The Nebraska Way

[knapplc]

The people who criticize TO for the handling of the LP situation never cease to amaze me. They will likely never have to handle a situation of that magnitude in their life, but hide behind their keyboard and fearlessly proclaim what others should or shouldn't have done. In situations like that, there is no winner. It's bad all the way around.

TO kicks him off the team for his transgressions the narrative would be "He abandoned a young man in an hour of need! How dare he kick him to the curb!"

TO keeps him on the team with the idea of structure and discipline will help provide stability in his troubled life and the narrative is "He has no integrity! He's win at all cost!"

What about the woman and her hour of need?

Yeah it was a horrible thing that happened. No one's arguing that. Maybe if Frost wasn't hiding in the closet while it all went down, he could've come to her aid.

The point I was making was about criticisms of TO and how he's damned one way or another, no matter what he does. But if you want to change the topic that's fine too.

Why is it that the same people who are willing to look the other way on everything Osborne did with Phillips will cast this fabrication at Frost as if it has any validity?

 

[StPaulHusker]

No one is perfect. The question is, do you consistently apply the correct reasoning even if the result isn't always right or preferred. It's literally what the inscription on the stadium means.

You realize that inscription was put there before we were a winning program?

 

[NM11046]

LP didn't just come from a rough part of LA. He lived in an LA group home. And that was a step up from his actual home life. The reality of those horrors cannot be understated.

It's not a justification for his actions in '95 or later, but it's a mitigating factor.

How did he know where his ex was that night?

Why does it matter how he knew where his ex was that night?

 

[Count 'Bility]

Once we get over this notion that our winning way is so much more special and unique than anyother, that's when we'll truly have a Nebraska way.

I used to be like you. I lived during the 90's. My hard attention began right at about 1991. Pretty damn convenient right? My childhood being that of nothing but success? Then these harder times hit. Firing coaches with wining records. and I see this nebraska way being brought up. So i started thinking. What is it? And the more I think, and see everything going on, and analyzing all that has happened in the past and the what coulda beens had we lost a game or two extra here and there, or won an extra game here and there, tells me that the Nebraska Way is nothing more than just the winning way. it's really that simple.

This is my post from the other thread.......

Thats what you want to believe it means. And you can bet your a$$, that had Osborne never won titles, there wouldntve been all this "back to Nebraska way" stuff. And had Callahan or Bo won some sort of championship, it wouldve been restored in the blink of an eye. Winning. That's all it is. Just winning. We like to think as a fanbase we've won in some unique way. Like we took a harder road than most. Running game. Walk-ons, etc. When it's probably the exact opposite. We used those things cuz they were the best fit for us to make winning easiest. Running a program and cheering for a program is not stoic or special. it goes on everywhere. in every sport. You win, you get to keep going. you lose, youre out and we go in another direction. i think we're a bit blinded by the fact that we had the same coach for 25 years with consistent results, and think everything was alway hunky dory, and use that to legitimize this fictional Nebraska Way. When in fact, it wasnt always hunky dory, and on more than one occasion, that so called Nebraska Way almost died long before the Nebraska Way actually became what it is now perceived to be. If Osborne loses the Liberty bowl and gets fired, leaves for Colorado, or steps aside after 1990, and Nebraska doesnt win to nearly the tick that they did, then there is no Nebraska Way.

And yes, CM I have read Scott Frost's commentary on this. Ive read more books and watched more documentaries on Epply, Stark, Osborne, Devaney etc. to make your head spin. I could pamper you with more history and info of the top of my head that make you go crosseyes. But here's the great thing about humanity. Frost doesnt speak for me. I can develop my own opinion. And I have the confidenece and arrogance that my opinion is right. And Frost is another interesting cog in the Nebraska way discussion. The savior. The gold child. The one who didnt want to be here to begin with. That only came back cuz he figured out fit. And probably one who has no interest in returning.

These values you describe are winning values. They were established as tools to win. Devaney and Osborne, while revered as angels, were competitive sonsabitches. They werent doing some holier than thow methods to make everyone feel good. They were doing things that fit and could win. Its just a concept I look at from afar thinking we're really not anymore unique than anyone else who wants to win. And these last 15 years have finally exposed that. It's a concept that was manufactured by 40 years of consistency and a blind assumption that it was ALWAYS great.

 

[desertshox]

judging by all the LP talk, methinks the vast majority didnt read the link.

 

[cm husker]

No one is perfect. The question is, do you consistently apply the correct reasoning even if the result isn't always right or preferred. It's literally what the inscription on the stadium means.

You realize that inscription was put there before we were a winning program?

Yep.

I ask again, does your analysis of the handling of LP change at all if you find out that Kate McEwen and her attorney thought he should be reinstated?

 

[cm husker]

judging by all the LP talk, methinks the vast majority didnt read the link.

If you read only that SI hit piece, you'll come away with a wrong (let alone incomplete) view of what happened.

 

[GBRFAN]

Did anybody hear about the time TO hid a gun for a player?

Accepting this as true (it's not), why does that excuse a third DUI today?

People rationalize like this when in their gut they feel one way (that Williams should be fired) but they don't want that result, so they figure out ways to justify coming out on the other side.

TO's actions 20 years ago have zero bearing.

History always has bearing and TO action involved a football player - KW action did not.

 

[StPaulHusker]

No one is perfect. The question is, do you consistently apply the correct reasoning even if the result isn't always right or preferred. It's literally what the inscription on the stadium means.

You realize that inscription was put there before we were a winning program?

Yep.

I ask again, does your analysis of the handling of LP change at all if you find out that Kate McEwen and her attorney thought he should be reinstated?

No it doesn't. Plenty of battered women defend their abusers. That doesn't make it right.

 

[cm husker]

Once we get over this notion that our winning way is so much more special and unique than anyother, that's when we'll truly have a Nebraska way.

I used to be like you. I lived during the 90's. My hard attention began right at about 1991. Pretty damn convenient right? My childhood being that of nothing but success? Then these harder times hit. Firing coaches with wining records. and I see this nebraska way being brought up. So i started thinking. What is it? And the more I think, and see everything going on, and analyzing all that has happened in the past and the what coulda beens had we lost a game or two extra here and there, or won an extra game here and there, tells me that the Nebraska Way is nothing more than just the winning way. it's really that simple.

This is my post from the other thread.......

Thats what you want to believe it means. And you can bet your a$$, that had Osborne never won titles, there wouldntve been all this "back to Nebraska way" stuff. And had Callahan or Bo won some sort of championship, it wouldve been restored in the blink of an eye. Winning. That's all it is. Just winning. We like to think as a fanbase we've won in some unique way. Like we took a harder road than most. Running game. Walk-ons, etc. When it's probably the exact opposite. We used those things cuz they were the best fit for us to make winning easiest. Running a program and cheering for a program is not stoic or special. it goes on everywhere. in every sport. You win, you get to keep going. you lose, youre out and we go in another direction. i think we're a bit blinded by the fact that we had the same coach for 25 years with consistent results, and think everything was alway hunky dory, and use that to legitimize this fictional Nebraska Way. When in fact, it wasnt always hunky dory, and on more than one occasion, that so called Nebraska Way almost died long before the Nebraska Way actually became what it is now perceived to be. If Osborne loses the Liberty bowl and gets fired, leaves for Colorado, or steps aside after 1990, and Nebraska doesnt win to nearly the tick that they did, then there is no Nebraska Way.

And yes, CM I have read Scott Frost's commentary on this. Ive read more books and watched more documentaries on Epply, Stark, Osborne, Devaney etc. to make your head spin. I could pamper you with more history and info of the top of my head that make you go crosseyes. But here's the great thing about humanity. Frost doesnt speak for me. I can develop my own opinion. And I have the confidenece and arrogance that my opinion is right. And Frost is another interesting cog in the Nebraska way discussion. The savior. The gold child. The one who didnt want to be here to begin with. That only came back cuz he figured out fit. And probably one who has no interest in returning.

These values you describe are winning values. They were established as tools to win. Devaney and Osborne, while revered as angels, were competitive sonsabitches. They werent doing some holier than thow methods to make everyone feel good. They were doing things that fit and could win. Its just a concept I look at from afar thinking we're really not anymore unique than anyone else who wants to win. And these last 15 years have finally exposed that. It's a concept that was manufactured by 40 years of consistency and a blind assumption that it was ALWAYS great.

What would you say your thesis is? Because all of those words don't really draw a point, except that you seem to think there's nothing unique about the way Devaney and Osborne built the single greatest program in CFB between the mid 1960s and 2001.

If we weren't doing things in a unique way, why did we have unique results?

And it sounds like we are about the same age; I don't think your knowledge of husker history is better than many on this board.

 

[GBRFAN]

Bo had a wife beater on his staff, I never saw the out pouring of hate toward him. What if he had killed her right before the bowl game? Would that have left a stain on our image?? Nobody is perfect in this life. A little fender bender nearly 10 years after his last offense does not need to get him discarded for someone else that likely has skeletons in their closet.

This is easily fixable. Riley suspends him for a few months to send a message to him and the players that nobody is above the rules and the AD redoes his contract to stipulate NO Alcohol consumption for the remainder of the time he is employed by the University, or it is automatic dismissal.

Different scenarios because the offense occurred later. And not relevant.

We already talked about TO. You have your facts wrong. It's a bad idea going with a version of events based on a single prosecutor's press release.

Tom hid a gun in his desk for Abdul Muhammad, he wrote about it in his book. My facts are facts. You just deny and put your opinion out as fact.

I think you missed what CM said - he only speaks FACTS

 

[Count 'Bility]

LP is a unique situation. His assault was the only behavioral issue he had in his time at Nebraska. it's not like the guy was causing problems every week. And, probably something forgotten, is he was one of the most well loved teammates unanimously throughout the team. if folks woulda felt like him the way they felt about Frazier, Phillips woulda been long gone. And the players, unity council had just as much if not more to do with this reinstatement as Osborne and the courts. But it is very understandable how it is perceived because of the timing and his performance on January 2, 1996.

 

[cm husker]

LP didn't just come from a rough part of LA. He lived in an LA group home. And that was a step up from his actual home life. The reality of those horrors cannot be understated.

It's not a justification for his actions in '95 or later, but it's a mitigating factor.

How did he know where his ex was that night?

Why does it matter how he knew where his ex was that night?

Because instigation is one of many factors in this situation.

It needs to be very clear that LP did not "beat" her in the sense that he wheeled off punches to her. He grabbed and dragged her out of the apartment.

Completely and unambiguously that was a wrong act, but it was not the same as even a Ray Rice situation.

All of the factors need to be considered, including the victim's feeling about the decisions, when evaluating whether TO acted properly or improperly by giving LP a chance to rejoin the team.

 

[desertshox]

judging by all the LP talk, methinks the vast majority didnt read the link.

If you read only that SI hit piece, you'll come away with a wrong (let alone incomplete) view of what happened.

um, i was referring to the fact it also included several more incidents that occurred in the early to mid 90's that have basically been ignored in this discussion.

 

[cm husker]

Bo had a wife beater on his staff, I never saw the out pouring of hate toward him. What if he had killed her right before the bowl game? Would that have left a stain on our image?? Nobody is perfect in this life. A little fender bender nearly 10 years after his last offense does not need to get him discarded for someone else that likely has skeletons in their closet.

This is easily fixable. Riley suspends him for a few months to send a message to him and the players that nobody is above the rules and the AD redoes his contract to stipulate NO Alcohol consumption for the remainder of the time he is employed by the University, or it is automatic dismissal.

Different scenarios because the offense occurred later. And not relevant.

We already talked about TO. You have your facts wrong. It's a bad idea going with a version of events based on a single prosecutor's press release.

Tom hid a gun in his desk for Abdul Muhammad, he wrote about it in his book. My facts are facts. You just deny and put your opinion out as fact.

I think you missed what CM said - he only speaks FACTS

There's an irony in you calling me out while we are still waiting for a link to the "fact" that TO hid a gun for Muhammad.