Everything is geared to make you feel bad. Everything.
Politics, especially this election cycle which took feeling bad to a completely new level. Anyone feel good about it? No, unless they’re a hit-and-run contrarian.
Marketing. You didn’t go to Jared, did you, you bastard, because you don’t love her enough.
Drive an Audi? A Lexus? Getting one for Christmas?
No?
Loser.
Today’s headlines?
They’re not any worse than they were since newspapers became an American institution. The word “muckraking” didn’t become a thing until around 1900, so media has long understood that you’ll all react much more to negative news than positive and therefore they pump it at you like meth is free the first time.
The problem with headlines is that they’re everywhere. There is no escape. Even if you try to escape, someone else has to tell you about them. I don’t really know who Lena Dunham is, and I don’t care, but it keeps popping up on the front page of my phone.
Then there’s the current Big Ten basketball standings, which might make you feel bad but only if you care.
It’s a fair distinction to make - a lot of Nebraskans peak their heads out, look at the basketball teams’ records, bitch and moan about coaches, and then go back to whatever they were doing before without missing a beat. I don’t particularly blame them for not caring all that much - everyone loves winners - but the bitching they could keep to themselves. It doesn’t help, it only aggravates people, and it isn’t going to have any effect on whether a coach gets hired or fired any faster.
This Monday I asked for more patience for Tim Miles and his basketball team. I’ll stand by that as we head into conference play. We have more athleticism on this team than we’ve had in a few years, and... okay, fine, I admit it, and you know this. I am optimistic to a fault when it comes to our coaches. (And honestly, I don’t want to be just another crusty old man/SOB Nebraska media columnist - it seems to me we have enough of that already).
I do have reasons for my optimism. Notice the men’s standings - Minnesota fans REALLY wanted Richard Pitino fired last year when the Gophers suffered some horrific losses. They finished 8-23 overall and 2-16 in conference. Now, heading into conference play, they’re 11-1. Small sample size, I know. Perhaps that’s a sign of how ignorant I am willing to be when it comes to patience.
Comments (and a couple emails) on Monday brought up Creighton and their basketball success. Creighton does not have an 8,000,000 pound gorilla called Nebraska football that is so large it blocks out the sun. If you don’t factor that in when calling for a coaches job, I have to believe you’re one of those people just bitching for a moment and then going back to the earth.
Maybe today’s comment section should be full of all the things that make you feel good as a small, tiny skirmish against negativity.
News
The NFL Players Association is proud to announce the next set of player commitments to the 2017 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. Joining the National and American team rosters are Nebraska tight end Cethan Carter...
Omaha Burke kicker commits to Nebraska - Omaha Sports Insider
Omaha Burke kicker Cole Frahm has committed to walk-on at Nebraska for the recruiting class of 2017. Frahm will come to Nebraska with hopes to be the successor to current Huskers kicker Drew Brown's predecessor.
Huskers Fall to No. 1 UConn - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
No. 1 UConn notched its 86th consecutive victory with a 84-41 win over the Nebraska women’s basketball team on Wednesday night in front of 7,553 fans at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
It was ugly, but that’s what UConn WBB does to people.
Kadie Rolfzen Named Honda Sport Award Finalist - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
Nebraska's Kadie Rolfzen is one of four finalists for the 2016 Honda Sport Award for Volleyball
Suh Named to AFC Pro Bowl Roster - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
Former Husker and current Miami Dolphin Ndamukong Suh made the 2017 AFC Pro Bowl roster, when the NFL released both teams this week.
Project aims to boost global wheat yields | Nebraska Today | University of Nebraska–Lincoln
A University of Nebraska-Lincoln research team has earned a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop higher-yielding lines of hybrid wheat that can meet rising demand for the staple food crop.
Wellness Kitchen provides healthy instruction | Nebraska Today | University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Campus Recreation is offering tips and instruction on how to prepare healthy meals in a new Wellness Kitchen.
You’d probably be better off if you got rid of that Ramen flavor pack and bought some vegetables and broth to go along with the noodles.
Elsewhere
The running back was suspended for the entire 2014 season.
This is... just dumb. Stoops spews this BULLSHIT, bullshit because Mixon will be playing in the upcoming Sugar bowl game against Auburn. This crap is exactly what sucks any life out of the idea of “amateur student athlete glory of the game do it for your school”, and you’re left with nothing but, again, feeling bad about a sport you want so desperately to love.
So FUCK YOU BOB STOOPS.
Texas fans drink up; alcohol sales jumped more than 70 percent in 2016 | Hookem.com
Want to know what doesn’t sell? Budweiser. The once-proud “King of Beers” is almost a non-starter with the UT crowd. Texas sold 89 cans of Bud all season. Fans cracked open 1,411 Shiner Bocks and 741 Michelob Ultras, by comparison. And fans guzzled 952 Lone Stars.
This is shocking. Not that Texas sold a lot of beer, but 89 cars of Budweiser? That’s it? Holy shit. I bought they were all bought by one guy. Everyone at concessions knew who he was, already had his Bud opened and ready when he walked up.
Football people are divided on college stars skipping bowl games - SBNation.com
It’s brought out a wide range of opinions.
College football expectations vs. reality: What did I get right and wrong in 2016? - SBNation.com
There is a strong correlation between good recruiting and good play, but it’s scattershot. It doesn’t affect each team the same in the short-term, and for all the predictive value recruiting can have (the top six teams in two-year recruiting are among the top 11 in S&P+, as are seven of the top nine in five-year recruiting), there will be misses.
Minnesota Football: Getting to Know Washington State Cougars - The Daily Gopher
Perhaps we can remember that next week the Gophers will be playing in a bowl game. The Holiday Bowl is still going to occur and the Gophers are still going to participate.
Pound the Talk: Basketball can’t stop winning - Inside NU
We recap Chicago State, Dayton and IUPUI and talk some big-picture storylines
Rutgers is... Woe - Off Tackle Empire
We are pretty mean to Rutgers sometimes, but at least occasionally, we're creative about it.
Houston football is trying to fit a city that's too big for a belt - SBNation.com
Like a lot of things in Houston, Cougars football can go from zero to 100 in sixty minutes.
What a college football team’s canceled boycott reveals about the politics of rape - Vox
[The University of] Minnesota uses affirmative consent [as a standard to decide whether sexual misconduct in violation of the university code of conduct has occurred] — so “yes means yes.” Players who’ve been accused have to explain how they knew she wanted to have sex with [them].
BYU holds off late rally from Wyoming to win the Poinsettia Bowl - SBNation.com
Wyoming was looking for its first win over BYU since 2003.
Cindy has departed our televisions, and we bid farewell to a hero.
Then There’s This
Get me off this planet.