A Bright Spot For The Royals

The Kansas City Royals have a record of 64-94. They did what the Royals do: start off strong and give Royals fans a glimmer of hope that this could be the break out year, fall apart in the middle of the summer and crush all Royals fans hope that anything will ever change and, finally, make a nice run in September to get people to think that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that light will get brighter beginning with next years spring training.

The Royals dream about having a conversation with the words 'Kansas City' and 'magic number' in the same sentence. Once again, this is not that year. The Royals are fighting with the Cleveland Indians to avoid being at the bottom of the AL Central Division (right now the Royals are barely losing that battle).

But, there is a shining spot on this team.

His name is Zach Greinke. He will be your 2009 AL Cy Young award winner. He has a record of 16-8 and if he was on a different team with better hitters, he would have well over 20 wins this season. But the Cy Young voters are not stupid. They see that Zach is the most dominant pitcher in baseball. He makes great hitters look stupid. He breezes pitches by hitters and he buckles knees with a killer curve ball.

Dear Dayton Moore,

To quote KGB with his Russian accent in the movie 'Rounders' - 'Pay him. Pay that man his money.' Give him what ever he wants. Kansas City has a great player and in the past the Royals have traded that great player for prospects. I'm sick of watching the World Series and seeing different players and saying, 'Remember when he used to play in Kansas City? Yeah, that was great.' Pay him what he wants and build a team around your dominant ace pitcher.

So, Royals fans, be proud of the one shining spot on this years team and cross your fingers that he will be a sign of what is to come for the Royals.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Nebraska fans for YOUR accomplishment of selling out 300 games in a row. This record is not about the coaches or the players or the athletic director or anyone else. This record is about you. This record is about fans showing up to support their team through good times and bad times, wins and losses.

300 sell outs in a row! The team in second place is Notre Dame with 206! I don't think this record will ever be broken by another team and I don't see this streak ending any time soon. Nebraska fans have made it through some rough times in the last five years and have still sold out every game. I don't see anything keeping these fans away from the game.

So, congratulations and enjoy the celebration this weekend. You deserve it because this record is yours.

Moving On

It is almost impossible for fans to move on from the Nebraska's 16-15 loss to Virginia Tech last weekend. It was a game that Nebraska looked to have in the bag. It is hard to find someone that would say that Virginia Tech was the better team on the field, because Nebraska seemed to have control most of the game (except inside the last 2 minutes).

But, if you believe what they say, Bo Pelini and the rest of the football team has already forgotten about the game and has moved on to Louisiana-Lafayette. Bo Pelini even called the loss one of the worst losses that he has ever had to deal with in his entire football career. But, it's done. The Team has already started preparation for the next game and that is that.

I'm sure that a lot of the fans wish that it could be so easy.

Zac Lee's Press Conference

Zac Lee talks about his injury, the red zone offense at Virginia Tech and what he learned from the loss.

Link here.

Suh's Press Conference

Ndamukong Suh talks about last weekend's loss to Virginia Tech and the game this weekend against Louisiana-Lafayette.

Link here.

Bo Pelini's Weekly Press Conference

Bo Pelini's press conference talking about the loss to Virginia Tech and the game this weekend against Louisiana-Lafayette and the 300th consecutive sell out at Memorial Stadium.

Link here.

Free Creighton Basketball Season Tickets

Creighton Director of Athletics Bruce Rasmussen announced today that a nomination and selection process has been put in place for a limited number of 2009-10 men’s basketball upper bowl season tickets to be provided free of charge to individuals or families who have had a recent change in economic circumstance or don’t have the means to attend games.

Rasmussen said the complimentary tickets awarded will be for the 2009-10 season only and that Bluejay fans are welcome to nominate themselves or others. A nomination form is available at www.gocreighton.com//quest/Questionaire.dbml?QID=68661.

There are several ways that fans can make their nominations:



1) They can fill out the form on-line and hit "Submit".
2) They fax the completed form to the Ryan Athletic Center Ticket Office at (402) 280-3373.
3) They can drop off the completed form at the Ryan Athletic Center Ticket Office on weekdays from 9 am - 4:30 pm.
4) They can mail the completed form to
Barb Epps
Ryan Athletic Center Ticket Office
Creighton University
Omaha, NE 68178

Rasmussen said nominations will be accepted until the close of business on Thursday, Oct. 15 and that selected recipients will be notified shortly thereafter.

Creighton’s 27-8 record last year extended its league record with an 11th consecutive 20-win season. The Jays will return eight lettermen and three starters in search of a 13th straight postseason.

For season ticket information about Creighton Men’s Basketball, call (402) 280-JAYS. The Bluejays have ranked among the top-20 nationally in home attendance each of the past three years, averaging over 15,000 fans in that time.

Get The Ruler Out

Nebraska will play Virginia Tech this Saturday at 2:30. Everybody, open your desk and get out your ruler. This is a 'measuring stick' game.

Preseason is over. The disaster was averted. Nebraska beat Flordia Atlantic and Arkansas State pretty easily at home. Those games meant nothing since they won. If they would have lost those games, that would've been a different story. But they didn't, so now lets get to the games that count.

The Big 12 is confusing this year. In the first two weeks there have been some nice wins (Baylor beat Wake Forest, Missouri killed Illinois, Oklahoma State beat Georgia) and they're have been some BAD losses (obviously Oklahoma's loss to BYU, Oklahoma State's loss to Houston, and then there's Colorado). This weekend is Nebraska's chance to get into the 'nice win' catagory and establish itself as a true contender for not just the Big 12 north, but for the Big 12 as a whole. A win this weekend would get Nebraska to be talked about more on Lee and Kurt on Game Day. A win this weekend will give the team a nice little push going into the Big 12 season (there is no chance in hell that Louisiana-Lafayette will beat Nebraska on such and emotional and hyped game with the 300th consecutive sell out). A win on Saturday will give the Huskers a good looking win against a BCS school that is ranked 13/14 in the country.

Last year, the Huskers had a chance to beat the Hokies at home, but lost a close game 35-30. Probably the most costly event of the game was a personal foul on Bo Pelini that continued a drive for Virginia Tech that lead to a touchdown. I think that Coach Pelini learned a lesson after that game (maybe with a little help from TO).

So, get out the rulers, because on Saturday we're going to compare where this Husker team is to other teams in the Big 12, to other teams in the country and other conference AND to the 2008 Nebraska team.

DON'T FORGET

Eight years ago today, the country changed. NEVER FORGET what happened on Sept, 11th 2001 and NEVER FORGET that we live in the best country in the world.

'. . . against Arkansas State.'

When your with your buddies this weekend and you're watching the game and rehashing it on O Street Saturday night, do this. At the end of every sentence talking about the game add the words 'against Arkansas State'.

There are two reasons for this:

A) It will temper expectations. If the Huskers have a good game, it will keep fans in check by reminding them that this is still a 'preseason' game.

B) It will throw up red flags. If the Huskers have a bad game, it will fire off warning flares that they still have A LOT of work to do.

EXAMPLES:

- 'Roy Helu Jr. ran for 250 yards and scored 4 TD's . . . against Arkansas State.'

- 'Zac Lee threw 27-40 for 417 yards and 3 TD's . . . against Arkansas State.'

- 'Suh dominated that O-line and got 6 sack's and even intercepted a pass and ran it back 74 yards for a TD . . . against Arkansas State.'

- 'The defense looked shaky giving up 350 yards and 28 points . . . against Arkansas State.'

- 'The O-line couldn't protect Zac Lee and he was rushed and sacked a ton . . . against Arkansas State.'

I don't mean to disrespect Arkansas State, but it's Arkansas State and not Oklahoma. Nebraska probably will win this game. It might be closer of a game than it was with Florida Atlantic, but Nebraska should win this game with no problem. But with this one little technique, it will keep this game in perspective - it's another game to get ready for Virginia Tech.

Tom Osborne on Myers and Hartman

Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne will be a guest this afternoon on the Myers and Hartman Show. The Myers and Hartman Show can be heard on the Mighty Big Sports 590 from 2-6pm.

Is The Defense Soft?

At his weekly press conference, Bo Pelini was very critical of his defense and went so far as to say they were 'soft'. Can a defense that only gives up 3 points be soft? Yes, according to Bo, if they give up a total of 358 yards to Florida Atlantic. When asked about the interior line, Bo called them 'average at best'.

As you were walking out the stadium on Saturday, were you looking at the 49-3 score and thinking, 'man these guys are soft'. That is where Bo Pelini's standards are. Picture the most perfect thing that you can think of and Bo Pelini will see it and start ripping it apart and pointing out the flaws. That's a nice new car. Nope, not to Bo. He sees the same car and points out the pebble that is in the tread of the tires. Not good enough.

Coach Pelini and the Nebraska coaches DEMAND perfection. And you know what, there's nothing wrong with that. Once you settle for good enough, then you're never going to get better than that.

If you come out to the game on Saturday against Arkansas State and see a 60-0 shut out and a dominating performance by both the offense and the defense, just know that Bo Pelini will be pulling out every little flaw that the team committed and they will work hard at practice the next week to make sure that flaw doesn't happen again. Now, that's fire.

Can You Smell That?

I love that smell! It's the smell of fall! It's the smell of burgers, hot dogs, brats, chicken wings and every other type of meat that can be thrown on a grill!

IT'S TAILGATE SEASON!!!

This weekend kicks off a new season of college football. Every team is 0-0. Every team has their schedule memorized and their path to a conference championship, BCS bowl game and national championship mapped out. Welcome back football season!

One of the best parts of football is the tailgating! Everyone is friends with everyone (except opposing fans). There's good food, cold 'beverages' and good times. There's the haze above the parking lot from all of the fired up grills.

As you make your way to Lincoln on Saturday, drive with your windows down so you can smell the return of football!