Ok...the title was probably a little over-dramatic.

Speaking of dramatic, it was kind of like the Big Red Breakfast this morning...i.e. drama! So what happened?

If you've been living under a rock this morning, you may not have heard that a well-meaning (assuming) fan, took an issue with JP stating that the team's goals were still intact after the UCLA track meet. In this fan's opinion, the teams goals had shifted (at some point) from winning national championships to just mere Big 10 championships. JP stated that this wasn't true and that a national championship is still a goal and is still intact. The fan pursued it further by basically saying it wasn't possible.

JP took offense to that.

So he did what any defensive coordinator would do...he pissed a circle around his team, grabbed a sharp stick and defended it to the death like the ancient warriors of old. Watch the video for more:

JP Defending His Perimeter

It sucks that we really can't hear what all the guy is saying, but needless to say he pressed JP's buttons. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, we really can't be sure from that clip. Some people that attended have said that JP tried to apologize to the fan for losing his cool and the fan stated that well, you SHOULD apologize.

The question (about goals) in and of itself was fair, if ill-conceived. Sure, perhaps JP could've handled it better by pulling a Drew Rosenhaus and saying "Next question," and then addressing the fan afterwards, if need be. It doesn't do any good to get pissed at a fan at a prominent booster function, even if the guy who asked it was being...how do you put it? A dick. A big one. Even if he wasn't intending to be one, he was one and one can certainly understand the feeling of wanting to throttle said person. Which kind of leads me to my next point.

Perhaps this thing is kind of starting to go a bit sideways? Hear me out.

Even though the UCLA thing was bad, it was just a game, after all. We've seen worse over the last decade or so here (2001 Colorado anyone?) But I think this speaks to more than some uneasiness and discord among the fan base, apparently more than even I thought, that has been bubbling under the surface for a while now, slowly building. And then UCLA happens, and BOOM!! The bubble popped and things are starting to come out among our fans that probably wouldn't have before. There's no longer a huge fear of being ridiculed or ostracized by publicly questioning or speaking out on Pelini and what exactly is going on down in Lincoln. People are asking "what exactly IS this process he keeps speaking of, and why hasn't it yielded the results?"

We'll find out more answers as the season progresses, of course. Strap in boys and girls, this ride may get bumpy.