Corn Nation: FanPosts

Graham Spanier

speedomike — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:06:02 -0000

What's up Nebraska people? Penn State fan here. I've got a question for you guys. There is a lot of speculation about what's going to happen with Paterno after this season, and a lot of PSU message boards are making it out to be some sort of battle royale between JoePa and PSU's president, Graham Spanier. Within some of the discussions, there have been some comments from people about how Spanier has a lot to do with the coaching mess you guys went through with Solich, Callahan, etc. But that's not making sense to me. Spanier left Nebraska in 1995. Osborne coached two more years, then Solich took over for a few years. Right? So, I'm trying to figure out how much that really could have to do with Spanier. I was hoping the Corn Nation could provide some insight. Thanks.

Oh, and are we officially scheduled to play you guys in 2014-15? I really liked our home-and-home from a couple years ago.

Maric -- NBA Summer League News

KC Gunner — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 19:22:54 -0000

Aleks Maric played for the Indiana Pacers at the Orlando Magic's Summer League this past week, and below are the links to the stats for each game, in case any interested Huskers Basketball fans wanted to see how Aleks did:

Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, Game 4, Game 5

According to the Pacers' roster notes, it looks like they had 3 centers on their roster, Courtney Sims, Vladimie Gulobovic and Aleks. Aleks and Vladimie generally came off the bench, but Aleks started their 4th game.

Aleks was a DNP (did not play) in the 5th game, but according to this article in the Journal-Star, that's because he was traveling to play for the Blazers on their summer leage team in the Vegas Summer League, which actually started yesterday. The Blazers play their first game Monday, against the Washington Wizards' summer team.

Although the article quotes Aleks' agent as saying Aleks doesn't have much of a shot at making the Blazers roster for 2008-09, their summer league team should give him plenty of playing time to attract attention from other teams.

Corn Kernels Extra: Three Huskers make Olympic T&F Teams

huskerlibrarian — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:11:53 -0000

It was an interesting high jump finals at the US Olympic Trials for 2008 Husker Grad Dusty Jonas, who made the US Olympic Team after a bizarre sequence of events -- he was able to make the team after a jumpoff, even though he tied for 6th, because he was tied with the only other jumper who had previously achieved the "A" standard.

2004 Nebraska Grad Priscilla Lopes-Schliep won the 100m hurdles at the Canadian Olympic Trials with a 12.78s run, and automatically earned a trip to Beijing.

Incoming Nebraska Junior Adam Wolkins finished second in the Javelin at the Canadian trials with a throw of 220-7, and will also join Team Canada in Beijing.

Hoops Picks Up Big Recruit

huskerlibrarian — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:23:01 -0000

The Journal-Star and World-Herald are reporting that 6-9 (and still growing) center/PF Vander Joaquim will be decommitting from San Diego and committing to Nebraska, following the assistant, Brain Roese, who recruited him.

Joaquim is a native of Angola, and has played as a member of their national team. He averaged 21 pts and 17 boards during his junior season of high school.

Joaquim is looking to be the first cornerstone in the 2009-10 incoming freshman class, big enough to make an impact and talented enough that he'll likely play right away.

Corn Kernels Extra: 7 Current & Former Huskers Alive at US Olympic T&F Trials

huskerlibrarian — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:31:54 -0000

The U.S. Olympic Trials are underway in Eugene, OR, and seven current or former Huskers are still in the running for spots on the US Olympic Team.

2008 grad Kayla Wilkinson is in tonight's Javelin final (10:20 PM CDT), while current Husker sophomore Epley Bullock begins the women's high-jump qualifying tonight. Former Husker Ann Gaffigan has preliminary rounds of the 3000m Steeplechase tonight as well.

2008 grad Dusty Jonas, who holds the world's top High Jump, has his preliminary on Thursday, along former Huskers Anne Shadle (1500m), Melissa (Price) Myerscough (hammer throw), and Jeni Steiner (shotput).

Former Husker Ray Scotten competed in the pole vault preliminaries, but did not qualify. A number of other current & former Huskers are participating in their native countries' Olympic trials as well.

NBA Teams Pass on Maric in Draft

huskerlibrarian — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:06:13 -0000

Not entirely unsurprisingly, Aleks Maric was not drafted in last night's NBA Draft. Projections before the season estimated that Maric might have been as high as an early 2nd-round pick, but the flood of underclassmen and international players -- especially big men -- combined with doubts about his explosiveness to push Maric out of the draft entirely.

Maric's agent says they are working to get him onto a summer league team in hopes of making a roster as a free agent. Otherwise, he will probably find himsel playing overseas.

This now marks 9 years since Nebraska had a player drafted in the NBA Draft. In the 1990s, Nebraska had a relatively strong crop of NBA-caliber talent with draftees Eric Piatkowski, Erick Strickland, Mikki Moore, Tyronn Lue, and Venson Hamilton.

Finally -- A Basketball Recruit

huskerlibrarian — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:39:14 -0000

It appears that this Friday, when Doc Sadler returns from an out-of-town trip, that Eshaunte Jones (who decommitted from Indiana) will be signing at Nebraska, according to Rivals. The Journal-Star's Life In the Red Blog is reporting the same thing. Jones is a 6'4" Shooting Guard who, according to his Scout.com profile has a strong outside shot.

Jones will be filling the gap left by Roburt Sallie's ineligibility. Sallie committed to Memphis last week, and is expected to see significant playing time for the National Runners-up.

In other news, Danny Nee and Erick Strickland will be inducted into the Nebraska Basketball Hall of Fame this fall. Nee is Nebraska's all-time winningest coach, and is responsible for 5 of our 6 NCAA tournament appearances. Strickland was a standout player, and has since made a living in the NBA. Congrats to both.

Can Someone Help Out Eric Sorenson at the CWS?

corn blight — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:16:48 -0000

CSTV's Eric Sorenson posted a bunch of CWS pictures , including one of the color guard, and he's wondering what the heck they're wearing. He's also wondering whether or not the 'cupcake' (bat girls) are a necessary part of college baseball.

My guess was that the color guard is part of the Nebraska Navy.

Anyway, head on over there, take a look, and let us know what that picture is all about.

Thanks....

TE Hunter Teafatiller Arrested Again for DUI

Husker Mike — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 03:44:20 -0000

Nebraska senior tight end Hunter Teafatiller was arrested on Sunday morning for driving under the influence after he was stopped on Interstate 180 in Lincoln. His blood alcohol level was 0.20, more than double the legal limit.

Teafatiller was arrested twice in 2007 for drunken driving.

Bo Pelini released a statement that said that Teafatiller would receive internal team discipline during the summer, and that any decisions regarding Teafatiller's status on the football program would be addressed later as the legal process unfolds.

Corn Kernels June 2 -- Regional T&F + final Big 12 Composite Standings

huskerlibrarian — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:49:20 -0000

The Track and Field season is winding down for the Huskers, with only one meet left for most Huskers -- the NCAA National Championships in Des Moines, IA, next Wednesday. This weeked, Nebraska hosted the NCAA Midwest Regional, which saw 14 Huskers advance to Nationals (by finishing in the top 5 at Regionals) to join automatic Heptathlon qualifier Megan Wheatley.

Dusty Jonas, who is ranked No. 1 in the world and has already qualified for the Olympic Trials in late June, won the High Jump with a leap of 7'-7" , which tied his championship-winning mark from the NCAA Indoor Championships this winter.
Nicholas Gordon and LeRon Williams placed 1st and 5th, respectively, in the Long Jump to advance. Gordon tied the Midwest Regional record with a jump of 25'-11 1/2"
Lara Crofford finished fourth in the 5000m run
Natalie Willer placed fifth in the Pole Vault
Keith Lloyd placed first in the Shot Put, and fourth in the Hammer Throw
Adam Dailey finished fourth in the 400m Hurdles, with the 3rd best time ever by a Husker (50.33 s)
Epley Bullock and Erin Hannon finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in the women's High Jump
Kayla Wilkinson finished third in the Javelin
Natalja Zarcenko and Peter van der Westhuizen both qualified in the 1500m run
Lucas Hullett finished fifth in the 400m, an event he is a 3-time Indoor All-American in.
Tyrell Ross finished fifth in the 110m Hurdles, .09s ahead of the 6th place finisher.

Good Luck to those Huskers going on to Nationals and beyond.

In other news, Texas's win in the Big 12 Baseball tournament wrapped up 1st place for the Horns, and secured Nebraska in third place.

School	Points	Men's Total	Women's Total
Texas	190	100	90
Texas A&M	188	83	105
Nebraska	149	61	88
Oklahoma	142	64	78
Missouri	131	63	68
Oklahoma State	126	70	56
Texas Tech	120	60	60
Baylor	107	49	58
Kansas	106	42	64
Iowa State	97	38	59
Colorado	79	42	37
Kansas State	78	35	43

Action begins in the NIT Baseball Tournament. Fans and Fate will decide the outcome!

James Quinn — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:16:05 -0000

The first round of the NIT brackets are now posted at the College Baseball Dugout. Take a few minutes and cast your votes. You can vote for two of the four teams in each bracket. The team that advances will be determined based on both votes and luck. For example, if Baylor receives 48% of the votes in its bracket it will have a 48% chance of advancing. If Army receives 2% of the votes in its bracket, the Black Knights still will have a shot at moving on.

For more coverage on the NIT tournament:

Baylor Receives #1 Seed in First Annual NIT Tournament!.

College Baseball NIT Field of 32 Set! San Diego State and Washington in! Notre Dame and William and Mary Snubbed!

Huskers to Host Baseball Regional

Husker Mike — Mon, 26 May 2008 04:26:28 -0000

Well, it's official... Nebraska will host an NCAA regional next weekend, with games on Friday at 1:05 pm and 7:05 pm. If past history holds, Nebraska will play in the 1:05 pm game on Friday. I'm not sure I understand why, except that if rain or bad weather hits, it gives Nebraska the most time between games. And with the interest in baseball, the athletic department must feel that attendance won't be terribly different at 1:05 pm versus 7:05 pm. (Fans will just have to take vacation time from work...)

Tickets are already on sale at huskers.com for $56 for general admission. (I assume that reserved seats have already been sold out.) I'd expect that NET is already discussing TV rights with the NCAA; look for an announcement towards the middle of the week.

Former Oklahoma QB Jack Mildren Dies at Age 58

Husker Mike — Fri, 23 May 2008 18:35:21 -0000

Jack Mildren , who ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more in the "Game of the Century" against Nebraska in 1971, has died at age 58 of cancer .

Mildren, who recently hosted a sports talk show on WKO-AM (930 AM) radio as well as served as vice chairman of a regional bank, also served as Oklahoma's lieutenant governor from 1990 to 1994. He ran unsuccessfully in 1994 to be Governor of Oklahoma, losing to Frank Keating.

Welcome to the new Corn Nation and SB Nation

clockwerks — Thu, 22 May 2008 05:30:36 -0000

Hey Corn Nation,

Today is the big day. We've switched your community over to the new SB Nation sports blog platform. My name is Trei, and I'm here to help you get adjusted to the new home we've built for you. If you have questions or trouble with the new system, post a comment in this thread and myself or one of the team (lovitt, sixfoot6 or odacrem) will try to point you in the right direction.

Before we begin, I want to let you know we still consider this a beta platform, so don't be surprised if you find a few bugs or if everything isn't exactly right yet. We hope you'll take the time to report any problems you encounter at bugreport@sbnation.com. We'll be continuing to make changes and improving things.

Please take a few minutes to read about what's new below. But if you just can't wait to jump in, here are some quick things to check out:

Sign up for your SB Nation network account and claim your old blog accounts
Once you're logged in, press your Z key in any thread with new comments
Explore your dashboard and setup your profile
Read the guide to the new FanPost editor
Install the FanShot bookmarklet and post videos to Corn Nation from YouTube or images from Flickr
Click the "Rec" button on posts and comments to help other people find the good stuff.
Customize display options on your Edit Settings page

What Has Changed

SB Nation Network Accounts - the Big Change

Readers across all of our blogs told us they wanted one account to use on every SB Nation blog. To make this work, we're requiring that everyone create a new SB Nation network account. In most cases you should be able to keep your old username, but a few of you may have to choose something new, since every other community in SB Nation will be going through this same transition. We tried to be as fair as possible in deciding who gets to keep which name, using a formula that takes into account length of membership and frequency of activity.

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to participate on all of our blogs, but we don't want to encourage everyone to start visiting rival team blogs and initiating flame wars. To maintain friendly communities we ask that you explicitly join each blog in order to participate. It's a two-click process, but it does means accepting each blog's community guidelines. Just as you join each blog individually, you can be banned on each blog individually.

You can claim old accounts from multiple SB Nation blogs, and your new username will be retroactively attached to all your old comments and diaries. So now you'll be able to access all your writings from your single profile page... like magic.

To get started, click here to claim your old blog accounts and create a new SB Nation network account.

FanPosts (the Section Formerly Known as Diaries)

We changed their name. Why? Because we took this major upgrade as an opportunity to leave behind some vocabulary that never made much sense for a sports blog. SB Nation is the network of, by and for fans, and these are the blog posts we make. So we call them FanPosts. When you're at a bar telling someone to check out your online sports opinions, you don't have to suggest they read your diary.

FanPosts are displayed differently on the homepage - we include your avatar to give more credit for the time you spend writing great posts. The new post editor has a WYSIWYG view that provides easy formatting. It also auto-saves drafts so you don't have to worry about losing your work when you compose a post within the web browser. And you can now associate teams, players and games with your posts: these tools promote your FanPosts on our new team, player and game pages - across the entire network.

The new system does not work like the old diary editor. For example, in HTML mode the new editor doesn't auto-create a new paragraph from two line breaks. But it does offer a whole array of new features. Look for the blinking help button on the right side of the FanPost editor for quick tips, and take a look at our full guide to writing FanPosts on the new platform.

IMPORTANT - if you write your posts in Microsoft Word or some other off-line editor, you will get the most reliable behavior if you cut & paste your post into the HTML view of the FanPost editor. And if you do that, remember to wrap <p></p> tags around each paragraph so your text doesn't run together.

Visual Redesign

This one is probably the most obvious change of all. Like other major websites working to improve readability for their audience, we've adopted a fixed-width layout optimized for the 1024 x 768 resolution used by the majority of Corn Nation and SB Nation network users. Use the switcher below the user menu if you prefer the wider layout designed for 1280 monitors. We've introduced a top navigation bar with quick links into old and new sections of the site. We also polished a few edges, made some things larger, others smaller and moved a few boxes here and there. More changes and adjustments to come.

Search

We've completely replaced the old search engine with a new one. We're excited to make it easier to find old posts and comments, but we've only taken our first pass on the tools we're offering. We're focused on making search even better than what you had before, so please know that we're aware search is missing key features and we're working on it.

What's New

Schedule, Scores, Stats and Roster

Corn Nation now has all the basic information about the Nebraska Cornhuskers and hundreds of other teams. During games you'll see a regularly updated line score, and as the season progresses we'll track team stat totals and leaders. This is just our first step, so look for us to publish more detailed and archival stats in the future. The best part about all this sports data is that we've integrated it directly into the blog so. We now have special pages that aggregate all blog posts written about games, players and teams.

Recommending FanPosts

Some writing deserves more attention and more conversation. If you want to bump a FanPost up to the top and keep it there for awhile, just click the 'Rec' link under the body of the post. When a FanPost receives enough recommendations it will make the recommended list.

Auto-refreshing Comments

You no longer need to refresh the page to see new comments. If you're logged in, new comments will automatically appear on the page every few seconds. When you post a comment, the page will not refresh either. If you want to quickly cycle through all the new comments, you can press the C key on your keyboard. Unmark a new comment after you've read it with the X key. And use the Z key if you want to umark comments as you're cycling through them.

As you use these shortcuts to cycle through comments, press the R key to reply to the current comment. All these helpful keyboard shortcuts are listed at the top of each comments section for reference.

Recommending Comments

Now you can reward those folks who take the time to look up stats and make smart arguments in the comments. Next to each comment there is an 'actions' link that you can click to find the recommend and flag options.

Flagging Comments

To help the moderators on a site, we've built-in tools that let you flag comments that are spam, trolling or just plain inappropriate. Only moderators can see those flags.

FanShots

Many members of the community just want to post that one link, video, photo or quote, but don't need a full FanPost. We've got you covered: FanShots let you share YouTube videos, Flickr or PhotoBucket photos, quotes from articles, portions of chat transcripts, top 5 lists and simple links. If it's a video or image we'll put a thumbnail on the homepage when you post it.

For those of you who are experienced internet hunter-gatherers of Nebraska Cornhuskers material, install the bookmarklet onto the links bar of your browser and share FanShots with the community from wherever on the web you find that killer quote or photo.

Avatars

Upload an image so folks can see your custom avatar on your profile, your FanPosts, and all your comments.

Network Profiles

Now that we have unified SB Nation network accounts, your profile will be your central hub for all of your activity on any blogs where you are a member.

Network bar

The top bar stays with you on all SB Nation blogs. It's a quick way to login and logout. When you're logged in, you'll see your avatar and screen name which links to your profile. The icon to the right leads to your Dashboard area where you can edit your settings, profile, account details and any FanPosts or FanShots you've published. As we add more blogs to the new SB Nation network, the My Blogs menu will be a handy way to navigate between the blogs you've joined.

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There are plenty more small changes and additions we've made, so please take a careful look around and explore this new system. We appreciate your patience and hope you'll help us improve the new platform for this and all the other SB Nation blogs.

And in case you missed it, you'll want to start by claiming your old blog accounts and creating a new SB Nation network account.

Corn Kernels, May 19 -- No. 1 in the World Edition

huskerlibrarian — Mon, 19 May 2008 23:38:52 -0000

At the Big XII Track & Field Championships at Potts Field in Boulder, it was an impressive showing for the Huskers, who led both the Men’s and Women’s standings late into Sunday. However, Texas A&M’s Women and Colorado’s Men swarmed the top 10s of the late individual races to pull ahead by large margins and never look back. The Husker Women finished 2nd, while the men came in 4th.

There were plenty of highlights for the Huskers, though. Senior Dusty Jonas achieved the world’s top high jump for the season at 7’ 8-3/4" (2.36m). Jonas beat the next nearest jump by nearly 6 inches, set the Big XII meet and Potts Field records, and propelled himself to a top world ranking in the process. Two Husker freshmen, Paul Hamilton and Brandon Sheppard, also placed in the top 10 for the Men’s High Jump and will continue on to Regionals.

Senior Kim Shubert won the women’s high jump as well, posting a jump of 5’ 10-3/4" (1.79m). In the meantime, Freshman Megan Wheatley dominated the Heptathlon, winning four of the seven events and finishing no lower than 3rd, for a total of 5643 points, a Potts Field record and the 4th-highest total for a Husker Heptathloner ever. Fellow Husker Chantae McMillan won two of the events Wheatley didn’t to place second overall, and 4 Huskers placed in the top 6 of the Heptathlon.

On Friday, Husker Senior Kayla Wilkinson won her 3rd Big XII javelin title, setting a new Big XII Championships record and breaking her own school record with a throw of 182’-10" (55.73m), more than 21’ farther than second place.

The Huskers have Memorial Day weekend off before hosting the NCAA Regional the following weekend.

With the spring sports season winding down, Corn Kernels will soon be winding down as well. Next week, I’ll have a complete list of NCAA Qualifiers, and preview the Regional (which will be in Lincoln at Ed Weir Stadium). I’ll continue to cover the Huskers so long as they keep going, all the way to the Olympics if need be; however, expect Corn Kernels to go on hiatus until the fall once the season is over.

Also next week after the Baseball tournament, I’ll have the final Big XII Composite Standings. For a quick preview, it looks like Nebraska will be 3rd unless Oklahoma finds a way to win the Baseball tournament, and Texas A&M will be first unless Texas wins the baseball title. (It’s been a good year for the Aggies – they have won regular season or postseason titles in 7 of the 21 Big XII seasons).

Hi Plains Drifter Coins a New Phrase - "Bornography"

corn blight — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:58:59 -0000

Brandon over at Hi-Plains Drifter has coined a new phrase for the Pelini-based koolaid for this season.

Bornography!

So far I like what I'm seeing in Pelini, but like Hi-Plains, some of this stuff goes too far. Let the guy coach a game for crying out loud.

I wonder if we're raising expectations so high that he'll have no where to go but failure.

Corn Kernels, May 12 -- Big XII Composite Standings

huskerlibrarian — Mon, 12 May 2008 23:47:16 -0000

The season is winding to a close, and I've had a busy couple of weeks (sorry for the lack of updates, I'll catch everyone up below). In the meantime, I've had a chance to compile the Big XII Composite Standings (so far).

The methodolgy for the standings is as follows:

12 points are awarded for a regular season or postseason Big XII title. This can lead to multiple schools receiving 12 points for a sport.
Based on the regular season standings (for the team sports that have them) or the Conference Championships results (for everything else), 11 points are awarded for a second place finish, 10 for 3rd, and so on. If a school does not participate in the sport, they receive no points.
For football, the loser of the Big XII Championship game receives 11 points, and the remaining teams are listed in conference record order from 3rd to 12th.
In the case of a tie, no tiebreakers are used; instead, all teams tied for a given position get the appropriate number of points (ex, 7 for a 6th place tie).
These standings do not count sports that are not sponsored by the Big XII

So, without further ado, here are the current standings, with Baseball and Outdoor Track & Field yet to be decided. I've included the current standings in the Sports Directors' Cup, which is the all-NCAA, all-sport standings, for reference:

School	Points	Men's Total	Women's Total	Sports Director's Cup Rank
Texas	162	78	84	6
Texas A&M	153	60	93	21
Oklahoma	124	53	71	20
Nebraska	119	42	77	23
Missouri	114	49	65	29
Oklahoma State	112	58	54	41
Texas Tech	99	49	50	65
Kansas	93	38	55	43
Baylor	87	35	52	71
Iowa State	87	32	55	44
Colorado	66	30	36	52
Kansas State	61	26	35	58

And now, for a quick Corn Kernels update:

The Husker Softball team fell short of what would have been a miraculous finish in the Big XII Softball tournament, losing 5-0 to Texas A&M in the Championship game. It was the Husker's 7th title game appearance, and a surprising end to a disappoitning season.
The Women's Golf team finished a single stroke back of advancing to the NCAA Championships at the Central Regional championships on Sunday. The Huskers entered the final day in 8th place (the cut to advance). Sophomore JC Stevenson had a 54-hole total of 220, the best ever at a Regional by a Husker golfer, and finished 14th, the best finish by a Husker in 5 years.
The Husker Track & Field team won 14 events at the Husker Invitational on Saturday, despite the rain. That wraps up the Track & Field regular season. The Big XII Championships are this weekend in Boulder, with the NCAA Regionals to follow in Lincoln May 30-31.

Husker Softball to play for Big XII Title Sunday

huskerlibrarian — Sun, 11 May 2008 06:15:34 -0000

It's hard to believe after a disappointing season that saw the Husker Softball team start 0-7 in conference play, and ultimately finish 4-14 (tied for 9th) and 21-27 overall, but the Huskers have got hot at the right time. The Huskers will play will play Texas A&M Sunday for the Big XII Championship and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament Regionals.

The 10th-seeded Huskers reached the championship game after coming back to beat Kansas 4-3 on Friday, then held off #7 and 2nd-seed Oklahoma 6-5 Saturday morning, and finally knocked off 6th-seeded Texas Tech 6-1 Saturday afternoon.
Sunday's championship game against A&M is set for a noon first pitch, to be aired live on FSN. The Aggies were the regular-season Big XII Champions, and swept Nebraska 6-0 and 6-3 two weeks ago in Lincoln.

Corn Kernels, April 29 – Annual Pointless Controversy Edition

huskerlibrarian — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 23:31:10 -0000

Every year at some time, athletic departments around the nation release their budgets, and everyone has to toss out their little rant about how all these sports lose money and that we need to stop the bleeding and cut all the revenue-eating sports. So, while I had planned on initially devoting this space to the NCAA bids that went out this week, and presenting the Big 12 Composite Standings I’ve been working on (they’ll be here next time – Nebraska’s third, by the way), I was driving to work today and heard 1620 the Zone’s Unsportsmanlike Conduct bringing up the same argument after the Omaha World-Herald published the annual sports profit/loss budget this weekend.

The argument is simple: only football and basketball are revenue sports. Ergo, we should find enough women’s sports to meet the Title IX requirements, and cut the rest to maximize profit (or at least cut down to the Big XII minimum 16). But Tom Osborne, like someone who understands why college sports exist, has no plans to cut programs or cut funding. Osborne does say that he has no plans to add sports either, though men’s swimming (which was cut after an academic scandal a few years back), men’s soccer, and ice hockey (a potential revenue sport) have all been tossed around as possible additions.

I see this as two parts. First off, a university and its athletic department are nonprofit organizations (or government agencies, in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s case), and are not intended to do more than be self sufficient. Instead, the purpose of the athletic department is to enable students to attend the university, and most of those are athletes in non-revenue sports. Revenue sports and TV contracts subsidize the non-revenue sports so that they can provide opportunities for everyone else – why do you think you see so many other student athletes at football and basketball games? Secondly, the athletic department isn’t losing money. Even without counting in television revenue, the department makes $1,151,634 more than it spends, so I’m not sure what the fuss is about when a nonprofit isn’t losing money. Not to mention that Nebraska has the second highest revenue in the Big XII.

I’m curious to hear your thoughts. Now, back to our regularly delayed (but for good reason) Corn Kernels.

I do apologize in the delay in getting Corn Kernels up this week, but I was waiting for the NCAA to release Golf and Tennis championship berths yesterday and today, after this weekend’s Big XII Championships.

Women’s golf got the best news out of all the Husker sports this weekend, when the were selected for the NCAA Central Regional at the University of Texas Golf Course in Austin. The Huskers are the 17th seed (out of 21) in the Regional, along with fellow Big XII schools Texas A&M (8), Texas (10), and Texas Tech (15). UCLA is the top seed in the region, and is ranked #2 overall by NGCA Coaches Poll. The Huskers also finished 6th at the Big XII Championships this weekend. Elli Brown led the Huskers with a 12th place overall finish, while Charlotte Wendner and Kate White also finished in the top 20.

The Men’s Golf team had a disappointing end to their season, finishing 11th at the conference championships. Mike Coatman led the Huskers with a 16th place finish. The men were not selected for the NCAA tournament, so their season is over. The young Huskers return the entire team next season.

Men’s Tennis had a fast end to its Big XII tournament, falling to 2nd-seeded and 11th-ranked Baylor 4-0 in the first round. The Huskers season ends at 10-16, short of the NCAA tournament. The Huskers lose two seniors, but have added Christopher Aumuller, Germany’s no. 99-ranked player, for next year’s squad.

Women’s Tennis also saw their Big XII tournament end early, after being upset by 10th-seeded Kansas State 4-3 in the first round. The loss probably cost the Huskers an NCAA bid, as they were not selected for the NCAA championships. The Huskers will lose senior standout and multiple Academic All-Big XII selection Imke Reimers, who may yet be selected for the NCAA singles tournament.

Three members of the Women’s Gymnastics team competed at the NCAA Championships as individuals this weekend. Senior Emily Parsons, Nebraska’s all-time event title leader and an 11-time All-American, failed to capture her first NCAA title, but did finish 2nd in the balance beam. Nebraska’s other senior, Desiree Sniatynski, placed 12th in the uneven parallel bars. Junior Tricia Woo, the Big XII and South Regional Balance Beam champion, did not advance to the finals.

The Husker Softball team had another forgettable weekend, losing twice to Big XII-leading No. 5 Texas A&M after sweeping North Dakota State during the week. The Saturday game against A&M was the same story as many games this season: pitching mistakes and too little offense. The Huskers fought back on Sunday after falling behind, but still lost, 6-3. The Huskers wrap up their season this week at home with a make-up game against Iowa State tonight, a double-header against Kansas tomorrow, and a two-game set with Missouri over the weekend.

The highlight for the week in Track & Field was Freshman Nicholas Gordon’s impressive 50’-5 1/2" triple jump at the Nebraska Open on Sunday. the mark moves Gordon up to 9th in the Midwest Region in the triple jump (he is ranked 3rd in the long jump). Huskers Paul Hamilton and Audrey Svane swept the high jump titles as well. This week brings the Ward Hyatt Invite in Manhattan, KS on Saturday, and the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational in Palo Alto, CA on Sunday, before a break for finals prior to the Nebraska Invitational on May 10.

Corn Kernels, April 21-27 -- Banquet Edition

huskerlibrarian — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:26:27 -0000

Sorry for the late post this week. I had a really busy weekend, and didn't have a chance to look over the week's results and previews.

This time of year is when the regular seasons for most spring sports wrap up, with finals and the summer approaching. Softball and Baseball, of course, still play on into the summer, and track & field may keep running all the way to the Olympic trials, but most sports are riding into conference and national championships.

Of course, with the year ending, so too comes the end-of-the-year banquet, where the Male & Female Student Athlete of the Year awards are handed out. This year, Sarah Pavan (volleyball) won the award for the women, while Stephen Tetrault (gymnastics) won the award for the men. The women's cross country team and men's tennis team won the Herman Awards for top team GPAs.

The Men's Gymnastics team had the most significant competition of the week, competing in the NCAA Championships in Palo Alto, CA. The Huskers started off strong, but fell out of the team finals, finishing 9th out of 12 teams. Four Huskers, including former All-Americans Stephen Tetrault and T.J. Schmidt, competed in the individual competitions, but failed to advance to the event finals.

Three members of the Women's Gymnastics team will compete this Thursday at the NCAA Championships in Athens, GA. Seniors Emily Parsons and Desire` Sniatynski will compete in the all-around competetion, while junior Tricia Woo will compete in the Beam. All three were named All-Big XII, and Parsons, Nebraska's only 100-event winner, was named South Central Regional gymnast of the year. Woo, who placed 1st in the Beam in Regional competition, is one of only 2 event specialists at the NCAA championships. Event schedules can be found here.

More Huskers qualified this week for the NCAA Track & Field regionals, with Joslyn Dalton, Rachel Carrizales, Brian Parr, and Lara Crofford all notching qualifying times at the SAC Relays, while the relay teams and field events performed strongly at the Kansas Relays, with Regional No. 2 Kayla Wilkinson beating the top-ranked javelin thrower, while Husker Tyrell Ross two-time Olympian Tom Pappas in the 110m Hurdles by .2 seconds. The schedule continues this week with the Drake Relays Wednesday-Saturday and the Nebraska Open in Lincoln on Sunday.

It was another up-and-down week for the Husker Softball team, as they picked up their first conference win of the season by splitting a doubleheader with Baylor on Sunday, then lost at Iowa State 13-6 on Tuesday. The Wednesday home game against the Cyclones was postponed until April 29 due to inclement weather. The Huskers then wrapped up the week with their final two road games of the season, dropping 2 games at Oklahoma State. The Huskers will remain in Lincoln for the rest of the regular season, beginning with a doubleheader against North Dakota State on Wednesday, and then a two-game home series with Big XII-leading Texas A&M on the weekend.

The Golf teams wrapped up their regular seasons early last week, with the men finishing 12th at the Palisades Golf Classic and the women survived a flu outbreak and came back to finish 8th at the Lady Buckeye Invitational. Both teams participate in the Big XII Championships this weekend, with the Men going to Trinity, TX, and the Women going to Stillwater, OK.

The Men's and Women's Tennis teams also head to the Big XII Championships this weekend, with the Men seeded 7th, facing 2nd-seeded Baylor, and the Women also seeded 7th, facing 10th-seeded Kansas State. The Men dropped their final two matches of the regular season, 7-0 to Baylor and 6-1 to Oklahoma. The Women, ranked 67th nationally, went 1-2 in their last week, dropping 3-4 matches to Colorado and Kansas, and beating Kansas State 6-1. All Big XII Tennis Championship events will take place in College Station, TX.
Edit 7:29 PM 4/21/08: I didn't see it earlier, but the Big XII has a preview of the Big XII Tennis Championships up on its site.