Welp, he did the "hook'em" sign again after a touchdown. That always makes me smile. We should start a thread that tracks the number of times that Roy Williams throws the horns up this season. As a side-effect, it'll also closely count the number of touchdowns that he gets.

I know that the feelings on Roy Williams have been mixed ever since he joined the Cowboys. But, Roy's still a Longhorn, and his school pride shines more brightly during games than I think I've ever seen from any of our alumni. It's great to see that he's been off to a strong start. It would have been even stronger if his Week 1 game-winning touchdown grab hadn't been negated by a holding penalty.

I hope he can keep it up. I'll be rooting for him.

Personally, I'm sad that the Big 12 is in its final days. Though I would have preferred that Nebraska (and Colorado) stay in the Big 12, I understand the economic incentive to leave for greener pastures, and I respect that.

What I cannot get past, though, is the immense amount of information spin that Tom Osborne has been putting on their motivation for getting out of the Big 12. He is constantly painting Nebraska as the gentle victim while making coy references to Texas as the Big 12's killer. To make things worse, Dennis Dodds of CBS Sportsline has been absolutely teeing off on Texas for the past week while taking care to front page his blogs on http://www.cbssports.com . For example, today's rant, Nebraska trounces Texas, moves to Big Ten:

LINCOLN, Neb. -- It was the worst beating Texas has taken in public in at least seven years.

That 65-13 loss to Oklahoma in 2003 was only a football game. Nebraska officials spent the better part of 40 minutes Friday putting Bevo in his place.

Nebraska didn't just leave the Big 12 for the Big Ten on Friday, it told the world why: That bully Texas. In the space of eight days, Nebraska transformed from happy member of the Big 12 to angry, rancorous new member of the Big Ten.

Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman and AD Tom Osborne both took turns hammering Texas during a comment period before the board of regents. When they got done, there was only one possible result. The regents' vote was unanimous. Nebraska is headed to the Big Ten. Unspoken: Because Texas forced it out.

The moment the news broke last week about the Pac-10's desire to take Texas and five Big 12 partners, Nebraska turned sour. Perlman, at one point, stared across a table during the Big 12 meetings at his Texas counterpart Bill Powers and asked him if he was willing to give up his media rights. In other words, start a Big 12 Network. Powers said no. At that point, Perlman knew it was over.

This league had a chance to survive seven years ago but a possible network was voted down, obviously not supported by Texas. Now, it's clear the Pac-10 is going to get Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.

Super conferences, start your engines.

The money quote from Osborne: "One school leaving a conference does not break up a conference. Two schools leaving a conference does not break up a conference. Six schools leaving a conference, breaks up a conference. We have not had a hidden agenda, we have not dealt with more than one conference."

T.O. intimated that Texas has been talking to the SEC, Big Ten and Pac-10.

It was a bad day for Texas' reputation. It was a good day for Nebraska's future.

 

Unfortunately, there are no substantive facts and actual evidence in Dodd's "analysis" of the situation. Other than his own personal opinions, Dodd spends his entire post boasting of Nebraska while painting Texas as a malicious entity. He takes time to quote only Nebraska officials while describing Texas in ambiguously hostile terms.

At first, I think that maybe Dodd is just trying to excite some discourse to grab a few extra readers. In another article, Dodd seems pleasant enough. Dodd starts out by extolling Nebraska as a virtuous team player:

They're special, Jim, so be kind. In fact, a red carpet of some kind wouldn't be considered over the top. They are the Big Red. The only Big Red that matters. Nebraska. A program that forged its reputation playing walk-ons from the state's cornfields.

All those dollars? Nebraska just couldn't say no.

We ask just one thing, Jim. Treat them right. Roll out the red carpet for the Big Red. They're special.

But then, later in his article, Dodd turns around and inexplicably takes a shot at Texas:

Nebraska would have been fine staying in the conference if Texas hadn't taken over the league in everything from academics to finances.

Once Texas issued that "ultimatum" last week, it was over. Nebraska knew it couldn't go back to a league where one of the members was issuing deadlines.

Suddenly, Dodd's article turns from a commemoration of Nebraska into a swan song with Texas as the reason that Nebraska must go through the suffering of this past week. Now, I understand that Nebraska has a strong winning tradition, so it doesn't bother me if Dodd takes the time to pay respects to Nebraska. What I don't understand is why he would make space in an otherwise pleasant article to lambast Texas out of nowhere. Does Dodd have some sort of passive-aggressive agenda?

Well, by now it shouldn't surprise anyone that Dodd is developing a fixation with Texas:

It's going to be great seeing Michigan and Ohio State come to Memorial Stadium. Purdue and Indiana not so much. Sad day, in a way, I'm sure for Tom Osborne. He wanted to stay in the Big 12. Texas forced his hand.

And lastly:

It long ago became too Texas-centric for Osborne and Nebraskans. Jerry Jones built a palace of a stadium and recently locked up the Big 12 championship game for the next few years.

Texas winning in Texas. Another "road" game in a championship game. Maybe it isn't fair but what do you do about it? That's what makes Osborne's decision so difficult.

The problem is there is no clear right thing to do. Stay in the Big 12, and Texas could pull the same stuff and have a wandering eye in another three years. Stay in the Big 12, and the same distrust and rancor still exists. Can Nebraska get concessions from Texas (revenue, etc.)? Not likely.

Conveniently, Dodd neglects the fact that it was Nebraska and Missouri who initially started the predicament with rumors of talks between them and the Big 10. Chronologic order is lost on Dodd, who makes the claim in the above messages that Nebraska is being forced into the Big 10 because Texas has a "wandering eye" that may bolt for the Pac 10 regardless of what Nebraska does.

Normally, I don't mind when Sportswriters take the occasional shot at Texas. But, when someone systematically paints Texas (or any team, for that matter) in a poor picture in a series of articles without offering the benefit of the opposing perspective and without even offering one sentence of counterpoint for the other team, then I take offense. At that point, the writer's agenda isn't so much to grab the audience's attention as it is to systematically slander a team. In more than one blog and in more than one article, Dodd has literally called Texas a "bully" among many other unflattering phrases.

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