Review: "Then Osborne Said to Rozier..."

by Husker Mike on Jan 29, 2009 7:29 PM CST in Reviews Comment 11 comments

Steve Richardson's "Then Osborne Said to Rozier..." is a compilation of anecdotes and stories compiled from interviews with former Huskers from the Devaney, Osborne, and Solich eras. Some you may have heard before, such as Devaney's classic line "Excuse me ladies, I was looking for my football team..." Others you haven't.

And that's the great thing about this book is that it tells the story of how Devaney and Osborne built the Husker program to the pinnacle of success. It also touches on the Solich years, and how Frank Solich tried to follow that 60-3 run, and how Steve Pederson's "Extreme Makeover: Husker Edition" was a complete clusterfool from the moment he called Solich into his office on Thanksgiving weekend 2003.

Richardson brings a unique perspective; he is not on the Husker beat like most other authors. Instead, he's covered Big Eight and Big XII football for papers in Kansas City and Dallas as well as USA Today. But he called on former players such as Adrian Fiala, Turner Gill, Aaron Taylor, Eric Crouch, and Mike Minter as well as opposing players and coaches such as Oklahoma State's Pat Jones and Oklahoma's Dean Blevins.

It's a fairly comprehensive review, talking about Devaney's initial success, then setbacks in the late 1960's that may have paralleled the downturn of recent years. The changes that resulted in the 1970 and 1971 championships, and the transition to Osborne.

Probably the most startling quotes in the book came from none other than Steve Pederson in a 1996 interview where he talked about the importance of the walk-on program and how it gave Nebraska a distinct advantage over other programs. Startling because it was Pederson who led the charge to downsize the walkon program when he took over.

It's not all knocks on Pederson; it also discusses the end of the Solich era and points out a few of Solich's downfalls that contributed to his downfall. It also points out the facilites lapse as a contributing factor, one of the things Pederson tried to address during his time.

It's a great read for Husker fans. You may know some of these stories, but others you haven't heard It also comes with a CD of an interview with Adrian Fiala, which I haven't had a chance to play yet as my laptop's CD/DVD is on the fritz. But it should be an interesting listen when I get the chance.

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if

you came by CN earlier this morning, I blowed it up when I added the Amazon book link. It was fixed around 11:00 am.

Having said that – does the current economic crisis lead people to buy more books (cheaper entertainment) or do you think things are about the same?

Go Big Red Nebraska!
Our Cobs Are Bigger Than Yours!
Corn Nation!

by Jon Johnston on Jan 30, 2009 2:28 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Guess it only takes

100K books sold to be a best seller, doesn’t seem like too much. But still, am surprised that many people are reading all the books they keep throwing out there, the talk shows always have some author on them.

I haven’t finished a book in quite some time since I’m all into this interwebs…..

This one sounds interesting though, have never read a Husker book.

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 30, 2009 9:16 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

wow

You know, the problem with the internet is that some issues are just too bloody complex to live out here, they require a whole gob of pages for which to get through the issue.

For example, the whole college football BCS versus playoff system required Stewart Mandell to write the book “”http://www.cornnation.com/2007/8/17/15716/3139" target="new">Bowls, Polls, and Tattered Souls" to explain what’s holding it back.

you could do a series of articles, but it’s still very difficult to get in-depth.

Other thing is – how you going to learn anything about history?

Go Big Red Nebraska!
Our Cobs Are Bigger Than Yours!
Corn Nation!

by Jon Johnston on Jan 31, 2009 10:15 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I know about all I wanna know

about history at this point, lol. But the thing about the web is it’s sort of addictive, so you start surfing around, getting a bit here a bit there, start messing around with all the media options, etc.,—it’s like a whole different reading ‘genre’/apparatus.

Yea, I was an Eng. Lit. major, I love good books, just since I finally learned how to use my computer/web, I’m still enthralled by the novelty of it and don’t leave time left over for reading my books.

That’ll change at some point—I hope.

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 31, 2009 4:36 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

In fact,

I should put my degree to work for a change and write some outrageous book to make some $$. My normal job is really slow and I’m kind of sick of the biz politics/dog eat dog anyway.

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 31, 2009 4:38 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Oh yea,

the other thing is this whole blogging thing is like a revolutionary tool for the common man, both for writing one’s thoughts and reading the thoughts of other ‘common folk’. Talk about rewriting history, historians of the future will know infinitely more about the mindest of an era by checking out blogsites/msg boards.

Really, the vast amount of currently recorded history is that of the elite/aristocratic class—kings, queens, miltary elite and all the wars they have made…

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 31, 2009 4:47 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I actually find reading

the commentary of other ‘ordinary people’ often more interesting and entertaining than pro writers/journalists, since the thoughts can run more freely, unedited.

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 31, 2009 4:49 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

one thing

about books – they tend to stick in time.

Look at this site. We have 10 articles that appear on the main page. Now, certainly people find more by searching (incidentally, the piece I did about the “Marshall Story – fact vs hollywood” seems to be timeless.)

But a book, like “A Sea of Red” tends to be something that you might collect, and go back to look at where we were in 2008. Same with other books – Lincoln Journal has put out a couple of yearbooks this past year although I haven’t reviewed them. You can search the past on this site, but it’s not the same, is it?

Go Big Red Nebraska!
Our Cobs Are Bigger Than Yours!
Corn Nation!

by Jon Johnston on Feb 1, 2009 10:37 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Well, we're kinda talking apples and oranges here.

The web is essentially a different medium, used for a different purpose: ’surfing info". And yes, only the more serious blogsters search beyond the home page, delve into the archives, etc.

As a research tool the web is essentially a miracle, incomprehensible in it’s scope, functionality, and ease of use. I have no idea how computers actually do what they do, I mean it’s mind boggling—all I know is that somehow these tiny crystalline semi conductor doo dads somehow store and process in myriad ways bzillions of pieces of info and offer them up like magic into all the various media forms, all by using a simple, yet limitless, concept of +/- charge sequences in……well, tiny ‘crystals’, LOL.

What’s as pertinent an issue as the newspapers going outta biz is, ‘how do the librarys stay in biz’?

But yea, a good book is timeless, it’s ‘old school’, can be a heirloom, etc. Books are way better than movies based on the books, but how many people read more books than watch movies?

The whole issue is basically a consideration of the USA culture: CONVENIENCE, consumeristic ‘appetite’, short attention span, and relative superficiality—the need to be entertained, NOW!

So yes, well written books are the more profound, deeper sources of enrichment, but ‘what is’ the reading market has shifted to surfing the web. I know I should be finishing the books I’ve got, I’ve got some great books, but I am ‘modern man’!(I’ll post a george carlin youtube vid in ‘Fanshots’ to emphasize that point).

"...dOn'T tAZ3 m3, brO'..."

by BO-urne Supremacy on Feb 2, 2009 7:39 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs