I'm Already Growing Sick Of Nebraska Football

It's about all we have here. Nebraska basketball has never been too great. Heck, Creighton has been the competitive team of recent years in this state. We've had a decent baseball team, but they tend to be the first team knocked out for some reason. No one really cares about the minor league and arena league teams, the Omaha Royals and Omaha Beef. So, all we really have are the Nebraska Cornhuskers' football team. It was insane here in the mid '9os when the Huskers were truly one of, if not the best.

I always liked to play the devil's advocate, so I'd root against the Huskers just to be the odd man out and make things a little more interesting. That wasn't as fun anymore when Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne retired and Frank Solich came walking in. Nebraska then walked into unknown territory (for those around my age in this state or even a little older), mediocrity. I almost started pulling for Nebraska to become competitive again, because no one had a team to root for then. If the Huskers' football team was doing poorly or even average, then it was going to be a long winter for most around here.

Solich was canned and Bill Callahan came walking into Lincoln. In year one, the team went 6-6 and in year two, they improved to 8-4. Now, all I read and hear from people around here is how Nebraska will win the Big XII North Title, beat either Texas or USC, and lose only 2 games (10-2). The season hasn't started yet and I'm already hearing/reading this. These people aren't just optimistic, they're making guarantees. I've got to say, I'm already getting sick of it. I'm going to a big barbecue bash on September 16th when NU faces off against USC at The Coliseum. I'll be Mr. Neutral there, but deep down, I may actually pull for the Trojans. It'll be early in the season and will let the overly-optimistic fans here know that there will not be an undefeated season in Lincoln this year.

Perhaps not being a big fan of Bill Callahan contributes to these feelings. I'm not a fan of how he handled things in Oakland and I don't really like how he calls a game. The guy can recruit, but in my opinion, he's not much of a coach. It's his time now, though. The guy has gone out and recruited the talent to fit his system. It's now time to find out if he can actually coach the talent he's recruited. Only time will tell and maybe I'm being devil's advocate again, but I don't feel that NU will improve much from last season, if at all, record wise. Fortunately for them, however, the Big XII will be weaker than in year's past and the race should be wide open for anyone who chooses to take it.