I usually root for the Big Ten... but payback's a bitch on the Hail Mary
- Thread starter Grafcat
- Start date
As I just posted on another thread, I was out helping a Boy Scout with his Eagle Project when his dad came up to me to tell me that there was 1 second left in the Nebraska-BYU game and that it would be a 60 some yard field goal as BYU's only hope. I said no, poetic justice requires that they go for the Hail Mary.
Usually do as well (since makes the 'Cats conf. record look better), but had a nice chuckle.
Really, don't understand why so many coaches continually send only 3 - giving the QB plenty of time to set up and for the receivers to get into the end zone, esp. w/ hardly any time left on the clock.
Really, don't understand why so many coaches continually send only 3 - giving the QB plenty of time to set up and for the receivers to get into the end zone, esp. w/ hardly any time left on the clock.
I hate hail marys. Usually means the real loser stole the win. You guys were the better team and deserved the win in Lincoln a few years back.
This loss was cheap, just like our win a few years back.
And btw, what a win for you guys. You are the real deal this year. You wouldve been the last few as well if it werent for the cheap losses (ala us and mich and etc) and your horrific injury problems.
This loss was cheap, just like our win a few years back.
And btw, what a win for you guys. You are the real deal this year. You wouldve been the last few as well if it werent for the cheap losses (ala us and mich and etc) and your horrific injury problems.
Last edited:
A bad day all around for the Big Ten yesterday (ahem, with one notable exception). I don't bear any ill will towards Nebraska but like many other Northwestern fans, I'm sure, I was a little bit giddy with the BYU finish.
Great to see it happen to UNL and BTW, I never root for any other Big Ten programs to win in non-conference games. Simply because every loss by them increases NU's chance at a better bowl game for the Cats.
I am almost always conflicted when conference teams play OOC since I remember every painful loss we ensure in conference...yesterday played out well for Northwestern because we were the very bright spot on a relatively dark day for the Big Ten - but I walked into a bar last night with my Northwestern shirt on and was greeted with a hero's welcome by some Wisconsin and Michigan fans, like I myself had played in the game. In general I want the conference to look great because we benefit from that in the long-run, and in theory, I want every B1G team to look like an undefeated monster until they play us...otherwise we look like winners in a "down year for the conference." And...bowl games be damned - yes, I absolutely want to go to one but as a fan I will happily go to San Diego, or San Francisco, or Tampa, or Orlando, or Nashville all the same...especially now that Houston is off the table.
Naah. Just ask the posters around here. The losses were 100% due to the coaches, and nothing else (sarcasm alert)
Guess we will agree to disagree. Bowl game should be the final reward for a good season and the more the likes of Wisconsin, Penn St., Michigan and Nebraska lose the better it is for NU. Can I ask, how does NU benefit when the other conference foes win out?
I am almost always conflicted when conference teams play OOC since I remember every painful loss we ensure in conference...yesterday played out well for Northwestern because we were the very bright spot on a relatively dark day for the Big Ten - but I walked into a bar last night with my Northwestern shirt on and was greeted with a hero's welcome by some Wisconsin and Michigan fans, like I myself had played in the game. In general I want the conference to look great because we benefit from that in the long-run, and in theory, I want every B1G team to look like an undefeated monster until they play us...otherwise we look like winners in a "down year for the conference." And...bowl games be damned - yes, I absolutely want to go to one but as a fan I will happily go to San Diego, or San Francisco, or Tampa, or Orlando, or Nashville all the same...especially now that Houston is off the table.[/QUOTE]
As a long-time Houstonian, I think it a shame that our town is so disliked by you. We'd like to have a chance to redeem ourselves.
Funnily enough, I had the same experience yesterday afternoon in Houston. I'd attended a small Cats watch party and gone downtown on other business till wearing an NU shirt. There were a good many fans of ASU as well as, of course, Texas A & M hanging around until their game last evening. At least a dozen persons separately spotted my shirt and offered seemingly sincere greetings to an elderly stranger: "Nice game," "Great win," "Way to go," etc. It was a reminder that victory has many admirers, but also amusing that surely they realized I hadn't blocked or tackled anyone the whole day. Or for several decades, for that matter.
As a long-time Houstonian, I think it a shame that our town is so disliked by you. We'd like to have a chance to redeem ourselves.
Funnily enough, I had the same experience yesterday afternoon in Houston. I'd attended a small Cats watch party and gone downtown on other business till wearing an NU shirt. There were a good many fans of ASU as well as, of course, Texas A & M hanging around until their game last evening. At least a dozen persons separately spotted my shirt and offered seemingly sincere greetings to an elderly stranger: "Nice game," "Great win," "Way to go," etc. It was a reminder that victory has many admirers, but also amusing that surely they realized I hadn't blocked or tackled anyone the whole day. Or for several decades, for that matter.
If the 'Cats finish as B1G champions (not saying this is the year) but w/ 1 loss and is battling several other 1-loss teams from other conferences for a spot in the CFP.
USC probably would have had a couple more national championships under Carroll if their 1-loss seasons looked better to the pollsters; but they didn't get the benefit of the doubt like 'Bama due to how the 2 conferences were viewed.
I walked into Ballpark Village after the Cards-Pirates game just in time to see the Hail Mary on the giant screen there. Hundreds of anti-Nebraska fans went nuts as the Huskers went down to defeat. BTW it was a heckuva day for the Mangum family yesterday. Tanner was the freshman QB who tossed the game-winning pass, and his brother Madison caught three TDs for Idaho State, including a Beckham-like one-handed grab that was the No. 2 play of the day on ESPN. No. 1? Tanner's Hail Mary, of course.
Some cities are very good to visit. There are lots of things to do. The tourist areas are geographically centered and you can park your car once and spend the rest of the trip on foot. And the people are accustomed to tourists and visitors and make allowances (and appreciate the dollars into the local economy). I live in Nashville and we tend to get very good reviews from bowl visitors for these reasons.
My brother lives in Houston and I have visited there many times. Y'all don't have any of those things. Looking for something to do for the week-end of the game is confusing. (Galveston, maybe?) Traffic is dreadful and the people definitely do not have a tourist town vibe. I went to the bowl game in Houston and even having family there we ended up driving all over trying to find different things to do to kill time over the week-end.
Well...it WAS a win. A lucky win, not necessarily a "good" win, but a win nevertheless.
By your criteria, BYU should consider themselves the "loser" of their game against the Huskers. Wow, Nebraska is 1-0...who'd of known?
Fortunately for the BIG this year, we have the defending National Champion. As such, it will likely blunt many of the attacks on the conference for poor OOC performance.
Nebraska is my second favorite NU. Go to a game in Lincoln and you will root for both NUs in the future. Nebraska's fans are the best. If NU can't win the West then I hope NU does
Finally got a chance to watch a replay of the last ten minutes of the Nebraska-BYU game. Learned the wind was against BYU in the 4th quarter and that their kicker was known to be accurate but not have the leg to go anywhere close to even 50 yards. Sure that made the Hail Mary decision easier.
Lots of criticism in the ABC post game about Nebraska using two time outs before the final play allowing BYU to get set up for their Hail Mary as well. The contrary opinion was that the Nebraska coaches needed the time to impress upon their defenders to "Don't try to catch it, don't tip it, just bat the ball down" which of course they didn't end up doing anyway.
Trying to remember if we gave Nebraska any gift time outs for their Hail Mary play against us and whether our coaches gave a similar instruction that was arguably also disregarded in the heat of the moment?
I don't think you're going to change his mind on the matter, WildcatWillie. I understand to some extent people finding Houston boring as a bowl destination - our economy isn't focused on tourism like so many others that host bowl games - but I don't really understand his overall antipathy to the city itself. It's a very livable city filled with many nice people.
Did you end up going to the Live Oak Bar and Grill for the game watching on Saturday? I think that place was picked late in the week. Not sure if the group will be there the rest of the season. I need to get your email address at some point. You're still going to Evanston this Saturday for the EIU game? If so, I'm sure I'll see you around at the game or at the tailgates, and I can get your info there.
I was in San Antonio over the weekend and thought about it as a tourist and bowl destination as compared to Houston. First of all, it's a smaller city, and it has the riverwalk, with the Alamodome within walking distance. That's a nice setup. San Antonio also has SeaWorld (I took my son there yesterday) and a Six Flags amusement park. It's an easy city to visit for 3-4 days and have a really good time. I agree that Houston doesn't have things readily laid out for tourists like that. But Houston has a better restaurant scene, if that's what you're looking for, and a wider variety of high-quality museums. If you want to sit by the riverwalk and drink a margarita, then San Antonio's your place. If you want to hit up all the theme parks, then head for Orlando. Houston's not Orlando or San Antonio, and that's fine with me.
San Antonio is a nice city to visit and laid out well. After the second bowl visit, we did begin to run out of things to do that we did not do on the first trip.
NU Houston said: I don't think you're going to change his mind on the matter, WildcatWillie. I understand to some extent people finding Houston boring as a bowl destination - our economy isn't focused on tourism like so many others that host bowl games - but I don't really understand his overall antipathy to the city itself. It's a very livable city filled with many nice people.
Did you end up going to the Live Oak Bar and Grill for the game watching on Saturday? I think that place was picked late in the week. Not sure if the group will be there the rest of the season. I need to get your email address at some point. You're still going to Evanston this Saturday for the EIU game? If so, I'm sure I'll see you around at the game or at the tailgates, and I can get your info there.
Yeah, I get it that no destination's attractions are going to satisfy everyone. My spouse and I are somewhat culture vultures, for instance, and find the clustering in Houston's Museum District and in downtown's Theatre District to be very visitor-friendly. The restaurant scene seems wildly more interesting now too than in past -- though that can probably be said of a number of cities. But folks look for different things, and oddly sometimes selectively expose themselves to the very things that turn them off, and avoid seeking satisfaction. We're very much looking forward to this weekend in Chicago-Evanston but if so disposed we could find reasons to dislike the place.
NU people can be a different breed of sports fan, as we all know. A favorite memory from the Sun Bowl against UCLA (certainly not the late onside kicks or final score!) is that early on game day frau and I found ourselves making a brief visit to the El Paso Art Museum. It wasn't heavily attended that morning, but darned if we didn't see there at least 10-12 persons of varying ages wearing identifiable Wildcats apparel. Not a single individual in the museum that day appeared to be fan-affiliated with the Bruins, however. Now of course many sports buffs would use that observation to buttress their impression of NU as home of the nerds, but I would contend that is additional evidence that the university attracts and develops supporters with a wider range of passions -- and probably like you, I wouldn't have it any other way.
As to Saturday at the Live Oak Bar and Grill -- yes, I was there. Turned out of course to be a changeable weather day, and twice during storms the satellite signal went out for minutes at a time and we were forced to hear updating shouts from people following play action on their phones. The downside later this fall, I understand, is that at least now the Live Oak's satellite package doesn't include the Big 10 Network. Not being particularly a sports bar, that lack probably doesn't cost them much business overall, but for a regular Cats viewing spot it's a real detriment.
My e-address: bpogue2010 at yahoo.com. Hope to see you Saturday.
Did you end up going to the Live Oak Bar and Grill for the game watching on Saturday? I think that place was picked late in the week. Not sure if the group will be there the rest of the season. I need to get your email address at some point. You're still going to Evanston this Saturday for the EIU game? If so, I'm sure I'll see you around at the game or at the tailgates, and I can get your info there.
Yeah, I get it that no destination's attractions are going to satisfy everyone. My spouse and I are somewhat culture vultures, for instance, and find the clustering in Houston's Museum District and in downtown's Theatre District to be very visitor-friendly. The restaurant scene seems wildly more interesting now too than in past -- though that can probably be said of a number of cities. But folks look for different things, and oddly sometimes selectively expose themselves to the very things that turn them off, and avoid seeking satisfaction. We're very much looking forward to this weekend in Chicago-Evanston but if so disposed we could find reasons to dislike the place.
NU people can be a different breed of sports fan, as we all know. A favorite memory from the Sun Bowl against UCLA (certainly not the late onside kicks or final score!) is that early on game day frau and I found ourselves making a brief visit to the El Paso Art Museum. It wasn't heavily attended that morning, but darned if we didn't see there at least 10-12 persons of varying ages wearing identifiable Wildcats apparel. Not a single individual in the museum that day appeared to be fan-affiliated with the Bruins, however. Now of course many sports buffs would use that observation to buttress their impression of NU as home of the nerds, but I would contend that is additional evidence that the university attracts and develops supporters with a wider range of passions -- and probably like you, I wouldn't have it any other way.
As to Saturday at the Live Oak Bar and Grill -- yes, I was there. Turned out of course to be a changeable weather day, and twice during storms the satellite signal went out for minutes at a time and we were forced to hear updating shouts from people following play action on their phones. The downside later this fall, I understand, is that at least now the Live Oak's satellite package doesn't include the Big 10 Network. Not being particularly a sports bar, that lack probably doesn't cost them much business overall, but for a regular Cats viewing spot it's a real detriment.
My e-address: bpogue2010 at yahoo.com. Hope to see you Saturday.
Outside of Penn State, I can't think of one OOC loss where the B1G was a clear favorite, other than probably Nebraska, and they are largely an unknown quantity. Indiana and Purdue certainly look as if they'll have their problems. The B1G won't be strong overall until Penn State and Michigan get beyond mediocrity, and it doesn't look as if that will be this year judging by the first week's results. Harbaugh appears to have the better chance to bring home some wins.
