Big 12 Officiating - Leftovers turned into a Full course

Anything at Anytime hopes you all had a good Thanksgiving.

Everyone here is moving around slowly with full tummies and a lethargic lurching.
Almost like they have all become Turkey Zombies.

So, for today's post I figured I would make if a "Leftovers" day.

I haven't Blasted the Blog with what has happened here on it this week but This Week has been the Best week of the blog since I started it.  All due to some Really Poor Big 12 Officiating in last weekends Nebraska -vs- aTm.
My best day on the blog before was 99 visits, Sunday 185 and the traffic during the week has been steady to the site.  The best week prior to this week was 252 visits and from Sunday to today Anything at Anytime is up to 456 and still have the remainder of today and tomorrow to be tallied on as well.

I never thought One post could pull that much traffic.  Amazing and great feeling knowing that I wrote something that received that much attention that quickly.

I watched the aTm -vs- Texas game last night and the Officiating could have been worse, could have been better also but compared to the Nebraska game the crew that covered last nights game wasn't that bad.  A few questionable calls against aTm but at worst they were questionable.
There was one Atrocious call of Pass Interference near the end of the game that went in the Favor of Texas and That call was clearly "BLOWN"!  The aTm Defender clearly had position and was Interfered with by the Texas Offensive player, But since Commissioner Dan Beebe's "Darling Child" Longhorns weren't bowl eligible yet you knew they were going to receive a few calls didn't you?  I did and Told my Daughter (that is a Longhorns fan) that if aTm did not close it out before the fourth quarter that Texas would catch some "beneficial" calls.

The bad thing about that - Texas turns around and turns the ball over to aTm before they could benefit from the call and aTm was able to secure the victory after that.

Commissioner Dan Beebe's "Darling Child" Longhorns - that he has "built" or is "building" the new conference around and giving so much Conference funds to - went from One of the Best teams in College Football last year to one of the Worst.  5-7 record, worst in their half of the division since 1956 and the first team since Arizona State in the mid 70's to be in the top ranks at the beginning of the season to fall so mightily so quickly.

Since Texas doesn't make a bowl game this year I wonder how big their slice of the "Pie" will be once the conference receives all of its bowl monies.  Going to be interesting to see how Commissioner Dan Beebe handles that one.
Next is the Big 12 Officiating Crews - Is Commissioner Dan Beebe going to Clean up the Conference Officials?  The Officiating has gotten so bad it is making the Conference smell "fishy".  The Officials are on the verge of loosing all form of control, they "appear" to have predetermined "favorites" and are not making calls on Obvious penalties and then turn around and make mysterious "where did that come from calls".

This has happened all season long throughout the conference.  Players are going to suffer major injuries, Fans are missing out on good games, and Commissioner Dan Beebe sits back just not saying a word or correcting the wrongs he has created in the Big 12 Conference.  If it Continues I think it would be a wise thing to petition Dr. Pepper and have them pull their Sponsorship from the Big 12 and the Big 12 Championship game.

Commissioner Dan Beebe won't listen to Fans complaining about the Officials maybe the Fans can influence a major Sponsor and the Sponsor can put the squeeze.

I am a College Football Fan - Commissioner Dan Beebe, don't screw the game (and Conference) up anymore than you already have.  Fix it or Resign your Position to someone that Can!

I don't want good games screwed up or Players Injured due to the Ineptness you and your Officiating crews portray.  

I was going to make this a "Leftovers" comments, post day and it turned into a full course sit down.

I will get back on track.

I Hope Everyone had a Good Thanksgiving.

Again!! PISS POOR OFFICIATING in the BIG 12!

Anything at Anytime is normally a whatever comes to my mind site and I try to keep the Sports to a minimum here as I know several of you are not interested about them.

However, when things happen that are Really Good or Great in Sports I will put them on because they deserve notice and acknowledgement.  The Same goes for REALLY BAD OFFICIATING.  I wrote "Big 12 Officiating - Where has it Gone?" 19 days ago.  I went so far as to let the People at the official Big 12 website (a note to the Commissioner Dan Beebe) know that I was posting it and that I would post ANY rebuttals they may have.  No Comment from them; however I do know that I had several visits the day it was Posted from Austin, Texas which is where Commissioner Dan Beebe resides with his Beloved Longhorns.
I also informed the ESPN Big 12 Blogger David Ubben that that post was going up but did not receive anything from him on the Post either.

It is fine that they did not comment as it was a lone voice complaining about Poor Officiating.

My One Voice is not the only one Complaining about the Officiating.  Voices of multiple Fans in the Big 12 are Complaining and getting LOUDER about it.
Who is in charge of these Officials everyone is complaining about?  Why, Commissioner Dan Beebe of course!  What does the Big 12 do for Commissioner Dan Beebe - Oh, they extend his contract for another three years.  He (Commissioner Dan Beebe) destroys the conference for greed and favoritism and they award him with 3 more years.  Way to go Folks.  Smart Move!

I thought some of the Officiating during the season was Bad in the Big 12; HOWEVER, Tonight takes the cake and wins the Million Dollar Prize of LOP-SIDED FAVORITISM!

I know, you are wondering what caused this Post Tonight and so out of my ordinary posts?  I just finished watching the Nebraska Cornhuskers -vs- Texas A&M.  I was really looking forward to a GOOD game.  Hoping my Huskers would win BIG but honestly expecting a Good tight game - Something like Neb. 24 - A&M 17.

Texas A&M won 9 -6.

Had it been a Fair game as the Big 12 Conference Sportsmanship Statement states:

Big 12 Conference Sportsmanship Statement   

I would have been glad to witness a Great Defensive game, Sad to see My Huskers Loose, but glad to see a good game.  I and every College Football Fan that attended that Game and Watched that game on TV were Robbed by another Case of BIG 12 PISS POOR OFFICIATING!

It is one thing to miss a few calls and one team have a few calls more go against them than the other team.  It is a complete and other thing all together when 16 calls go against one team and only 2 calls go against the other.  16 calls totaling 140 yards of penalties against 2 calls totaling 10 yards of penalties.  Just looking at the numbers alone says the Officials were looking at one team and one team only to find anything and everything that could even LOOK like a penalty.  Some of the Penalties were "deserved" - meaning the guys did something wrong and Yes, a penalty should be levied.

That LOP SIDED -- Hard to see it and give the benefit of Human error to the Officials.  I will readily step up and say "Hey, They are Human, mistakes are made."  The Officiating was SO POOR I don't feel comfortable saying that as it had the appearance of "Giving" the game to A&M.

Bad for My Huskers Loosing, and feel bad for A&M because that takes away from a hard fought game.  People will be talking about how the Officials gave A&M the game - Not that A&M beat Nebraska.
The Officials Robbed both teams!

UPDATE - Insert @1225PM MT
This was posted in the Comments to David Ubben's Post "What we learned in the Big 12: Week 12"

This is a College Football Fan!  
Commissioner Dan Beebe - Does this fan deserve to have their teams victory tainted by POOR, BAD OFFICIATING?  Look what You and Your Officiating crews are doing, not just to the teams receiving bad calls, but to the Fans of Good Teams as well!




The Officials are out there to maintain FAIR Play and safety.  In my opinion - They BLEW IT!
If Commissioner Dan Beebe can not get his Officiating crews to call Games FAIRLY, he should do Two things:  1.  Ask the NCAA to step in and gain control of the Conferences Officiating Crews, and 2.  Step Down as Commissioner of the BIG 12 as he can not perform the Duties required of him as Commissioner and in accordance to the Big 12 Conference Sportsmanship Statement. 


UPDATE - ADD ON:  


Not sure here but Looks like Nebraskas 81 got it from A&M's 83 and a knee in the crotch from the Official
and guess who gets the Penalty:







Again, I will leave it with the Statement that if the BIG12 Commissioner Dan Beebe or his representative from the BIG 12 desires to leave a rebuttal comment I will post it directly as is.  If David Ubben of ESPN desires to leave a comment or defend the Officiating of the BIG 12, I will do the same for him.
Anyone else leaving comments - Please Keep it PG-13 and Civil.

Big 12 Officiating - Where Has it Gone?

For the Regular Viewers/Readers here at Anything at Anytime, I apologize because today I am Posting a Rant about the Officiating of a game I Love, and find to be a foundation of growth for our kids in the future.

You all already know that I am a Sports Fan (specifically College Sports (College Football above all others).

On Saturday, October 30th, I was doing my usual thing (being Lazy with College Football on the Boob Tube) kicking back and Nothing but Football all day.  I watched some good games and some bad games and then got to catch the Baylor Bears -VS- Texas Longhorns.

The Officiating in this game was SO BAD that I actually went to the Big 12 Conference website and sent a Message to the Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe and informed him (or his representative that reads that message) that I was going to Post about the Poor/Lack luster Officiating of the Big 12 Conference.

So it is out there and forefront, I am a full blooded, whole hearted Nebraska Cornhuskers Fan.  I am then a Fan of the Big 12.  If my Team is not doing well I have always pulled for the Best Big 12 Team of the time.  It didn't matter if it was the Dreaded Sooners (my Dad's Favorite) or the Texas Longhorns (my youngest Daughter's Favorite), I always pulled for the Big 12 Team to show/perform well if not WIN!

Sports as a whole (meaning any sport at any single moment) swings on momentum and Big Plays.  If an underdog can catch a "favorite" at just the right moment the underdog turns into a "PIT BULL" - Latches on and doesn't let go.  Momentum and Big Plays change the Landscape in a heartbeat in sports.

As most Fans of any sport will tell you, there are moments where the people (and yes they are people, human just like us) officiating games make mistakes.  Take for example the BLOWN Perfect Game call during the MLB season where the Pitcher for the Detroit Tigers lost a Perfect Game because the 1st Base Umpire Blew an easy call (View my Post on that here).

Right now I am focusing on Football, but these things happen in all Sports: Baseball, Football, Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball, the list goes on and on.  Mistakes by officials happen.  They are a part of the game.

As a Big 12 Fan, even with my Huskers leaving the Conference, I am disappointed in the officiating that is taking place this year in Conference games.  It is part of the game with a few minor missed calls.  It is part of the game that one team may catch the benefit of more calls than the other team.
It is Truly Horrendous when Blown calls and Favoritism are so visible that even fans of the Benefiting team comment and can't believe that those calls have been made.

The Baylor -Vs- Texas game has set a disparaging precedent for Piss Poor Quality in Officiating.  Texas, the Darling Team of Commissioner Dan Beebe, has been the benefactor of multiple officiating Gaffes in conference play several times this year (bad part about that is that Texas isn't good enough to take advantage of the beneficial calls they are receiving).

For those of you that don't know Football (American Football) I apologize again that you are having to read this or even have to try and figure out exactly what I am writing about.

What started this?

In the Second Quarter of the Baylor -Vs- Texas game, Baylor punted the ball to Texas.  Simple enough, guy kicks the ball and the other team is to receive it and run with it as far as they can and their team starts at that point with the ball.  Now, here is where it gets difficult to follow or could be confusing for those that don't know Football, when a receiving player catches the ball in the end zone they can kneel down and not "return" the ball and it is called a touch back and that team gets the ball on their 20 yard line.  If that player catches the ball in the regular field of play and fumbles the ball in the field of play they can not regain possession and run into the end zone trying to create space to make a play and then get downed or tackled in the end zone - that is known as a Safety and awards the opposing team 2 points and gets the ball back via what is known as a free kick.  That is what took place in this situation.
Baylor punted to Texas, the Texas player caught the ball at about the 5 yard line, turned to make a "football move" and then fumbled the ball.  He then recovered his fumble ran into the end zone to create "space" and ended up down in the end zone.  Safety - Right?  Wrong!  According to the Officiating crew and the Review crew the Texas player did not have Possession and in that scenario was downing the ball in the end zone as a Touch back.
If you go back and look at the play, which I did on the DVR several times to see what where and how they could have made that call, there is NO way that the player did not have possession on the initial catch of the punt.



Then you factor in missed face mask calls against Texas, various holding calls, a few missed false starts, a call or two with not enough men on the line of scrimmage and Texas is still in the game.  This is just one game from this week.

Look at last week.  Missed calls last week in the Oklahoma -Vs- Missouri helped Missouri pull out a win against Oklahoma.  There were late hits, helmet to helmets, a couple of face-masks (not sure if one or two words so I hyphenated).  Again, as I said earlier, missed calls are part of the game, the ones I just mentioned are Injury causing calls that could result in serious Injury to either player - more so the player receiving the hit or face-mask.

Football in general is a Bruising Sport.
Big hits, missed calls are a part of the game that all of us that have played it sometime in our lives take as a given.  All Levels of the sport understand that but have been taking measures to try and improve the safety of all players, meaning if it is questionable and could cause MAJOR harm a "Foul"/penalty is to be called.  The Big 12 officials and their Overseer Commissioner Dan Beebe apparently have missed that boat especially when it benefits the Darling child of the Conference.

If, just if, you question that I am being to difficult on the Officiating of the Big 12 Conference go to ESPN.go.com and view the NCAA football pages.  Go to the game discussions for the Big 12 Conference and see what the Fans are saying about the Officiating in the Conference.  Then go compare the comments about Officiating in any of the other conferences.  The Big 12 Officiating takes the cake and from what I have seen all season the only Conference Officiating that is near the poor quality is the WAC and they are heavily lopsided towards Boise State.

Of all the major and mid-major conferences - I would have to rate the Big 12 Officiating at the BOTTOM of the Pile.  I am not a professional analyst for Sports Officiating.  I have Officiated in my past for various Basketball and Baseball games (Jr High, High School, and Independent Leagues), I have played just about all the major sports at one point or another in my life and yes, I have benefited from missed or questionable calls, Again a Part of the Game.

The Problem here is that when you have Poor Officiating Week in and Week out in relatively BLATANT view for all to see, it creates very Dangerous repercussions that could result in Major Injuries, Poor Sportsmanship, and Deliberate "Fouls".  Eventually what happens is the Officiating Looses its control.  The team (or should I say Players) suffering the calls will tend to say "If I am going to get penalized, I might as well make it worth it!"  That is not the right attitude but it does and can happen.

Is that what we want our kids, our future generations to think and act upon?  The Big 12 Conference is a very Visible Conference that is seen almost Day in and Day out on various networks covering multiple sports setting examples for our children.  Poor Officiating breeds serious lack of Control!  If your Officiating is so bad the players (not intending to but by human nature) start taking chances that could result in Disastrous repercussions, you should take steps to correct this for future games and seasons.  The Fault is not the players or the Teams (yes, they do have a responsibility to adhere to the rules) alone.  The Officiating must be Fair and UNBIASED (Poor Officiating creates Safety and Rule adherence issues).  Please, Set a Precedent of Safety and fair judgement.


Commissioner Dan Beebe of the Big 12 Conference,


Put an End to Piss Poor Favoritism Officiating!  Fine them, Suspend them, or Even FIRE them or Relinquish your Position as Commissioner if you Don't want to Police your Officiating like you should.  You Sir are the final say for your Conference.  Make things fair and Consistent it will insure that the Conference is respected and safe for the Players (of any Sport) that essentially provide the money for your Salary.

I LOVE good games.  Games where both teams put it on the field of competition and lay it all on the line are in their own way a form of art.  The Heart shown by teams/games that you KNOW you just saw something special is what Sports is supposed to be about.  

Allowing Officiating to interfere in Fair play is a Disservice to the Sport, the game, the teams involved, and the Fans (not just of the teams but of the Game).  

Rules are in place that if a Player goes beyond the rules/breaks the rules in such a manner as to be termed egregious, that Player could miss out the remainder of that game as well as be suspended from other games. Why can that same Rule not be applied to the Officials (on the field or in the review booth) in similar fashion?

Review your Officials Harshly because they are the Upfront face of your/our Conference. 

In the Message I sent you at the Big12sports.com site (the main Big 12 Conference Website) I told you that I would not want your officials officiating my daughter's Volleyball games and those are Jr. High games.  I would not feel that my daughters would be safe with your Officiating Crews.  


Officials provide our kids, the ones in your Conference and the ones that will eventually go to your conference, an example of Rules, Sportsmanship, and Fairness.  If, If You can not insure that your Officiating Crews provide Fair and Unbiased rulings on the field of play you should step down and allow someone that will make that a priority to take your place and do the Right Thing, for the Conference and Our Children.


Danny N. Winfield Jr.


I will be completely fair, If Commissioner Dan Beebe or his Representative desire to make a rebuttal post I would readily Post it exactly as written so that the Big 12 and Commissioner Beebe can defend its/their  definition of fair play, the Officiating crews of the Big 12 and How the Big 12 Officiating crews are instructed to interpret the rules of the game.

A Hodge Podge of What Nots!

Well, Anything at Anytime left the last post up for a couple of days so that as many people that came to the site could go visit the Petition site and Sign it.


It has been up long enough that now it is time to get back to Anything at Anytime's pretty regular schedule.  I have tried to keep it everyday posting and have done a fairly descent job keeping that schedule up with a few misses here and there.

A few things have happened lately that need to be commented on:

**********The miners in Chile have been Rescued!  Way to go everyone involved in working so hard to rescue those men and for those men to have the stamina to keep going under those circumstances!
To Everyone and those men Congratulations!!!!!!!

**********A Laugher that apparently no one noticed until recently on an absentee ballot from one of the Counties here in Texas.  Apparently the Absentee ballot for that County was to have the Texas State Flag on it and for some reason the person that chose the design for those ballots confused the Chilean Flag with the Texas State Flag.  The Flags do bare a very very similar appearance.  The Texas State Flag has a Blue field from top to bottom on the left side with a White star in the blue field followed by white upper half and red lower half.  The Chilean Flag is so similar the only difference is that the blue field only takes the upper left corner with a white star in it.  Just something to chuckle about how someone in a hurry doesn't pay attention to what they are doing and grabs the first thing that they see.

**********The Texas Rangers (Baseball) have won their first Post Season Series and advanced to the next stage for the first time in the team's 49 year history.  In the process they accomplished a first as well with their series with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays -  This was the first Series that all 5 games were Won by the Road team.  GO RANGERS - Claws and Antlers UP!  (you have to have followed the team to understand that last).

**********A couple of earlier Post Need your attention and comments/assistance if you can take the time to read them and do as they ask.  At most both will take 5-10 mins. no more than that (unless you fall asleep doing them).  The Petition Site to try and get the U.S. Post Office to create a COPD Stamp.  Your input on "You've got to be Kidding" for My Halloween Costume this year (Anything that can be done with stuff here at home, that we have).

**********Saturday My Corn Huskers play the Texas Longhorns and hope to improve their record to 6-0 and really put a crimp in Texas' season as that will give them 3 losses in a row for the first time in a long long time.  GO HUSKERS  (the game will be at 3:30 ET on ABC or ESPN - if it is not on your ABC affiliate it should be on ESPN or vice versa)

Hope you all have been having a good week and things are going well.

Comments of College Football

One Thing I can tell you is that in Sports Anything can happen at ANYTIME!
In my experience that can not be a Truer statement Especially in College Sports.

And.......

College Football is almost Here!

One month to go and we get to have excitement, explosive filled Saturdays and a few games during the weeks to wet our appetites.  I can hardly wait.

Of course all of you that have been reading Anything at Anytime for awhile now, know that I am a Nebraska Cornhuskers FAN!  Have been as long as I can remember.  I am also a closeted UTEP Fan.  (I know, from one Extreme to the other.)

The Hype is already building up for all teams and all conferences.

Just from all the talk it is looking like it will be a Good if not Great Year in College Football.

Nebraska and Colorado will be playing their last year in the Big 12.
How will things shape up for the Big 12 this year after everything that has happened during the late spring and early parts of summer?  It looks to be interesting as Teams like Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Texas A&M all have had things going on.  Texas will be replacing some KEY players (players that put them in the positions they have been in the last few years).  Oklahoma will also be replacing some key components but their replacements got a good bit of playing time last year.  Texas Tech having gone through the turmoil at the end of the season with the firing of one Head Coach, the hiring of a New Head Coach and the team having to adjust to these changes.  Texas A&M looks to have a Defense and Offense that could cause problems for other teams this year, IF they play like they did against Texas at the end of the season last year.

The PAC-10 will be adding a few teams next year so this is the last year you will see these teams playing for a straight out season with No conference championship.  Oregon is having its problems still with their student athletes causing issues, so not sure where they will be shaping up as key players have been removed/released from the program.  Oregon State seems to be a team to watch all the time in the PAC-10 either as an underdog or an outright (albeit often Underrated ) stacked team.  Washington looks to be interesting this year as they may have let the Offense ferment long enough.  USC looks to be an interesting watch - how will they react to the NCAA punishment - Not to mention Lane Kiffin as their new Head Coach.  He couldn't get Tenn. going what makes them think that he will be able to do anything at USC and now as a recovering program?  As I said, it will be interesting to see how the Team responds.

All the Teams in the SEC that are currently being checked out for various "violations".  It is sad that a bunch of "Bad Apples" (Unscrupulous Agents) have to go out and screw with kids.  Hell, I am 41 going on 42 and if someone was flaunting that kind of money in My Face....... Well, it would be a tough choice and that is that I know what the consequences could be.  Not to mention the actions of these "Agents" screw up the system for the schools.  I am not saying that the Student Athlete(s) and the School(s) have No responsibility, they most assuredly do.  Temptations with the amounts of money and travel these "Agents" put out there are tough to look past but the school(s) and the athlete(s) have to maintain a Higher standard as they are far, Far more visible than anyone else.

This is all a build up for something.

I am thinking about starting a second blog.

I already know what the topic will be if I get it up and Running.  I have a month so I have plenty of time to get things arranged and looking right.  So if you are a College Sports Fan keep an eye out for me announcing that the new site is up and running.

As this will be my first attempt at something like this I am going to follow the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) rule.  I will start it off with College Football and if all goes well will expand into other College Sports.

So again, Keep your eyes open and I will let you all know when I have it running.

"Almost that time" or College Football just around the corner

Anything at Anytime - What's Next?

It is July and two months away from College Football!

Jacqueline, my wife, just got me this Great Answer tone for my cell phone yesterday and got me thinking about My Beloved Huskers and College Football. 

My wife deals with my Sports indiscretion because it is the only season that she has to worry about becoming a "Sports Widow". Once College Football starts I watch every game that I can find.  So much so that I have two or three games I am watching on my TV and listening to one on the radio and following others on the computer.

See I am a College Football Nut!

Of course I have to have my specific team and that is:

 THE BIG RED, The Nebraska Cornhuskers. 

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Nothing compares to sitting down and watching the College Football team that has been a Large part of my life.  One thing I have noticed over the years with me and My Huskers: As they do, I do. 
When the Huskers have a good year so do I.  The reverse is also true, when they struggle so do I. 

The Callahan years were MURDER.  So much talent combined with a total lack of coaching, it wasn't even funny.  The man proved he couldn't coach when he was the Head Coach for the Raiders.  Why take a coach like that and instill him into one of the strongest College Football teams in the last 50 years?

Callahan took over and it did not take him long to end many streaks that had stood not for years but for Decades!  I know both of my Grandfathers were moaning in their graves.  One a Die hard Husker fan and another a Die hard Sooner fan.  The Husker fan you can understand.  The Sooner fan, well he and I Lived for the Huskers -vs- Sooner rivalry of the old Big 8 conference, and we both loved watching Powerhouse Football between two fantastic and solid football teams.

The Husker Nation was in a state of near Revolt. 

Now, we have a Coach and a Coaching staff that puts Pride and Passion back into Nebraska Football.  Bo Pelini and his staff have turned My beloved Huskers Football around and put them back on track. 

This year should be an interesting year as it looks to be Nebraska's last year in the Big 12, as they have joined the Big 10 and will probably move there next year for the 2011 season. 
Will all of the Big 12 be out to clobber Nebraska for leaving them?
Will the Huskers withstand the onslaught of the rest of the Big 12?
Will it be Nebraska -vs- Texas in a rematch of the Big 12 Championship game?

Will it be Nebraska making a run for the National Title?

I have a feeling that this year will be "One Hell of a year" with Awesome and Fantastic College Football all around but will circle around the Big 12 and Nebraska.

GO Big Red!

Nebraska Cornhuskers

All the Way!

Nebraska going to the Big Ten, Interesting

If you have taken the time to view my profile you will have noticed I am a Nebraska Corn Huskers Fan.  Have been as far back as I can recall. 

I remember for years when Nebraska and Oklahoma were the Powerhouses of the Big 8 conference and the Conference Champion would come from the Nebraska Vs Oklahoma game.  Some of the best College Football games ever played were between those two teams facing off every year. 

I don't know, maybe my die hard attitude came about because I was the only Huskers fan around nothing but Sooners fans.  My Dad and his entire family were/are all Sooners.  Whenever it was time for "The Game" it always felt like me and my Huskers against the world (his entire family)!  Man, did I love when we won and I got to rub it in.  The reverse is also true, when they won I caught it from all sides.  One thing always stood out We all appreciated "Good" games no matter who won. 

Everything changed when it became the Big 12 and added the teams from Texas.  Now, just as the Big 12 is really starting to build some good rivalry games and it constantly looks like a slug out conference, it looks as if the Big 12 is dissolving before our eyes. 

Colorado announcing today that it is going to the Pac-10 and Looking more and more as if Nebraska will be going to the Big-10 (what will they call that conference "Big-12 version 1.2") and then several schools looking to run to the Pac-10 following Colorado.  By my figures it leaves 4 or 5 schools out in the wind (Mizz, KSU, KU, ISU, Baylor).  An idea running around in my head since I heard the news last night about Nebraska leaving was where those remaining schools might go --  Conference USA would be a good match up competition wise in football and basketball for KSU, KU, Baylor, and ISU.  The level of play and type of play on the field and on the court would make for another "Mega Conference" and do it with only one other out there that would be the "Pac-16".  Mizz could easily fit into the MWC and or WAC or even be the cornerstone for a MWC/WAC merger. 

Back to my Beloved Corn Huskers.  When this happens I truly hope that they can set it up to have the NU/OU game every year again.  A rivalry game that should never have been put on a 2 times every 4 years schedule.  As for looking at the "New" conference:  I can see some Monster Games building up if all of the schools can keep their level of play going. 

examples:

Nebraska Vs Ohio State (never let them "Dot" the "i" in Lincoln!)
Nebraska Vs Michigan (when they get built back up/ not with the mess they are today)
Nebraska Vs Penn State (against the man Joe Pa (may he be always be immortal for College Football))
Nebraska Vs Wisconsin (another match up of "Reds")
other notables that could make for fantastic games:
Iowa, Illinois, Purdue. 

Could all make for a very interesting regular season starting in 2011 or 2012. 

All because of two major discords in the Big-12. 
1.  the announcements that all Big-12 title games would be played in Dallas (Huge home field advantage for any team from the South Division). 
2.  Texas not wanting to get a Big-12 network going because they were more interested in a "Texas" network not wanting to share revenue with the others. 

With that being said, this year and possibly next year will make for a "Killer" Big-12.  All teams in the Big-12 will be vying to gain a major foot hold in recruiting prior to the shift so they will all be out for "blood" and pounding down the "dying conference" foes. 

However it all works out, I think we are all in for a Very competitive Conference this year and possibly next year and maybe some creation of "hated" rivalries for out of conference games when the new conferences start up.

Hope to hear from you all and Comments are welcome. 
(just remember keep it clean and no personal slams)

Sports: from time to time

This last week saw some Moments in Sports. 

1.  The Passing of Coach Wooden at the age of 99.  --- All Sports lost a Spokesman of Sportsmanship when he passed.  Coach Wooden will be missed not just by the Los Angeles community but all of Sports.

2 and 3 happened on the same day.

2.  Ken Griffey Jr. retired and has put an end to a fabulous career that will assuredly put him into the Hall of Fame if not on his first eligible ballot definitely the second.

3.  The Perfect Game that wasn't, It was much, Much More!!!!!

Involved a Pitcher and an Umpire.  Pitcher Armando Galarraga and Umpire Jim Joyce played a part in sports history that Will remain a Mistake of a lifetime that pays positive dividends for all Athletes that pay attention to the reactions of the key players. 
(Athletes includes all officials of games due to the fact they have to be in shape as well in order to keep up with the game.)

If you have no clue as to what I am referring to here, Armando Galarraga came about .5 of second and 2 feet from giving Baseball its very first Season with more than 2 perfect games and should have.  Jim Joyce was Umpire on first and it came down to a tight call.  A Call that would forever mark himself and Armando Galarraga in the History books.  (Having called games in the past I for one can tell you that split second call at 1st Base will go to the runner 99 out of 100 times.  With the importance of the call and the situation of  "A Perfect Game" on the line that's when the defender gets the benefit of a tie.)  The moment the call went the wrong way a young man and a man, who has been a part of the game since I was still in school, took the stage on How to be Gracious and Compassionate in sports. 

Pitcher Armando Galarraga had/has every right to feel robbed of a feat that has only been accomplished 21 or 22 times in the history of Baseball.  Umpire Jim Joyce does feel bad because he took that away from the "kid".  Both of them could have defended their positions and been just plain nasty with each other, but they didn't!  For Armando Galarraga, he took the high road and came right out and said something similar to He is Human, we all make mistakes.  Umpire Jim Joyce could have just folded and never called again (glad he didn't) and not said anything to anyone.  Jim Joyce, once he saw his error went and apologized to the young man and his coach for the error.

In my opinion both men showed a level of Sportsmanship beyond anything we see in sports regularly.  I wish we saw that level of understanding in everyday life.  These two men set an example that should be followed not just in sports but in everyday dealings with others. 

So if these two Gentlemen ever see this:  Thank you Both for setting a Superior example of Sportsmanship and Compassion for your fellow man, that all should follow!