Friday Flakes: U.S. Navy Spotlights Husker Football Player and Tim Miles Takes the Blame

The United States Navy released episode 10 of what I believe is called “Faces of the Fleet” series. Just so happens to be that Nebraska Defensive Lineman Damian Jackson is the star of the episode. I could expound about how impressive it is for somebody to become a Navy Seal and then walk-on to a college football team like Nebraska but the Navy did a much better job than I ever could.

Give it a watch.

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Tim Miles Takes the Blame But Maybe He Shouldn’t

In high school my football coach once said “we can’t blitz every play. There are only so many bullets in that gun.”

The same goes for a head basketball coach taking the blame for a dismal performance in a loss against an under-matched Rutgers team. There are only so many bullets in the “it’s my fault” gun before the Athletic Director uses the “you’re fired” gun.

Robin Washut, of HuskerOnline, reported this quote from Tim Mile’s radio segment on Sports Nightly:

“I didn’t have them ready to play…” Miles said during his radio show on the Husker Sports Network on Wednesday night. “I just don’t think, as I looked at it, that I had them in the right mind frame. I’m trying to get to the point in my life where I don’t threaten them every game, like, ‘This team’s the best, and you’re going to lose if you don’t do this,’ and you create all this fear, worry, and doubt.

“You try not to do that, but then after not doing it and losing, you feel like, ‘what in the world?’ My job is to prepare them, but I’ve got to get a standard of play out of these guys, too, and I didn’t do a good enough job.”

Tim Miles took one for the team. He probably thought it was the best thing to do for his players

Maybe the players are feeling the building pressure of Nebraska Basketball history on their shoulders. Would it be fun to play Rutgers in January when you know your legacy will be defined by a single NCAA tournament game in March? That is if they get there in the first place.

It is easy for us to say “WELL IF I WAS THEM I WOULD HAVE BEEN UP TO PLAY RUTGERS. I LOVE BASKETBALL.”

I love basketball too, but even I know that after all the weight training sessions, off-season conditioning, in-season conditioning, practices, plane-rides, hotel rooms, scouting sessions, media questions and the looming NCAA Tournament win/loss in March that it may be hard to get up for Rutgers.

While many fans wish it were different, athletes are not in fact computers that coaches input information and then the athlete correspondingly responds.

An inability to get up for games is on both the players and the coaches. This time Coach Miles decided to take in the chest. I am not sure he is going to be able to do it again and make it to the next season.

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On to the flakes...

Nebraska Sports

Report: Bob Diaco has landed a defensive coordinator job - FootballScoop
Bob Diaco, who started the season a defensive specialist before being promoted to was promoted to outside linebackers coach following the in-season dismissal of Sooners defensive coordinator Mike Stoops, has landed a defensive coordinator position.

Harris Provides Different Dynamic for Huskers Team Short on Depth | Hail Varsity
After a month on the shelf with mono, freshman guard Amir Harris is back on the court and adds a different dynamic to a rotation that has been short on depth.

3 Things to Know as Nebraska Prepares to Face Northwestern | Hail Varsity
On Thursday, Nebraska (9-9, 4-3 Big Ten) welcomes Northwestern (11-7, 4-3 Big Ten) to Pinnacle Bank Arena for a 7 p.m. tilt. The Huskers are aiming for their third straight win, getting them back over .500 for the first time since Dec. 31. Northwestern is looking for its third straight win as well.

Here are three things to know about the game.

HuskerOnline.com - Miles shoulders blame for Huskers' lack of focus, toughness
Tim Miles knows he should have seen it coming, and he should have done more to keep it from happening.

Recruiting Ticker: Six Husker signees recognized in final 247Sports rankings | Recruiting | journalstar.com
Nebraska’s 2019 recruiting class is well-represented in 247Sports' final recruiting rankings for the cycle.

The service released its "Top 247" on Wednesday afternoon and the Huskers had six players ranked among the top 200 in the country.

Non-Nebraska Sports

NBA mock draft 2019: Zion Williamson is No. 1. What happens after that? - SBNation.com
Our latest mock draft tries to figure out who gets taken after Williamson come June.

A certain Nebraska basketball player makes the list of players going in the first round.

This insane stat explains Patriots QB Tom Brady's amazing accuracy
This insane stat explains Patriots QB Tom Brady's amazing accuracy originally appeared on nbcsportsboston.com

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady owns the NFL playoff record for consecutive pass attempts without an interception, a streak that actually ended in Sunday's AFC Championship Game win against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Mariano Rivera, Edgar Martinez, Roy Halladay, Mike Mussina elected Baseball Hall Fame
Mariano Rivera, Edgar Martinez, Roy Halladay and Mike Mussina were voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday. Rivera became the first player ever voted unanimously into the Hall.

“STICK TO SPORTS!” Nah

What Hunted Ancient 'Humans'? | RealClearScience
Modern humans have the minds of prey and the powers of superpredators. We're flighty, anxious, and fearful, yet readily capable of hunting entire species to extinction. What explains this paradox?

New science details discovery of bacterial pathogen in brains of Alzheimer’s patients and possible evidence of disease causation | UofL News
New science uncovers how an unlikely culprit, Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) – the bacterium commonly associated with chronic gum disease – appears to drive Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology.

Planetary collision that formed the moon made life possible on Earth
Most of Earth's life-essential elements probably arrived with the planetary collision that produced the moon. In a new study in Science Advances, Rice University petrologists conclude Earth most likely received the bulk of its carbon, nitrogen and other life-essential volatile elements from a collision with a Mars-sized planet more than 4.4 billion years ago.

Conservation of cultural heritage sites in Beirut, Lebanon
These formerly abandoned landmarks are getting a second life as galleries, restaurants, and cultural centers.

Best Thing I Saw On the Internet This Week x 2

Only a Creighton Bluejay would do this.

Eric Gordon’s reaction is priceless.

Have a great weekend! Thanks for reading.