Peter makes good points but sometime devoid of reality

As a University of Nebraska alum that blogs, reads the internet stories, listens to podcasts, etc. from 1,500 miles away from Lincoln, NE, I find it mildly amazing and amusing how a segment of fans blindly agree with every bit of analysis on the present state program given by players from the Huskers spectacular run from 1993-1997.


In case you have been living an igloo the last 20 years, the Huskers went 60-3 during that stretch of time, winning of their five National Championships in school history.

Two Huskers from that era that prominently talk in the public domain are former Nebraska All-American defensive tackle Jason Peter and former running back Damon Benning. Before you read any further, this blog has nothing to do with criticizing their contributions during their time as players. So, if you disagree with something I say just remember that statements like, “Who the hell are you, Mr. Blogger. These guys did X, Y and Z as players and the Huskers won National Titles.”

While I think Benning and Peter make more good points than bad, the crux of their message is the same over and over: “We did things different in 1995 and it worked better, now, let me point out everything that’s wrong with the program now.”

Peter recently appeared as a guest on NET’s Big Red Wrapup with Kevin Kugler and Adrian Fiala. Peter addressed a number of things from former Husker offensive lineman Matt Slauson (now a New York Jet) publically criticizing another former Husker Ndamukong Suh (now a Detroit Lions defensive tackle).

Suh has been criticized in the media and by other players for his aggressive style of play and has been fined a total of $42,500 by the league for three violations in the first year-and-a-half of his career. The most recent episode came during the third quarter of the Lions’ Thanksgiving game against Green Bay. Suh pushed Packers’ offensive lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith's head into the ground three times, then stomped on him. All of this took place after the whistle to end the play was blown. Suh was penalized for unnecessary roughness and ejected from the game.

The NFL suspended Suh for two games without pay. In a recent New York Times interview, Slauson said that Suh needs to have a strong message sent to get him under control. Suh wasn’t considered a head case by NFL scouts after a celebrated career at Nebraska that didn’t include any on-field incidents, but Slauson said Suh was a different player in practice while in college.

Slauson said there were at least two ugly incidents involving Suh and other players during practice at Nebraska that Slauson witnessed but that went unreported. Slauson said “I prefer not to say” when asked if those two practice incidents involved Suh stomping on teammates' limbs or similar cheap shots. As a result of those acts and Suh’s generally unpredictable temper, Slauson said Suh wasn’t popular at all with his college teammates.

“He was well-respected for his ability, but everybody kind of knew who he was,” Slauson said. “He wasn’t well-liked.”

Peter went on to refer to Slauson as a “slob” for throwing Suh under the bus for leaking in-house matters in public. Preaching trust and brotherhood is all well and good but it ignores the fact that Suh’s actions have been flat out asinine.

Peter also added that head coach Bo Pelini’s idea of rotating captains is a bad idea that needs to go. That point I could not agree with more. You need vocal leaders among players because eventually the coach preaching the same message becomes stale. Whereas, if a peer preaches the same message as the coach, then the coach’s message carries much more weight. I don’t necessary think it has to be a senior because having four years in the program should guarantee nothing but it should at least be a junior. The point of the matter is that for anyone player to develop into a leader, he needs to be able to settle into that role.

Peter also alluded to the fact that it was time for sophomore quarterback Taylor Martinez to grow up and do things like go to press conferences and actually answer questions. Kugler and Fiala, however, defended Martinez saying that he has improved in that area this year. I see the merits of both because while Martinez has improved, he is not where he needs to be. However, the question begs, with Martinez’s aloof personality, how media savvy will he ever be?

On one hand, I’m all for the wisdom of lending an ear to the 90’s crew. They were a special breed of warrior who could teach today’s lightweights a thing or three about focus, brotherhood, sacrifice, effort and love for the game. It’s pretty hard to dispute the results of the '93-'97 run of a 60-3 record.
Kugler/Fiala and Peter, however, are in two different positions. The former knows they can’t articulate their points like Peter because it’s not their personality and they risk losing their job, thus distancing themselves from the coaching staff. Peter, however, has more latitude because he is a guest host and there are still large factions of fans that remember his contributions as a player. He never has sugar coated anything 15 years ago, so why start now.
What I was really surprised by is Peter advocating for Charlie McBride to come back and coach the defensive line. Peter said that McBride has had his knees done and is willing to come back and “light a fire under the d-line.” I have nothing but respect for McBride’s contributions in his 23 years (18 as a defensive coordinator) on the Nebraska coaching staff but he last coached in 1999.
What the Peters and Bennings of the world need to realize is that we're in a different era in college football now. True, the team that blocks and tackles better wins more often than not but teams can’t give out 500 scholarships and hoard all the good players.
I seem to recall that a certain football coach is now our athletic director, namely. If he thinks the Pelini Regime is so radically inferior to the mid-90's squads, he’d make a move. I’m not saying he’d fire Pelini but he’d probably offer some “strong suggestions.”
Peter and Benning have earned the right as a former player to make comments. However, I also believe that things that happened 15-20 years ago really have no bearing on today. Way too much has changed especially the player them self. No different than when you hear your father say “when I was a kid.” It doesn’t matter if it was your father or your grandfather or his father, times change. You may be hard pressed to find any business that does things the same today as they did 20 years ago.

Bo's bluntness

It doesn’t quite rival Jim Mora, Dennis Green or Mike Ditka. It does not come close to rivaling former Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan, who when coaching the Oakland Raiders referred to them as “We’ve got to be the dumbest team in America in terms of playing the game,” after a 22-8 loss to the Denver Broncos.

However, current Husker head coach Bo Pelini has been known to be on the surly side with the media at various times after Nebraska has a subpar practice. One of those days was Wednesday, August 26, in which Pelini publicly chided the team’s performance in practice as the team continues preparation for its season opener on Sept. 5 at home against Florida Atlantic.

“Unsportsmanlike Conduct,” which is hosted by Kevin Kugler and Mike’L Severe on Omaha radio station 1620 AM KOZN, played the unedited version of Pelini’s post-practice briefing with local media:

Pelini: “We're just not a real good football team right now. For a lot of reasons.”

So what about the offensive line competition?
Pelini: “No one's stepped up and taken control. Bunch of average guys running around out there right now.''

Is it a matter of losing focus toward the end of practice?

Pelini: “It doesn't matter whether it's the beginning, end, middle. It doesn't really matter, does it?''

Do they get it?

Pelini: “Apparently not.''

Did he say anything after practice to let them know?

Pelini: “What do you think?''

Of course, it should also be dually noted that players and fellow assistant coaches also echoed Pelini’s sentiments on the team’s subpar practice. Thursday’s effort was much better: http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=1&SPID=22&ATCLID=204782705&DB_OEM_ID=100

Nebraska Statepaper Husker beat writer Samuel McKewon, one of my former Daily Nebraskan cohorts, addressed Pelini’s personality with the media: http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2009/08/27/4a96aa2938b68

As one who works as a sports reporter/photographer myself for two small-town weeklies in Northern California (St. Helena Star and Weekly Calistogan), I know what media members go through. I have also had the experience of covering pro and college sports, which has a massive volume of people covering the team daily. So much so that you lose that intimacy with the players and coaches.

In general, I like Pelini’s honesty and forthright personality. That’s where he is a refreshing change. Granted, Frank Solich was not the most well-spoken coach. Callahan was but what did that get him other than a 27-22 record and a ticket out of town?

Pelini is who he is. Nebraska knew that when they hired him. There’s no turning back.
Pelini, however, needs to realize that no coach wins when he gets cross with the media. There are too damn many of them and they feed off each other. One little soundbite can reverberate for years.

In general, I think what McKewon is trying to get across is that you can't judge Pelini's interactions with the media simply by the soundbites that come when he's fired up. The press is getting a great deal of info regarding what's going on inside the team, it's just not all rhetoric from the head coach. Pelini gives an honest opinion, and allows the assistants and players to speak freely. Believe me; I understand that it is better than Callahan and/or Pederson blowing sunshine, then wheel out the coaches and players to speak from a script.

However, as the head coach, Pelini needs to understand that part of the job is being the front man for the media. It’s not like the local media had printed negative stories on the program. Granted, printing the stories on running back Quentin Castille’s suspension for what Pelini indicated was a “clear violation of team rules,” was not a pleasant topic but I think the media as a whole supported Pelini’s decision.

In a nutshell, I’m completely on board with Pelini venting after the team has a practice that does not please him. After all, it’s part of his way of letting players know that they need to earn their keep.

He just needs to realize that even if he is pissed off, part of his job is to answer questions at least respectfully. After all, we are talking Lincoln, Nebraska, media – not the New York Times.

It’s a matter of balancing being tough without being surly.

Good riddance Matt Perrault. Exit stage left

According to a report on omahacityweekly.com, KXSP-590 AM sports talk show host Matt Perrault will be leaving his post at the end of the month.

It’s never a joyous occasion when someone loses their job. Trust me, I’ve been there. However, to Perrault, I say good riddance.

Given that his show had reportedly dipped near the bottom of Omaha radio station ratings with the exception of during Creighton basketball season, I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that he is gone. Of course, I have not heard the “how” part (dismissal or resignation) of Perrault’s departure.

As a 1997 University of Nebraska alum in Northern California, I frequently keep up on Husker news via the internet whether it is the newspaper’s internet site, fan blogs and podcasts.

I even decided to start my own fan blog for recreational purposes to go along with my full-time job as a sports reporter and photographer for two weekly newspapers (St. Helena Star and Weekly Calistogan) in Northern California. The blog is primarily about Husker football but I will touch on other topics when the spirit moves.

Anyhow, just a little more than a year ago, my wife and I got a computer that was compatible with the podcasts of Perrault’s show along with Unsportsmanlike Conduct (hosted by Kevin Kugler and Mike’L Severe) and Sports Nightly (hosted by Lane Grindle). Well, since I know Kugler personally having worked with him when I lived in Nebraska, I knew I would likely gravitate toward his show but wanted to keep an open mind.

I generally enjoy listening to Grindle but after a week of listening to Perrault, I personally wanted to stick my head in an oven. In a nutshell, I stopped listening to Perrault entirely and have primarily listened to Unsportsmanlike Conduct and Sports Nightly.

Based on reading some message boards, Perrault was often criticized for being a “Creighton homer/anti-Husker” in a state that is Husker dominated. Granted, Nebraska and Creighton fans have some condescension for each other but let’s be honest – we’re not talking North Carolina-Duke or Auburn-Alabama here.

Personally, I didn’t have a huge problem with his promoting Creighton. After all, one key to having a good product is offering someone something that cannot get anywhere else. Plus, sports 590 AM airs Creighton broadcasts.

My biggest issues with Perrault were that he came off as an arrogant pipsqueak who belongs in a fraternity. Perrault, who is from the Boston area, also shoved his love for Boston teams (i.e. the Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots) down our unwanting throats. OK, we all have our favorite pro sports teams. I get that. We often refer to them as “we.” Again, I get that. However, this is not Boston. People in Nebraska do not tune in to your show to hear about the Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics and Patriots.

In the meantime, I’ll keep listening to Kugler. Keep up the good work, Kevin.