsh didn't like the name "West Coast Offense", but at least it has that "West" thing going for it. And Walsh had Roger Craig and Tom Rathman going for him, so it was easy to like the 49'ers until Steve Young came along.  Or maybe it just wasn't as cool to like them anymore.

After he comes up with that one, Al wants to support older NFL players like Jim Otto who had his leg amputated. Two decent things in one article. Will wonders never cease?

Funny how hard this is to figure out.  Or maybe there are too many lawyers involved (is that redundant?) and the people involved know the longer they wait, the less they have to contribute. One thing about this issue that bothers me - I haven't seen a whole lot of current players offering up much either. Maybe Peyton Manning could contribute the income from one or two of the 30 commercials he filmed last week and put it into a foundation. Maybe the younger guys could recognize the fact their millions were built on the backs of men who destroyed their bodies building the NFL. Is that too much to ask?

I was contacted by someone looking for a Husker Volleyball DVD called "The Quest". I haven't been able to find it anywhere. If you've heard of it, or know where it can be purchased, let me know, or post a comment. A bunch of high school volleyballers are interested in it. Thanks for any assistance!