SBNation.com User Blog: Salt Creek and Stadium

FanPost: Let's Discuss Roster Development

Salt Creek and Stadium — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:30:35 -0000

I had some thoughts on Twitter that I thought y'all would like to discuss here at CN:

My issue with Barney Cotton is that I feel like he's struggled with the transition of his linemen from Watson's WCO to Beck's playbook.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

This is despite giving him not only an assistant (Garrison) but also no less than three graduate assistants.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

Nebraska's running game is alright, sure. It could be better. But the passing game is downright embarrassing on the line play.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

The right side of our line is constantly (CONSTANTLY) being blown up on passing plays. Martinez has no time to pass.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

The title change for Cotton this off-season has done NOTHING to address this. He's still in the room and apparently still "helping" out.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

I honestly hope that some of our younger o-linemen can step up and plug that right side. Otherwise I'm anticipating another frustrating fall
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidt I would say Cotton hasn't been recruiting, really. As far as I can tell, his area is apparently the local front (IA, NE, KS).
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidt Marrow took over his recruiting last fall while Cotton was recovering from some medical stuff.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidtBut local talent was rough last fall. Kansas City is supposed to be hot this year, so we'll see what happens.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidt And I'd say it's development that's clogged up for the entire team, not just Cotton's line.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidt I do think they're giving Cotton/Garrison the players to work with. But the scheme has changed over the five years.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidt The development hasn't kept up. And when there's no one to step up and replace Rodriguez for a series or two, there's a problem.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidt I do think the lines have struggled for different reasons. The d-line has had three coaches in five seasons.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidt Jury is still out on Kacz but it was a mistake to promote Papuchis.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@tamattes He does seem overmatched, or in over his head from my perspective on my couch.
— Michael Schmidt (@md_schmidt) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidt The o-line has had effectively three offenses in five years. That disrupts development.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidt And of course, @btbowling is probably right about Dobson's strength program.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@tamattes Great point. It has been a long time (seasons probably) since Huskers have imposed their will. Certainly vs Conf opp.
— Michael Schmidt (@md_schmidt) May 17, 2013

So what do you think? Do you agree with my thoughts? Am I out of line? Chime in below. Let's talk about football!

(PS: Remember FanPosts? We have the ability to push these to our front page so don't be afraid to post your own thoughts!)

I had some thoughts on Twitter that I thought y'all would like to discuss here at CN:

My issue with Barney Cotton is that I feel like he's struggled with the transition of his linemen from Watson's WCO to Beck's playbook.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

This is despite giving him not only an assistant (Garrison) but also no less than three graduate assistants.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

Nebraska's running game is alright, sure. It could be better. But the passing game is downright embarrassing on the line play.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

The right side of our line is constantly (CONSTANTLY) being blown up on passing plays. Martinez has no time to pass.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

The title change for Cotton this off-season has done NOTHING to address this. He's still in the room and apparently still "helping" out.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

I honestly hope that some of our younger o-linemen can step up and plug that right side. Otherwise I'm anticipating another frustrating fall
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidt I would say Cotton hasn't been recruiting, really. As far as I can tell, his area is apparently the local front (IA, NE, KS).
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidt Marrow took over his recruiting last fall while Cotton was recovering from some medical stuff.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidtBut local talent was rough last fall. Kansas City is supposed to be hot this year, so we'll see what happens.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidt And I'd say it's development that's clogged up for the entire team, not just Cotton's line.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidt I do think they're giving Cotton/Garrison the players to work with. But the scheme has changed over the five years.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidt The development hasn't kept up. And when there's no one to step up and replace Rodriguez for a series or two, there's a problem.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidt I do think the lines have struggled for different reasons. The d-line has had three coaches in five seasons.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidt Jury is still out on Kacz but it was a mistake to promote Papuchis.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@tamattes He does seem overmatched, or in over his head from my perspective on my couch.
— Michael Schmidt (@md_schmidt) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidt The o-line has had effectively three offenses in five years. That disrupts development.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@md_schmidt And of course, @btbowling is probably right about Dobson's strength program.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) May 17, 2013

@tamattes Great point. It has been a long time (seasons probably) since Huskers have imposed their will. Certainly vs Conf opp.
— Michael Schmidt (@md_schmidt) May 17, 2013

So what do you think? Do you agree with my thoughts? Am I out of line? Chime in below. Let's talk about football!

(PS: Remember FanPosts? We have the ability to push these to our front page so don't be afraid to post your own thoughts!)

Nebraska Football: Alex Lewis Arrested On Assault/Harassment Charges

Salt Creek and Stadium — Mon, 13 May 2013 18:31:00 -0000

Nothing good ever happens after midnight. This is even more proof.

There's going to be fewer people excited about Nebraska getting in Offensive Line transfer Alex Lewis today.

Colorado QB Jordan Webb and guard Alex Lewis booked Saturday on charges of 2nd degree assault: bit.ly/11w1cze #cubuffs
— John Henderson (@JohnHendersonDP) May 12, 2013

In the story, both Lewis and Colorado QB Jordan Webb were both booked for assault, while Jones was also nailed on harassment charges.

Obviously, we're in the very early stages of this development so both are innocent until proven guilty. However, one of the last lines in the Denver Post report is something that may hamper both players:

Second degree assault in Colorado is a felony and considered a violent crime — it carries a mandatory prison sentence if convicted

Colorado coach Mike McIntyre, the Lewis family, and no one from Nebraska had any comment on this matter so far. If and when anything else is known, we'll make it aware to you all.

Along the Ol' Salt Creek: Sweet N' Spicy Meatloaf

Salt Creek and Stadium — Mon, 06 May 2013 03:09:19 -0000

What, I said the next Thursday? Did I Say That?

Yeah, well, it is not next Thursday, or even the Thursday after that. In fact, it seven weeks later...I was perhaps a tad bit over-optimistic. In fact, one could almost say that my failure to deliver is the reason for all our recent angst and frustrations and the sudden appearance of Cobby on Twitter.

Well, don't Cry Over Me. I think I've figured it out though. I think you're all just really hungry. You know what really helps fill you up? Protein. Lots and lots of protein.

I can hear Bo now, getting all excited about protein. Yes, I work with proteins. Globular blocks of chemicals that make you and me and that tree and the box of doughnuts you had this morning. (We saw you take the last one. Don't deny it.)

But my proteins are made by bacteria, particularly Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica. You don't really want to eat those. Unless you're trying to get out of a situation. Even then, it's probably not worth it unless you have an iPad for listening to Greg and Brian debate the merits of pants or whatever topic they're discussing this week on De-tasseling the Huskers (submit questions or they will debate pants!).

Anyways, please, always cook your food to the USDA directed temperatures to kill these bastards so that you don't ruin a happy memory with a night on the porcelain throne like a Bat Out of Hell.

Getting back on track, today's menu comes to us from UglyDog56's kitchen. He happily shared with us a delightfully sweet take on the classic meatloaf.

It's an incredibly easy dish to prepare and even more easy to eat. In fact, it would seem that the hardest part is writing about it!

If you remember from last time, I provided some background on the dishes I was preparing. Well, I attempted to do the same today. Like any member of my generation, my search began at Wikipedia, where the section on the dish itself is admonished with the phrase

This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. (November 2012)

This warning confused me - what lies could someone write? I mean...it's a block of meat. That's all it is. At some point, apparently someone of European descent (maybe in 1982?) looked at a cow and then a loaf of bread and a light bulb went off in their head. It Takes All Kinds of People, ya know?

Of course, nowadays, if you want a sandwich made of meat, you can try your local KFC and ask for a Double Down. But meatloaf is clearly the Granddaddy of them all. (LIKE THE ROSE BOWL.)

Anyways, enough chit-chat. You're all hungry and it's time to cook the so-called SEVENTH FAVORITE DISH in the United States.

/If you trust Wikipedia.

//Which you shouldn't.

The list of ingredients for forming our loaf of meat is quite straightforward - it is possible that you already have these ingredients at your apartment. (No more Ramen.)

2 Eggs, Beaten

2/3 Cup Fine Dry Italian Bread Crumbs

1/4 Cup Chopped Onion

1/2 Tsp Salt

1/2 Tsp Pepper

2 Tbs Parsley

1.5 Lbs Ground Beef

1/3 Cup Ketchup

1/3 Cup Roasted Pineapple and Habanero Sauce

The hardest ingredient to find, for me, was roasted pineapple and habanero sauce. As a poor graduate student, I do not have a CostCo. I do, however, have a chili and hot sauce aisle at the grocery store. I was able to track down a mango ginger habanero sauce* to use instead. It worked wonderfully. Also, it is important to remember that if you use plain bread crumbs, you will probably want to season them.

* DON'T LOOK AT THE PRICE. I went a week without beer for this.

I used a 9" non-stick pie pan and a glass bowl to prepare today's entrée.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. (Again, scale is important here!)

To make our binding agent for the meat, put the eggs, bread crumbs and spices in the bowl.

Beat into submission.

When I was preparing this dish, I recall that I waited to put the onions in until after the meat. This made my loaf look like it had some sort of skin disorder. For aesthetic reasons, I would put the onions in with the eggs and seasoning.

Finally, mix in the meat and the habanero sauce. Be prepared to get messy!

Take our newly made meatball and place it in a round cake pan in the shape of doughnut. You could also use a traditional loaf pan but hey, what fun is that?

Bake the meatloaf for an hour. In the meantime, mix together the ketchup with some of the habanero sauce.

After an hour, spread the ketchup/habanero sauce over the baked loaf.

Bake for an additional ten minutes. Remove from the oven!

Serve a wedge of the meatloaf along with mashed potatoes and corn.

...

Okay, I don't have corn because I'm a terrible Cornhusker. You get green beans instead. I am not sorry.

Green beans are the superior vegetable anyway.

(Discuss below.)

Start to finish, this dish takes an hour and a half to prepare if you have all the ingredients and your oven cooperates. Remember, this is ground beef so medium or better on the meat. I imagine replacing the meat with turkey or bison would have equivalent results but would require some timing adjustments or flavor modifications.

This dish is also budget friendly (most well-stocked kitchens have all the ingredients necessary) and sits well in the fridge.

That's all for today's dish. Another hearty thank you to UglyDog56 for this dish!

In our next installment, we'll be cooking RanchBabe's Bacon Cheeseburger Soup, without the swine. (Is Nothing Sacred?) I know y'all be disappointed by the lack of bacon. But that's the way it goes in Salt's kitchen.

(I give you permission to love the bacon for the both of us.)

Happy cooking!

PS: I do caution you - you may in fact eat the entire loaf in one seating if you're not careful.

PPS: There is no shame in this but I am obligated to inform you.

Missed a previous installment of Along the Ol' Salt Creek? Or interested in what other recipes the community has contributed? Take a look at our Community Recipes page!
And don't forget! You can still contribute recipes! With summer coming soon (maybe?), now's the perfect time to share those outdoor recipes! Fire up the ol' computer and submit a FanPost today!

Who is Ron Swanson?

Editorial: I Don't Know the 1990s Cornhuskers

Salt Creek and Stadium — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:42:54 -0000

I attended Nebraska from 2006 to 2010 and it was during those four years I fell in love with the state and the school, an experienced share by many of my fellow alumni. A love of college football followed and to this day I look forward to Fall Saturdays and fourteen hours of games.

But sometimes, particularly recently, I've felt like a Walmart Wolverine with regards to my Nebraska fandom.

For many native Nebraskans and fans over the age of 20, fall Saturdays in the 1990s meant watching or listening to the Nebraska Cornhuskers play. There were an awful lot of victories in those days and things were generally great, as I understand it. I do not doubt that there was a similar amount of complaining. Our knowledge isn't passive. Dr. Osborne probably owes his longevity to the fact that the fanbase didn't have 24 hours of ESPN or wide-spread broadband internet access.

As many of our regulars would know, I am not a lifelong Nebraska Cornhusker. In fact, prior to 2002, my only knowledge of the great state of Nebraska was where it was on a map, that the capital was Lincoln and that the Kansas-Nebraska act was one of the build-ups to the Civil War. (I was a little fuzzy on whether indoor plumbing had made it across the Missouri River.)

My fall Saturdays in the 1990s were spent as a wing defender for a different kind of football. Or lost in the wilds of eastern Virginia. Or building gigantic Lego cities. Or outdoors, running around. No American football, really. I think I actually got a football once for Christmas and I had no idea why. It wasn't my sport.

(Sure, there was Navy football but that the first Saturday in December. One day a year, Go Navy, Beat Army.)

***

But there was no Nebraska. My dad tells me he remembers many of the Nebraska-Oklahoma tilts and mourns its loss after the emergence of the Big 12. But I can honestly say I have no real memory of college football from before 2003. Everything I know now has been learned since.

You may remember the fall of 2003. The firing of Solich. The seven week search. Mediocrity. Bill Callahan.

This was also the year I moved to Nebraska. This was my introduction to Nebraska football. Statistically and culturally the WORST period in Nebraska Cornhusker history, at least since Bob Devaney was knocking back whiskies as coach. (Can't really comment before that.)

We won't discuss the intervening three years as high school is basically the worst thing in the world, but I should note that I still didn't reallllllly follow Nebraska football. I knew what was happening but swimming had captured my interest and weekends were spent either working or resting.

In 2006, I chose to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln over Oklahoma State. (If you've ever been to Stillwater, you'll understand why.) Bill Callahan was the head coach at Nebraska when I enrolled in 2006.

I didn't get excited when Tom Osborne was hired in 2008 because it was Tom Osborne. I got excited because Callahan was gone. Or, more specifically, Cosgrove's defense was gone. (I've always had a soft spot for defense.)

Dr. Tom Osborne does not have the same mystique as he has earned from many a Nebraska fan. I should note here that I respect the heck out of Dr. Osborne - his 25 or so years at Nebraska are second to none and his work off the field for the state of Nebraska and her citizens is something to be applauded. But at that time, I didn't think he would magically cure everything. Not hiring Paul Johnson made me sort of sad. While in the end, I think that decision has played out in Nebraska's favor, I was not a "Bo-liever". Paul Johnson had built Navy. NAVY. And beaten Notre Dame.

In the intervening five years, we've seen the rise and enlargement of the Southern mystique in football. And yet in that time, under Pelini, Nebraska continues to win. Maybe not prettily, maybe not as frequently as we'd like, but Nebraska has been winning at one of the more consistent clips in the country. To find teams winning as often as Nebraska, you have to look at Boise State or national title contenders Georgia and Alabama.

This is what I see when I look at Nebraska. I don't see a comparison against Osborne's twenty five years or the magical run in the 1990s. I see Bill Callahan and then Bo Pelini. I see Nebraska against teams in the 2000s and 2010s, not the 1990s. But I suspect I'm in the minority here, for better or for worse.

Has Pelini won a championship? No. And that's certainly a valid criticism. But only one team of one-hundred-thirty Football Bowl Subdivision can win the mythical national title awarded by the Bowl Championship Series. Only one team in twelve can win a conference title. And Nebraska has been painstakingly close (and won in 2009 against the so-called #2 team in the country) but has come up short.

I see this as a combination of Pelini's youth and inexperience, Nebraska's inherent challenges, the damage Callahan did to the program, the rise of the mid-majors as viable routes to the NFL and of course the South's recent domination of mindshare.

When I see that and then see that Nebraska's teams under Pelini are graduating players, keeping grades up, staying out of trouble and still winning at a nice clip, I can't get behind the fan angst. Is it frustrating? Sure. But I'd rather Nebraska find a way to win the "right" way.

Wouldn't it be great if Nebraska won without being a mercenary? Isn't that what Nebraska is about?

***

But perhaps I'm wrong? Maybe I'm looking at things wrong? Is romanticism dead?

After all, I have no emotional attachment to Tom Osborne's run at Nebraska, barely know Bob Devaney, couldn't name a coach from before that, don't know the roster of the 1983 Nebraska Cornhuskers and don't know all the words to "There is No Place Like Nebraska". I didn't grow up on Nebraska football, never dreamed about being a walk-on and don't think Eric Crouch is the greatest since sliced bread.

Am I not emotionally invested enough to really assess Nebraska's program, as it stands? Does my lack of experience with a truly dominating Nebraska team mean I'm willing to accept "mediocrity"? Is it mediocrity that I'm accepting? What is mediocrity in college football?

Am I wrong to be okay with nine wins a season while being more than happy willing to accept more? Am I wrong to look at the rest of college football and realize that a consistent nine wins might be the way Nebraska has to rebuild? That we can't all be Oregons or Alabamas?

That sometimes doing things right takes time, especially when you took a disastrous shortcut ten years ago?

Am I a "fake-ass" Cornhusker*? What am I missing?

Let me know your thoughts below.

This piece represents my views and understandings. Any mistakes are mine and I apologize profusely.

---

* No one has actually called me this, so let's get that out of the way.

[Ed. Note: The purpose of this article is not to call out any one opinion but rather to provide a frame of reference likely not observed or experienced by all fans. This is my experience as a Nebraska fan and I'm sure yours is different. My goal is to challenge you to understand that while we are all Nebraska fans, we all observe the sport different and from different point of views. My observations over the last few weeks would suggest that some of us have forgotten that.]

CornNation NCAA Tournament Bracket Results Update

Salt Creek and Stadium — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 16:27:48 -0000

Your current reader leader is BUBBASAN. Hurray, Bubbasan!

You may also notice that a certain staff member is currently on top as well. I'm not eligible to win anything but pride, but I need Syracuse to win to keep David from usurping me. SO GO ORANGE.

Rank	Bracket	1	2	3	4	Semis	Finals	Points	Possible Pts
1	Support Barney Cotton!	20	18	16	16	-	Ohio St.	70	70
1	Bubba's Buckets o' Fun	24	22	16	8	-	Kansas	70	70
3	Tracy's Bracket	25	20	16	8	-	Indiana	69	85
3	*David McGee	23	22	16	8	-	Duke	69	85
5	QCHusker's Dandy Bracket	22	18	12	16	-	Louisville	68	116
5	Show Me The Munny!	24	24	12	8	-	Ohio St.	68	68
5	Ruesch's Dumb Picks	22	22	16	8	-	Ohio St.	68	68
8	Lakes' dog made these picks	23	20	16	8	-	Louisville	67	115
8	Jessica's Wabbit Bwacket	21	22	16	8	-	Florida	67	67
10	David's Dandy Bracket	24	18	8	16	-	Kansas	66	82
10	Brandon's Boss Bracket	22	20	16	8	-	Louisville	66	114
10	NIT	22	16	20	8	-	Ohio St.	66	66
10	Dougie McBrackets	22	20	16	8	-	Indiana	66	82
14	Husker Mike's Wild-a$$ed Guess	21	20	16	8	-	Ohio St.	65	65
15	BO-urne Loco-acy	24	24	16	0	-	Kansas	64	64
15	NoNubzInMarch	22	22	12	8	-	Gonzaga	64	64
15	coleh's Terrific Bracket	20	20	16	8	-	Michigan	64	112
15	Icey's Great Bracket	22	22	12	8	-	Louisville	64	112
19	Mike's Marvelous Bracket	19	20	16	8	-	Gonzaga	63	63
19	Jigglebelly	21	22	12	8	-	Louisville	63	111
21	Tim Miles is a God Among Men	20	20	12	8	-	Indiana	60	76
21	Crolions's Choice Bracket	20	24	16	0	-	Indiana	60	60
23	Fear the Fro	23	20	16	0	-	Marquette	59	59
23	Herbie's Bag of Tricks	23	20	8	8	-	Indiana	59	59
23	My Bracket Sucks	21	22	8	8	-	Louisville	59	107
26	Caleb's Bracket	22	20	16	0	-	Indiana	58	58
26	Very very bad bracket	20	18	12	8	-	Indiana	58	74
26	NoHo Husker	22	20	16	0	-	Indiana	58	58
26	oprah's foot fungus	22	16	12	8	-	Louisville	58	106
30	The Grand Puba	21	16	12	8	-	Indiana	57	73
30	Up the bracket	25	16	8	8	-	Georgetown	57	73
32	JF1Edge CN	22	22	4	8	-	Indiana	56	72
33	The Champion's Bracket	21	18	8	8	-	Louisville	55	103
34	tsimo	22	16	8	8	-	Louisville	54	102
35	Die Superklammer	23	14	8	8	-	Louisville	53	101
35	Can Cosgrove touch holy water?	21	16	8	8	-	Georgetown	53	69
35	Tim Miles' Bifocals	23	18	12	0	-	Michigan St.	53	53
35	David J's Okay Bracket	25	20	8	0	-	Indiana	53	53
39	Skers's Best Bracket	22	18	4	8	-	Louisville	52	100
40	Jackrabbits Gone Wild	21	18	4	8	-	Indiana	51	67
41	WWTMD (What Would T-Magic Do)	24	18	8	0	-	Michigan St.	50	50
42	OB Blazers 2	20	16	12	0	-	Duke	48	48
42	Leaf Buckets	22	22	4	0	-	Indiana	48	48
44	Jon's Bag Of SUCK	18	18	8	0	-	Florida	44	44
45	The Approved Solution	21	18	4	0	-	Indiana	43	43
46	ScarletandCream's Bracket	23	0	0	0	-	No Pick	23	23
47	Ryan's Primo Bracket	-	-	-	-	-	No Pick	0	0

GOOOOOOOD LUCK EVERYONE.

Your current reader leader is BUBBASAN. Hurray, Bubbasan!

You may also notice that a certain staff member is currently on top as well. I'm not eligible to win anything but pride, but I need Syracuse to win to keep David from usurping me. SO GO ORANGE.

Rank	Bracket	1	2	3	4	Semis	Finals	Points	Possible Pts
1	Support Barney Cotton!	20	18	16	16	-	Ohio St.	70	70
1	Bubba's Buckets o' Fun	24	22	16	8	-	Kansas	70	70
3	Tracy's Bracket	25	20	16	8	-	Indiana	69	85
3	*David McGee	23	22	16	8	-	Duke	69	85
5	QCHusker's Dandy Bracket	22	18	12	16	-	Louisville	68	116
5	Show Me The Munny!	24	24	12	8	-	Ohio St.	68	68
5	Ruesch's Dumb Picks	22	22	16	8	-	Ohio St.	68	68
8	Lakes' dog made these picks	23	20	16	8	-	Louisville	67	115
8	Jessica's Wabbit Bwacket	21	22	16	8	-	Florida	67	67
10	David's Dandy Bracket	24	18	8	16	-	Kansas	66	82
10	Brandon's Boss Bracket	22	20	16	8	-	Louisville	66	114
10	NIT	22	16	20	8	-	Ohio St.	66	66
10	Dougie McBrackets	22	20	16	8	-	Indiana	66	82
14	Husker Mike's Wild-a$$ed Guess	21	20	16	8	-	Ohio St.	65	65
15	BO-urne Loco-acy	24	24	16	0	-	Kansas	64	64
15	NoNubzInMarch	22	22	12	8	-	Gonzaga	64	64
15	coleh's Terrific Bracket	20	20	16	8	-	Michigan	64	112
15	Icey's Great Bracket	22	22	12	8	-	Louisville	64	112
19	Mike's Marvelous Bracket	19	20	16	8	-	Gonzaga	63	63
19	Jigglebelly	21	22	12	8	-	Louisville	63	111
21	Tim Miles is a God Among Men	20	20	12	8	-	Indiana	60	76
21	Crolions's Choice Bracket	20	24	16	0	-	Indiana	60	60
23	Fear the Fro	23	20	16	0	-	Marquette	59	59
23	Herbie's Bag of Tricks	23	20	8	8	-	Indiana	59	59
23	My Bracket Sucks	21	22	8	8	-	Louisville	59	107
26	Caleb's Bracket	22	20	16	0	-	Indiana	58	58
26	Very very bad bracket	20	18	12	8	-	Indiana	58	74
26	NoHo Husker	22	20	16	0	-	Indiana	58	58
26	oprah's foot fungus	22	16	12	8	-	Louisville	58	106
30	The Grand Puba	21	16	12	8	-	Indiana	57	73
30	Up the bracket	25	16	8	8	-	Georgetown	57	73
32	JF1Edge CN	22	22	4	8	-	Indiana	56	72
33	The Champion's Bracket	21	18	8	8	-	Louisville	55	103
34	tsimo	22	16	8	8	-	Louisville	54	102
35	Die Superklammer	23	14	8	8	-	Louisville	53	101
35	Can Cosgrove touch holy water?	21	16	8	8	-	Georgetown	53	69
35	Tim Miles' Bifocals	23	18	12	0	-	Michigan St.	53	53
35	David J's Okay Bracket	25	20	8	0	-	Indiana	53	53
39	Skers's Best Bracket	22	18	4	8	-	Louisville	52	100
40	Jackrabbits Gone Wild	21	18	4	8	-	Indiana	51	67
41	WWTMD (What Would T-Magic Do)	24	18	8	0	-	Michigan St.	50	50
42	OB Blazers 2	20	16	12	0	-	Duke	48	48
42	Leaf Buckets	22	22	4	0	-	Indiana	48	48
44	Jon's Bag Of SUCK	18	18	8	0	-	Florida	44	44
45	The Approved Solution	21	18	4	0	-	Indiana	43	43
46	ScarletandCream's Bracket	23	0	0	0	-	No Pick	23	23
47	Ryan's Primo Bracket	-	-	-	-	-	No Pick	0	0

GOOOOOOOD LUCK EVERYONE.

Along the Ol' Salt Creek: Smokehouse Mac N' Cheese

Salt Creek and Stadium — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:46:43 -0000

As promised, I've finally gotten around to taking your recipes and actually cooking them and documenting that process. In a vote provided during a game thread earlier in the off-season, the vote was split between Bubbasan's "Smokehouse Macaroni and Cheese" and Uglydog56's "Sweet ‘N Spicy Meatloaf" as the first dish.

This meant it was chef's choice so congratulations to Bubbasan!

How better to celebrate the start of this off-season series than by celebrating our future divisional roommate Wisconsin's Big Ten successes with that truly American dish, macaroni and cheese!

According to Wikipedia, you can thank Thomas Jefferson for importing macaroni from Europe. He was apparently so smitten with the noodle that he imported the machinery for making the noodles. Of course, the machine went the way of a January treadmill - that is, it went unused and Jefferson continued importing from Europe. Fascinating!

So let’s get started. As requested, Bubbasan provided a list of ingredients (It’s quite robust!):

1 (16 ounce) box elbow macaroni

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 1/2 cups milk

2 cups cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 lb Velveeta cheese, cubed (I used the sharp cheddar variety.)

1 cup smoked gouda cheese, grated

Paprika, to taste

But seriously – So much cheese. Also, Velveeta? Not what I expected! I'm not really sure what I expected but this is the first time I’ve ever cooked with it.

(And really, does anything say Big Ten more than Velveeta.)

As far as pots and pans go, I ended up using a medium saucepan, a large pot and a 13 x 9 glass pan, greased with butter.

Let's take a moment to learn a little about the star ingredient of this dish.

VELVEETA
Velveeta is the brand name of a processed cheese product having a taste that is identified as a type of American cheese with a texture that is softer and smoother. It was first made in 1918 by Swiss immigrant Emil Frey of the Monroe Cheese Company in Monroe, New York. In 1923, The Velveeta Cheese Company was incorporated as a separate company, and was sold to Kraft Foods in 1927. The product was advertised for its nutrition.[1] According to Kraft's website, in the 1930s, Velveeta became the first cheese product to gain the American Medical Association's seal of approval.[2] It was reformulated in 1953 as a cheese spread.[2] Velveeta is labeled in the United States as a "Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product" (see processed cheese). The name 'Velveeta' is intended to connote a velvety smooth edible product. Smoothness and meltability are promoted as its iconic properties that result by reincorporating the whey with the curd. (Source: Wikipedia.org)

No, wait, not that one. Sorry about that.

SMOKED GOUDA
Gouda, or "How-da" as the locals say, is a Dutch cheese named after the city of Gouda in the Netherlands. If truth be told, it is one of the most popular cheeses in the world, accounting for 50 to 60 percent of the world's cheese consumption. Smoked Gouda is a variant of this famous cheese wherein it is smoked in ancient brick ovens over flaming hickory chip embers. Sensational with beer, this hard cheese has an edible, brown rind and a creamy, yellow interior. It can also perfectly complement tasty snacks like fruits, nuts and dark chocolate. It forms a good combination with sandwiches and burgers. (From Cheese.com)

Hard to tell the difference, right?

Anyways, once you've scrounged the prairie or, if you're not feeling adventurous, the local grocery, get back home and throw all of these ingredients on the counter. And then set your oven to 375 F. (Very important that this is in Fahrenheit - a similar temperature on the Celsius scale or in units Kelvin would have very different results.)

You're going to cook the box of pasta as directed by the purveyor. (If you're really adventurous, you could make the noodles from scratch. If you accomplish this, congratulations! You've out-done the 3rd president of the United States!)

Now we're going to prepare the butter mixture.

In large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, mustard and pepper until smooth; take off heat.

Little by little, stir in milk until smooth. Stir constantly for 10 minutes on heat until thick; take off heat. Stir in 1 1/2 cups Cheddar cheese, Velveeta cheese and smoked gouda cheese until melted.

This is fairly straightforward so go ahead and do that. It smells fantastic, if you like melted cheese.

Now all that's left is to fill the 13 x 9 pan with the cooked noodles and then to cover the whole thing with your melted cheese mixture. Sprinkle the rest of the cheddar cheese and paprika to taste.

Then just bake it for 20 minutes until the cheese forms a nice layer of baked goodness.

Partner up the mac and cheese with a nice chicken sausage and a salad, and enjoy!

All in all, from prep to finish, this took about an hour. And it was well-worth it. Not only was it an excellent mac n' cheese, but it also sits well. (When I made this, it made enough for about ten meals worth.) So for those of you on a budget or a frequent flyer in the leftover department, consider adding this dish to your repertoire.

Again, thanks to Bubbasan for his contribution. It was fantastic. Join us next Thursday as we'll cook our second dish, Uglydog56's Sweet N' Spicy Meatloaf.

Don't forget that you too can have your dish featured right here on the front page at Corn Nation. Publish your recipe in the FanPosts section under the CN Cookbook title! We're always looking for new recipes to try.

Happy cooking!

Sunday's Nebraska Sports Extravaganza.

Salt Creek and Stadium — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 17:59:10 -0000

Sun, Mar 3	SB	Oklahoma State (Game 1)	at Stillwater, Okla.	12:00 p.m.

Sun, Mar 3	BSB	New Mexico	Hawks Field	12:05 p.m.	HuskersNSide

Sun, Mar 3	MGYM	Oklahoma	Devaney Center (On Track)	1:00 p.m.

Sun, Mar 3	SB	Oklahoma State (Game 2)	at Stillwater, Okla.	2:30 p.m.

Sun, Mar 3	WBB	Penn State *	Devaney Center	5:00 p.m.	BTN/BTN2Go.com Huskers.com

THIS IS YOUR OPEN THREAD.

I know nothing about either of these sports. But our very own Brandon Cavanaugh is on the ground in Lincoln. Follow him at @eightlaces or in the comments below where he'll be live-blogging the game.

Listen to Nebraska baseball (or softball) here. (Sorry for the delay.)

And hopefully one of you will chime in with updates from Stillwater as the softball team looks to go 3-1 over the weekend after yesterday's historical win over #1 Oklahoma.

And join us later tonight as our women's basketball team takes on the Nittany Lions in their pursuit of a share of the Big Ten regular season championship. Tipoff is at 5pm CT.

Be sure to vote in the following poll for my cooking series!

Poll

Which recipe should Salt Creek start with? (Check out the Community Recipes for details.)

Smokehouse Mac and Cheese

7 votes

Bacon Cheeseburger Soup (without the bacon)

2 votes

Sweet 'N Spicy Meatloaf

8 votes

17 votes | Poll has closed

The Reads: The Desert Island Question

Salt Creek and Stadium — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 02:45:51 -0000

Important housekeeping update at the end of the Reads today!

This is the intro:

You can now share in my nightmares.

---

Remember: Nebrasketball takes on the Badgers TONIGHT at 8pm on BTN. The women will take on the Badgers tomorrow evening at 7pm.

---

Before I get started with the news, a hearty congratulations to junior Emily Wong of the women's gymnastics team who took home this week's Co-Gymnast of the Week award for her performance against Iowa State!

---

Jordan Burroughs transcends international politics as he wins over the Iranians, who know a good wrestler when they see one.
With spring practices starting this weekend, Brandon offers up his thoughts on players to keep an eye on this spring. I'm just glad I'll be able to see the spring game this year so I can fill up on sunshine. Hurray BTN!
Husker Mike offers up some thoughts about Big Ten expansion. But Ohio State's Gene Smith has informed the media that all the expansion talk is premature and without merit. This seems to support the theory that someone is trying to destabilize the ACC.
Speaking of the ACC, they released their schedule yesterday. Between Steve Pederson and that schedule, you have to wonder what Pitt ever did to Lady Fortune. EDSBS chimes in with what I felt was a picture perfect response to the ACC's schedule.
The Big East might be selling their conference name to their breakaway republic. The Mothership offered up some clever names for the soon to be unnamed conference.
The NCAA is going after a Louisville assistant for his actions while a coach at Miami. Louisville has made it clear that as long as he cooperates, Louisville will stand by him. Gregg Doyel of CBS Sports thinks we should disband the NCAA - it's too damaged to stick around.
Like I said, Indiana is playing like the no. 1 team in the country and they've earned that distinction for the fourth week in a row. There is no Kentucky on this list, which is weird and unnatural. I guess they ran out of NBA players.
Right now, offering eighth graders is funny and cute. But if the NCAA's deregulation stands, how long before it's the norm?
Texas A&M is benefiting from the senility of the head coaches at the three major programs that surround them, writes the A&M SB Nation blog Good Bull Hunting. If Texas A&M being good means LSU, Austin and OU are down, I'm okay with that.
Florida Atlantic's president is at least listening to the public's opinion that naming your stadium after a private prison firm may not be in the best interests of the university, no matter how much money they're giving you.
Apparently the United States is a little bit bigger than West Virginia thought. It's nice of them to finally figure out why we thought they were crazy to join the Big 12 in the first place. Well, outside the whole "associating with Texas" thing.
Hugh Freeze and Ole Miss learned about the internet after Freeze challenged us all to find evidence of cheating.
Is it your birthday soon? You should ask for a cake like this.
And courtesy of BigRedTwice, a fascinating article on how we are really terrible at outsmarting ourselves.

---

Before we close, another Harlem Shake, this time from the women's basketball team:

In comparison, the Husker Harlem Shake with Coach Miles:

I'm sorry, but I'm sticking with Miles here.

---

And finally, I'll leave you with something to think about today:

Were I shipwrecked on a desert island the 3rd or 4th thing I'd want would be my America's Test Kitchen cookbook. Only slight exaggeration.
— Nicholas Jervey (@semicorrect) February 26, 2013

What five things would your unprepared self have with you if you were shipwrecked on an island today?

CLARIFICATION: I'm asking for five items you have within grabbing distance, not what you'd pick up at Walmart on the way to being shipwrecked.

I mean, if we're doing that, I've got a knife, a kettle or pot, a huge box of waterproof matches, a highly reflective tent and a crate of K rations. Too easy.

---

That's all for today. THIS IS YOUR OPEN THREAD, if you want.

GO NEBRASKETBALL. BEAT THE BADGERS.

- Salt Creek and Stadium

PS:

I do want to say y'all have done a fantastic job staying active and having some excellent discussions. Of course, Kate Upton and Kaley Cucuo kind of distracted some of you but hey, whatever keeps y'all coming back.

This leads me to today's housekeeping update. When we started this journey through the off-season, we discussed using the Reads as a place for an open thread. Going forward, I'm not sure that's necessary. There is plenty of discussion happening outside the Reads, which is fantastic.

With this in mind and taking the fact that news is scarce, I am letting you all know about a change in the publishing schedule. Rather than attempting to prepare a piece for Monday through Friday, I am moving to a three day schedule, with Mondays being the heaviest of the three pieces.

On Mondays, you can expect an overview of the results of Nebraska athletic events from the previous weekend.
On Wednesday, I will provide a mid-week update.
On Thursday, look for my cooking post for that week starting next week (recipe submissions are still welcome!)
On Fridays I will provide a weekend outlook.

I will also provide a schedule for the intervening days as far as Nebraska sporting events are concerned.

I will not be doing a Reads article tomorrow or Thursday, but I will have a poll up on Thursday (or Friday, if I forget) to select the dish for the inaugural "Cooking Along the Ol' Salt Creek" post.

Any questions, ask below!

The Reads: Got It!

Salt Creek and Stadium — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 02:21:41 -0000

The big story of the weekend was Nebraska hoops' sweep of Iowa. (Nebraska now leads 15-3 in all sports this season.)

Let's start with the men's shocking 64-60 victory over Iowa, likely extinguishing any hopes of an invitation to the Dance for Iowa. As David reported in the recap, the game played out like so many other games against the Big Ten this year until the final minute. But rather than letting the fat lady sing, Nebrasketball finally took the game by the horns and closed out with a victory.
Here's Nebraska's very own Kent Pavelka on the call:

Crazy, crazy, crazy. Congratulations to Tim Miles on matching last season's Big Ten mark and going plus-one on the season, with four more games to go. Will Nebrasketball steal another win? Stay tuned! The men travel to Madison this Tuesday for a second shot at the Badgers. Tipoff is at 8pm Central on BTN.
The women, not content with Nebrasketball taking the spotlight from their fantastic late season run, demolished Iowa 66-46. It was truly a team effort, with all nine Huskers who saw the court scoring at least a field goal. The women travel to Madison this Wednesday night for their final B1G regular season road trip. Tipoff is set for 7pm Central. There will be no television broadcast but the radio call will be available at Huskers.com as well as Husker Sports Network affiliated stations.
Of course, the Devaney Center is entering a new chapter of its long and storied life. In a nostalgic recollection, Barfknecht makes it sound like the place is being torn down, but I think that's an inappropriate way to view this. We're giving new life to the Bob while finally allowing basketball to grow beyond "that sport we waste time on during January waiting for NSD" and "that sport we waste time on before spring practices".
One amazing fact about the Devaney Center that I didn't know is that it will close out its basketball chapter having hosted winning home records for basketball since its opening in 1976. Here's hoping that PBA and volleyball can continue those winning traditions for basketball and the Bob, respectively.
In this week's reminder of how insanely tough the Big Ten is, No. 4 Michigan State lost to No. 18 Ohio State. This leaves Indiana as the team to beat in the Big Ten, and I'm not sure there's any team in the country that can take them down - they've stepped up their game at the right time and are finally playing like the No. 1 team in the country should. And now that I said that, Indiana will lose this week.

Moving into Nebraska's other athletic events from the past week or so:

Nebraska baseball is off to its worst start since World War II, going 0-fer in their 3-game series against Texas this weekend. Here are the Huskers.com recaps from Game 1, Game 2 and Game 3. While the losses certainly aren't the best thing in the world, they came against excellent programs. Our pride may be hurt but Nebraska's goals remain intact so now's not the time to give up on the Fightin' Erstads. Look for a post-mordem from James later this week. The 0-7 Huskers host New Mexico in their home opener this Friday at 2:05pm.
Softball (11-4) had a slightly better weekend, picking up a win against No. 23 Florida State. Unfortunately, errors doomed them against No. 9 Oregon and the women dropped a heartbreaker against No. 8 California. They travel to Oklahoma this weekend, taking on Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
The women's tennis team (No. 15, 11-1) dominated Wyoming this weekend, going 7-0 in match play. They take on Kansas State this coming weekend.
Nebraska Rifle took third at the Great America Rifle Conference in Oxford, Mississippi this weekend, finishing behind WVU (1st) and Kentucky (2nd). They were only two points ahead of Army.
The No. 10 Nebraska men's gymnastics team did not have as good of a weekend in Iowa as the basketball teams, dropping a heartbreaker against the No. 8 Hawkeyes. Both squads stayed within three points for the duration of the duel. They return to the Devaney Center this weekend to take on No. 2 Oklahoma.
Nebraska's swim and dive team finished ninth in the Big Ten championships, setting four school records over the course of the championships. (Minnesota took the B1G crown. Northwestern won this round of the All Sports NU trophy competition.)
The Big Ten completed indoor track competition this past weekend in Geneva, Ohio. The women finished second overall, behind Illinois while the men managed a fourth place finish. The combined squads won six events, including a sweep of the long and triple jump events.

Now for some football news:

The East Stadium Renovation is about more than just football. But you already knew that. One thing though -as an academic-type who LOVES sports, I take offense at suggesting academics and athletics are an "odd couple". Football is a game of physics, risk management and human physiology, to name just a few disciplines of academia. Even history plays a huge part - I mean, look at the Big Ten. So, please. Don't call it an odd couple. The fact that it has taken this long for an athletic department to take advantage of the academic side of the university is actually a depressing state of affairs.
In case you missed it last week (I did), former Nebraska defensive assistant coach Mike Ekeler is leaving his co-DC position at Indiana to become Lane Kiffin's new LB coach at Southern California. I don't know what to think about this. It's worth noting that Kiffin basically revamped his entire staff. Time will tell if it'll work out or if he's just rearranging deck chairs. (h/t to Brian for pointing out that I was behind on this story.)
Hail Varsity put together their own preview of Nebraska's 2013 roster: defensive backs, defensive line, offensive line, and quarterbacks. We also recently previewed Nebraska's special teams. And don't forget to check our Husker Football 2013 hub for our other previews and all your Nebraska football news this season!
Hail Varsity also shared an old (?) copy of Nebraska's defensive installation. I think Jon linked to this last week so if you've already seen it, I apologize. I did a really good job of avoiding things the past two weeks. Regardless, my takeaway here is that I think we scaled back our linebacker's expectations last season and I would think with the youth movement on defense more of the same is coming this fall.
Of course, Steve Sipple has an interview with Pelini which would suggest otherwise. I'm not sure I agree with Pelini's assessment here (I don't like characterizing us as a top 5 defense in our ten wins), but then I'm not being paid 3 million a year to coach defense, am I?
Rex Burkhead, known as RB08 at the Combine, did pretty well, reports our very own Brandon Cavanaugh. (PERSONAL PLEA: Dear Chicago - I know you hate drafting good players but please, draft Burkhead. Thanks! Salt.)
Brandon also took sometime out of his Combine watching to answer some fan mail. Why not send him some questions through our Facebook page? (Search for Corn Nation!)
Texas Tech might be sporting some new helmets to go with their new, non-Tuberville head coach. Brandon will have to weigh in with his Seal but they look nice. BUT NO, WE WILL NOT BE CHANGING OUR HELMETS, STOP ASKING.
Jim Delany, finally over his courtship of Notre Dame, now eyes North Carolina, his alma mater. The only problem is that they're a member of the ACC. OH, and Jim Slive is also interested in North Carolina. DRAMA.
Yahoo! Sports is reporting that the NCAA board has given a vote of confidence to Mark Emmert. In our experience as football fans, we know that this means absolutely nothing and more often than not simply means "we're not firing him right now, please give us some time to come up with a really good excuse". Because I guess bungling the Penn State and Miami investigations and taking forever on the Oregon case aren't sufficient cause for removal.
Oh, and Pete Carroll had some words to say about the NCAA. I thought it was funny when he said it took them five years to target one guy at Southern California. It's almost like he's offended the NCAA didn't find more people.
Jackson State, a FCS program is turning all those SEC cupcake games into a $200 million domed arena for football, basketball and whatever else can fill 200 days out of the year. For the sake of FCS teams everywhere, I hope the SEC doesn't change their scheduling philosophies.
Former Nebraska QB and graduate assistant Mark Mauer was arrested and charged for solicitation in connection to a prostitution sting this past week. It looks like he's had a bit of a journeyman career since his time at Nebraska, including a stint as a car salesman. Hopefully he'll find a way past this though it's doubtful he'll remain head coach of a high school team, especially one that prides itself on "Christian values".

That's all for today! For the rest of the week, you can expect shorter Reads articles or mere open thread prompts. But I promise to deliver an in-depth look at all of Nebraska's weekend sports every Monday.

And don't think I didn't notice y'all misbehaving while I was away.

AND NOT ONE NEW RECIPE WAS POSTED. What's up with that?

The debut of "Cookin' along the Ol' Salt Creek" will be next week (because I've been busy) but y'all need to get back to work on those recipes. The next episode (after the inaugural one) will require FIVE NEW RECIPES to unlock.

So, y'all get back to work on your cookbook submissions. We'll be voting on WEDNESDAY for the recipe that I will prepare for the inaugural food post.

Have a great Monday! I know I will!

-Salt Creek and Stadium

The Reads: Twenty and a Vacation

Salt Creek and Stadium — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 03:40:45 -0000

Let's start by congratulating the women's basketball team who secured win #7 for Nebraska in the All Sports NU Trophy campaign by beating Northwestern 55-50. The Nebraska women held off a second half comeback by the Wildcats with both Jordan Hooper and Lindsey Moore broke the 1500 career points mark in the victory. (And a round of applause to you all for stepping up and following the women in your own FanPost.)

Nebraska's first attempt to secure win #8 and the trophy comes in Tennis on the 9th and 10th. Nebraska must win both the Men's and Women's match ups.

Here is this weekend's Nebraska athletic events calendar:

Fri, Feb 8 - 9	MGLF	Big Ten Match Play *	at Bradenton, Fla. (The Concession Golf Club)	7:00 a.m.
Fri, Feb 8	WTEN	Miami (ITA National Team Indoor Championships)	at Charlottesville, Va.	12:00 p.m.
Fri, Feb 8	SB	Illinois-Chicago (Hotel Encanto Invitational)	at Las Cruces, N.M.	1:30 p.m.
Fri, Feb 8	SB	New Mexico State (Hotel Encanto Invitational)	at Las Cruces, N.M.	4:00 p.m.
Fri, Feb 8	MTEN	Drake	Nebraska Tennis Center	6:00 p.m.
Sat, Feb 9	RFL	Army	NU Rifle Range	8:00 a.m.
Sat, Feb 9	T&F	Mark Colligan Memorial	Devaney Center Indoor Track	12:00 p.m.
Sat, Feb 9	SB	Illinois-Chicago (Hotel Encanto Invitational)	at Las Cruces, N.M.	1:30 p.m.
Sat, Feb 9	MBB	Penn State *	Devaney Center	8:00 p.m. ESPNU/WatchESPN
Sun, Feb 10 - 12	WGLF	Lady Puerto Rico Invitational	at Rio Mar, Puerto Rico	6:30 a.m.
Sun, Feb 10	MTEN	VCU	Nebraska Tennis Center	10:00 a.m.
Sun, Feb 10	SB	Illinois-Chicago (Hotel Encanto Invitational)	at Las Cruces, N.M.	10:30 a.m.
Sun, Feb 10	SB	New Mexico (Hotel Encanto Invitational)	at Las Cruces, N.M.	1:00 p.m.
Sun, Feb 10	WR	Iowa *	at Iowa City, Iowa	2:00 p.m. BTN.com
Sun, Feb 10	WGYM	Penn State (Pepsi Pack the House) *	Devaney Center	2:00 p.m. BTN (Tape Delay 2/12)
Sun, Feb 10	MTEN	Creighton	Nebraska Tennis Center	6:00 p.m.

The university has announced information about the volleyball wait-list. Take a look and help pack the Devaney for years to come!
I learned two things from Pelini in this recruiting cycle. First, Pelini thinks a player's senior year (**) is far more important for assessing a player than is given credit. This is meant as an explanation for his late surges in recruiting. It is worth noting that while his class isn't a top ten haul, for the first time in five years, pundits aren't asking why certain players are being recruited.
Second, Pelini has admitted that he made the mistake of not putting some of his young charges on to the field last season and now, as a matter of necessity, Nebraska will have to start talent over experience on the line (**). Expect to see a deep, talented and inexperienced roster this fall. It should be entertaining.
Our dear friend Paul Dalen of HuskerMath offers up a visual tour of recruiting by Nebraska and the rest of the Big Ten. It's pretty fantastic!
And while they didn't get as much attention, Nebraska did pick up a nice class of walk-ons this year. Why don't you take a look at those players and take a look at their tape? Maybe use the skills you learned in Brandon's Recruiting 101!
Tim Beck, on Nebraska's approach to recruiting (h/t to Brian Christopherson, LJS):

"We don't have bells and whistles that flash. We don't run out through smoke. We don't change our uniform every week. We don't have any gimmicks. We're not used-car salesmen. And in today's world of recruiting, it's gimmicks. And kids listen to gimmicks. And we have to weed our way through those guys, because those guys typically don't last. They last about as long as a gimmick does until they find a new one. ... So we have to find the kids that are the true football players. And the guys that are the true football players look at all of it."

Randy York thinks Stanton has something special to offer.
Tad Strkyer over at HuskerMax is just really excited that Nebraska picked up some linemen.
Speaking of recruiting, Husker Women's Soccer picked up seven new players for the 2013-2014 season. Welcome aboard!
An indictment against the depth and talent of this year's senior class, only three Huskers picked up NFL Combine invites: Burkhead, Maher and Stafford.
Apparently Jamrog forgot that Colorado isn't that good. Or maybe he felt scheduling Colorado would serve as a pretty good replacement for FCS teams in the future. But regardless, Nebraska will play Colorado four times between 2018 and 2024.
Brian and Brandon are looking for your feedback on how you think our coverage of NSD went as well as input on how, if at all, you'd like to see us use text messaging in the future.
In a surprising turn of events, Urban Meyer and Brady Hoke, as well as Pat Fitzgerald, spoke up in support of Pelini's personal dislike for the new recruiting rules (**). Of course, Urban Meyer followed this up by calling out his fellow coaches for their recruiting, so who knows what's going on.
Oh, and about that bump, the real story of this year's recruitment, Jamrog and some unnamed spokesperson said they attempted to warn Pelini from the pole but were too late (**).
Someone really needs to tell this player that Brady Hoke doesn't like Ohio State, no matter how much said player LOVES Ohio State.
EDSBS tries to capture Mack Brown on a typical day and I honestly don't think this is too far off.
Nick Florence, the QB who more than capably replaced Robert Griffin III at Baylor, has announced that he will not be pursuing a career in the NFL. Happy trails and good luck!
Just because you walked into AND stayed at a terrible situation for a coach doesn't mean the NCAA should take pity on your program, Golden.
The NCAA has its problems but it appears FIFA and international soccer make the NCAA look like a kid who accidentally drew outside the lines in his Sesame Street coloring book.
A little girl has launched a Hello Kitty doll into space. What have you done today?
Apparently a computer somewhere has discovered a new prime number. It's only a matter of time before a mathematician tackles Nebraska's turnover problems.
Finally, we've got two more recipes, putting us at twenty! SD Husker returns to the smoker, giving us a recipe for "Smoked Cornish Game Hens". HuskerInLandOLakes honors his dear friend and shares a recipe for "Prosciutto Pie"

---

Alright, before we end for the week, I just wanted to let you all know that I will be taking some time off from CN. I'm taking a two week vacation to clear my head and recharge from the season. But don't worry - Jon and the rest of the staff will be helping to fill in the gaps.

When I return, we'll start cooking. Won't that be fun? Keep those recipes coming in though! We'll have to come up with some stretch goals.

So until I return, here's hoping Nebraska baseball starts off strong in California, Nebrasketball finishes off the season with a flourish (BEAT INDIANA) and other things go well.

GO BIG RED.

- Salt Creek and Stadium

PS - I am really going to be gone for two weeks. Please take care of yourselves and I'll see you soon.

The Reads: Spring Break in California

Salt Creek and Stadium — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 02:58:22 -0000

Today we'll lead off with a bit of news you've ALL been waiting for: the sand volleyball schedule!

Date	Opponent	Location	Time (CT)
Thu, Mar 14	Florida State	at Chula Vista, Cal.	TBA
Chula Vista Tournament
Fri, Mar 15	Florida State/Pepperdine/Cal State-Bakersfield/Grand Canyon	at Chula Vista, Cal.	TBA
Sat, Mar 16	Florida State/Pepperdine/Cal State-Bakersfield/Grand Canyon	at Chula Vista, Cal.	TBA

Sun, Mar 17	Grand Canyon	at Chula Vista, Cal.	TBA
Tue, Mar 19	Long Beach State	at Long Beach, Cal.	TBA
Wed, Mar 20	UC-Irvine	at Irvine, Calif.	TBA
Thu, Mar 21	UCLA	at Santa Monica, Cal.	TBA
Fri, Mar 22	Hawaii	at Los Angeles, Calif.	TBA
Fri, Mar 22	USC	at Los Angeles, Calif.	TBA

* Thanks to Huskers.com for the schedule

It would appear that Nebraska's entire schedule this season will take place in one action-packed spring break. In case you missed it, John Cook will be coaching the team this spring (and there's no indications that another coach will be brought in for sand volleyball either).

Nebraska athletes picked up a couple of honors over the weekend. Gymnast Janelle Giblin picked up a Specialist of the Week award for her performance against Illinois while jumper Mara Griva earned the Big Ten's Field Athlete of the Week honors for her performance at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational. Congratulations to both athletes on their accomplishments!
The men's tennis team dropped a tough one against Oklahoma State this past Sunday. They'll face top-50 foes Drake and Virginia Commonwealth this coming weekend.
Here's an interesting side story: in another life, I actually helped out with a study looking at the nutritional benefits of distillers' grain and dairy cattle. I never did find out what the outcome on that study was. But still, (*) nice to see farmers finding creative ways to use ethanol production by-products.
Husker Mike delivers up his take on National Signing Day, recruiting and the rampant silliness associated with it all. Very well stated and worth a look!
Erin Sorensen of Hail Varsity decided to take a look at Taylor Martinez' numbers in comparison with other Nebraska QBs. My conclusion? The only number keeping Taylor Martinez from getting the respect he deserves are the number of championships. But if Taylor can deliver one this fall? He deserves a spot on some top 10 favorite Huskers lists.
While I don't doubt that (*) Damon Benning can identify with Braylon Heard, I'm going to go ahead and guess that it's a little much to suggest that Heard has the wrong mentality to compete. We don't know the story. Let it go. (Sipple won't let this die.)
Nebraska baseball is right around the corner, meaning it's time for pre-season watch-lists! Baseball America has Nebraska coming up short in the Big Ten with Indiana winning the conference. But I don't think it's unreasonable to set success for the season as being a NCAA tournament berth. What are your thoughts?
Jesse Collins, the Nebraska writer over at Off-Tackle Empire, shares his own story and explains how "journalists" like ESPN's Rick Reilly get it wrong when they start injecting their own opinions into their human interest pieces.
The Mothership dropped off some interesting recruiting tid-bits. First, Michael Bird looks at how conference realignment has affected recruiting for programs like Nebraska. Bud Elliott takes a stab at predicting where sixty of the "undecideds" will end up and no, you won't like the list. And finally, Bill Connelly serves up a nice reminder that while recruiting classes are pretty good indicators of future success, they are not sure-things. Don't bet your mother's coin collection.
On the lighter side, EDSBS offers us the fax machine's soliloquy, an antiquated technology awaiting its digital replacement and eventual banishment to the lands of Betamax, VHS and that ET game from the Atari days. Eleven Warriors' provides the opportunity to be a FBS football recruit which I'm sure ends in total disappointment. (Still waiting on an offer from Marrow, actually.) And Rocky Top distills National Signing Day down to its most important parts, from the signing day press conference to the fax machine webcam.
Land-Grant Holy Land gets a little fussy about the Block O and its invasion into Ohio State's various logos. All I can say is, I'm just glad Nebraska retired the N with the script Huskers.
CN's own RanchBabe serves up Bacon Cheeseburger Soup in the Fan Posts (I'll be dropping the bacon), bringing the total number of recipes to Sixteen! Four to go!
And finally, EDSBS' Spencer Hall deploys his friend Rick Muscles to find out how much of a sham the deer antler spray operation is. Spoiler: it's a modern day snake oil establishment!
And in case you missed it, (if you're so inclined) God made a Farmer and the rest, well, is history.

Don't forget National Signing Day is tomorrow. Check in and find out who will be on Nebraska's 2014 National Championship team! Get caught up on all of our recruiting coverage here!

If you're interested, sign up for text message alerts from Corn Nation as Brandon and Brian lead us through tomorrow's Harvest! (No word on whether or not Brian will dance in front of a fax machine. Be sure to ask!)

Have a fantastic Tuesday, everyone!

- Salt Creek and Stadium

The Reads: Rest Well, Football.

Salt Creek and Stadium — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 04:08:32 -0000

With the NFL's major advertising fire-sale in the books, electrical systems stress tested and champions crowned, we finally close the book on the 2012-2013 inter-squad American football season. But that doesn't mean we're out of sports just yet.

Both Nebrasketball and women's basketball are entering the home stretch of their regular seasons. Nebrasketball finished off last week with a win against Northwestern and two losses to Minnesota and Ohio State (pictures). They play Penn State this coming Saturday.
Women's basketball swept their weekend slate, dropping both Ohio State and Minnesota. They take on Northwestern this Thursday.
The undefeated women's tennis won their first Big Ten game on the season, downing Ohio State. They travel to Virginia this weekend for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
Swimming and Diving picked up win #6 for the "Battle for the NU" by besting Northwestern but fell to both Ohio State and Iowa at the Northwestern Invitational. They set some impressive team records, including Nebraska's first ever 12-win season in swimming. They will now prepare for the Big Ten Championships which take place at the end of the month.
Gymnastics has a mixed weekend, with the men's team falling to Minnesota and the women's team besting Illinois.
As reported by our bowling guru Brian:

BTW, congrats to the #Huskers women's bowling team for taking the win at the Prairie View Invite in Arlington Tx today. #FIGJAM
— Brian Towle (@btbowling) February 3, 2013

You can read all about their victory here at Huskers.com.

And finally, Nebraska's track and field team had a good first day at 38^th Annual Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational. I'll update y'all with the final results tomorrow.

And while football has certainly gone to pasture, it's certainly not dead yet.

This Wednesday is National Signing Day. Brian and Brandon will be on the call, bringing you full coverage and hard-hitting analysis of Nebraska's future Huskers! They're even offering to send out text message alerts to those of you with "jobs".
And in case you missed it, Nebraska had two big pick-ups this weekend: JUCO OL Chongo Kondolo and DE Dimarya Mixon. There were a lot of explosions from Nebraska coaches' Twitter accounts, which naturally brought up the question: Why can coaches tweet but not the players? Good question.

After NSD, we'll have Nebraska baseball and sand volleyball to report on as well.

So even though football has gone silent, we'll have plenty of sports to talk about here at Corn Nation. We hope you choose to stick around and join us in the conversation!

OH, and cookbook update! We are now FIVE recipes away from me cooking! Get on it, ladies and gentlemen!

CN Cookbook- BBQ Baked Beans - Corn Nation

It’s easy to figure out what main course to cook for the game, but what about the side dishes? One of my favorites is baked beans. - SD Husker

CN Cookbook - Church social /Company Picnic Jello - Corn Nation

Because it wouldn't be a Plains State cookbook without jello salad. Thanks, Lakes.

---

So that's all for today, folks. We've got a busy week ahead. Don't forget to check out our recruiting coverage as we head into the Harvest this Wednesday.

Have a great week!

- Salt Creek and Stadium

The Reads: Super Weekend

Salt Creek and Stadium — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 02:14:45 -0000

Here's the schedule for Nebraska sports this weekend:

Fri, Feb 1	T&F	Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational	Devaney Center Indoor Track	11:30 a.m.	Meet Schedule

Fri, Feb 1 - Sun, Feb 03	BOWL	Prairie View A&M Invite	at Arlington, Texas	1:00 p.m.

Fri, Feb 1	MTEN	Illinois State	Nebraska Tennis Center	5:00 p.m.

Fri, Feb 1 - Sat, Feb 02	SWIM	at Northwestern Invitational	at Evanston, Ill.	5:00 p.m.

Fri, Feb 1	WGYM	Illinois *	Devaney Center	6:00 p.m.

Fri, Feb 1	WR	Michigan State *	NU Coliseum	7:00 p.m.	BTN.com

Sat, Feb 2	T&F	Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational	Devaney Center Indoor Track	10:00 a.m.	Meet Schedule

Sat, Feb 2	WTEN	Ohio State *	at Columbus, Ohio	11:00 a.m.

Sat, Feb 2	MBB	Ohio State *	Devaney Center	6:00 p.m.	BTN

Sat, Feb 2	MGYM	Minnesota *	at Minneapolis, Minn.	7:00 p.m.

Sun, Feb 3	MTEN	Oklahoma State	Nebraska Tennis Center	10:00 a.m.

Sun, Feb 3	WBB	Minnesota (Pepsi Pack the House) *	Devaney Center	2:05 p.m.	NET/BTN.com Huskers.com

Also the Super Bowl is on Sunday at 5:30pm on CBS. (It appears the game will be streamed live as well! Hooooray!)

On with the news...

N for 'Nowledge

UNL's hot-water drill first to reach subglacial lake | Announce | University of Nebraska-Lincoln

This is why your kids should pay attention in science and math - you get to do cool things like this. Antarctica is on my list of places to work.

Nebraska and the Big Ten

Iowa, Nebraska want Black Friday series - Big Ten Blog - ESPN

Our long national nightmare is over as Iowa realizes the value in playing on Fridays.

B1G must be conservative with crossovers - Big Ten Blog - ESPN

The league brass must keep a schedule rotation in mind when figuring out models for 14 teams (and possibly 16 teams in the near future). As Brandon said, a setup where a Big Ten player goes through his entire career without playing a league opponent "doesn't make a lot of sense."

Nebraska isn't particularly affected by any arrangement, as long as it doesn't force Nebraska to travel across the country for division games.

Scott Frost named offensive coordinator at Oregon | College Football

He is now essentially head coach in waiting at Oregon. Step one on his path back home? We'll see.

Other Conferences

Does the SEC's oversigning make a difference? Part 1 | HuskerMath

Interesting analysis from the same guy who contributed our series on comparing dynasties between Nebraska and Alabama.

Details of San Diego State's contract with Mountain West - CBSSports.com

Incredible that SDSU and BSU could hold some much leverage over their re-entry to the MWC.

Big 12 wants NCAA to allow conference title game - College football- NBC Sports

Then add two teams. You're already playing a round-robin schedule, why do you need a conference championship game? Afraid K-State might keep winning it?

K-State's Snyder signs 5-year, $14.75 million deal - Yahoo! Sports

Speaking of, Snyder gets a well-earned extension. They didn't really answer the question about how long he'll be around though.

Bayless on let's get rid of field goals in the NFL - ESPN

I'm pretty sure this is ESPN's version of Troll Thursday. At least I hope so.

---

That's it for today, everybody. Kind of short, kind of sweet and to the point.

Anyway, today's topic of discussion:

If you could combine any two animals, which animals and why? What would you call it?

Have a great weekend! Stop by for the Basketball GameThread and the Super Bowl (for those of you not hosting a party).

- Salt Creek and Stadium

The Reads: AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Salt Creek and Stadium — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 01:31:37 -0000

In case you missed it, we had a shocking report yesterday afternoon.

Sorry to report this, but it's true. @cornnation's very own Cobby appears to be looking into transferring to Illinois. sbnation.com/college-footba…
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) January 30, 2013

It appears that the Illini are working to replace their logo to comply with the NCAA's new rules. To our surprise, we discovered that former Corn Nation Mascot Cobby is on the short list at Illinois.

Here's the photo he gave to Illinois. He appears to have worked out for this role.

via assets.sbnation.com

We then reached out to Dear Leader, requesting a statement:

Texted @cornnation about report out of Illinois that Cobby is transferring. JJ said he couldn't comment. I got impression story isn't over.
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) January 31, 2013

So with all this in place, I then sought out Cobby himself to ask the hard questions. Here's the full transcript of that call:

***

Salt Creek: Hey, Cobby, you there?

Cobby: ...DAGNABBIT. WHO IS THIS

Salt Creek: It's Salt. Look at the caller ID, buddy. Glad I could get a hold of you so quickly.

Cobby: How'd ya even get this number?!

Salt Creek: You're on a company phone...

Cobby: Bah. Takin' the free phone was a worse call than sending the house agains' Jawja!

Salt Creek: About that...Cobby, what's this about you going to Illinois?

Cobby: What's that?

Salt Creek: SB Nation has this report on you being approached by Illinois for their logo vacancy.

Cobby: Oh that.

Salt Creek: So it's true?

Cobby: Well, mayhaps it is. Who be askin'?

Salt Creek: We're just worried, that's all. Are you "Colonel Kernel"?

Cobby: Bah, I was hopin' y'all wouldn' notice.

Salt Creek: Where'd that name come from?

Cobby: It's my old wrasslin' name.

Salt Creek: May I ask why you want to leave Corn Nation? And for Illinois, of all places?

Cobby: I'm tryin' to leverage it.

Salt Creek: Excuse me?

Cobby: Good ol' Vince Marrow - he told me if I could get some other offurs, he could convince Marky Stoops to pick me up.

Salt Creek: I can't believe you.

Cobby: Well, that's the whole truth! And my family hates traveling on them icy roads in Nebrasky. Turrible, I tell you wot.

Salt Creek: Have you even been to Champaign-Urbana?

Cobby: Sounds like a fancy wine. Bet it's better than sock scotch!

Salt Creek: Is there anyway we can convince you to not go to Illinois?

Cobby: Give me my spot back. And my own office. And I want Barney Cotton's phone number. A bottle of 10 year old Laphroaig. And fire that bastard that took my job.

Salt Creek: You know we can't do any of that. And what would we do with ANGRYFOOTBALLGUY? He's done a fine job the last four months.

Cobby: It's reasoning like that which explains why Brion Carnes isn't QB. Oh sure, that Martinez fella is alright but he seems more excited with his modeling career for that glamour site, TunnelWalkOfShame.com!

Salt Creek: Brion Carnes...?

Cobby: He has more talented in his pinky than the entire team!

Salt Creek: What does this...nevermind. Cobby, when did this happen?

Cobby: The Illini 'cruitin' me? Well, Tim Beckman has been camped outside since early D'sember.

Salt Creek: December?

Cobby: Well, not like he had any other plans. The last time I called into that there radio show with that Brian fella and Greg, Mr. Beckman was knockin' at the door.

Salt Creek: That's just odd. So bottom line: are you leaving Corn Nation?

Cobby: I just really want a legitimate opportunity to start at mascot.

Salt Creek: So is that a yes?

Cobby: I'm still hoping for that Kentucky offer. I hear they're an up-and-coming team in the SEC!

Salt Creek: And if that doesn't come?

Cobby: Go Illini, Go!

***

And so there you have it, a surpisingly lucid conversation with our former mascot Cobby on his decision to leave Corn Nation for greener pastures, perhaps even in the SEC.

In the words of Robert Gillespie, running backs coach at West Virginia:

Not a loss for us. Nothing but gains! #greatsite #gettingbetter #additionbysubtraction @cornnation
— Salt Creek & Stadium (@tamattes) January 31, 2013

Edit: I just got off the phone with Cobby (again), who has informed me that he would NEVER leave Corn Nation for Illinois and that I must've been hoaxed. I apologized for my comments about his commitment and then he hung up on me. I guess I'll have to send him another bottle of scotch. Another source of mine has informed me the offer was pulled after Illinois received Cobby's counter-offer.

But they did say that someone else near and dear to our hearts was looking at greener pastures...if not Cobby, who?

---

Women's Basketball Tonight!

Huskers Battle Buckeyes Thursday on BTN - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Nebraska Cornhuskers (14-6, 4-3 Big Ten) at Ohio State Buckeyes (11-9, 1-6 Big Ten)

Thursday, Jan. 31, 7:30 p.m. (Central) Value City Arena (Columbus, Ohio)

National TV: BTN (Eric Collins-PBP; Stephanie White-Analyst)

Radio: 25-Station IMG College Husker Sports Network (PBP-Matt Coatney; Analyst-Jeff Griesch)

(107.3 FM-KBBK, Lincoln; 93.3 FM-KFFF, Omaha; 880 AM-KRVN, Lexington)

Free Internet Audio: Huskers.com

Go Nebraska! Beat the Buckeyes!

---

Stories!

Youngstown News, Heard says he will leave Nebraska football program

"Braylon was really debating what he wanted to do, but at the end of the day, he felt like it was time to go. He’s kind of down about it because he felt like they stuck with him when he was struggling [to qualify academically]. He loves the fans there and the relationships he’s built with his teammates, so it was hard for him to walk away."

Honestly sounds more like his high school coach is doing all the talking and thinking here, but really, we don't know anything until Heard or Pelini talk here. And I don't see either happening soon.

A New Scoring Explosion, Thirty Years Later? - Husker Football

This Husker team will need to improve ball security and swagger before it's ready to be one play from a national title. Still, you should expect to see a lot of touchdowns this year.

Big Ten Baseball: The Match Ups You Don't Want To Miss - Corn Nation

Are you ready for baseball? James serves up the games to list on you calendars! Opening Day is February 15th as Nebraska travels to the Bear Republic.

Sheils Wins First Pro Event - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Former Nebraska women's golfer Madeleine Sheils captured a tournament title in her first event as a professional golfer, winning the season-opening event at Club West on the Cactus Tour Wednesday.

She was in third place going into the final round and finished one shot ahead of the leaders.

Hail Varsity Magazine: Big Ten Recruiting: By the Numbers

Fascinating stuff.

Dolphins Add Maalouf To Coaching Staff

Taylor enters his second season with the Dolphins after being named Assistant Quarterbacks coach on January 30, 2012. In 2012, under Taylor’s direction, quarterback Ryan Tannehillset team rookie records in passing yards (3,294), attempts (484), completions (282) and he became the first quarterback in Dolphins history to start all 16 of the team’s games in his first year in the league.

Congratulations to Zac Taylor on the promotion!

Report: Oklahoma coaches planning shift to a 3-4 defense - CBSSports.com

Well, if one set of Mooney grads is going to the 3-4, certainly ANOTHER set of Mooney grads with a struggling defense would also consider a philosophical change, right?

For 40 Years, This Russian Family Was Cut Off From All Human Contact, Unaware of World War II | History & Archaeology | Smithsonian Magazine

They would also be unaware of Nebraska's first two national titles!

C-USA splits 6 new teams evenly among 2 divisions - Yahoo! Sports

East and West? What's this?

Texas AD: 'The burn stays' for struggling Longhorns football - CBSSports.com

I can't see him saying anything else.

Big 12 notes: Texas' side of A&M rivalry, NCAA's terrible timing - CBSSports.com

Happening down the road is probably a good thing for Texas -- as in, when Johnny Manziel's eligibility is up.

Expansion one of several items on Big 12 agenda - CBSSports.com

- Exit fees, exit fees, exit fees: Everyone's carefully watching that Maryland/ACC lawsuit for more than $50 million.

The next round of expansion really all depends on how far down the exit fee gets negotiated.

It Takes Planning, CautionTo Avoid Being 'It' - Yahoo! Finance

Remember this when you think someone is being immature.

The Burj Khalifa Pinnacle Panorama

Take a look - this is kind of neat!

Bond University conducts class through Minecraft after flood damage closes campus | Polygon

Maybe some day more classes will be held online. And perhaps we'll replace the on-field football with heavily secured college football simulations. And we'll all be trapped indoors...

That's a horrible future. Actually. Like a future without Cobby.

FanPosts!

CN Cookbook - Oktoberfest Pizza - Corn Nation

I love this in the fall, watching football accompanied by a cold Sam Adams Oktoberfest. As a bonus, I'm the only one in my house who likes sauerkraut, so there are always leftovers for me. - Bubbasan

CN Cookbook - Chili Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Glaze - Corn Nation*

With Apricot Glaze! - Bubbasan

*Note: I cannot actually cook this one due to food allergies. But I encourage y'all to give it a shot and leave your comments on Bubbasan's recipe later.

Corn Nation Cookbook: Beef Empanadas - Corn Nation

Not the quickest recipe on here, but certainly delicious. They freeze really well, so they're a great make-ahead meal or hearty snack. - BigRedTwice

We're at FOURTEEN RECIPES. Six more, and I have to start cooking!

---

That's all for today folks. Please share your ~~outrage~~ glee at Cobby's possible ~~departure disloyaly~~ commitment below! This is the open thread!

Stay here for tonight's game between Nebraska and Ohio State!

- Salt Creek and Stadium

The Reads: Faster than a Runza

Salt Creek and Stadium — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 04:14:54 -0000

Another day, another Runza plug. I should get paid for this or something.

Nebrasketball lost by scoring fewer points than the other team. It was hard to watch but Tim Miles took the opportunities to coach up his team. Things are still looking up!

(Kentucky may take our players but hell if I'm going to let them take our sunshine!)

IMPORTANT NEWS BIT

Judge rules NCAA athletes can legally pursue television money - ESPN
And so begins the death of the "non-profit" model. Score one for the little guys. Little by little, we'll kill the bowl system, y'all.

***

Nebraska Football: Where the Fun Never Ends

Looking Ahead to 2013 Husker Football: Offensive Line - Corn Nation
The CN staff is in full agreement - Nebraska's championship hopes depend in no small part on how well the line can shore up its pass protection.

***

Nebraska Recruiting: How to Become a Recruitnik Part One - Corn Nation
Brandon opens up the classroom and lets you all in on his approach to analyzing recruits. Why not take a look?

***

Bo Pelini: Huskers' Head Coach Losing Grip on Alma Mater Lockdown - Corn Nation
My theory? The Youngstown Mafia has an annual poker game that Pelini lost over Thanksgiving to Mark Stoops. He gambled away Marrow and the Cardinal Mooney pipeline.

***

Have you heard the word about Heard?

Braylon Heard to transfer | sports.omaha.com

The Husker coaches did approach Heard this offseason with the idea for him to take reps at receiver, according to the source. *facepalm*

***

Youngstown News, Position switch prompts Heard to transfer
Honestly not surprising. But if we send him to Kentucky, woof.

***

Update: Braylon Heard To..... Kentucky? Someone on Rivals Thinks So... - Corn Nation
As much as I would enjoy watching the meltdown, I really hope Heard doesn't go to Kentucky. I'm sure Ohio or Louisville need another RB, right?

***

Ashley Judd, Dario Franchitti are splitting - USA Today
Maybe this is why Braylon is transferring?

***

The Big Ten (An Infinitely Large Value of Ten)

B1G ADs: Geography could drive divisions - Big Ten Blog - ESPN

RESTORE THE QUADRANGLE OF HATE.

***

Ohio State, Michigan recruiting could kick off second 10-Year War - SBNation.com
We'll let their statistical analysis of comparing an AVERAGE of the rest of the conference versus Ohio State/Michgian seperately slide, because frankly, there's nothing new here. The little Ten of the conference need to step up their recruiting. (Sending one of your best recruiters to the SEC is not an example of this. Dumping an unproductive staff member, however, would be.)

***

Big Ten Power Rankings 1.29.13 - Off Tackle Empire
Not last!

***

And today's only FanPost report!

CN Cookbook- The Old College Recipes - Corn Nation
AdamTheTitan throws down TWO recipes for the price of one! Just like deals on Ramen! (I did say any kind of food.)

Because I'm nice, it'll still count as two. We're at ELEVEN RECIPES! Nine to go!

(Also thanks to everyone's suggestions last night for how to use pre-made dough!)

---

Trivia!

From Brian last night...

A internet Runza from @tamattes to the first one to tell me who was SUPPOSED to do this song for "The Breakfast Club"youtu.be/CdqoNKCCt7A
— Brian Towle (@btbowling) January 30, 2013

---

Here's a thought to end today on:

I've decided Barney is the only thing holding us together. He gives us all something to agree on.

Insert witty retort here.

by Robsa on Jan 29, 2013 9:02 PM EST up reply Unrec? 1

Pure wisdom.

---

That's all for today, everyone! Short and sweet, just like I promised!

This is your open thread!

- Salt Creek and Stadium

The Reads: Nebraska Leads in the Battle for the NU!

Salt Creek and Stadium — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 01:40:43 -0000

Before we get started, in light of recent events, I suspect many of you are losing faith in #teamsunshine. Soooo here's a musical number to get your day started!

I'm not worried!

---

The Battle for the NU!

With Nebraska dramatic win over Northwestern at the Devaney this weekend, Nebraska has improved it's lead over Northwestern to 5-2*.

Nebraska	Northwestern	To Be Decided
Volleyball	Cross Country (M&W)	Tennis (M&W)
Women' Soccer		Women's Swimming
Wrestling		Softball
Football		Women's Basketball
Nebrasketball		Golf Baseball

(*I'm only counting athletic sports which both schools participate in.)

To win the rights to NU for the 2013-2014 season, Nebraska will need to win 3 of the remaining events.

Go Nebraska! Beat the Wildcats! More!

Best Nebrasketball Ever

Huskers To Tangle with Gophers Tuesday - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

TONIGHT, TONIGHT, TONIGHT. Join us for a GameThread as we cheer Nebraska on it's next Big Ten win!

Tipoff Time: 8:06 p.m.

Venue: Williams Arena Capacity: 14,625

Huskers on TV/Radio/Internet Television: BTN and BTN2Go

(Ch. 610 on DirecTV; Chs. 439, 9500 on DISH; Chs. 24 and 333-SD, 1333-HD on Time Warner Cable; Chs. 80 SD, 1080-HD on Cox Cable)

Play-by-play: Dave Revsine Color: Jim Jackson

Radio: Across the state on the IMG Husker Sports Radio Network, including KLIN (1400 AM/94.5 FM) in Lincoln, KFAB (1110 AM) in Omaha and KRVN (880 AM) in Lexington. Play-by-play: Kent Pavelka; Color: Matt Davison

Internet Radio/Stats: Free on Huskers.com

Satellite Radio (UM feed): Sirius Ch. 91, XM Ch. 91

***

Lue Had a Chance to Play Nebraska Football - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Kind of neat. Lue will be inducted into the Nebraska Basketball Hall of Fame in two weeks.

Tyronn Lue recalled Monday his 1996 visit to the office of Nebraska football Coach Tom Osborne, who had seen film of Lue as both a high school quarterback and a major college freshman basketball star. That, in turn, allowed a national championship coach to reach an immediate conclusion. "Coach Osborne told me he knew how much I loved basketball, but he also thought I had the skills needed to become a really good corner, too," Lue said. "I thought about it. I really did. But I kept coming back to having to play in the rain or the snow, and that was probably the biggest reason why I chose basketball over football in the first place."

***

Nebraska, 64, Northwestern, 49, Final Score - Sippin' On Purple
Saturday's win may lead to Northwestern's basketball coach getting fired, so there's that. Three more wins and the NU is OURS.

***

Nebraska downs Northwestern: A Husker Hoops Gallery - Corn Nation
David McGee, everyone!

/applause

***

Best Football Team Ever

(**) Feeding juco end's desire to rush QBs - Omaha.com
Selleck is pretty nice!

***

(**) QB recruit Stanton on the mend, eager for Husker challenge : Husker recruiting
Don't rush that recovery too fast, Johnny. You'll need strong knees to hold all those Heismans!

***

The Nebraska Recruiting Big Board (1/28/2013) - Corn Nation
We're going to get EVERYONE on the board. Bank it!

***

Nebraska coaches upset after recruit flips commitment to Auburn

And if the conversation seems one-sided, it's because Pelini and his staff – or any coaching staff, per NCAA rules – cannot comment on a recruit until after national signing day on Feb. 6; typically, on the day prospects begin sending in their letters of intent, a coach will begin breaking down players by name.

See? Everything's fine!

***

Ross Els Q&A Part 2: The Art of Recruiting - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
Ross Els! He's the man! If he can't do it! No one can!

***

Hail Varsity Magazine: Hot Reads: Equities in Dallas
Kentucky is on the up and up! Good luck!

***

Husker turnovers: A look at Nebraska's slippery slope - Omaha.com interactive documents
I knew Nebraskans where charitable. Just wasn't expecting us to be that charitable! Great job, everyone!

***

Report: Braylon Heard To Transfer - Corn Nation
Speaking of turnovers, Braylon Heard is reportedly leaving. I'll miss our guaranteed first downs and games of Where's Braylon.

Best wishes and good luck, Braylon!

(Please don't go to Kentucky - these people might kneecap #teamsunshine.)

(EDIT: Where are my manners? Hat tip to BigRedTwice for mocking me with this one.)

***

Best Conference Ever

B1G ADs weigh number of league games - Big Ten Blog - ESPN
I'm pretty sure they should just finalize expansion first. Pretty soon, the Big Ten will have a large enough voting block to make the regular season as long as they need it to be.

I think we stop at 42.

***

Penn State’s John Urschel is both teaching and taking collegiate courses while starring on the offensive line | Dr. Saturday - Yahoo! Sports

Urschel was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, not exactly professor attire, and was effortlessly teaching students the nuances of geometry while many tried to follow along.

We don't all wear tweed jackets and chew on pipes while speaking in philosophical tidbits.

***

Congressmen want PSU scholarships back - College Football Nation Blog - ESPN
It's about punishing the program, not the players. My money is on Emmert standing firm here.

***

Food!!!

College Food Fight Tournament: Vote on the Big Ten's restaurant representatives - SBNation.com
No Runza, no vote! (Be sure to check out the rest of the tournament here.)

***

National News

'Super Bug' Norovirus Invades U.S., Symptoms Appear in 48 Hours - Cedar Falls, IA Patch
Take note!

***

Big 12 considers what Big Ten, SEC might do next in expansion - CBSSports.com

Based on that information, the conference identified teams that would be left, including reputable football schools Florida State, Clemson and Louisville.

Go where they aren't is actually a pretty sound offensive strategy. (Beebe would've picked up Montana by now, probably.)

***

Akron's new basketball jerseys eligible for Follow Friday - SBNation.com
This just seems like a bad idea. But I guess you can track performance using this? Interesting data point. "Jimmy, you had 50 people retweet this tweet about you missing a layup. BENCH." (UPDATE AS I WAS PREPARING THIS: The NCAA denied their request, anyway. So no harm done!)

***

Mike Aresco says Big East looking to add 12th school - College Football - SI.com
Well, I guess the C-USA and Sun Belt are still open to thievery. Or lower divisions. And hell, Idaho is still out there, just waiting for a phone call.

***

Steve Spurrier gives media members $100 for answering an impromptu trivia question correctly | Dr. Saturday - Yahoo! Sports

Coaches should take note. If they want their beat reporters to do more research, they should offer them cash prizes. Looking at you, Nick Saban.

OR RULE THEM WITH FEAR.

***

The only NFL fandom map that doesn't suck - SBNation.com
Interesting look at things. Nebraska is just a mess. No, I'm not talking about recruiting! Just look! PICK A TEAM EVERYONE. YEESH.

***

Why the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax story matters - SBNation.com
A story that spiraled out of control because we wanted it too? Yeah, I'll buy that. We're silly!

***

Short film 'Many Worlds' changes based on the audience's brainwaves and heart rate | The Verge
A Nebraska fan's experience would just be full of sunshine. BECAUSE WE'RE AWESOME.

***

'The Creeping Garden' trailer celebrates slime mold and the weird science it inspires | The Verge
SO COOL.

***

FanPosts by the BEST FANS EVER!

Where does Rex Burkhead rank in your All Time Top 10 Huskers? - Corn Nation
Viking Husker asks a very interesting question. This isn't asking whether Burkhead is one of the greatest RBs, so I don't think championship rings matter.

***

CN Cookbook - Smokehouse Macaroni and Cheese - Corn Nation

The smoked gouda in this is what really makes this dish. - Bubbasan

***

CN Cookbook - Raspberry Whiskey - Corn Nation

Not sure if this is tailgate worthy*. I guess it depends on how crazy you want your tailgate to get. - Bubbasan

*I should note, your recipes don't ALL have to be tailgaters.

***

CN Cookbook - Smoked Chicken Breasts - Corn Nation

This is as good as a bone in skin-on breast in the smoker without the hassle of the bones when you eat it. Serve whole or slice for sandwiches.- Bubbasan

***

CN Cookbook - Espresso Brownies - Corn Nation

I like to make these for office pot-lucks, etc. - Bubbasan

***

CN Cookbook - Jalapeño Ranch Dip - Corn Nation

This is always a hit on football Saturdays, but has many other uses than as a dip. It's excellent on tacos, chicken wings, burgers, you name it. - Bubbasan

***

CN Cookbook - sweet 'n spicy meatloaf - Corn Nation

"This sounds delicious." - Bubbasan

And with that, here's UglyDog56's contribution!

***

CN Cookbook - Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Stuffed Meatloaf - Corn Nation
SD Husker returns to the kitchen with some beautiful photos of food getting dressed and ready to party.

***

CN Cook Book - Eastern Euroasian Cabbage Hot Pocket - Corn Nation

The bierock, also known as a runza in some parts of the country, where small, local mom and pop shops sell their own variation of these sandwiches like people peddle hot boiled peanuts in the South.

***

Community Recipes - Corn Nation
You can find all of our recipes under this section! Check in regularly for new additions and don't forget to post your own in the FanPosts!

---

That's all for today, folks. Come back through out the day for more news, analysis and tomfoolery and don't forget to contribute to the CN Cookbook!

This is your open thread.

THE FOLLOWING IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

BASEBALL IS IMMINENT.

Are you prepared?

- Salt Creek and Stadium

PS: We're at 9 out of 20 recipes! Keep 'em coming!

PPS: In case you're wondering, I'm not using bullet points because I'm tired of fighting SB Nation's Random Format Generator.

CN Cookbook - Eastern Euroasian Cabbage Hot Pocket

Salt Creek and Stadium — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 03:11:27 -0000

The bierock, also known as a runza in some parts of the country, where small, local mom and pop shops sell their own variation of these sandwiches like people peddle hot boiled peanuts in the South.

For the record, these Runzas will cost you 45 cents at Salt's apartment tomorrow. (Temperature Tuesdays!)

This recipe was found online! Imagine that! (After all, I'm not a native Nebraskan.)

I assure you, these EECHPs are not like your normal restaurant Runza. There is far less regret post eating.

Total Time: 1 hrs 20 mins

Prep Time: 1 hrs

Cook Time: 20 mins

Servings: 12

Bread Dough (enough for four loaves)
2 lbs hamburger
1 head of cabbage (chopped)
1 medium onion (chopped)
2 to taste salt and pepper

(Obviously adjust the ingredients to your target audience - this recipe will make a lot of EECHPs.)

Directions:

1. Find dough*. (Recipe below, frozen bread dough or some other crust-like dough works.)

2. Brown the hamburger and drain, then return to pan.

3. Add cabbage and onion and cook down. (You can also add green pepper or mushrooms or anything really.) You really want to cook down the onions here.

4. Salt and pepper to taste.

5. Let dough rise, then punch down and roll a portion to 1/4" thickness.

a. The dough needs to be thick enough to hold the moist insides without liquefying. (Sidenote: Don't use Pilsbury's Hot Roll mix for the crust. It ends badly.)

6. Cut into 4" x 8" pieces and add about 1/2 cup meat mixture to each.

a. People like triangles or quadrangles here.

b. If you're adding cheese, this is when I would add that.

7. Fold dough pieces over and seal the edges, then place seam-side-down on a greased cookie sheet.

8. If desired, sprinkle the dough pockets with some aromatic spices or something.

9. Let rise 20-30 minutes, then bake in pre-heated 375 degree oven for 20 minutes or until brown. (CRITICAL.)

10. Call Nebraska natives not in attendance and gloat (taunting not advised).

Have leftovers? Have no fear! Wrap them up in aluminum foil and toss them in the freezer. They thaw nicely and microwave really well for a delightful Nebraska lunch any day of the year!

Recipe from: http://www.food.com/recipe/runza-80204?scaleto=12&mode=null&st=true&oc=linkback

-----

OH, and if you're looking for the BEST sauce for the Bierock, I recommend mixing sriracha sauce (the rooster chili sauce) and ketchup to taste. It's brilliant!

-----

A Simple White Bread Dough:

1 (0.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

I also like to mix in some dried pepper flakes or hot pepper to give the crust a little flavor.

1 teaspoon olive oil

To Make Dough: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the oil, sugar and salt; mix in 1 cup of the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the rest of the flour, until dough is smooth and workable. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes, or until it is elastic. Lay dough in a bowl containing 1 teaspoon olive oil, then flip the dough, cover and let rise for 40 minutes, or until almost doubled.

I use this dough for the EECHPs as well as calzones! (I'll share that recipe too.)

----

I'll report back on the use of Pilsbury's pizza crusts in a can as the dough for your bierock/EECP/Runza.

Bon appetit!

- Salt Creek and Stadium

The bierock, also known as a runza in some parts of the country, where small, local mom and pop shops sell their own variation of these sandwiches like people peddle hot boiled peanuts in the South.

For the record, these Runzas will cost you 45 cents at Salt's apartment tomorrow. (Temperature Tuesdays!)

This recipe was found online! Imagine that! (After all, I'm not a native Nebraskan.)

I assure you, these EECHPs are not like your normal restaurant Runza. There is far less regret post eating.

Total Time: 1 hrs 20 mins

Prep Time: 1 hrs

Cook Time: 20 mins

Servings: 12

Bread Dough (enough for four loaves)
2 lbs hamburger
1 head of cabbage (chopped)
1 medium onion (chopped)
2 to taste salt and pepper

(Obviously adjust the ingredients to your target audience - this recipe will make a lot of EECHPs.)

Directions:

1. Find dough*. (Recipe below, frozen bread dough or some other crust-like dough works.)

2. Brown the hamburger and drain, then return to pan.

3. Add cabbage and onion and cook down. (You can also add green pepper or mushrooms or anything really.) You really want to cook down the onions here.

4. Salt and pepper to taste.

5. Let dough rise, then punch down and roll a portion to 1/4" thickness.

a. The dough needs to be thick enough to hold the moist insides without liquefying. (Sidenote: Don't use Pilsbury's Hot Roll mix for the crust. It ends badly.)

6. Cut into 4" x 8" pieces and add about 1/2 cup meat mixture to each.

a. People like triangles or quadrangles here.

b. If you're adding cheese, this is when I would add that.

7. Fold dough pieces over and seal the edges, then place seam-side-down on a greased cookie sheet.

8. If desired, sprinkle the dough pockets with some aromatic spices or something.

9. Let rise 20-30 minutes, then bake in pre-heated 375 degree oven for 20 minutes or until brown. (CRITICAL.)

10. Call Nebraska natives not in attendance and gloat (taunting not advised).

Have leftovers? Have no fear! Wrap them up in aluminum foil and toss them in the freezer. They thaw nicely and microwave really well for a delightful Nebraska lunch any day of the year!

Recipe from: http://www.food.com/recipe/runza-80204?scaleto=12&mode=null&st=true&oc=linkback

-----

OH, and if you're looking for the BEST sauce for the Bierock, I recommend mixing sriracha sauce (the rooster chili sauce) and ketchup to taste. It's brilliant!

-----

A Simple White Bread Dough:

1 (0.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

I also like to mix in some dried pepper flakes or hot pepper to give the crust a little flavor.

1 teaspoon olive oil

I use this dough for the EECHPs as well as calzones! (I'll share that recipe too.)

----

I'll report back on the use of Pilsbury's pizza crusts in a can as the dough for your bierock/EECP/Runza.

Bon appetit!

- Salt Creek and Stadium

The Reads: Will Work For News

Salt Creek and Stadium — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 00:55:21 -0000

Today's question: if you could pick a new sport for Nebraska to sponsor, men's or women's, what sport would that be and why?

---

This Weekend's Schedule for Nebraska Athletics:

We've got a busy weekend, highlighted by a B1G wrestling match against Penn State and Nebrasketball takes on Northwestern at the Devaney Center!

Fri, Jan 25	T&F	Razorback Invitational	at Fayetteville, Ark.	1:00 p.m.

Fri, Jan 25	WGYM	Ohio State *	at Columbus, Ohio	6:00 p.m.

Sat, Jan 26	WTEN	Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech ITA Kick-Off Weekend	at Nebraska Tennis Center	10:00 a.m.

Sat, Jan 26	SWIM	at Illinois *	at Champaign, Ill.	11:00 a.m.

Sat, Jan 26	T&F	Razorback Invitational	at Fayetteville, Ark.	11:00 a.m.

Sat, Jan 26	MBB	Northwestern *	Devaney Center	2:00 p.m. ESPNU/WatchESPN

Sat, Jan 26	WTEN	Tennessee ITA Kick-Off Weekend	Nebraska Tennis Center	2:00 p.m.

Sun, Jan 27	RFL	Withrow Invitational	at Murray, Ky.	8:00 a.m.

Sun, Jan 27	WTEN	Consolation Match ITA Kick-Off Weekend	Nebraska Tennis Center	10:00 a.m.

Sun, Jan 27	WR	Penn State *	at University Park, Pa.	1:00 p.m. BTN.com

Sun, Jan 27	MGYM	Illinois-Chicago	Devaney Center	1:00 p.m.

Sun, Jan 27	WTEN	Championship Match ITA Kick-Off Weekend	Nebraska Tennis Center	1:00 p.m.

Football

Hail Varsity Magazine: The Geography of Recruiting

This is pretty darn cool - check it out!

Looking Ahead to 2013 Husker Football: Wide Receivers - Corn Nation

Seriously, we're loaded. We just need to give Taylor time to throw the ball.

Wrestling

Wrestling Preview: vs. Nebraska - Black Shoe Diaries

BSD previews this weekend's big wrestling match between the upstart Huskers and the #1 Nittany Lions.

NCAA

NCAA botches Miami investigation: Your rules are not law, Mark Emmert - SBNation.com

Hate the NCAA? An actual lawyer is here to explain why its misconduct during its Miami Hurricanes investigation is its most nefarious deed yet.

The NCAA is a parasite, and it always has been - SBNation.com

It's good to someone: the schools who hide for-profit businesses behind the byzantine code of amateurism, the executives at the NCAA who collect six-figure paychecks for eating lunch for a living, and for the basketball programs taking their cut of the NCAA's sale of March Madness.

Big Ten

Michigan's Denard Robinson may be dropping in NFL draft | Michigan Wolverines | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

Scouts left the Senior Bowl on Wednesday after the final padded practices of the week, and their impressions of Michigan's Denard Robinson as a receiver were decidedly unfavorable. "Not good," one AFC scout told the Free Press. "I think he took himself from like the third, fourth round to like the sixth, seventh round."

Some Thoughts on Recruiting: A Non-Experts Look at the B1G Class of 2013 (As it Stands Now) - Off Tackle Empire

A look at the current recruiting rankings in the Big Ten and a discussion on where things are headed.

National News

Blindsided: How one college coach took on tragedy - CBSSports.com

Brad Bigler's was living his dream. A head basketball coach who married his college sweetheart and was raising a family. Then, in a 13-month span, his life completely changed.

Absolutely gut-wrenching.

Senate passes resolution honoring University of Louisville football team — in Georgia | Politics

Georgia is really not a fan of Florida.

FAT GUY TOUCHDOWN: BYU offensive line recruit runs better than you - Vanquish The Foe

That's one heck of a fullback.

Florida State offensive coordinator heads to Miami - Yahoo! Sports

Fisher's lone remaining assistants are holdovers from former coach Bobby Bowden's staff.

That's insane.

How Deadspin beat ESPN to the Manti Te'o scoop | January | 2013

Interesting perspective.

Notre Dame has a football team, and it's going to keep contending - SBNation.com

We'll ignore that Notre Dame's wins against Stanford and Purdue came from officiating mistakes, not actual play on the field. We won't even talk about almost losing to Pitt or Lane Kiffin's Southern Cal team.

Oh, and they've been recruiting like a "top SEC" team for YEARS. Brian Kelly is the ONLY reason Notre Dame is going anywhere and they don't pull off another undefeated season this fall.

Katie Couric’s Manti Te’o interview: instant reaction and analysis | Dr. Saturday - Yahoo! Sports

Was he in on it? Almost certainly. But it's also possible that he deliberately overlooked the inconsistencies because he didn't want to know the truth. He wanted to maintain the illusion.

John Elway on Manti Te’o: ‘It’s hard for us to understand – why he wouldn’t know?’ | Dr. Saturday - Yahoo! Sports

I feel like this thing can't go well for Te'o. At best, GMs have got to be leery of his lying over the last couple of months. And you know these programs are all digging in his background more than Deadspin, ESPN or that Notre Dame investigation. I hope there's nothing else waiting.

Voice of Te'o prankster? Couric plays voicemails - Yahoo! Sports

''He told me he wanted to end the relationship,'' O'Meara said. ''He said he wanted to stop the relationship between Lennay and Manti, but Manti didn't want Lennay to break up with him ... He said he tried to stop the game many times.''

Seems to me, if you've never met each other and it's 100% on the internet, breaking off a fake relationship is fairly easy.

FanPost

Checkmate on the Recruiting Services Debate - Corn Nation

Bo-urne throws down some hard numbers in support of the value of recruiting services and star ratings.

---

ALL. THE. BROS. (I'm glad Johnny is having fun.)

---

That's all for today! Enjoy your weekend and I hope you stop by tomorrow for Nebrasketball at 2pm CT!

Go Big Red!

-Salt Creek and Stadium

You still need 18 recipes to unlock "Cookin' Along the Ol' Salt Creek"

The Reads: Oh, Good Grief, NCAA...

Salt Creek and Stadium — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 02:42:05 -0000

Over the last year, the NCAA or so has been investigating the long-term pay-to-play scandal at Miami following accusations by disgraced former booster Nevin Shapiro. To the naked eye, the case seemed to be fairly strong against Miami, a case almost impossible for the NCAA to bumble.

We really, really underestimated the NCAA.

NCAA Launches External Review of Enforcement Program Following Misconduct in Miami Investigation

NCAA to investigate NCAA for unethical Miami investigation practices - SBNation.com

Mark Emmert's NCAA loses more credibility after Miami misstep - College Football - Stewart Mandel - SI.com

How long before the NCAA's "membership" gets fed up with the regulators? They're doing such a great job that Miami might get off with little more than a smack of the wrist for this "oversight". Was Emmert so focused on his need to punish Penn State (outside the purview of the NCAA charter) that he ignored the Miami investigation?

In case you forgot, Miami is being investigated for plying recruits with women, free meals, money and possibly other elicit activities. And they're less a priority than punishing a school for actions outside the charter? I mean, yes, Penn State needed to be redirected but not at the cost of allowing a program that appears to have flaunted the rules slip by relatively unscathed. I'd love to know what benefit member schools feel from being part of the NCAA when the rules only apply if the NCAA doesn't bungle your case?

When's the last time someone thought the NCAA got something right?* Seriously, someone please let me know. I'd say their rules and regulations, but even then, people complain all the time.

Let us not forget, dear ol' Nebraska is currently on probation for accidentally providing extra books to STUDENT-athletes.

CHEATERS.

Maybe it's time for the membership to consider a new enforcement structure. I've seen suggestions about establishment of an organization with actual legal power to subpoena.

Gotta say, it doesn't strike me as a bad idea.

* Well, they were right about fans tweeting and Facebooking recruits. That's just creepy.

In addition to your thoughts on the above, I ask you:

Can the NCAA effectively govern college sports anymore? Why or why not?
What changes do you think the NCAA needs to make to restore credibility?
Should the current NCAA membership author a new, more effective NCAA 2.0? How should that organization approach enforcement and regulation?

Women's Basketball

Now on to some important information! The women's basketball team takes on Michigan State in Sparty's first visit to Lincoln. Let's hope it ends in a win for Nebraska!

For those with NET, the game starts at 7pm CT. For the rest of us, turn on your local Husker radio option.

Huskers Host No. 25 Spartans Thursday - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Nebraska Cornhuskers (13-6, 3-3 Big Ten) vs. #25 Michigan State Spartans (16-2, 4-1 Big Ten)

Thursday, Jan. 24, 7:05 p.m. (Central)

Devaney Center (Lincoln, Neb.)

Live TV/Video: NET (Statewide in Nebraska) Larry Punteney-PBP; Jami (Kubik) Hagedorn Analyst)/BTN.com

Radio: 25-Station IMG College Husker Sports Network (PBP-Matt Coatney; Analyst-Jeff Griesch) (107.3 FM-KBBK, Lincoln; 93.3 FM-KFFF, Omaha; 880 AM-KRVN, Lexington)

Free Internet Audio: Huskers.com

(We're still looking for a writer!)

Football

Husker N Side, Huskers Represented in 20 Straight Super Bowls

Being Kicker U does have its advantages, really.

Nebraska AD: 'Brand is as good as ever' - Big Ten Blog - ESPN

We need to convince Eichorst to get another picture taken by the AP/Getty.

Hail Varsity Magazine: A Brief History of Husker Recruiting Rankings: 1987-2012

WE'RE GETTING WORSE. Burn it all down and start again!

(**) Leaders emerging during conditioning - Omaha.com

The eternal sunshine of off-season. Will our new leaders change things up?

Nebraska Recruiting: Huskers QB Commit Johnny Stanton Ready for Lincoln - Corn Nation

"The Life Skills area. It’s definitely something I want to get involved with next year. I want to do more community service. At our school, it’s more of an obligation. At Nebraska, it’s something I really want to do," Stanton said.

Boaz Joseph Commits to Nebraska over Kentucky and Louisville - Corn Nation

The potential is great but the challenge now is keeping the kids on board and getting them ready to contribute.

Big Ten

Ted and Jesse's Excellent E-mail Adventures: B1G 2012 -- The TL;DR Recap - Off Tackle Empire

We seem to get so impatient as a society about everything anymore, that when something doesn't happen when we think it should, then we also fall into this line of thinking that it will never get better.

OTE takes a stab at summing up the past and guessing at the near future.

(**)Barfknecht: New UW coaches know running game - Omaha.com

Well poop.

Big Ten's strength could work against schools in the NCAA tournament - college basketball - ESPN

It's a tough road to the top.

National News

Pro Bowl 2013: Peyton Manning wants everyone to play hard - SBNation.com

Well then, by all means, we should watch it! If Peyton says something it'll happen!

How Charlie Strong's new Louisville contract stacks up - SBNation.com

The question is whether this is Nick Saban money or Mack Brown/Kirk Ferentz money.

Priest Willis commits to UCLA over LSU, Arizona State - SBNation.com

As expected. We'll see UCLA in Lincoln this fall. Jim Mora is putting together a pretty good class for the Bruins...

What’s a 5 Star Really Worth: Predicting Future Team Success Off of Recruiting Rankings | mgoblog

Mathlete's calculations suggest that recruiting rankings are a decent predictor of future success for the defense but that the prediction becomes quite murky on the offense.

Five things that you should know about recruiting - For Whom the Cowbell Tolls

Hoooo boy. DON'T DO THIS.

Junior Seau's family sues NFL for brain injuries - SBNation.com

More than 3,800 players have sued the NFL due to head injuries suffered during their playing days, including a class action lawsuit currently being reviewed in a federal district court in Pennsylvania.

Add one more to the pile...

With 1 not done, Fox goes for 2 - SportsBusiness Daily | SportsBusiness Journal | SportsBusiness Daily Global

If they put the Big Ten Game on Fox Sports 1, I will flip a table. It's already going to be hard enough to find the game on Fox.

CONFERENCEUSA.COM - The Official Athletic site of The Conference USA

Do you know who is in the C-USA? No, not the Big East, the real C-USA. Since you were confused, take a look here and find out.

Sabotage? Brown taking himself down with anti-Callahan ranting - NFL - CBSSports.com News, Rumors, Scores, Stats, Fantasy

Whelp.

FanPosts!

This is a new section! Post a FanPost and get featured in the Reads!

A Name please! - Corn Nation FanPost
thehobodownthestreet asks whether Nebraska will ever be in the fight for a five star athlete this late in the game, just to keep things interesting, I guess.

CN Cookbook - Chicken Jalapeño Dip - Corn Nation
Bubbasan earns the privilege of being the first to share a recipe for the Corn Nation Cookbook!

CN Cookbook--Crunchy Corn Salsa - Corn Nation
BigRedTwice joins the fun by sharing one of her favorite recipes. Why don't you join Bubbasan and BigRedTwice?

---

That's all for today, folks. This thread is open!

-Salt Creek and Stadium

PS: 2 of 20 Recipes Collected to Unlock "Cooking Along the Ol' Salt Creek"

The Reads: The Inevitable Lack of News

Salt Creek and Stadium — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 01:24:31 -0000

Today's questions to help discussion:

Which tape is the best kind of tape? Why? What color?
What are Nebraska's school colors?
What would the price of a Runza be if today was Temperature Tuesday? Would you get onion rings, fries or frings with that? Are you a Runza salad person? Do you make your own runzas?
What are you most excited about this spring?

Football

Opportunity to kick at Nebraska entices Smith to transfer - Quincy Herald-Whig | Illinois & Missouri News, Sports

Last weekend, while on his way to visit the Lincoln, Neb., campus, Smith was pulled over by a Nebraska state trooper shortly after crossing the border from Iowa. Asked where he was headed, Smith explained he was exploring the possibility of transferring from Western Illinois University and making this his official visit to the Big Ten Conference school.

"He took my insurance card and went back to his car," said Smith, a kicker and punter who recently completed his junior season at WIU as one of 10 finalists for the Fred Mitchell Outstanding Place-Kicker Award. "He then waved me back to his car. We spent about 15 minutes talking about the Huskers." Smith then walked away with a written warning and an idea of what the rest of the visit would be like.

I forsee an issue with this from the NCAA. (Otherwise it makes no sense that you can't tweet at them!) I look forward to a note from compliance asking officers of the law to distribute tickets to our recruits.

2012 Husker Wrap-Up - Dave Feit - HuskerMax.com

Special Teams. How bad were Nebraska's special teams? The defense gave up buckets of yards and loads of points, and it was not the worst unit on the team. For example: In the first quarter of the Ohio State game, Ameer Abdullah returned a punt 43 yards. The rest of the season (eight full games, 35 quarters of football) Nebraska had a TOTAL of 22 yards on punt returns, with a long return of 19 yards by Tim Marlowe in the Michigan State game. For 2013, the special teams lose their most consistent components in kicker/punter Brett Maher, long snapper P.J. Mangieri, and holder Jase Dean. Many of the inconsistent components return.

Recruiting Home Stretch, Drake Martinez Update, Nebrasketball vs. Illinois Tonight - Corn Nation

It's the next episode of Detasseling the Huskers! Greg is back and Brian is...well, click and find out! Subscribe today to stay up to date with their hard hitting analysis!

Looking Ahead to 2013 Husker Football: I-Backs - Corn Nation

The CN Staff marvels at our stable of running backs and ponders what the heck to do with Braylon Heard.

Volleyball

Women's Sand Volleyball Coming to UCLA This Spring - UCLA Official Athletic Site

UCLA joins Nebraska in adding spring volleyball this year.

Women's Basketball

Huskers Host No. 25 Spartans Thursday - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Nebraska Cornhuskers (13-6, 3-3 Big Ten) vs. #25 Michigan State Spartans (16-2, 4-1 Big Ten)
Thursday, Jan. 24, 7:05 p.m. (Central)
Devaney Center (Lincoln, Neb.)
Live TV/Video: NET (Statewide in Nebraska)
Larry Punteney-PBP; Jami (Kubik) Hagedorn Analyst)/BTN.com
Radio: 25-Station IMG College Husker Sports Network (PBP-Matt Coatney; Analyst-Jeff Griesch) (107.3 FM-KBBK, Lincoln; 93.3 FM-KFFF, Omaha; 880 AM-KRVN, Lexington) ]
Free Internet Audio: Huskers.com

This will be the Spartans women's basketball team's first trip to Lincoln. TRY THE RUNZAS, preferably tomorrow morning! (And a reminder, we're still looking for someone to cover women's basketball!)

Tennis

Huskers Soar Past Jays - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Great job team! (Sorry, Jays. #boom)

Nebrasketball

(**) Pinnacle Bank Arena orders basketball floor : Politics

PBA is gettin' a floor, everyone. Can't wait to see it finished.

Bracketology: Tight race at the top - SBNation.com

Nebraska will be in this conversation soon. #TrustTheMiles

Wisconsin's Bo Ryan in favor of more Big Ten conference games to indoctrinate Rutgers into league | NJ.com

Hm. Interesting. Not sure if that would fly in the Big Ten.

Nebraska senior soars above defender on potential dunk of the year | Prep Rally - Yahoo! Sports

Near as I can tell, he's not being recruited anywhere.

Baseball!

Huskers Aim for Return to NCAA Tournament in 2013 - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Baseball season comes soon! GET EXCITED.

National News

New Mexico State coach could leave for NFL job - SBNation.com

Well, if Pelini is looking to make room on his staff, ASSISTANT COACH's dream job just opened.

Brain disease breakthrough? New study diagnoses CTE in living ex-football players - SBNation.com

Pretty big if it holds up.

Sports' culture of intoxication - SBNation.com

An interesting look at our fascination with fermented beverages and their place in sports.

The new Mountain West division names are mountainous, western - SBNation.com

SO SIMPLE

College football coaching salaries: 10 of 2012's most costly winners - SBNation.com

We didn't make this list!

Pat Haden on Lane Kiffin's USC program: 'The sky is not falling' - SBNation.com

Well, no. If the sky were falling, we wouldn't care about Kiffin's ability to coach football teams.
(Marvin Sanders, on the other hand, was fired last night.)
(No, we're not hiring him back.)

How Texas A&M can take 34 2013 recruits - SBNation.com

Never thought the SEC would find a way to make math work for them. /jokes

A younger Jim Harbaugh gets excited, breaks a projector - SBNation.com

I know a lot of people don't like Harbaugh, but I think people who are passionate about their jobs are the greatest people on Earth. Also, overhead projector are always awesome AND I DON'T CARE IF THEY BLINDED ME.

Proposed Wrigley Field Renovations

Cubs fans! Look!

What Happens When You Give an Orangutan an iPad? | Around The Mall

Only a matter of time before they're allowed to be recruited to play sports!

The Reads Announces the Corn Nation Community Cookbook! - Corn Nation

In case you missed it, we announced the Cookbook yesterday! Click for details and start sharing those recipes!

---

That's all for today. This is your open thread!

- Salt Creek and Stadium

The Reads Announces the Corn Nation Community Cookbook!

Salt Creek and Stadium — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 02:57:14 -0000

That's right. Let's get the Corn Nation Community Cookbook started. We're looking for recipes from any cuisine, any course, any difficulty and any season. Let your creativity (and generosity) run wild!

We've actually solicited recipes in the past and our very own SD Husker provided quite a few smoked entrees for your enjoyment. If you go to the "Community Recipe" section in the menu above, you should be able to find all of those recipes and more - I've tried to find what I could from the archives.

So now comes this year's iteration of the Cookbook. We'll be looking for recipes all off-season long to start with, so don't feel pressured to submit today or even this week.

As I said, we're looking for any food. (Well, almost any food. It has to be edible. No Spillymeals please.)

So now you're probably wondering, "Well, okay, Salt. This sounds fantastic, but where do I submit?!"

I'm glad you asked! We want you guys to learn how to use the FanPost section of our site again. We know it's been neglected since the switch-over. So simply go up to the "FanPost" portion of the menu bar above and click through to the FanPost page. And then click the "+ FanPost" button in the upper right. Now you're ready to write!

To help keep things somewhat uniform, here's a format to adhere to:

For your title above the post, please use "CN Cookbook - RECIPE NAME HERE"

In the Post itself:

RECIPE NAME (from your name here)

Picture! (If you can!)

Estimated Preparation Time

Estimated Cooking Time

Ingredients List! (Quantities are helpful.)

Directions! (Use Farenheit and the Customary System)

If you're feeling particularly adventurous, we invite you to take pictures as you prepare your meal and share those with us as well! Let's limit it to five pictures max though.

Also, if you have Instagram, Corn Nation (@cornnation) is on Instagram! Look for us and share your pictures there as well!

Once a week, I'll check through the FanPosts for recipe submissions and I'll promote them right here in the Reads (as well as add them to our Community Recipe section). At the end of the off-season, I'll also collect all of the submitted recipes, make them look pretty and put them together in an iPad/tablet friendly PDF format and we'll distribute that right back to y'all, free of charge!

And because I like you all, once we get 20 recipes, I'll start cookin'. That's right - I'll cook your recipes* and take photographic evidence of your culinary offering, once a week, until the start of the season!

So that's all for now. Any questions, comments or concerns go below. Recipes go in the FanPosts under the proper titles! (Don't worry if you forget.)

*Note: Unfortunately, I cannot do smoking recipes or anything that requires open flames. Apartment rules. We don't want Salt Creek to be homeless. I do have an electric grill though so...there's that. But don't let my limitations, limit your submission! Just don't be sad if I don't pick your recipe.

Weekly Honors

Track and Field: Leitis Earns Big Ten Honor - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Nebraska senior Janis Leitis was honored by the Big Ten Conference on Monday as he was named the league's male field athlete of the week.

Congratulations, Janis!

Women's Gymnastics: Wong Captures Big Ten Weekly Award - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

The sixth-ranked Nebraska women's gymnastics team picked up its first conference honor of 2013 on Monday morning, as junior Emily Wong capped her stellar weekend by earning Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honors. The award marks the first of Wong's career and comes following a record-setting performance in which the Grand Forks, N.D., native posted or tied career-highs on beam, bars and in the all-around.

Way to go, Emily!

Football

Dobson says tighter window no problem | sports.omaha.com

This is not ideal for our defensive line problems. Yeeeeeesh.

Want to Be a Husker Volleyball Season Ticketholder? - Corn Nation

Get on board!

Tre'vell Dixon - Athlete - Commits To Nebraska...Again. - Corn Nation

And the weekend finishes on an up-note but with potential for souring in the future.

The Nebraska Recruiting Big Board (1/21/2013) - Corn Nation

Brandon brings us this week's wish list for commitments.

HuskerOnline.com - Smith ready to compete

"It's a strong tradition at Nebraska and it's an opportunity both football wise and educationally that wasn't going to be matched at where I was," Smith said. "Even as a walk-on I felt the opportunity was too good to pass up."

Welcome aboard, Pat! Good luck!

Compliance - Mobile - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

I thought it would be fun to remind everyone of proper social media contact with recruits. Leave the recruiting to the coaches. You are not allowed to make any recruiting contact with prospective student-athletes. This includes telephone, email, text, Facebook and other social media A basic rule of thumb is...don't contact, follow or friend potential student athletes. (Countdown to some inane comment about social media 3...2...1...)

New NCAA rules deregulate several former recruiting restrictions

A mountain of work awaits coaching staffs that want to remain competitive in the hunt for top high school talent. They’ll get an assist from another new rule, which allows athletic departments to hire a recruiting coordinator that is not a member of the actual coaching staff. The only restriction for the new position is that he or she will not be able to travel to visit prospective athletes.

Programs with deep pockets can now legally maintain a group of employees solely to contact recruits. Many of the soon-to-be-scrapped rules were created to avoid such a competitive advantage over the have-nots. The board of directors decided a truly equal playing field isn’t realistic and any attempt to create one causes more problems than it solves.

Well, isn't this interesting? WE CAN HIRE ANOTHER COACH.

/Pelini hires a third offensive line coach

//sobs

Nebrasketball

Huskers Host Illini on Tuesday Night - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Nebraska takes on the Illini seeking their second conference win.

Tipoff Time: 7:36 p.m.

Promotion Strip the Bob Night as fans are encouraged to wear Red or White depending on the section.

Red: A-Section, C-Padded (rows 8-18); C-Bench (29-34)

White: B-Section; C-Plastic (rows 19-28).

Huskers on TV/Radio/Internet

Television: BTN and BTN2Go (Ch. 610 on DirecTV; Chs. 439, 9500 on DISH; Chs. 24 and 333-SD, 1333-HD on Time Warner Cable; Chs. 80 SD, 1080-HD on Cox Cable)

Play-by-play: Kevin Kugler Color: Eddie Johnson

Radio: Across the state on the IMG Husker Sports Radio Network, including KLIN (1400 AM/94.5 FM) in Lincoln, KFAB (1110 AM) in Omaha and KRVN (880 AM) in Lexington.

Play-by-play: Kent Pavelka; Color: Matt Davison

Internet Radio/Stats: Free on Huskers.com

Satellite Radio: Sirius Ch. 123, XM Ch. 190

Big Ten

Ohio State and Big Ten expansion: Same or separate division as Michigan? - Land-Grant Holy Land

Ted Glover (of OTE) makes the case for putting Michigan and Ohio State together and keeping the Game as a marquee game over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Big Ten is bringing in big money as a TV star | StarTribune.com

I think if done right, expansion is fine. Adding Maryland and Rutgers though? It may increase revenues and save an athletic department from itself, but what about the product? The Big Ten's additional expansion, which should come clear just as soon as Maryland's ACC exit fee is knocked down, will have to be pretty damn stellar to keep member schools happy.

Is Virginia The Next Big Ten Target? - Off Tackle Empire

OTE dives in and looks at who will fill out the conference in time to join Maryland and Rutgers in the class of 2014.

National News

Recruit talks up Notre Dame visit that never actually happened - SBNation.com

People should just stop talking.

Katherine Webb, Ndamukong Suh join 'Celebrity Diving' cast - SBNation.com

Well, okay.

Husker Mike's Blasphemy: Why Fans Should Enjoy The US Figure Skating Championships

Husker Mike unleashes his inner Cobby and tries to put figure skating into a sports context. Is it like Orey-gone football or Creighton basketball? Or something else?

Q: Some fans may only be familiar with figure skating in the Olympics, such as the whole Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding drama. Is that what Omahans should expect?

Lori: Oh, no! Figure skating isn't like a Denver Pioneers hockey game at all. It's an event filled with grace and skill, as the arena is filled with people await in silent awe of the beauty unfolding before their very eyes.

Tim Brown suggests "sabotage" by Bill Callahan in Super Bowl XXXVII | ProFootballTalk

A decade ago, the Raiders’ fate in Super Bowl XXXVII presumably was sealed by the weekend disappearance of center Barret Robbins. Hall of Fame finalist Tim Brown believes that the blame for the 48-21 loss to the Buccaneers should go to Oakland’s head coach.

Even though the national media is all over this story now, the story is old. Brown first told that story in March 2011; here's our report at that time...

Tim Brown Interview Gives Insight To Bill Callahan's Fail - Corn Nation

The second story should be only somewhat surprising to Husker fans. Brown talks about then Oakland Raider coach Bill Callahan and how he changed the game plan the night before the Super Bowl. The original game plan was to play smash mouth football, but the night before, Callahan decides they're going to throw the ball 60 times.

Isn't it fun to know Corn Nation was around when these shenanigans happened?

Food (To Help...Or Not Help...Your Submission!)

Super Bowl food questions you were afraid to ask: The noble hamburger - SBNation.com

Real helpful tips from the Mothership! (Not Spilly.) I never really thought about how fat helps burgers - I knew steak required marbling for good flavor, but I've always found fatty burgers tend to shrink, but maybe I'm doing the wrong thing.

How the NCAA Banned Cream Cheese

Thankfully, the NCAA has repealed the offending confusing language that led to a ban on cheese spreads.

Spilly welcomes Chip Kelly to the NFL - SBNation.com

Spilly softens the blow for Chip Kelly by making something visually appealing that'll probably make you sick later. Kind of like coaching the Eagles, so it's spot on.

---

That's all for today. Start submitting those recipes!

This is your open thread.

- Salt Creek and Stadium

The Reads: A Good Weekend

Salt Creek and Stadium — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 13:13:31 -0000

Due to various failures of the human body, I have nothing witty to discuss today. An announcement that was supposed to happen today will now be announced tomorrow.

Here's the week's schedule of athletic events for the Nebraska Cornhuskers:

Tue, Jan 22	WTEN	Creighton	Nebraska Tennis Center	4:00 p.m.

Tue, Jan 22	MBB	Illinois *	Devaney Center	7:30 p.m.	BTN

Thu, Jan 24	WBB	Michigan State *	Devaney Center	7:05 p.m.	NET/BTN.com Huskers.com

N for 'Nowledge

UNL | Engineering | Engineering News | 1/17/13

Two teams led by Nebraska Engineering students earned top-five status in the 2012 IBM/IEEE Smarter Planet Challenge, an international competition for college/university teams improving the world’s technology solutions.

How about improving cable box interfaces? Those things are hideous.

Nebraska athletics

Women's basketball: Huskers Roll at Minnesota - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

In a complete performance that has eluded the Huskers all season long, the women routed Minnesota in a 84-63 road win.

Nebrasketball:Shields Lifts Huskers to Win at Penn State - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Ray Gallegos came out of the game with 11:17 left in the first half, the first time in six Big Ten games he has not played every minute. It ended a streak of 218:39 consecutive minutes dating back to Dec. 29. Gallegos finished with 15 points and four rebounds in 38 minutes.

Manbeast.

Nebrasketball: Shields' Huge Game Lifts Huskers to First Big Ten Victory - Corn Nation

Some people like to point out that Penn State isn't very good. That's true. But every conference needs a basement and clearly, we're not it. INTERNET HIGH FIVES.

Wrestling: Huskers Upset No. 5 Illinois, 18-15 - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

All five of No. 14 Nebraska's nationally ranked wrestlers won their matches on Friday night to lead the Huskers to an 18-15 upset of No. 5 Illinois at the NU Coliseum.

BAM.

Track and Field:Huskers Sweep adidas Classic Team Titles - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

The Nebraska track and field team swept the meet titles at the adidas Classic for the fifth straight year on Saturday at the Devaney Center Indoor Track. Both Husker squads dominated the field, as the women finished with 207 points, while Wichita State finished second with 100 points. The men posted with 205.33 total points; Iowa was second with 111 points. The afternoon was highlighted by numerous personal best performances and 19 event titles for Nebraska, including Jessica Furlan, Janis Leitis and Mara Weekes all winning more than one individual event crown on the day.

HOMECOOKIN'. (Kiddin'.) Great job, team!

Women's Gymnastics: Huskers Sweep Titles, Top Michigan State - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

The women's gymnastics team bounces back from their loss to Stanford, besting the Spartans at the Devaney Center.

Men's Gymnastics: Huskers Fall in Stanford - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Nebraska falls to both Stanford and Oklahoma, powerhouse gymnastics programs.

Swim and Dive: Huskers Lose Senior Day Battle With Aztecs - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

There are some fast times in this meet. Congrats to the individuals who set new school records!

State of Athletic Department Keynote: Revelle to Huskers: Soar with Your Strengths - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Whatever motivates our student-athletes to do better works for me.

Shawn Eichorst: (**) All business, Husker A.D. won't duck a fight - Omaha.com

Eichorst couldn't sell himself to Miami, but who cares? ADs should stay in the background, quietly keeping the university out of the NCAA's dog house while pushing the program forward. (I like the people in the comments who can't see that and instead think we hired a thug from Miami.)

Football

(**) NU recruit Hannon is full of determination - Omaha.com

NOW WE'RE RECRUITING LACROSSE PLAYERS?! BO PELINI CAN'T GET IT DONE! HE SHOULD BE GOING AFTER THIS FIVE STAR/LOCAL RECRUIT THAT I/SOMEONE I KNOW/BROTHER COACHES FOR!!!!!!!! - message board response

Looking Ahead to 2013 Husker Football: Quarterbacks - Corn Nation

The Corn Nation staff all agrees that Ron Kellogg III will be the starter next year. Don't believe me? Take a look!

Matt Finnin - Offensive Tackle - Commits to Nebraska - Corn Nation

The coaching staff convinces an honest-to-god offensive tackle to come to Nebraska. We all dream of Taylor Martinez not having to run as much.

National News

New NCAA recruiting bylaw will inundate recruits with calls and text messages - ESPN

Moving past the obvious issues of taking all of the free time away from assistant coaches and disrupting the junior and senior years of high schoolers, the NCAA is also basically making it possible for head coaches to have a recruiting coordinator that isn't a coach (like they have for basketball).

The board eliminated a rule that allows only full-time coaches to serve as recruiting coordinators.

I wonder if this means the university could create a position like "head of football community outreach" that is basically just the recruiting coordinator? I think basketball has a position like this.

As for this:

"It passed a proposal that deregulates camps and clinics on campus, enabling senior football prospects to participate. "

Does that mean Memorial Stadium can host the Nebraska Shrine Bowl again?

NFL replaces Falcons with Crimson Tide, grants every Alabaman's wish - SBNation.com

Alabama fans, on the other hand, are irate that the Times Free Press listed the Crimson Tide as 6-11 in the playoffs and 0-1 in the Super Bowl. Alabama has long claimed 23 Super Bowl wins, including the 1925, 1926, 1930, 1934, and 1941 Super Bowls. Those championships have long been disputed by other authorities, primarily because the Super Bowl was not played until 1967.

This is how you celebrate a goal - SBNation.com

The NCAA's ban on touchdown celebrations robs us of things like this. But we may see it in the Super Bowl, since it takes that long for NFL players to discover it.

Reports -- Oregon Ducks to tab OC Mark Helfrich as new football coach - ESPN

Wide receivers coach Scott Frost will be promoted to replace Helfrich as Oregon's offensive coordinator, sources told The (Oregon) Register-Guard.

Good for Scott. That being said, his name should NOT come up this season or next season for the Nebraska job if the situation deteriorates.. Not nearly enough experience. Personally, I want to see him go have success at a MAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MWC school first before we look at him for Nebraska. (Pelini will have won three or four championships by then and ready to retire.)

Ellis Johnson says his cell phone was stolen | CoachingSearch.com

Oh, crank call the recruits, phone thief!

NCAA Investigation Update: Things Are Looking Up For Miami - State of The U

Interesting. The NCAA really does just wing it, doesn't it.

Florence Freedom to host Manti Te’o Girlfriend Bobblehead night | Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Oh, well done. /applause

Jason Garrett Interviews Houston Nutt - Red Cup Rebellion

Nutt: I’ll sum up my recruiting philosophy in two words: Late offers. See, lotta teams jump on prospects early. They evaluate, they build connections. Long story short, they burn out! Can’t burn out! Can’t do it. Easy to burn out. Light a match. Wooo! It’s gone. So you got to pace yourself. Wait till December, January. Take a look around. See who’s out there. Take a look at the film, see what can be seen.

Ahhhh, Nebraska's approach.

---

That's all for today. This is your open thread.

-Salt Creek and Stadium

The Reads: Good News for Jack

Salt Creek and Stadium — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 03:29:04 -0000

Husker N Side, Doubled-Barreled Good News for Team Jack

First and foremost, the Hoffmans received news from Jack’s Boston neurologist that his tumor was stable to slightly smaller compared to his last MRI in October. That was especially encouraging when Wednesday’s MRI was compared to Jack’s April 2012 MRI that showed his tumor had grown. The significant shrinkage of the tumor made the doctor’s words "very heartening," said Andy Hoffman, Jack’s dad. "She said the MRI looks fantastic."

Fantastic news for little Jack Hoffman.

Weekend Event Scedule

Husker Athletics (from Huskers.com)

Fri, Jan 18	T&F	NWU Invitational	Devaney Center Indoor Track	11:30 a.m.

Fri, Jan 18	WR	Aurora HS vs. Grand Island HS	at NU Coliseum	5:00 p.m.

Fri, Jan 18	WR	Illinois *	NU Coliseum	7:00 p.m.	BTN.com

Sat, Jan 19	RFL	West Virginia	at Morgantown, W.Va.	7:00 a.m.

Sat, Jan 19	SWIM	San Diego State	Devaney Natatorium	12:00 p.m.

Sat, Jan 19	MBB	Penn State *	at University Park, Pa.	12:00 p.m.	ESPNU/WatchESPN.com

Sat, Jan 19	T&F	adidas Classic	Devaney Center Indoor Track	12:00 p.m.	Meet Schedule

Sat, Jan 19	WGYM	Michigan State *	Devaney Center	6:00 p.m.

Sat, Jan 19	MGYM	Stanford Open	at Stanford, Calif.	7:00 p.m.

Sun, Jan 20	WBB	Minnesota *	at Minneapolis, Minn. (Williams Arena)	5:00 p.m.	BTN/BTN2Go.com Huskers.com

NFL

01/20	49ers	vs	Falcons	‎-3:00 PM (ET)‎-Tickets

01/20	Ravens	vs	Patriots	‎-6:30 PM (ET)‎-Tickets

Be sure to stop by Corn Nation, we'll have open threads for the Nebraska basketball and NFL games!

Have another sport or event you'd like featured? Let me know!

Football

New Nebraska AD Eichorst: Pelini on right track | College Football

Shawn Eichorst, who took over as athletic director Jan. 1, said in an interview with The Associated Press that he admires how Pelini runs the Cornhuskers' program and he believes Pelini is on track to win a championship.

So that cleans that up.

Nebraska Walk-Ons 2013: Huskers Got 99 Problems But a Kicker Ain't One - Corn Nation

Somewhere in the ranks of walk-ons awaits our next great Lou Groza snub.

Young linebackers eager to seize opportunity : Latest Husker News

Next year's defense will be...interesting.

ESPN's Ubben Asks If Big XII Former Members Regret Leaving - Corn Nation

I think Ubben misses writing about Nebraska.

Nebraska's Will Compton Prepping With the Pros at NFLPA Bowl - Pro Player Insiders

Have fun, Compton! (Was he not around in 2009 or 2010 when Nebraska played Virginia Tech...?)

(**) Alfonzo Dennard trial set for Feb. 11 | sports.omaha.com

The scheduling allows Dennard to finish the season.

Nebrasketball

Hail Varsity Magazine: Huskers fall to Purdue 65-56

Instead of having an off day tomorrow as scheduled, Miles said the Huskers will get back to work."We’re going to go so hard tomorrow that it’s going to be amazing," he said. "They’re young so they’ll bounce back. We have these cold tubs and these hot tubs they can soak in. We’re not going down that path."

Tim Miles is not pulling punches at all. And it's pretty refreshing.

Big Ten Conference

Our proposals for B1G division alignment - Big Ten Blog - ESPN

Thoughts? Personally, any alignment with creates the QUADRANGLE OF HATE between Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin works for me.

National News

Manti Te’o hoax, Lennay Kekua: Why sportswriters didn’t catch on to the Notre Dame linebacker’s fake girlfriend. - Slate Magazine

Confirmation bias? You mean like what sports media has for most of the SEC? (And I think Te'o's "great" season is also a function of confirmation bias. I'm sure he's a fantastic football player and wonderful leader - but without building him up as a paragon, no one gives a damn about Te'o and instead celebrates Notre Dame and Brian Kelly.)

Manti Te'o, Notre Dame, and the definition of insanity - SBNation.com

One more point, though: The near-universal reaction to this magically insane story is to say that today's world is a full of false idols, and stories like this are a good example of why we should all be cynical. But that's too easy, and not the point here. With sports or anything else, there's room between "heartless asshole" and "hopeless believer." Yeah, it's stupid to take every deifying Sports Illustrated cover story as gospel, but it's also miserable to look for the lie and assume the worst with any inspirational story. We don't have to deal in extremes, though. The cynics are usually right, sure, but the believers are happier, and the trick is landing somewhere in the middle. You can roll your eyes at the sensational bullshit and still love someone like Kevin Durant. Just like you can be skeptical of Notre Dame's explanation without swearing Manti Te'o's a sociopath who did it all for the Heisman. People aren't as great or awful as they sometimes seem, they are generally just a lot more complicated than we realize. If we can see that in the Te'o story, then maybe the craziest sports story in my lifetime leaves us walking away with something like sanity.

This is a good way to put things.

Notre Dame's Manti Te'o in his own words - College Football - Pete Thamel - SI.com

This was a long con, no matter how you slice it. The question becomes, who executed the hoax?

Malcolm Gladwell and Chuck Klosterman on Manti Te'o - Grantland

Something happened in college football off the field? OH, Malcolm's on the case!

Over-exuberant judge posts about Johnny Manziel's speeding ticket on Facebook - CBSSports.com

We are paying far too much attention to the lifestyles of teenagers.

/facepalm

Hacking your body: Lance Armstrong and the science of doping | The Verge

A primer on performance enhancing drugs, the biochemical research and the spin that makes cheating in sports possible.

Hail Varsity Magazine: What now for Scott Frost?

Find a BCS coordinator or lower division HC job and we'll talk when Pelini leaves. Not before then, unless the new head coach wants Scott on staff.

---

That's all for today and for the week. This. Is. Your. Weekend. Open. Thread. Have at it!

(If no GameThreads appear, we encourage you to either use this post OR start your own FanPost!)

- Salt Creek and Stadium

PS: I may or may not be in trouble for calling the rest of the staff old. In my defense, they were talking about dial-up internet.

The Reads: Other Things Happened Yesterday

Salt Creek and Stadium — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 02:47:06 -0000

You can read about it here and the original breaking story from Deadspin here. The Verge attempts to explain why exactly this went undetected for so long, especially with the girlfriend's alledged passing last fall. As of now, there are a lot of questions remaining to be answered, regardless who was involved in the hoax. Notre Dame won't be answering them (they have not involved law enforcement nor will they be publishing the findings of their investigation), so we'll see what happens.

At this point, if an athletic department isn't investing in some education on how social media works and how it can manipulated to do bad things, maybe they should divert some of their funds to do just that.

If you were hoping for a quiet, boring off-season, well, this pretty much kills that.

UNL Football

(**) Recruiting: Commitment adds to position of need : Latest Husker News

Defensive line is a position of need? Who knew!

(**) Recruiting: Clearing the air on Elijah Qualls’ canceled visit | sports.omaha.com

Take him off your boards.

Women's Basketball

(We're looking for someone to write about them. Interested?)

A reminder that women's basketball happens tonight at 7:05pm CT! Good luck, team! (Note: the game is available via the BTN Digital Network or by radio. There is no TV feed.)

Huskers Return to Home To Face Illini - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-5, 2-2 Big Ten) vs. Illinois Fighting Illini (9-7, 2-2 Big Ten)

Thursday, Jan. 17, 7:05 p.m. (Central) Bob Devaney Sports Center (Lincoln, Neb.)

Live Video: BTN.com

Radio: 25-Station IMG College Husker Sports Network (PBP-Matt Coatney; Analyst-Jeff Griesch) (107.3 FM-KBBK, Lincoln; 93.3 FM-KFFF, Omaha; 880 AM-KRVN, Lexington)

Free Internet Audio: Huskers.com

National News

Chip Kelly, 'worst ever' hire: NFL people, please study up before you dismiss - SBNation.com

This is the same NFL that employs Bill Callahan. Your theory is flawed, Evans. Oh, and a quick primer on this formidable NFL Chip is joining.

Since the Cowboys are going to be the defensive laughingstock of the NFL (and Monte has been Oregon's play thing since 2010), Philadelphia only has to beat Washington (as long as Shanahan is there, this is basically a favorable proposition) and New York (whose defense is built to stop Andy Reid's WCO, not the zone read that is at the heart of Kelly's offense) to reach the playoffs.

That's right - Chip Kelly could win his division and no other game, a la the NFC West until 2011, and still reach the post-season. The NFL is easier to reach the post-season in than college football.

2013 college football schedule oddities: The 25 or so weirdest games - SBNation.com

SMU, which is playing Texas Tech, Baylor, at Texas A&M and at TCU. That, plus Houston, means a Big East team will play against more Texas teams than all but three Big 12 teams will. I say again: a team in the Big East will play against more Texas teams than most of the Big 12 will.

Universities spend about six times more on athletes than students - Land-Grant Holy Land

I'm thinking we need to reassess the importance of sports in our society.

Report: Big East and San Diego State preparing to announce separation - CBSSports.com

Another annulled Atlantic City wedding.

San Diego State returning to Mountain West; Big East commish looks to future - CBSSports.com

But the departures keep stalling a deal and, according to reports, hemorrhaging future conference earnings. Colleague Dennis Dodd reports a once-projected television rights valuation of more than $100 million per year has dipped to the $40-million range with UConn and Cincinnati as centerpieces and Conference USA parts surrounding them.

Yeah...that's a conference I want to watch. It's ridiculous that their commissioner thinks the world of the schools that left. That doesn't inspire confidence.

Tweet my fridge: the bizarre home appliances of CES | The Verge

Give me a fridge which can scan its own contents without any work from me and compare that to a set "stock level" list to generate a shopping list, and I'm sold.

And in case you missed it, SB Nation's Jon Bois ran a tournament to determine the best GIFs* of some period of time. A baseball GIF won.

*GIFs are sort of like a moving picture without being a video. You may have seen them from Penn State fans trying to argue that they didn't fumble in the end zone. The problem is that GIFs are snippets of a much larger scene and are typically taken out of context.

---

That's all for today folks. I hope you're all real. I was under the impression that if it was on the internet, it was true. I guess not.

I already know AdamTheTitan is a fake, he told me so. In fact, he's a spy from the government.

The thread is real and present. If you reach out, you can almost touch it.

Speak openly, friends.

-Salt Creek and Stadium

The Reads: Supporting the Home Team

Salt Creek and Stadium — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 03:00:23 -0000

Are you in Lincoln? GO TO THE DEVANEY CENTER. Tickets aren't terribly expensive!

Are you not in Lincoln? Join us here at CN and tune into BTN.

Nebraska stayed with Sparty until the final two minutes of play. Purdue is not Sparty. We have a reasonable chance of scoring our first B1G victory of the season. Be here for history in the making!

Huskers Return Home for Purdue - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Huskers on TV/Radio/Internet Television: BTN and BTN2Go

(Ch. 610 on DirecTV; Chs. 439, 9500 on DISH; Chs. 24 and 333-SD, 1333-HD on Time Warner Cable; Chs. 80 SD, 1080-HD on Cox Cable)

Play-by-play: Kevin Kugler Color: Shon Morris

Radio: Across the state on the IMG Husker Sports Radio Network, including KLIN (1400 AM/94.5 FM) in Lincoln, KFAB (1110 AM) in Omaha and KRVN (880 AM) in Lexington.

Play-by-play: Kent Pavelka; Color: Matt Davison

Internet Radio/Stats: Free on Huskers.com

Satellite Radio: Sirius Ch. 128

HuskerOnline.com - Hoops notebook: Free throws a big concern for NU

Despite Nebraska's 0-4 start in the Big Ten, both Miles said he still hoped Husker fans would continue to show great support the rest of the season.

"Hopefully they're encouraged and we can get the students there and the fans there and get things riled up and rally behind these guys," Miles said. "Fans want to win. I think fans have been pretty fair. I think Nebraska traditionally, it appears to me, has been a very fair place to coaches… basketball coaches."

Women's Basketball

Tomorrow night, the women take on the Illini at the Devaney Center. Good luck, team!

(By the way, we're looking for someone to cover women's basketball. Are you that person?)

Huskers Return to Home To Face Illini - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-5, 2-2 Big Ten) vs. Illinois Fighting Illini (9-7, 2-2 Big Ten)

Thursday, Jan. 17, 7:05 p.m. (Central)

Bob Devaney Sports Center (Lincoln, Neb.)

Live Video: BTN.com

Radio: 25-Station IMG College Husker Sports Network (PBP-Matt Coatney; Analyst-Jeff Griesch) (107.3 FM-KBBK, Lincoln; 93.3 FM-KFFF, Omaha; 880 AM-KRVN, Lexington)

Free Internet Audio: Huskers.com

Men's Tennis

Huskers Drop Opener at Louisville - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Tom Blackwell battled to NU's lone singles victory on the day with a 6-3, 2-6, 10-7 victory over Louisville's Michael Lippens at No. 5.

Track and Field

White Earns Big Ten Honor - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Nebraska junior James White was honored by the Big Ten Conference on Monday as he was selected as the Big Ten Co-Field Athlete of the Week. White shares the honor with Jon Lehman of Minnesota.

Congrats to James on this honor!

UNL Football

Hipp Remembers the Titan: The Bear Himself - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

He worked out pretty well for Nebraska for being under-recruited.

Bold predictions for B1G in 2013 - College Football Nation Blog - ESPN

3. The Big Ten adds two more teams: Just when we least expect it, the Big Ten will shock us again with expansion news. On July 4, news breaks that the league has decided to add two more teams to eventually get to 16. Both teams will be current ACC members who decide to flee once Maryland's exit fee is settled out of court. The Big Ten announces it will compete with four four-team pods in 2015.

Of all their predictions, this is the most likely.

National News

Wisconsin vs. Indiana final score: Badgers shock No. 2 Hoosiers in Bloomington - SBNation.com

Wisconsin continues to ruin Indiana's day. Great job Badgers.

Creighton beat Wisconsin by ten on a neutral court. Wisconsin beat Nebraska by 6 in Lincoln. CU beat NU by 22. College Basketball is weird.
— David McGee (@dpm917) January 16, 2013

I'm pretty sure this math says...Nebraska could beat Indiana again. #NEBRASKETBALL

Tim Tebow might not be cut out for the CFL - SBNation.com

What I find funny about all these articles is not a single one ever suggests Tebow should change position. The NFL requires QBs who can pass the ball. The CFL even more-so with their offense-friendly regulations.

With NCAA investigation nearing an end, Miami looks set for 2013 - CBSSports.com

Considering the magnitude of Miami's actions and their lack of cooperation, I'm guessing the NCAA isn't going to accept a single year post-season ban.

Lane Kiffin called out for 'shady' recruiting at USC

Everyone put on your shocked faces.

Sources say 10 to 15 USC football players involved in locker-room altercation after Sun Bowl loss - LA Daily News

The incident started when some freshmen questioned the leadership of the team's seniors and whether they gave 100 percent effort for the Sun Bowl. This led to an argument that eventually escalated according to witnesses.

Ouch. Bet you they still get ranked in the top 10 come August.

Ten bold predictions for 2013 -- college football - ESPN

Past performance does not indicate future results, Schlabach.

Hey Jenny Slater. • crimson coattails

A look from down south at the SEC solidarity. Not in complete agreement, but he makes good points.

A&M's Hyman stresses Heisman's responsibility to Manziel - San Antonio Express-News

I'm sure this will work out. (For the record, I hope Manziel continues to be a 20 year old. The Heisman's a joke anyway. It's just an offensive player MVP award. Who cares?)

Taking a look at the accuracy of Scrabble's point values | The Verge

For your next off-season-fueled Scrabble contest. Now you can try and flip the points to win more games!

Google Maps Street View

There's a donkey. No, serious. The Google Maps guys found a donkey.

---

For a laugh this Wednesday...

---

That's all for today. Don't forget Nebrasketball takes on Purdue at 8pm CT tonight at the Devaney Center. Stop by for the GameThread if you can't make it to Lincoln!

THE THREAD IS OPEN.

New rule: no calling people turds. And every post should end #sunshine because why not, it's Wednesday. Hope springs eternal in the middle of the week.

- Salt Creek and Stadium

The Reads: And the Winner is...

Salt Creek and Stadium — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 04:26:49 -0000

It's a tad bit late...But I've finally tallied up the season's picks from the CN Staff!

If you don't remember, the CN Staff picked five games each week to try and guess the outcomes for. Our winner managed to guess correctly 67.8% of time out of 71 picks, including two weeks of perfect picks.

And so we award the trophy...

@tamattes @btbowling Trophy?We were playing for a trophy?I might have tried harder if I had known there was a trophy at stake!
— David McGee (@dpm917) January 15, 2013

Wait, you don't know about the trophy? That's not surprising - after all, it's the first year of the award. Amazingly, it was not designed by the Iowa Corn Board.

The Old Man Johnston Award goes to the CN Staffer who most successfully picks the outcome of the most games played by 18-23 year olds with an oblong ball. This honor is no small feat considering the amount of chaos one must overcome to achieve it.

So who is the winner of this illustrious award? He's one of our new-comers and helps with our football coverage.

No, it's not me. I kind of killed my chances by disappearing for three or four weeks mid-season.

Oh, I guess it wasn't Taylor Swift either...

No, no, the 2012 winner of the Old Man Johnston Award is...

(Camera pans to an angry Taylor Swift.)

Congratulations to Brian! He absolutely destroyed the standings, picking 48 out of 71 games correctly.

In addition to the trophy, Brian has earned himself a year-long supply of Internet Runzas. Lucky, lucky guy.

As for the rest of the podium:

Husker Mike rode to second place on a strong showing in bowl season. His prize? The adoration and respect of his peers.

Billgrip, Dear Leader and ruacornhead take third place. To solve this scrum, I analyzed the data and then came to the following conclusion: Dear Leader wins this tie and our hearts because, well, he's Dear Leader.

Here are the final standings:

Staffer	Wins	Losses
Brian	48	23
Husker Mike	42	29
BillGrip	39	27
Jon	39	32
Kevin	39	16
Aaron	35	30
DM	34	27
Andy	28	22
Mister Mike	28	17
Salt Creek	24	22
Will Grubb	11	4
James Stevenson	8	7
Jake Sorensen	2	3

And now that we know there's a trophy, we can all try harder to win it next year.

We now return to the day's news, however short it is...

---

Pretty short on news!

(**) McKewon: Numbers show where Nebraska needs to gain ground - Omaha.com

If Nebraska cures it's line depth (and play) issues and reduces the frequency of fumbles on option runs and special teams, they have the potential to make the jump to title contender.

The Nebraska Recruiting Big Board (1/14/2013) - Corn Nation

Our friend Brandon lets us know where Nebraska is looking to close ASAP.

Ernest Suttles, Weakside Defensive End, Commits To The Huskers - Corn Nation

Welcome aboard! (All of you pillorying Samuelson can just stop.)

LB Sean Fisher Not Returning For Sixth Year - Corn Nation

Quite honestly, I agree with this decision. We wish you all the best, Sean!

Nebraska-Michigan State: Another Husker Moral Victory - Corn Nation

Pretty soon those moral victories will be the real deal.

HuskerOnline.com - Back-up QB Marsh transferring

Best of luck to him.

Top 100 college football games of 2012 countdown: 100 through 71 - SBNation.com

The sad part about this is that it's a reminder that CFB is over until August.

R.I.P. WAC football, 1962-2012: The conference that went down swinging - SBNation.com

No ESPN power montage to say farewell. Good night, sweet, sweet WAC.

ACC Network under consideration: Twitter recommends programming - SBNation.com

ESPN holding their first and second (and maybe third?) tier media rights makes this kind of unlikely to be worth the effort. They already get ACC Network branding from ESPN when games are farmed out to local affiliates and people don't seem to be clamoring for "ACC Heroes: Tom O'Brien"

Alex Anzalone to Florida reminds us: Don't ever, ever tweet at college football recruits - SBNation.com

Frankly, it's not just tweeting. They're 18 year olds, at best. To get upset or angry at them or to dismiss them for character flaws that you yourself probably had? That's just silly. It's just a game. Get irrational at the abstraction, sure. But leave the players alone.

Miami Dolphins announce proposed changes to Sun Life Stadium - SBNation.com

Still waiting on the Rose.

Auburn football recruiting: Dee Liner finally decommits - College and Magnolia

The name alone...wow.

---

And our friend Musburger is now just trolling America, everyone.

---

That's all for today, folks. Give Brian a pat on the back and then console each other over the lack of news.

I know I'm pretty sad over the lack of news part.

-Salt Creek and Stadium

The Reads: Tim Miles is a Wizard

Salt Creek and Stadium — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 02:59:30 -0000

Folks, if you're not watching Nebrasketball this season, you're missing out on something fantastic. For all the grief we give Pelini for his team's failure to go undefeated, Tim Miles has been putting on a clinic on how you get 150% out of your players. Seriously, the guy has a depleted roster* and his team is pushing the best of the Big Ten.

You need to watch Nebrasketball because in two seasons, you'll be able to proudly say you were there when Tim Miles took over this team. That 2015 date in Omaha? It doesn't look unrealistic right now.

I know it's been hard to buy into Nebrasketball for a while. But I'm telling you right now - it's time to buy in. If you're able, make it to the Devaney Center this Wednesday and support this team.

Take it from me - I hate basketball and I'm falling in love with Nebrasketball under Tim Miles. They're that scrappy underdog we're all looking to believe in.

*They're talented but unfortunately lacking depth on the bench.

UNL Football

OpEd: The "Airing of Grievances" for 2012 Nebraska Football Is Over - Corn Nation

Husker Mike suggests the time has come to stop worrying about 2012 and concentrate on hoping for 2013. Who is going to step up to save Bo Pelini from himself?

Husker N Side, What Would You Do If You Were Sean Fisher?

I agree with Randy York - Sean Fisher should go to med school. There's just too much risk involved in another season of football.

Tom Jones: Can't Lance Armstrong just pedal off already? - Tampa Bay Times

On Monday, Alabama demolished Notre Dame to win the BCS title. It was the Crimson Tide's third national title in four seasons, making it not only a modern-day dynasty but one of the greatest dynasties in college football history. Where exactly does this Alabama team rank? Here's my take on the best four-year stretches in college football history over the past 75 years:

(**) Els knows stretch run will tell the tale on Husker recruiting class : Latest Husker News

Maybe next season Nebraska can takes Els off special teams to concentrate on recruiting? I'd love for someone to do an interview with Els in the off-season where he describes his weekly workload.

(**) Huskers keep recruiting options open at tight end : Latest Husker News

I'm glad we're not closing doors, I guess? But frankly, I'm reading "position change" in his comments. And again, in my opinion, help give Garrison and Cotton the focus they need by passing TE coaching to either Ron Brown or Rich Fisher.

(**) Newby could give Huskers quite a stable of backs : Latest Husker News

Having one of the nation's best running attacks is helping our recruiting. Now we just need to find the linemen to complement it.

(**) Fast times at S.D. high helped NU track Gerry - Omaha.com

Nebraska hunting down speed for the defense.

UNL Athletic Director's Office

(**) Law, business background helped NU's A.D. launch career - Omaha.com

For all his success, Eichorst's most influential experience — the place he cut his teeth — was Whitewater.

In 4½ years, he overhauled the department and laid the foundation for an unprecedented run. The Warhawks have won eight national championships since 2002, including four in football. The facilities are comparable to many Division I schools. Enrollment is breaking records. Morale is high.

(**) 'Be Artist. Be Athlete.' Nebraska associate AD says you can do both : Ground Zero

Jaime Williams has a sword hanging in his office. No big deal.

UNL Women's Basketball

Huskers Dropped by No. 8 Penn State - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

A tough loss for Nebraska. The women take on Illinois this Thursday at 7:05 pm CT on BTN.

[And just so you all know, we're looking for someone to write about women's basketball as well as our Olympic sports. Interested? Contact Jon!]

UNL Track and Field

Huskers Post Top Marks in Final Day of Holiday Inn Invitational Action - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Nebraska gathered 21 event titles and two collegiate titles (if someone wants to explain the difference, I'd appreciate it!) altogether. A great start to the season!

UNL Wrestling

Huskers Pick Up First Big Ten Dual Win - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

A great win for Nebraska...but that wasn't the only one.

Huskers Dominate in Win Over #18 Wildcats - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

The Huskers improve to 8-3 with the win and 2-2 in Big Ten duals. Nebraska is 4-0 on the road this season. The Wildcats drop to 4-4 on the season with an 0-3 record in the Big Ten.

UNL Tennis

Huskers Sweep The Eagles At Home Opener - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Adding to Nebraska's strong showing in Olympic sports over the weekend. Great job!

UNL Rifles

NU Topped by Air Force - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Never a bad thing when a service academy wins at things like shooting a target.

UNL Gymnastics

No. 9 Huskers Rise Above Air Force, ASU - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Not a bad showing against Oklahoma either. (Men's gymnastics)

Huskers Edged by Wolverines in Michigan - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

So close...Should be a great season for Nebraska women's gymnastics.

UNL Bowling

Huskers Win Mid-Winter Invitational - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Great job! (Team did well. Had a 10-3 match play record, improved from being 3rd after day 1. Against Central Missouri in the finals, the Huskers were down 0 games to 3 in the seven game Baker finals, and won the last four to win the tournament.. - Brian)

National News

Monte Kiffin named defensive coordinator of Dallas Cowboys - ESPN Dallas

Meanwhile, the teams who are winning right now? Most of them run pro-adapted variations of the college spread that gave Monte fits at USC. Most prominently? Their division rival, the Washington Redskins. Jerry Jones, everyone!

The 11 restaurants most essential for college football recruiting - SBNation.com

Where does Nebraska's eastern Eurasian Hot Pocket joint fall on this list? Does it? Does Bo Pelini need to push the city of Lincoln to build a few more restaurants?

---

That's all for today. The thread is open.

-Salt Creek and Stadium

Reminder, we're looking for someone to write about women's basketball as as well as our Olympic sports. Interested? Contact Jon!

The Reads: Weekend Plans

Salt Creek and Stadium — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 13:07:30 -0000

Here's the weekend's schedule for Nebraska Athletics!

(WR = Wrestling; RFL = Rifle; T&F = Track and Field; TEN = tennis; BB = basketball)

Fri, Jan 11 - Sun, Jan 13	BOWL	Mid-Winter Invitational	at Jonesboro, Ark.	11:00 a.m.

Fri, Jan 11	T&F	Holiday Inn Invitational	Devaney Center Indoor Track	4:00 p.m.	Meet Schedule

Fri, Jan 11	WTEN	Eastern Michigan vs Nebraska-Kearney	at Nebraska Tennis Center	5:00 p.m.

Fri, Jan 11	WR	Michigan *	at Ann Arbor, Mich.	6:00 p.m.	BTN

Sat, Jan 12	RFL	Air Force	NU Rifle Range	8:00 a.m.

Sat, Jan 12	WTEN	Eastern Michigan	Nebraska Tennis Center	10:30 a.m.

Sat, Jan 12	T&F	Holiday Inn Invitational	Devaney Center Indoor Track	12:00 p.m.	Meet Schedule

Sat, Jan 12	WGYM	Michigan *	at Ann Arbor, Mich.	3:00 p.m.

Sat, Jan 12	MGYM	Rocky Mountain Open	at Colorado Springs, Colo.	7:00 p.m.

Sat, Jan 12	WR	Northwestern *	at Evanston, Ill.	7:00 p.m.	BTN.com

Sun, Jan 13	MTEN	Louisville	at Louisville, Ky.	11:00 a.m.

Sun, Jan 13	WBB	Penn State *	at University Park, Pa. (Bryce Jordan Center)	1:00 p.m.	ESPN2/WatchESPN.com Huskers.com

Sun, Jan 13	MBB	Michigan State *	at East Lansing, Mich.	5:00 p.m.	BTN

So this Sunday, drop in for a double-header Game Thread for basketball. A shout out to OnlyJade and redvalley for their heroic albeit lonely support of women's basketball last night. It's understandable that many of us were unable to make it - 5:30pm is kind of early. But hopefully we can get a little more support Sunday. After all, our women's basketball team is much better than the men's.

UNL Football

Osborne won't compare 1990s' Huskers to Alabama - Yahoo! Sports

''You have to take your hat off to them because of the level of competition,'' Osborne said. ''I don't know that the SEC top to bottom is filled with great teams, but you have at least three or four very good teams in recent years. To survive that schedule, you have to be very good, obviously.''

Husker N Side, T.O.’s Observation: ‘We’re Not Very Far Off’

Bo Pelini’s ultra-positive postgame locker room comments were "warranted" following Nebraska’s 45-31 loss, Osborne said, "because we really aren’t that far off from being able to compete (for a national title). I don’t want to get fans overly optimistic to the point where they just assume we’re already there. We’re not, but I think Bo has every right to think we’re in a good position."

A CORNHUSKER CONDUNDRUM - Husker Dan - HuskerMax.com

Husker Dan makes an interesting point about the revolving door for defensive coaches the last couple of years, the price of our good defense in 2009 and 2010.

Fisher feeling pressure to decide | sports.omaha.com

Unless Sean has ambitions for the NFL, I don't see the value of delaying med school.

Recruiting

Scout.com: Northwestern pulls Davison's offer

Which is worse? This or Nebraska forgetting they want to pull Vandenburg's offer?

Women's Basketball

Huskers Cruise Past Hoosiers - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Great job, team! Hopefully we can show more support this Sunday as Nebraska takes on Penn State.

Nebrasketball

Hail Varsity Magazine: Signs of progress in Ann Arbor

Nebraska's defense is awesome but they need to find an offense if they're going to win these games.

New Year’s Conference Realignment FAQ: Big Ten, Mountain West, Big East and Catholic 7 " FRANK THE TANK'S SLANT

More expansion for the Big Ten? And Creighton in a national conference?

National News

Jadeveon Clowney claims, '2 more years in college' - SBNation.com

Egads.

Brian Kelly: Brian Kelly taints image and crushes credibility at same time - chicagotribune.com

Meanwhile the rest of college football enjoys the spoils of the clashing of egos in South Bend.

Bonds played by the rules: How baseball insiders are punishing players for the steroid culture they helped create - SBNation.com

For our baseball readers. And a reminder that this year's HOF ballot isn't that big of a deal. Want to know what's more disgusting than some silly baseball players not getting into a HOF? Tommie Frazier STILL isn't in the College Football HOF.

Bret Bielema may be coaching in the SEC now, but his Twitter feed remains in the Big Ten - SBNation.com

Tweeting Big Ten football coaches are not Big Ten coaches for long.

MEMO: THIS WORD IS DEAD NOW - Every Day Should Be Saturday

Tell your friends: we're allowed to get upset and be crazy about sports.

High drama: Qantas python's flying circus

Kind of a metaphor for Nebraska's defense this year.

---

And finally, a video to start your day with:

This guy is now a coach in the Big Ten.

---

That's all for today folks. The thread is open all weekend so check in and say hello. And again, we've got Nebrasketball and women's basketball this SUNDAY starting at 1pm CT. See you then!

-Salt Creek and Stadium

The Reads: Sand Volleyball is UNL's 24th Sponsored Sport

Salt Creek and Stadium — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 01:03:46 -0000

Volleyball

Nebraska to Add Sand Volleyball as 24th Intercollegiate Sport - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Well, now we'll have something to talk about this spring, eh? And this is a fantastic recruiting tool for Nebraska - remember that we lost Dykstra after the season as she wanted to pursue a professional career in sand volleyball.

Not to mention...

Beach veebs addition can only be good for Nebraska. Beach players always so much more well-rounded in their game and skill set
— CanadiansForNebraska (@CdnsForNebraska) January 9, 2013

Nebraska adds Tennessee transfer to roster - The Grand Island Independent : Sports (I posted this yesterday but in case you missed it.)

[Kelsey] Robinson, the 2011 Southeastern Conference player of the year, will join the Huskers with one season of eligibility remaining.

A great pick up for the 2013 Nebraska Cornhuskers volleyball team.

Welcome, Kelsey!

Women's Basketball

WBB takes on unranked Indiana tonight at 5:30pm CT on BTN.

Hopefully a Game Thread goes up, but if not, feel free to use the Reads to cheer on Connie and the Nebraska women to victory over the Hoosiers!

Nebrasketball

Nebrasketball: It's Really Hard to Get Behind, but You Gotta Start Somewhere - Off Tackle Empire

A reminder that it's okay to cheer for the basement sometimes.

UNL Football

Coach Hoover's Football Site: Nebraska LB, DL Defensive Drills and DB Clinic

TERRY JOSEPH. PLEASE DON'T LEAVE US. (A video showing some of Nebraska's practice drills as well as Terry Joseph explaining Nebraska's DB strategy. WATCH IT.)

(**) Steven M. Sipple: Like Osborne, Saban forever pursues perfection : Latest Husker News

You know what would be fantastic? If Tom Osborne got into sports journalism and analyzed college football next season. Maybe Jon can hire him on.

Capital One Aftermath, A Defensive Future, And Should Have It Been The Gator Bowl? - Corn Nation

Stay awhile, and listen! And then subscribe. And then tell Brian and Greg what you think in the comments!

Terrell Newby Makes Decision Between Nebraska and UCLA - Corn Nation

Now if we could just get some concrete blocks or snowplows to play offensive line, we'd never have to worry about the passing game again.

Baseball

This will probably be the only article for a while. It's still early. HuskerMax's stories stop in December and Huskers.com has nothing.

Darin Erstad Roasts, Toasts His Coach/AD - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

Darin Erstad punts a football!

Big Ten Conference

Senior Bowl 2013: Denard Robinson will play as WR - SBNation.com

About time someone put him in a position to succeed.

Big Ten official: Black Friday likely again for Iowa, Nebraska | TheGazette

Iowa still hasn't decided, may now be waffling.

National News

2012 college football review: The 20 weirdest games of the year - SBNation.com

NO NEBRASKA...until the comments.

'The Process' Never Sleeps: Why It's Impossible to Close the Gap on Nick Saban | Bleacher Report

You can't keep up. You can only find ways to be disruptive and survive until Saban finally hangs up his whistle.

IsItCollegeFootballSeasonYet.com |

A helpful daily reminder.

Official Ryan Potter Highlight Mixtape: The greatest recruit film ever - SBNation.com

We've seen this before.

David Yost might be bringing his hair to Pullman - CougCenter

Well, that would be scary. But they need defense to give their offense a chance.

Tommy Tuberville angers local high school coach over QB recruit snub - SBNation.com

Not a smart play by Tuberville. Then again, he doesn't plan to be there that long.

2012-2013 College football bowl games: The complete watchability index - SBNation.com

Capital One Bowl -- 6

January 1, Georgia 45, Nebraska 31

It didn't seem like Georgia really cared all that much, and honestly, you can understand why. They were a handful of yards away from the national championship and instead played in Orlando against an underachieving Nebraska squad. It was just a bunch of waiting around for the Dawgs to flip the switch and overwhelm the Cornhuskers with talent.

I don't think they watched the Capital One Bowl.

BCS National Championship ratings: America gave Notre Dame 1 quarter - SBNation.com

But what about those millions of die-hard Notre Dame fans? You mean they don't exist?

---

That's all for today. This thread is open. Your comments, if you have any, fill out the white boxes down there.

If you're looking for something to start your creative juices, how about y'all come up with some kick-ass nicknames for women's volleyball (court and sand) and women's basketball?

Have a great Thursday!

-Salt Creek and Stadium

Poll

What do you think of Nebraska's addition of sand volleyball?

Approved!

22 votes

Bad idea.

0 votes

22 votes | Poll has closed

The Reads: Next Generation Playoff Set for 2015

Salt Creek and Stadium — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 13:22:02 -0000

No comments today other than a facepalm at Ross Els.

Recruiting Nugget: RB Terrell Newby of West Hills, CA announces today at 3:30pm CT his choice between Nebraska and UCLA. All indications suggest it would be a surprise if he doesn't join Nebraska on National Signing Day.

* Okay, they haven't announced a title game location, but all indications suggest it'll be held at the JerryDome.

Nebrasketball (Plays Tonight, 6pm CT, BTN)

Join us for a Game Thread tonight!

Huskers Travel to No. 2 Michigan - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

BTN and BTN2Go (Ch. 610 on DirecTV; Chs. 439, 9500 on DISH; Chs. 24 and 333-SD, 1333-HD on Time Warner Cable; Chs. 80 SD, 1080-HD on Cox Cable)

Play-by-play: Kevin Kugler Color: Greg Kelser

Radio: Across the state on the IMG Husker Sports Radio Network, including KLIN (1400 AM/94.5 FM) in Lincoln, KFAB (1110 AM) in Omaha and KRVN (880 AM) in Lexington.

Play-by-play: Kent Pavelka; Color: Matt Davison

Internet Radio/Stats: Free on Huskers.com Satellite

Radio (Michigan feed): Sirius Ch. 123, XM Ch. 191

Women's Basketball (Plays tomorrow, 5:30pm CT, BTN)

Huskers Hit Road to Take on Hoosiers - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

NR/#23 Nebraska Cornhuskers (11-4, 1-1 Big Ten) at Indiana Hoosiers (10-5, 1-1 Big Ten)

Thursday, Jan. 10, 5:30 p.m. (Central)

Assembly Hall (Bloomington, Ind.)

Television: BTN/BTN2Go.com (PBP-Eric Collins; Analyst-LaChina Robinson)

Radio: 25-Station IMG College Husker Sports Network (PBP-Matt Coatney; Analyst-Jeff Griesch)

(107.3 FM-KBBK, Lincoln; 93.3 FM-KFFF, Omaha; 880 AM-KRVN, Lexington)

Free Internet Audio: Huskers.com

UNL Football

2012 final polls -- HuskerMax™

Michigan and Northwestern are ranked ahead of Nebraska because in someone's mind, they would've beaten Georgia. Right.

(**) Shatel: Divisional splits need to preserve tradition for Big Ten - Omaha.com

I just don't see them upsetting the divisional setups that much.

Look, Big Ten. It's really simple. Move Wisconsin west. Done. No pain, no mess. You get a scrum in the West and Ohio State in the East. It's what they've always wanted. And occasionally, they'll still get THE GAME twice a year.

(**) Mad Chatter, Jan. 8 (Dynasty edition) | sports.omaha.com

Sorry, Dirk. But the SEC is not as dominant as people say. (Welcome, SEC trolls.) Alabama is, yes. And teams that beat out Alabama for the SEC championship, yes. But the rest of the SEC? They're good but not dominant. Dominant teams don't get pushed by what everyone decided was a terrible Big Ten. Or lose to ACC or Big East teams.

At the end of the day, Nebraska and Alabama's runs are remarkable for the era of football they were accomplished in. End of story.

(**) Shrine Bowl may move from Memorial Stadium : Preps

Why not move it to TD Ameritrade? Play it before the CWS.

UNL Volleyball

Nebraska adds Tennessee transfer to roster - The Grand Island Independent : Sports

[Kelsey] Robinson, the 2011 Southeastern Conference player of the year, will join the Huskers with one season of eligibility remaining.

A great pick up for the 2013 Nebraska Cornhuskers volleyball team. Welcome, Kelsey!

National News

2012 college football season recap: All 124 teams summed up in a sentence each - SBNation.com

Until we meet again, football.

/sobs

Watching the BCS on TV, Lane Kiffin thinks about big picture for USC - latimes.com

His optimism sounds like another head coach's that we know. (But Bo Pelini has his priorities in the right place.)

College football playoffs rotation set through 2026 - SBNation.com

Concerning the Big Ten's major bowl bids, this means that in any given season where the Big Ten champ doesn't go to the playoffs, they will play either in Miami or Pasadena. (Rose Bowl probably gets first choice.)

BCS playoff rotation assures longest seasons ever - CBSSports.com

I suspect that at some point the SEC and Big Ten may push for a longer regular season as well, to improve non-conference schedules and post-season standings. With the larger conferences (14+), they'll require 9 game schedules.

Take a look at the SEC this year and consider this: if the Big Ten keeps an eight team schedule, depending on how things are arranged, Nebraska would only play Ohio State or Wisconsin maybe twice in a decade. That could hurt the Big Ten's TV offerings. I also think playing yourself for nine out of twelve weeks of play could limit your national exposure and diminish your post-season clout, particularly if you're not the SEC.

Bob Valvano's awesome rant calls out ESPN colleagues and media-at-large

The key point is not that ESPN's on-air analysts are saying what the corporate suits are directly instructing them to do so, though. Rather, the network's perceived protection of the conference and Florida is a product of a groupthink, herd mentality that plagues the media as a whole. (It just so happens that this groupthink is very beneficial to ESPN's corporate interests.)

Brent Musburger's apology, and why accountability matters - SBNation.com

Shouldn't Brent be making the apology and not ESPN? I realize some of you don't think his comments meant anything. And taken out of context, no, they don't. But you don't make those comments in front of a live, national audience. This isn't Howard Stern, this is college football.

Big East sought $300 million per year annual rights from ESPN - CBSSports.com

Talk about shooting for the Moon. I wonder how long ESPN's business people laughed when they saw this number.

What it's like to drive a 1600-pound mechanical spider | The Verge

Star Wars, coming true.

---

And now a submission from our fearless leader, with the only comment of "why":

I like to think of it as an audio commentary on Ross Els.

---

Have a great Wednesday, everyone! Remember to come back tonight for Nebrasketball versus Michigan!

-Salt Creek and Stadium

SBNation.com User Blog: Salt Creek and Stadium

FanPost: Let's Discuss Roster Development

Nebraska Football: Alex Lewis Arrested On Assault/Harassment Charges

Along the Ol' Salt Creek: Sweet N' Spicy Meatloaf

Editorial: I Don't Know the 1990s Cornhuskers

CornNation NCAA Tournament Bracket Results Update

Along the Ol' Salt Creek: Smokehouse Mac N' Cheese

Sunday's Nebraska Sports Extravaganza.

Which recipe should Salt Creek start with? (Check out the Community Recipes for details.)

Smokehouse Mac and Cheese

Bacon Cheeseburger Soup (without the bacon)

Sweet 'N Spicy Meatloaf

The Reads: The Desert Island Question

Remember: Nebrasketball takes on the Badgers TONIGHT at 8pm on BTN. The women will take on the Badgers tomorrow evening at 7pm.

The Reads: Got It!

The Reads: Twenty and a Vacation

GO BIG RED.

The Reads: Spring Break in California

Today we'll lead off with a bit of news you've ALL been waiting for: the sand volleyball schedule!

The Reads: Rest Well, Football.

The Reads: Super Weekend

N for 'Nowledge

Nebraska and the Big Ten

Other Conferences

The Reads: AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Women's Basketball Tonight!

Stories!

FanPosts!

The Reads: Faster than a Runza

IMPORTANT NEWS BIT

Nebraska Football: Where the Fun Never Ends

Have you heard the word about Heard?

The Big Ten (An Infinitely Large Value of Ten)

Other News Stories!

And today's only FanPost report!

Trivia!

I've decided Barney is the only thing holding us together. He gives us all something to agree on.

The Reads: Nebraska Leads in the Battle for the NU!

The Battle for the NU!

Best Nebrasketball Ever

Best Football Team Ever

Best Conference Ever

Food!!!

National News

FanPosts by the BEST FANS EVER!

CN Cookbook - Eastern Euroasian Cabbage Hot Pocket

The Reads: Will Work For News

Today's question: if you could pick a new sport for Nebraska to sponsor, men's or women's, what sport would that be and why?

This Weekend's Schedule for Nebraska Athletics:

Football

Wrestling

NCAA

Big Ten

National News

FanPost

Go Big Red!

You still need 18 recipes to unlock "Cookin' Along the Ol' Salt Creek"

The Reads: Oh, Good Grief, NCAA...

In addition to your thoughts on the above, I ask you:

Women's Basketball

Football

Big Ten

National News

FanPosts!

PS: 2 of 20 Recipes Collected to Unlock "Cooking Along the Ol' Salt Creek"

The Reads: The Inevitable Lack of News

Today's questions to help discussion:

Football

Volleyball

Women's Basketball

Tennis

Nebrasketball

Baseball!

National News

The Reads Announces the Corn Nation Community Cookbook!

So now you're probably wondering, "Well, okay, Salt. This sounds fantastic, but where do I submit?!"

Weekly Honors

Football

Nebrasketball

Big Ten