Nebraska...not feeling Frosty anymore

[entropy]

Update on my bar top for my tailgate vehicle. My cousin has done a great job.

[entropy]

Darin Erstad moves past the major-league life

First-year volunteer baseball coach Darin Erstad, in charge of the Nebraska offense, was recently asked by a fan about the team's struggles scoring runs.

"Bad hitting coach," Erstad reasoned.

Erstad's 3-year-old son, Zack, who has no recollection of his dad's 14-year major-league career, happened to catch that lighthearted exchange and, apparently, it resonated with him.

Not long after, the little guy wasn't asking for a bedtime story. Instead, "I get, 'Daddy, you're a bad coacher,'" Erstad recalls with a wide grin.

Ouch. And he thought fans could be overly critical.

But here's the thing. Though Erstad seems to have found something that could lead to a rewarding new career, he's still coming to grips with not creating fan interest showing the skills that led to him being an All-American for the Huskers and the first pick in the 1995 MLB Draft.

And it's been a year and a half since he retired as one of the game's more respected players.

"It sure is an adjustment. I'm still in the middle of it," Erstad said last week. "Not a day goes by where I don't think about playing."

Make no mistake that Erstad fully understands his major-league career lasted well beyond the average. He also knows how lucky he is to have tasted something most players don't -- a World Series championship (in 2002 with the Anaheim Angels).

But when you're known as a guy who was a model for playing the game hard, and regularly had production that matched your zeal, you can have all the common sense in the world and still face a tough transition.

"There's not many, as far as a happy ending," Erstad said. "There's a time when the body doesn't hold up and you move on, but (the desire to play is) still there."

Erstad played 11 years with the Angels, one with the Chicago White Sox and two with Houston before retiring at the end of the 2009 season.

The Jamestown, N.D., native was a 13th-round draft pick out of high school, but in three seasons at Nebraska, developed into the most coveted prospect.

It's the experiences he had and relationships he developed in Lincoln that made Erstad want to return one day.

Having maintained ties to the area and being longtime season ticket-holders for Husker football games, he and wife Jessica, a Nebraska graduate, donated $1 million to the Memorial Stadium improvement project in 2004. The couple bought a home in Lincoln in 2008.

Considering Erstad turned down offers to coach at the professional level, mainly because he wanted Lincoln to be home for a family that also includes 4-year-old daughter Jordan and 1-year-old son Adam, the family might never leave again.

If that proves to be the case, nobody would be happier than Nebraska coach Mike Anderson, who was a first-year assistant at NU in 1995 when Erstad was busy wowing major-league scouts.

Sixteen years later, Erstad no longer has to prove himself as a player, but is still very much looking to excel.

"I've known Darin for quite a while and watched his entire career -- I don't know if I ever saw him take it easy," Anderson said. "He's got a strong passion about baseball, his kids, his family. That's not going to change because he stopped playing."

Reach Curt McKeever at 402-473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.

http://huskerextra.com/sports/baseball/article_bbb94d5f-6e2c-5ab1-9277-c273acc83b3c.html

[lineygoblue]

Is that someone we know, Ent?

[entropy]

Is that someone we know, Ent?

who are you talking about?

[lineygoblue]

Darin Erstad just sounds like a very familiar name to me.

[entropy]

He played baseball and football at UNL in the early 90's. He was the punter for UNL's 1994 NC team, but he also kicked long FG's earlier in his career. In baseball, he was a very good hitter, especially as a senior where he had a .410 season average. He was drafted the angels and started on their 2002 World Series team. He is the only player in history to win gold gloves in both the outfield and infield. 14 years in the majors is pretty good.

I think it is a pretty telling statement that guys like Darin come back to Lincoln to help the University.

[entropy]

LJS

Hands down, Nebraska's baseball team suffered its toughest loss of the season at Texas Tech Sunday.

In addition to dropping a series-deciding game 3-0, the Huskers lost third baseman and three-hole hitter Cody Asche to a concussion in the fifth inning.

Asche was hurt on a collision near third base with Tech's Jamrodrick McGruder, who had walked and was advancing on an infield single by Barrett Barnes. Asche had taken a throw from first baseman Kurt Farmer as McGruder barreled into him.

The game was delayed for 16 minutes as Asche was attended to and eventually removed from the field on a stretcher. He was taken to a local hospital but later released and allowed to return to Lincoln with the team.

"I thought Cody had a right to catch the baseball. That's pretty disappointing a play like that would happen," Nebraska coach Mike Anderson said.

McGruder would go on to score the Red Raiders' third run, which proved to be icing, as Texas Tech's Robbie Kilcrease and David Paiz combined on a five-hit shutout.

Sunday's outcome marked the third time this season NU has been blanked. The last time that had happened was in 1994.

The left-handed junior Kilcrease allowed all of the hits in 7 1/3 innings, only one after the third inning.

That one came in the sixth, when Kash Kalkowski led off with a double before moving to third on a throwing error that left runners at the corners. Kalkowski then tagged up on a pop out by Chad Christensen that the second baseman McGruder caught in shallow right field. But the Red Raiders appealed that Kalkowski left too early and he was called out.

"He went on a verbal, and from my standpoint I'm obviously right there and I'm giving Kash the verbal," Anderson said. "I thought Kash did a good job."

In the first inning, Kilcrease (3-0) escaped a bases-loaded jam, and he got out of a two-on situation in the third.

Tech, which got four hits and five walks in five innings off Jon Keller (2-2), scored the only run it would need in the second when Bo Altobelli led off with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice and scored on Reid Redmon's fly out to left field.

The Red Raiders (17-8, 4-2) went up 2-0 in the fourth when Stephen Hagen walked and scored on a double by Paiz.

Nebraska (17-9, 1-2) returns to action with a home game against Doane College on Wednesday, the plays host to Oklahoma State in a three-game weekend series.

"Got to get our kids backed pumped up and going," Anderson said. "Put a zero up (after scoring 23 runs in the first two games), that's not very inspiring."

[entropy]

and nebraska baseball starts sliding again. We have some of the best facilities and when Nebraska had it's previous coach, it was standing room only. No excuse for what this current HC is putting on the field.

[entropy]

By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Sunday, March 27, 2011 11:45 pm

With the students gone on spring break, the men with chain saws showed up last week in an effort to clear more than 40 trees standing on ground that will soon be occupied by a bigger and more plush Memorial Stadium.

It served reminder that expansion to East Stadium is just around the corner, with construction scheduled to begin this spring on a project that will add approximately 6,000 seats to the 88-year-old stadium.

The Board of Regents on March 11 approved a plan that increased the original project by roughly 1,000 seats and added five additional skybox suites.

As for what that revised proposal means to construction plans, John Ingram, Nebraska associate athletic director for capital planning and construction, said it doesn't change them drastically.

"Originally the new club seats were just going to be an extension of the existing (East) balcony," Ingram said. "So basically what we decided to do is just lift that up a floor and create another level with a view to the field. So we didn't substantially add to the project. We just lifted those seats up in the air to give us some more opportunities for future development in behind the existing balcony."

If trying to form a mental picture of what the expansion will have Memorial Stadium looking like, the athletic department offers a brief example in the middle of a video at www.expandtheirexperience.com. The website details the various construction projects the athletic department is taking on.

The original plan for East Stadium expansion was to add about 5,000 seats and 31 skybox suites. Now, after the decision to expand even further, Ingram said it allows even more flexibility.

"With the east side we have the opportunity to make the building wider so it's not just straight up and down like the west side. We were forced to do that because of Stadium Drive," Ingram said.

But the east side allows more "elbow room" to potentially add more club seats, suites or any number of things in the future.

The new expansion plan upped the cost of the project from $55 million to $63.5 million, with funding coming from private donations and bond proceedings.

Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne originally announced his plans for expansion in October after the athletic department conducted surveys showing high interest in adding more seats.

"If demand was soft and people didn't want the seats, we wouldn't do it," Osborne said then.

All told, the expansion plan adds about 3,000 general admission seats, 2,000 club seats, and more than 1,000 skybox seats, which could put gameday attendance close to 92,000 when the project is completed for the 2013 season.

Ingram said the East Stadium should ultimately be about the same height as the West Stadium, which has seven floors after major renovation in 1999.

"I think it completes the stadium," Ingram said. "It's going to feel more intimate I believe. I think with those folks on the east side, opposing teams are going to feel like the fans are right on top of them."

There's been no hesitation in adding to a structure that's been around since 1923.

Ingram said the athletic department annually hires a renowned engineering firm to perform structure analysis of the stadium.

"And from what I've heard since 1993 when I've started is the stadium can last as long as you want it to last," Ingram said. "So we continue to dedicate ourselves and invest in structural repairs. Our No. 1 goal is to make sure fans are safe on gameday. So we do whatever it takes to make sure that happens."

Since there was a collapse in Section 14 of the stadium in the summer of 1993, Ingram said the athletic department has probably invested around $25 million in annual inspections, waterproofing and concrete repairs to make sure the stadium is a safe setting.

While the stadium expansion project is one of Ingram's main priorities these days, he's got plenty else to monitor.

-- There's the building of the Hendricks Training Complex that will aid the basketball teams and wresting teams. It's scheduled to be completed prior to the upcoming basketball season.

-- There's the Haymarket Park indoor practice facility for the baseball and softball teams. To be completed in September.

-- There's the Devaney Center renovation so that the volleyball team can play there. Construction on that could begin next year.

Busy days? Yes. Fun days? Yes.

"To carry out Tom's vision makes it a very exciting time," Ingram said. "He's a visionary. And I'm sure before he decides to leave, he wants to make sure that athletics and the foundation is set for the future."

Reach Brian Christopherson at bchristopherson@journalstar.com or 402-473-7439.

[entropy]

By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Sunday, March 27, 2011 11:45 pm

With the students gone on spring break, the men with chain saws showed up last week in an effort to clear more than 40 trees standing on ground that will soon be occupied by a bigger and more plush Memorial Stadium.

It served reminder that expansion to East Stadium is just around the corner, with construction scheduled to begin this spring on a project that will add approximately 6,000 seats to the 88-year-old stadium.

The Board of Regents on March 11 approved a plan that increased the original project by roughly 1,000 seats and added five additional skybox suites.

As for what that revised proposal means to construction plans, John Ingram, Nebraska associate athletic director for capital planning and construction, said it doesn't change them drastically.

"Originally the new club seats were just going to be an extension of the existing (East) balcony," Ingram said. "So basically what we decided to do is just lift that up a floor and create another level with a view to the field. So we didn't substantially add to the project. We just lifted those seats up in the air to give us some more opportunities for future development in behind the existing balcony."

If trying to form a mental picture of what the expansion will have Memorial Stadium looking like, the athletic department offers a brief example in the middle of a video at www.expandtheirexperience.com. The website details the various construction projects the athletic department is taking on.

The original plan for East Stadium expansion was to add about 5,000 seats and 31 skybox suites. Now, after the decision to expand even further, Ingram said it allows even more flexibility.

"With the east side we have the opportunity to make the building wider so it's not just straight up and down like the west side. We were forced to do that because of Stadium Drive," Ingram said.

But the east side allows more "elbow room" to potentially add more club seats, suites or any number of things in the future.

The new expansion plan upped the cost of the project from $55 million to $63.5 million, with funding coming from private donations and bond proceedings.

Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne originally announced his plans for expansion in October after the athletic department conducted surveys showing high interest in adding more seats.

"If demand was soft and people didn't want the seats, we wouldn't do it," Osborne said then.

All told, the expansion plan adds about 3,000 general admission seats, 2,000 club seats, and more than 1,000 skybox seats, which could put gameday attendance close to 92,000 when the project is completed for the 2013 season.

Ingram said the East Stadium should ultimately be about the same height as the West Stadium, which has seven floors after major renovation in 1999.

"I think it completes the stadium," Ingram said. "It's going to feel more intimate I believe. I think with those folks on the east side, opposing teams are going to feel like the fans are right on top of them."

There's been no hesitation in adding to a structure that's been around since 1923.

Ingram said the athletic department annually hires a renowned engineering firm to perform structure analysis of the stadium.

"And from what I've heard since 1993 when I've started is the stadium can last as long as you want it to last," Ingram said. "So we continue to dedicate ourselves and invest in structural repairs. Our No. 1 goal is to make sure fans are safe on gameday. So we do whatever it takes to make sure that happens."

Since there was a collapse in Section 14 of the stadium in the summer of 1993, Ingram said the athletic department has probably invested around $25 million in annual inspections, waterproofing and concrete repairs to make sure the stadium is a safe setting.

While the stadium expansion project is one of Ingram's main priorities these days, he's got plenty else to monitor.

-- There's the building of the Hendricks Training Complex that will aid the basketball teams and wresting teams. It's scheduled to be completed prior to the upcoming basketball season.

-- There's the Haymarket Park indoor practice facility for the baseball and softball teams. To be completed in September.

-- There's the Devaney Center renovation so that the volleyball team can play there. Construction on that could begin next year.

Busy days? Yes. Fun days? Yes.

"To carry out Tom's vision makes it a very exciting time," Ingram said. "He's a visionary. And I'm sure before he decides to leave, he wants to make sure that athletics and the foundation is set for the future."

Reach Brian Christopherson at bchristopherson@journalstar.com or 402-473-7439.

[entropy]

VB is not only moving to the devaney center but there will be added luxury boxes and 2000 seats. It will end up a volleyball/wrestling only arena.

[nhwbrooklyn]

Dakich says Doc’s style suits Big Ten
COLLEGE BASKETBALL

http://www.theindependent.com/articles/2011/03/26/sports/huskers_hq/doc4d8ebbcb25ded337831871.txt

By Lee Barfknecht
World-Herald News Service
Published: Saturday, March 26, 2011 11:24 PM CDT
LINCOLN — Will Nebraska basketball, as coached by Doc Sadler, fit into the Big Ten Conference?

A national championship coach who spent three seasons in the Big Ten says yes.

Another thumbs up comes from a former Big Ten player and longtime assistant in the league under Hall of Famer Bob Knight.


Neither of those men interviewed — Kansas coach Bill Self nor ESPN analyst Dan Dakich — said Nebraska’s transition from the Big 12 will be easy.

“To win the Big Ten, you better have some pros,” said Dakich, who played and coached at Indiana for 16 years. “It’s like every other league in that regard. You aren’t fooling anybody.”

But both said Sadler’s clog-the-lane defensive approach and take-the-fast-break-when-it’s-there offense are tailored for the Big Ten.

“It’s a Big Ten game anyway when we play Doc,” said Self, who went 78-24 at Illinois. “I don’t think he’ll have to adjust much at all.

“When I first got there, the league had a reputation for playing slow. It’s not near like that now, but it’s still a possession league. More games come down to the last minute in that league because there are fewer possessions.”

Dakich said he believes the Big Ten is tops nationally in scouting and game-planning for league opponents.

“Doc does that, so that’s a fit,” Dakich said. “It’s not an up-and-down league in most cases, although Ohio State and Michigan State will get out and go. Doc’s style fits that.

“And geographically it’s a good fit.”

Yet there are questions about whether Nebraska’s style is too close a fit for the Big Ten.

Eric Heft is an Ohio native who played basketball at Iowa State in the early 1970s, and now is in his 32nd year as a Cyclone basketball broadcaster.

He noted that programs without dominant talent sometimes “need to play differently” to succeed, meaning your style creates matchup problems for other teams or is unusual enough to cause woes in preparation.

“If the other teams in your league are doing the same things you are and have better players doing them, then what happens?” Heft asked.

Dakich said that’s a legitimate point.

“I understand the thought, but I think Doc’s style is so solid that it’s going to be successful,” Dakich said. “When you play good defense, play close games and have a point guard who takes care of the ball, it translates to the Big Ten.”

For now, Sadler is playing coy about his new league brethren.

“I didn’t watch any during the season,” he said. “I couldn’t tell you much of anything about it, other than Ohio State won it. I have no idea about Northwestern or Penn State or Wisconsin or Michigan. I don’t know enough about it.”

Statistically, Nebraska’s numbers from 2010-11 would have fit into the Big Ten rankings in almost identical places to the Big 12’s. Some examples:

n Scoring defense (60.5): first in Big 12, third in Big Ten.

n Scoring offense (66.4): 11th in both leagues.

n Field-goal defense (38.9 percent): second in Big 12, first in Big Ten.

n Field-goal shooting (46.1 percent): fourth in Big 12, tied for third in Big Ten.

n 3-point shooting (31.4 percent): 11th in Big 12, tied for 10th in Big Ten.

“Everybody talks that it’s going to be a grinding league,” Sadler said. “The scores make it look like that.

“I don’t know if the defense is better overall. But I remember watching Michigan State in the past and those dudes got it up and down the court as fast as anybody in the country.”

One thing Sadler has learned about the Big Ten from the coaching fraternity is the power of playing at home.

“They all tell me the home courts are phenomenal,” he said. “In the Big 12, there are a lot of half-empty arenas.”

[entropy]

Martinez meets the media

Posted by: Brian Christopherson on March 28, 2011 at 7:05PM CST

After a 12-day layoff the Huskers resumed spring practices on Monday.

The biggest news of the day: Sophomore quarterback Taylor Martinez spoke in his first post-practice interview.

"I'm a lot more comfortable," Martinez said of his role this year. "Since last year since Zac (Lee) was a senior, I didn't want to feel like I was overtaking him."

Asked what steps he's taken as a leader, he said: "I've always been the same leader. I don't really go up and slap (people) on the butt and stuff. I show it more on the field."

No Husker has been under the microscope more than Martinez. The quarterback said he does his best to tune out whatever opinions are said about his play.

"I don't really go and watch TV or listen to stuff that you guys write or other people write," Martinez said. "I got some criticism. I heard about it from some players, some coaches and some people around town who said they don't like me and stuff like that. But I really don't care what other people think about me."

Martinez said he can still fill the effects of his ankle and toe injuries when he cuts, but is close to full strength and expects to be 100 percent by the summer.
More coming. Brian Rosenthal will have a story on Martinez and I'll post video of Martinez's interview in a bit.

[entropy]

TM's relationship with his players and his ankle will determine nebraska's fate this year. It probably would have been better if he broke the ankle rather than having a grade 3 sprain. realistically, that will take years to heal.

[entropy]

http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2011/03/28/4d9147d325879

As the Nebraska football team reconvened Monday for spring practice after a 12-day break, more details emerged about the Huskers' new, Tim Beck-coordinated offense.

Sophomore quarterback Taylor Martinez – speaking to the media for the first time since November – confirmed the Huskers will use a version of a no-huddle offense that just happens to be similar to the attack Martinez ran at Corona (Calif.) Centennial High School. There, Martinez primarily operated out of the shotgun and threw swiftly to his receivers, sometimes within a second of receiving the snap.

“Some quicker reads,” Martinez said. “And sometimes you'll see deeper routes.”

Junior tight end Kyler Reed said NU will use hand signals to call plays from the sideline. Wide receivers will no longer shuttle the plays in and out, and Nebraska will rarely form a traditional huddle. The offensive tempo, Reed, said, will vary on the situation.

“It doesn't have to be high tempo,” Reed said. “It can. It can be like a huddle tempo, too, where we just kinda wander up to the line and get the signal. Or it can be fast. We have to learn the hand signals.”

That'll take time, Reed said.

“But we've got all summer, all spring, all camp to learn them,” he said. “It's just repetition.”

Reed said Beck wants to shift around his skill personnel, too. For example, Reed will play tight end, split out at receiver and could line up as a H-back. Beck wants Nebraska to adjust, Reed said, to different defenses, “so people don't just know by week eight exactly what we're doing.”

Martinez said the spring break gave him time to study the playbook and retain what he'd already learned. Head coach Bo Pelini said NU spent part of its two-hour Monday workout in Hawks Championship Center in review.

“They did great,” Pelini said. “It was a little sloppy at first...about where you expect to be during spring ball.”

Pelini said his team “stayed in shape during the break.” NU returns to the practice field Wednesday. It will not be open to the media.

Notes: Rex Burkhead was again limited in practice Monday. Coaches had planned on easing Burkhead's workload this season after Burkhead carried the Husker offense during the last half of 2010...Junior tight end Kyler Reed said his younger brother, Dagan, is likely to walk on at Nebraska in the fall. Dagan Reed, a running back, held a scholarship offer from NU last summer but chose not to pull the trigger on it; he didn't choose a school on Signing Day. “I think he wants to come up and earn a scholarship,” Kyler Reed said...The Chicago Tribune's Teddy Greenstein and ESPN's Adam Rittenberg were in town Monday to conduct a variety of interviews with Pelini and a number of players.