Friday Flakes: Historic Flooding in Nebraska, Nebrasketball Lives to Fight Another Day and My Shifting NBA Loyalty

It is somewhat poetic that while water is necessary for human survival, that can also be one of the most destructive forces on the planet.

People who have lived through hurricanes are well aware of this fact. Those of us in the mid-west however do not have to worry about hurricanes. The sources of our natural disasters in our area of the country are tornadoes. Which makes what has happened in parts of Nebraska and the surrounding states, somewhat historic.

As a volunteer fire fighter I have a radio at work which is set up to hear all of the fire and rescue calls in our county. It is safe to say that it has been active today. There have been numerous calls for man-power to evacuate areas around water.

From other parts of the state:

A third of the 24,000 residents in Norfolk, Nebraska, were ordered to evacuate Thursday after the city’s levee system “neared its top,” city officials said. One person was reported to be missing after their car was swept away.

And there are more and more.

In regards to support I have heard about GoFundMe pages for certain communities to raise money to help those who are currently without homes or for the damages which have resulted from this weather.

American Red Cross has opened three shelters in Nebraska to assist those who have been displaced from their homes due to flooding and blizzard conditions in the area.

The shelters were in Norfolk at Lutheran High Northeast, 2010 N. 37th St., the Randolph City Auditorium, 119 N. Main St., and North Loup at the North Loup Community Center.

I will try and update as I learn about more information

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Nebrasketball Is The Story of the Big Ten Tournament...So Far

“The Magnificent Seven come through in Chicago,” was the line used by an excited Kent Pavelka after Nebraska beat the fifth seeded Maryland Terrapins yesterday in the Big Ten Tournament.

What Nebraska has done so far in the Big Ten Tournament is easily the story of the post season so far. It will be hard to keep it going when you are relying on seven players to play their third game in three days.

What we have that other teams do not is a Johnny Trueblood. We will see how far his legend will go.

Nebraska will be taking on the Wisconsin Badgers at 1:55 p.m. (central time).

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Nebraska Sports

Taylor wearing many hats for the Huskers on field and off
The call to versatility is nothing new for Cam Taylor. Cornerback or safety and special teams workhorse? That works. Be a leading peer recruiter for the Husker program? Same answer.

Huskers' Washington surrenders to authorities
Nebraska running back Maurice Washington surrendered to California authorities on Monday to face felony and misdemeanor charges related to possession and distribution of a video of his former girlfriend allegedly being sexually assaulted by two other people in 2016.

Tuioti wants Rogers to play fast and loose
Defensive lineman Casey Rogers chose Nebraska over several other opportunities in the winter of 2018. The Huskers were taking a bit of a risk as Rogers was more known for his lacrosse skills than his football ability, but teams like Alabama and Ohio State were showing interest too, and a bond with Mike Dawson helped push Nebraska over the top.

Nebraska Recruiting: Are More Showdowns With Iowa on the Way? | Hail Varsity
There are times when Nebraska offers a scholarship and you sit up and take notice. On Monday, the Huskers offered defensive lineman Logan Jones from Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The lineman stands at 6-foot-3 and 255-pounds and is committed to play at Iowa.

Nebraska women’s basketball season in review | Sports | dailynebraskan.com
This season was a rebuilding year for the Nebraska women’s basketball team.

On the surface, the season seems to be a disappointment. Coming off of a 21-11 season and an NCAA Tournament appearance in the 2017-18 season, the Huskers finished 14-16 and were beat in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament by Purdue, a team they defeated twice during the regular season.

Nebrasketball: Huskers Take Down Maryland 69-61 - Corn Nation
Maryland has not won a Big Ten Tournament game since 2016. They would have to wait until 2020 to break that streak. Nebraska came into this game with the energy of the Rutgers win to beat Maryland 69-61.

Husker Musings as Miles' crew becoming the B1G story in Chicago
Fitting that Tim Miles dropped a quote that had a bit of Coach Norman Dale from "Hoosiers" in it after Thursday's surprise, which suddenly has Nebraska basketball as the lead story of the Big Ten Tournament.

"We are who we are, not who we are not," said Miles, which sounded something like Gene Hackman's character at the Hickory High pep rally. From one big underdog to another.

Social media reacts after Nebraska upsets No. 21 Maryland
Nebraska basketball, playing with seven players, upset No. 21 Maryland on Thursday at the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago.

The Huskers advance to face Wisconsin on Friday in the next round of the Big Ten Tournament, keeping alive a season many were declaring for dead heading into this past weekend. Though the game against the Terrapins took place on a Thursday afternoon, there were plenty of eyes on the Huskers on social media.

Huskers Top Terps to Stay Alive in Big Ten Tournament | Hail Varsity
The miracle run through the Big Ten Tournament for Coach Tim Miles and the short-handed Huskers continued on Thursday as the 13th-seeded Huskers knocked off the No. 5 seed in Maryland 69-61 at the United Center in Chicago.

Nebraska (18-15) rolled with seven players once again including heavy minutes for its top three, but the Huskers showed no signs of fatigue.

Sports Outside of Lincoln

New Philadelphia Phillie Bryce Harper on rejecting $300 million, recruiting Mike Trout and playing in Philly for life
Bryce Harper is sinking deeper and deeper into the couch, like a handful of loose change. The sky outside this luxury waterfront condo somewhere in the vicinity of Clearwater, Florida, is the color of faded denim. A few feet from the windows, pelicans interrupt their lazy glides by tucking their wings and firing their bodies, kamikaze-like, into the bay.

Can Derek Carr And The Raiders Make The Most Of Antonio Brown? | FiveThirtyEight
Brown will land atop an Oakland receiving corps that is sorely lacking in playmakers, and he’ll surely become the focal point of the passing attack. But how exactly will the Raiders deploy their new weapon?

Michael Bennett used to hate the New England Patriots
The veteran defensive end spoke with team reporter Megan O’Brien Thursday, and revealed that quarterback Tom Brady’s hair was partly to blame.

“I used to hate the Patriots,” he said. “I hated because they would win so much. I hated because Tom Brady's hair was long. I hated that Belichick would wear sweaters. But now that I'm here, I love it. I love Tom Brady's hair. I love being a Patriot.”

“STICK TO SPORTS!” Nah.

Japanese "marine creature" collision leaves 87 injured - CNN
More than 80 people were injured after a high-speed boat collided with a "marine creature" off the northwest coast of Japan, the country's Coast Guard told CNN.

The boat was carrying 121 passengers during the collision, injuring 87 people traveling on the vessel, according to the Coast Guard from the Niigata prefecture.

Jack Grealish - fan jailed for 14 weeks for assault on Aston Villa player in Birmingham derby
A Birmingham City fan has been jailed for 14 weeks after pleading guilty to assaulting Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish during the derby between the sides on Sunday.

Paul Mitchell, 27, swung a punch at Grealish when the player's back was turned after running onto the pitch at Birmingham City's St. Andrew's stadium during the Championship match.

The hipster effect: Why anti-conformists always end up looking the same - MIT Technology Review
You’ve probably seen this effect—perhaps you are a victim of it. You feel alienated from mainstream culture and want to make a statement that you are not part of it. You think about wearing different clothes, experimenting with a new hairstyle, or even trying unconventional makeup and grooming products.

And yet when you finally reveal your new look to the world, it turns out you are not alone—millions of others have made exactly the same choices. Indeed, you all look more or less identical, the exact opposite of the countercultural statement you wanted to achieve.

In Vietnam, rats are a popular food—here’s why.
Rat or bat?

The chef dangled the raw, bloody carcasses before my face as if this were a tantalizing choice. Normally, I’d say neither, but seeing as how it was New Year’s Eve in this Mekong River border town, a little bit of adventurous eating seemed apropos.

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Fast Tracking My NBA Loyalty

(While I know many do not care about my NBA fan loyalty, I felt it was necessary to get it in writing for my friends who will say, “Oh, NOW you’re a.....fan.”)

Ever since I was old enough, and thus had money, to buy basketball cards, I was a fan of the NBA. A couple friends of mine would sit around with our binders of Fleer, Topps, Upper Deck and other brand NBA basketball cards. We each had a favorite NBA player and would time to time trade to get more cards of our favorite player.

My favorite player at the time was Jerry Stackhouse. Two of my friends, Brent and Craig, were fans of Allen Iverson and Grant Hill.

I think they chose wiser than I did.

Well since Jerry Stackhouse reached “old age” in the NBA, I started paying attention to some kid (a year older than me) who had his high school basketball games on ESPN. I was and remain to be anti-Michael Jordan. So when they said this high schooler could be better than Jordan, then I jumped on that bandwagon from the start.

I became a fan of Lebron James.

So I followed him from Cleveland, to Miami and then back to Cleveland. My allegiances belonged to him and not a team.

Over the past few years I started looking ahead and I felt that when LeBron retired, I couldn't just pick another player because at this point it feels a little weird for my allegiances to be with a kid who would likely be 15 years younger than me.

I can’t do it.

So I decided that I was going to pick a team and stick with it. I am a Cubs and Bears fan so it seems logical that I should pick the Bulls. However, my anti-Jordan sentiments are too deeply entrenched. It ain’t happening.

I have known which team it would be for some time now. My concern, however, is that I don’t want to be switching allegiances when that team is successful. I do not want to jump on a band-wagon.

Over the past few years I said that when LeBron retired then I was switching. That was up and until he became a Laker. While my anti-Jordan sentiments are quite strong, I have rooted against the Lakers for almost my entire life.

I thought I could get over it, but yesterday I realized that the disaster that has been this Lakers’ season as well as the stain it has put on LeBron’s career has not affected me one bit. I’ve become quite apathetic to what has happened.

I think that is a sign telling me that it is time to move on.

So with that said, I am announcing my allegiance to a team that had one of my favorite roster’s from the 1990’s. I still remember Larry Johnson hitting the 4-point play in the playoffs as well as Allan Houston, Anthony Mason, Charles Oakley, Chris Childs, Charlie Ward, Patrick Ewing and John Starks doing battles against the Chicago Bulls.

So I would like to say hello to the New York Knicks!

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Sports Fans Showing Their Bravery

On Monday night there was video released of Russell Westbrook yelling at some Utah Jazz fans in Utah.

Here was Russell Westbrook’s full statement on the altercation.

Yahoo had a longer piece on some of what happened and the history Westbrook has with the fans in Utah. Westbrook is known to be an emotional player on the court. From what I have heard he is a great person off the court.

So when some of these articles are written with the headline “Westbrook threatens fan and fans wife” it really does provide the clicks they want. Even though, to me that was not what happened. To me it was Westbrook responding to a fan.

If you read the article the fan said that his wife just sat there with her hands on her lap and said nothing. So who should we believe?

I am going to believe Westbrook. Read the rest of the Yahoo article and you might see why.

I do personally wonder what it says about a person who yells personal insults at players? Especially when you are in a position to lose nothing and the player can lose everything if the player comes into the stands to physically confront you. That person probably thinks they are super brave.

To be clear I am okay with Booing and the like. I am perfectly fine with dispising a team or a school. That is the fun part about being a fan. But when it gets to the point that you talk about a player’s family or maybe pull an arrow out of your racist quiver then you should probably walk yourself out.

Especially when you wouldn’t say that to a players face on the street.

A solution?

In a perfect world, the player would have the option to bring the fan onto the court. Then they would hand a microphone to the fan. That fan would have the opportunity to repeat what they said. This is our form of due process. Did he actually say it? Well we will let the fan decide. If they repeat it then it’s time to “put the gloves on” and let them go at it.

Of course we would need a cage. Maybe some wild hungry animals. And swords. Yes. There should be swords.

But alas, we live in a civilized society so this would never happen.

Speaking Of A Civilized Society

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Thanks for reading!