The Moaning of Life

[knapplc]

Nary a positive remark can be made without being shouted down in a chorus of "We want more/better/not whatever this is."

The reverse could be said too. Anytime someone say something that could be deemed critical, there are jumped on by posters who disagree. Shockingly enough, there are people on the board with differing opinions. It is my thought that since many of my opinions are about Husker football, that this would be the place to share them. I don't really understand the angst about what people choose to discuss. If you don't want to read it, then don't.

Please tell me this is intentionally ironic.

 

[Junior]

Nary a positive remark can be made without being shouted down in a chorus of "We want more/better/not whatever this is."

The reverse could be said too. Anytime someone say something that could be deemed critical, there are jumped on by posters who disagree. Shockingly enough, there are people on the board with differing opinions. It is my thought that since many of my opinions are about Husker football, that this would be the place to share them. I don't really understand the angst about what people choose to discuss. If you don't want to read it, then don't.

Please tell me this is intentionally ironic.

In what way?

 

[JJ Husker]

Supporting the team, cheering for them and being happy to be a Cornhusker fan makes you a "sunshine pumper." Anyone caught celebrating the Northwestern win is a sunshine pumper. Anyone happy that we had n**e w**s is a sunshine pumper. Anyone excited to have gotten to watch Taylor Martinez play here is a sunshine pumper. Anyone who even thinks of voicing out loud the idea that we may be better next year is a sunshine pumper.

Being a Husker fan is no longer about celebrating the culture of Nebraska football. It's about attaching yourself to a team that you'll be the most critical of.

I'm not seeing this at all. Who says those things make a person a "sunshine pumper"? I sure don't think they do. I support the team, cheer for them, and am happy to be a fan. I celebrated the NW victory. I'm happy that we didn't have less than n**e w**ns. I loved watching TM play and was saddened that he couldn't close out his career in a fitting fashion. I think we will be better next year. Yet, I have never been accused of being a sunshine pumper and I am quite certain I am not a sunshine pumper.

No, I am not the first one in line throwing around atta boys. And, I am usually in the line to criticize things that went wrong. But, I don't think that makes me a hopeless negative Nellie either. I'm with Junior, I don't understand all the angst about what takes place on this board. It is just a collection of opinions. It would be quite uncompelling if all those opinions agreed.

 

[Saunders]

I think what you're seeing is the fan base sliding into apathy. At least with Callahan we were (1) united in our disdain and (2) could laugh at the situation.

With Pelini, there's a good number of us who know he's not going to bring a championship to Nebraska, but also know that we're stuck with his mediocrity for the foreseeable future. Those of us that aren't completely apathetic have to grumble about our circumstances to make ourselves feel better.

Ah yes, the "real fan" argument.

 

[Elbow Bursitis]

A 13-year-old who was born and raised in Nebraska was not even alive the last time the Huskers won a conference championship.

Past 10 years:

Nebraska is 94-49, zero conference championships, zero BCS games.

Iowa is 86-53, one BCS game win ('09), one shared conference championship. They also went to the Orange Bowl in '02 and won the Big 10.

Wisconsin is 94-37. 3 conference championships, 3 Rose Bowl appearances.

Wisconsin is a stronger program than Nebraska right now. There is no doubt about it. As for Iowa, it is not so clear. We have a higher winning percentage, but they won a BCS bowl game more recently and they won the last head-to-head match up. We are on the same plane as Iowa right now, in my opinion.

This is where I have an issue. Over the past ten seasons we have slowly slipped off of the national scene. We are no longer associated with programs such as Ohio St, Alabama, Notre Dame, Texas, etc. Our biggest stories all season involved two scenarios in which our head coach was made to look like a total a$$ (audio leak, Iowa game). My brother is about to graduate high school and he does not even remember the Eric Crouch days.

We are slipping further into the abyss.

 

[sd'sker]

i think we have all celebrated the victories and accomplishments of this team. but those do not mask the large issues. if you look at the little picture, game-by-game, it was a pretty fun season. but if you look at the big picture, you see that donu has some rather glaring deficiniecs that should be cause for concern in any fan.

how long can we discuss a 99 yard touchdown pass before we realize that was a crucial play just to get to nine wins, in a not very good conference, from a not very exciting bowl game against a not very good georgia team?

 

[Redux]

Win good, loss bad. Bo Pelini. Young Defense. Turnovers! Rabble!

 

[jsneb83]

And the 9 wins thread has a lot of derp about whether its okay to just be okay.

That's a good post NUance. The wording I like best is this.

I tend to think a lot of Husker fans (myself included, and many on this board) are stuck in some sort of identity crisis over whether it's "okay to just be okay" and over what our actual expectations should be. It causes a lot of conflict, and we all need therapy over it. But therapy is about talking things through and finding our own way to process these things.

Therefore, let the threads, and the negativity, and the bitching, and the derp, and the kool-aid also, keep flowing. It's therapeutic.

I think most people would be ok with 9-10 wins most years if that meant competing for conference championships almost every year (and winning them on occasion), with being able to compete for a national championship every few years (12+ wins). The question is will Bo be able to accomplish that here. Some think he can and want him to stay and see if he can; and others think he can't, and want to find somebody else who can. Now obviously the longer this drought goes on, the more people that will go over to the Bo can't get it done side.

 

[knapplc]

I think jsneb83 is correct right there, ^^^ but I would add that most everyone's comfort level would increase dramatically if the team simply became less sloppy. Fumbles, false starts, not getting plays or defensive calls in in a timely manner... there's a pretty big list of things they do that may not directly contribute to losses, but can, and they make the team look ill-prepared.

I think we have some pretty serious athletes on this team but they're missing some "thing" that puts them over the top, some je ne sais quois that the teams in the top ten have and we lack.

 

[NUpolo8]

i think we have all celebrated the victories and accomplishments of this team. but those do not mask the large issues. if you look at the little picture, game-by-game, it was a pretty fun season. but if you look at the big picture, you see that donu has some rather glaring deficiniecs that should be cause for concern in any fan.
how long can we discuss a 99 yard touchdown pass before we realize that was a crucial play just to get to nine wins, in a not very good conference, from a not very exciting bowl game against a not very good georgia team?

Beyond that, it may have been job saving.

 

[NUpolo8]

I think jsneb83 is correct right there, ^^^ but I would add that most everyone's comfort level would increase dramatically if the team simply became less sloppy. Fumbles, false starts, not getting plays or defensive calls in in a timely manner... there's a pretty big list of things they do that may not directly contribute to losses, but can, and they make the team look ill-prepared.
I think we have some pretty serious athletes on this team but they're missing some "thing" that puts them over the top, some je ne sais quois that the teams in the top ten have and we lack.

I think there is still a very significant leadership gap on this team. Bo, obviously thinks that needs to happen organically, and appears to pretty hands off about it. That's his right, but I don't think it's helped. And over the past few years, the obvious candidates to get guys to do some voluntary running in summer a la, Grant Winstrom, to make guys carry a football around if there's a fumbling issue, etc and so on, weren't the best person to pull it off.

Rex Burkhead? Great player, but preferred to be a silent, lead by example guy by all accounts.

Taylor? Great player, but never had the attitude or personality to be that guy.

I don't know who the candidates could be in 2014.....Ameer? Gregory? Cross?

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Nary a positive remark can be made without being shouted down in a chorus of "We want more/better/not whatever this is."

The reverse could be said too. Anytime someone say something that could be deemed critical, there are jumped on by posters who disagree. Shockingly enough, there are people on the board with differing opinions. It is my thought that since many of my opinions are about Husker football, that this would be the place to share them. I don't really understand the angst about what people choose to discuss. If you don't want to read it, then don't.

Please tell me this is intentionally ironic.

If your definition of "ironic" is as flawed as your understanding of "bias," it's incumbant on you to explain the flaw in Junior's response, which is pretty straightforward and easy to grasp.

There are some stone-cold haters on here, but I think you're exaggerating their numbers and influence, Knapp. I see mostly Husker fans who love it when things go well, and get frustrated when they don't. Yet they keep coming back. Because that's what fans do.

And this is a pretty knowledgeable bunch with a generally good sense of humor.

I don't see why you make negative generalizations to knock the loyal posters of HuskerBoard, who you accuse of making negative generalizations to knock the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

(which, by the way, is ironic)

 

[knapplc]

Junior told me that if I don't want to read something, then don't.

Which he said after reading my statement.

It's like rain on your wedding day, or a free ride when you've already paid.

With a good sense of humor I would have thought that would have been obviously funny. Guess not.

 

[Junior]

Junior told me that if I don't want to read something, then don't.

Which he said after reading my statement.

Oh, well, I guess I don't get why that is ironic... For it to be ironic, I would have to be complaining about your post or something...

It's like rain on your wedding day, or a free ride when you've already paid.

Neither of which are irony. That's just bad luck. Damn you Alanis Morrisette.

 

[knapplc]

For the record, I know the whole song alludes to situations which are, in fact, not ironic.

I don't want there to be too much concern over my understanding of the definition of yet another word.