What if...UNO and UNL Were In Cahoots With The Wrestling Programs?

…what if John Hinckley, Jr. didn’t act alone? What if George W. Bush planned 9/11 to have an excuse to invade Iraq? What if Barack Obama, Sr. plotted fifty years ago to bring his son from Kenya to become America’s first Muslim president and impose Sharia Law?

What if the Tea Party was actually a plot to rob us of our precious bodily fluids?

As a UNO alum, I’ve been following UNO’s move to Division 1 quite closely. I first heard of the moves nearly two hours before the World-Herald story went online. I’ve listened to all parties, and frankly, the accusations of conspiracy have no substance and pretty much can be dismissed as crazy talk.

If somebody comes up with some sort of evidence, my eyes and ears are open. But I don’t see a shred of evidence to back up these theories.

I understand why UNO football and wrestling boosters disappointment and anger. Something that they’ve sweated to support and build is gone, just like that. It’s not the fault of the players or coaches; they didn’t do anything to deserve this.

I know that people want a villain in this case, and they’ve chosen Trev Alberts to be that villain. But the sad fact is that Trev Alberts didn’t start this process. It started at higher levels than Alberts, and Alberts was only brought in down the line, with clear expectations from above as to what his objective was.

The reasons why UNO football and wrestling were dropped are pretty straightforward. UNO can’t afford the football program anymore. The community does not support it. Several UNO games last season drew under 3,000 fans. Anybody who bothered to go to a UNO football game should have realized that it was in danger.

Wrestling is a tougher decision. It wasn’t the money so much as the need to compete in more men’s sports that the Summit League offers. That made football, hockey, and wrestling outliers. Football was a huge financial drain, so that was an obvious candidate. Wrestling has a long record of excellence, but hockey is up and rising. It’s also a break-even program at worst and more likely a cash cow. So that leaves wrestling as the odd man out.

Sad, to be sure. Unfortunate, no doubt. But note that Creighton looked at starting wrestling and rejected it as well because of the cost.

UNO’s financial problems in the athletic department are nothing new. Five years ago, when the excesses of the Belck/Buck era were exposed, people were shocked at how bad the UNO athletic department was off. It’s ironic that some wrestling and football supporters now suggest that the man who presided over the downfall, Bob Danenhauer, is now being presented as a solution for UNO. It shows that wrestling and football backers are reacting emotionally, not rationally.

Ever since Trev Alberts arrived at UNO nearly two years ago, he’s transformed the athletic department. He’s not perfect, but he’s renewed that department and quite frankly, he’s saved it. It’s unfortunate that football and wrestling had to be sacrificed now, but it might be the only way to save the rest of the athletic department.

I believe in Trev Alberts, and frankly, any comparison between him and Steve Pederson is reprehensible.