Don’t Hate the Player…Wait, Nevermind

Whenever there is a dominant sports team there are always people who hate said team without fail.  It happened with USC.  It happened with Miami and yes, that’s right, it happened to Nebraska.  So what does all of this hate have to do with anything?  I came to a conclusion a few years back: If you’re not hated on some level, you’re not doing something right.

To paraphrase the comedian/visionary Katt Williams in regards to "haters", "We think they hate us, they don’t hate us.  They hate good (things).  They used to want good (things), hope for good (things) then good (things) didn’t happen to ‘em and now (they) hate us."

The best part about it is the more that you’re hated the better you are more often than not.  Classic example: New York Yankees.  I like the Red Sox not as a favorite team but to spite the Yankees.  Yes I said it.  Of course when it comes to people like Al Davis and the Patriots administration, those are two different breeds of hatred.  That’s hatred out of principle but that’s beside the point.

People used to rejoice when Nebraska lost.  Goliath hath been slain and glory to the new champion for a day.  Of course all of us Nebraska fans, we just wander around moping.  The sun came up and in the Sunday paper like an uppercut to a glass jaw we’d see a nicely snapped shot that just screamed, "Loss!"  It was a sight and it was something the masses against the scarlet and cream pined for.

Going back to what Katt said, look at our current state of affairs.  Not necessarily the best and brightest, but there is promise.  There are encouraging signs and that is what gives me hope, it’s what should give you as a fan of Nebraska hope and it’s what should give Bo Pelini and his staff hope.  Beyond hope, however, this program as a whole not just Tom, Bo or Harvey, the entirety of it all has to know that what they want is attainable.  Some humble pie may have to be eaten but there is so much good that can come out of hope, belief, practice and execution from what Nebraska has today that they can again be hated.

Oh sure, I’ve got the DVDs ready should the bottom fall out and a crash happen, but it doesn’t have to be that way.  I like the idea that the staff has and I like the direction they have in mind.  To turn the words "used to be" into "are" or "is".  Bring it into the present tense.  All great projects started with an idea, a direction or a purpose.  Perhaps the trick for Nebraska is to be hated all over again.  Not due to unsportsmanlike behavior or off the field crap but because even though they might not be the New York Yankees, they’d be damn good and it wouldn’t be that they would have returned but it felt like they never left.  After so long of an absence, the Big XII needs another bully.  When it happens, don’t hate the player(s)…