Nebraska...not feeling Frosty anymore

[lineygoblue]

Michigan barely draws 100 people to its home baseball games. They have a great facility, but its difficult to get to, has limited parking, and oh yeah, early baseball season SUCKS in Michigan ...

[WM Wolverine]

In Michigan, the season needs to start in May. Instead that is when the regular season ends...

Attendance with the better weather would go up in spite of lack of students, at least at M and a lot of other northern universities. In the south however students do make up a good share of the crowds. Not sure if having these games on their conference networks would offset likely reduced attendance (in the south).

Yes, southerners complain about it being too hot for baseball during the summer.

[THE_WIZARD_]

pussies

[entropy]

UNL.. attendence is mostly older... also..a lot of families with kids go on the weekend cause it is a much cheaper event than going to other sports.

[entropy]

#1 Oklahoma State (45-16) vs. #4 Binghamton (25-25), 7 p.m., ESPN3
#2 Nebraska (40-19) vs. #3 Cal State Fullerton (32-22), 1 p.m., ESPNU

[entropy]

The acceptance of Damore'ea Stringfellow at Nebraska presents more evidence that coach Bo Pelini and the Huskers are willing to take new risks in their attempt to construct a championship-caliber program.

[+] EnlargeDamore'ea Stringfellow, Michael Davis
Thearon W. Henderson/Getty ImagesNebraska will keep a close watch on wide receiver Damore'ea Stringfellow, who transferred from Washington this weekend.
Stringfellow, a 6-foot-3, 229-pound receiver, said on Saturday that he’s transferring from Washington to Nebraska. In 2013, Stringfellow was ranked the nation’s No. 51 prospect in the ESPN 300 and the fourth-best recruit in California out of Rancho Verde High School in Moreno Valley.

Rancho Verde is a prep program familiar to the Huskers for producing former linebacker Eric Martin and ex-wideout Quincy Enunwa, who caught a school-record 12 touchdowns last fall.

The circumstances of Stringfellow’s transfer also look a bit familiar in Lincoln.

He pleaded guilty in April to three misdemeanors related to a post-Super Bowl altercation with two Seahawks fans in Seattle on Feb. 2. Stringfellow and Washington quarterback Cyler Miles were suspended by UW coach Chris Petersen. Miles was later reinstated.

Stringfellow was ordered to pay a fine, serve on a work crew and attend anger-management counseling.

A year ago at this time, Nebraska coaches contemplated the transfer of offensive lineman Alex Lewis. Lewis, days after settling his move from Colorado to Nebraska, was arrested for his role in a fight in Boulder, Colorado, that left an Air Force cadet unconscious.

Lewis pleaded guilty to third-degree assault. Nebraska allowed his transfer but denied Lewis access to the team last fall. He joined the program as a walk-on in January and performed well in spring practice, earning the inside track to start at left tackle after he serves a 45-day jail sentence in Colorado this summer.

Will Stringfellow, recruited by the likes of USC, Ohio State and Michigan out of high school, face similar parameters in Lincoln?

Has Pelini compromised the standards of Nebraska football, which has prided itself under the seventh-year coach for running a clean program as others nationally appear to run amok?

The answer to both questions, likely, is no.

Stringfellow’s situation differs from the case of Lewis in that the receiver faced his punishment from the court before Nebraska pursued him as a transfer.

Expect the Huskers to keep him under watch but close to the team and a part of practices this fall as he sits out to satisfy transfer rules. In 2015, Nebraska must replace prolific receiver Kenny Bell. Stringfellow gives the Huskers a legitimate option to step in and compete against the best in the Big Ten.

More on Nebraska

Nebraska For full coverage of the Cornhuskers, check out the Nebraska blog, part of ESPN's College Football Nation. Blog
More:
• Nebraska's clubhouse page
• ESPN.com's Big Ten blog
Stringfellow caught eight passes for 147 yards and a touchdown on Nov. 15 in Washington’s 41-31 loss to UCLA.

The Huskers see his potential. He possesses the talent in a receiver rarely recruited at Nebraska. Stringfellow visited Lincoln as a high school senior, along with USC and Washington.

Upon news of his decision this weekend, several Nebraska coaches rejoiced on Twitter, offering thinly veiled references to the big-bodied wideout. Nebraska already knew plenty about Stringfellow and researched him additionally in recent weeks.

As for Pelini, his standards remain in place.

The Huskers value character as much as two years ago -- before Lewis and Stringfellow, before defensive end Avery Moss was banned from campus for a year in relation to a 2012 public-indecency charge, before linebacker Josh Banderas entered a diversion program last month for his role in the theft of seven bicycles from a campus rack. The charge was later dismissed.

Since the Huskers joined the Big Ten in 2011, recruiting competition has intensified. Ask anyone who encountered James Franklin’s Penn State staff on the trail this spring.

Urban Meyer, of course, has raised the stakes.

Nebraska must continue to take risks to improve its standing in the conference hierarchy. Or even to keep pace.

A fine line exists, but the Huskers can navigate it -- with informed decisions like the Stringfellow case -- and maintain the integrity Pelini and Nebraskans so value in their program.

[Wild Hoss]

?Has Pelini compromised the standards of Nebraska football, which has prided itself under the seventh-year coach for running a clean program as others nationally appear to run amok??

YGFKM with this shit. We picked up a kid who got into a fight; he didn?t take a shot at the Pope or slap Gloria Stienem around. Cripes, I wish Pelini would recruit kids as rough as most everybody else does.

The sad part is that the highest-rated recruit Pelini has gotten came because he was boosted out of another school. :facepalm:

[THE_WIZARD_]

Thugs = Titles

[entropy]

Big Red Weekend has turned into a very good summer event for the Huskers to stack up some recruiting chips. So why not double down?

That's what NU coaches are doing this year by hosting back-to-back Big Red Weekends for the first time. The front end of those two weekends is now staring us in the face.

As always, the list of who is visiting is a fluid situation and we'll provide a full update of the expected prospects as the week nears its end.

One recruit who on Tuesday made his visiting intentions known -- he's coming for the second weekend -- is safety Hunter Dale, from the same John Curtis High School in River Ridge, La., that produced former NU safety P.J. Smith.

It's official I'm going to BIG RED WEEKEND!!!!! #GBR Huskers 🌽
— Hunter Dale (@HunterD_1) June 3, 2014

Dale has an impressive offer list and is heavy on Oregon, Ole Miss and Tennessee. The Huskers already have three defensive backs in this class -- Avery Anderson, Eric Lee and Aaron Williams -- but could make room for another.

And the 5-foot-10, 190-pound Dale would seem to fit the bill as a strong addition. See his Hudl highlights here.

At this point, the weekend that Dale plans to visit has more recruits expected to attend -- at least five non-committed players from the '15 class who have Husker offers. But we'll see how that list changes over the week ahead.

And this first weekend contains some intriguing prospects in its own right, including Husker commits Avery Anderson and Omaha Central defensive end Daishon Neal.

If Neal seemed a surprise commit to Nebraska in early April, the in-state product has definitely made an impression since that he's dedicated to excelling at his craft. A few weeks ago, in fact, he was looking for a little advice from No. 44.

What's Randy Gregory twitter account? Anyone know? I need to get in contact with him to pick his brain a lil. #GBR #HuskerPride
— DJ (@DaishonNeal90) May 13, 2014

For the record, Gregory doesn't have a Twitter account ... at least that is known. But maybe Neal can track down Gregory for a face-to-face chat this weekend.

Either way, Neal and Anderson will have company from four-star safety/running back Marquise Doherty (Kansas City), wide receiver Charles Fessler (Erie, Pa.) and defensive end Christian Rector (Los Angeles). According to HuskerOnline,com, those are non-committed prospects from the 2015 class also planning to visit this weekend.

What do those players bring to the table? If you have some time to spend and want to put your evaluation skills to the test, here's your chance.

From Hudl, here are the junior season highlights of Doherty and Fessler and Rector.

[entropy]

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/recruiting/story/_/id/11032021/bo-pelini-nebraska-cornhuskers-suggests-ending-national-signing-day

Bo's ideas on recruiting

[Jeff Buchanan]

Pelini doesn't think his plan would happen because guidelines for when prospects can sign have been in place so long.

As Hoss has pointed out, having Slive publically put forward the idea of a Division IV League outside NCAA jurisdiction indicates this idea is well beyond the thinking about it stage.

The NCAA is made up of a bunch of idiots in plaid jackets pulling in big dollars for doing nothing or if they do anything it has a very negative impact on college athletics.

The commissioners, University Presidents and, to a lesser extent with respect to there influence, the HCs, are damn smart people. I trust them to come up with ways, including the very simple kinds of things Bo is suggesting, to improve an idiotic and chaotic recruiting process now governed by the NCAA.

[entropy]

I like bo's idea, though I think you have to have a final signing day... a point where it ends.

but telling a school if you offer a kid as a junior and he signs, you can't take it away.. like it. Make schools and coaches be more responsible and treat these kids with more respect. enough of the "you're my guy" until someone better comes along...

[entropy]

a lot of tweets like this..


Michael Felder @InTheBleachers 1h
I absolutely agree w/ Pelini. Make coaches think twice & more about this stuff and try to limit the BS non-committable offers.

[entropy]

Steven M. Sipple: Meyers' resignation has uncomfortable vibe

STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star JournalStar.com

Things I know and think I know:

Good luck finding a job without in-house politics.

You probably couldn't find one at the corner market.

You definitely won't find one in Nebraska's upper-tier athletic administration.
After talking to sources for the past three days, my read is Paul Meyers to a large extent was done in by in-house politics. If all were hunky-dory, he still would be working for NU.

Bear in mind, Meyers made a strong behind-the-scenes push to succeed Tom Osborne as athletic director after Osborne announced in September 2012 that he was stepping down. Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman hired Shawn Eichorst, who had a more extensive resume than Meyers.

Thing is, Meyers isn't exactly a go-along-to-get-along employee. As Osborne once said, "Paul's very honest, very straightforward. He's not pushy, but he lets you know what it is he's trying to get done."

Considering Meyers' failed run at the AD job, and the clout he still carries with key donors and others (including Bo Pelini and Darin Erstad), one might understand why relations in the athletic department could become a bit awkward.

Even so, lots of folks were caught off-guard Wednesday when news leaked that Meyers had resigned from his position as associate athletic director for the Huskers Athletic Fund.

The news naturally created a few questions: How much of a factor was Perlman in the move? Should it be regarded as a "forced resignation"? (That's my feel). How much more is there to the story?

Howard Hawks, the chairman of the NU Board of Regents and a significant donor, said it well in stating, "New executives get to make new decisions."

This much is certain: The university lost a good man. A straight shooter. A man passionate about Husker athletics, which is partly why he's been able to raise $250 million for the department, according to Huskers.com.

Meyers was an All-America baseball player at Nebraska during the mid-1980s. I'm told his son, Omaha Westside star Jake Meyers, still plans to attend NU and play for Erstad. What does that say about the family's passion for dad's alma mater?

I've long respected Paul Meyers because he became a prominent figure at Nebraska despite preferring to remain in the background. He is a quiet force.

Pelini has abundant respect for Meyers — Meyers is one of the Husker football coach's closest confidantes.

"He's always Paul," Hawks once said. "You don't have to wonder, 'OK, who is he and what does he stand for?' That's always paramount in him."

Meyers understands the culture of both the state and the athletic department. He's always sought to maintain that culture and win — in that order.

Yeah, no reason to want that type of guy around the office, right?

* Be careful trying to connect former Nebraska administrator Michael Stephens' recent departure with Meyers' situation. Some might suggest Eichorst is cleaning house, but I'm unconvinced.

Stephens, who had been NU's assistant athletic director for marketing and licensing since the fall of 2008, recently was named senior associate athletics director for external operations at Ohio University.

Stephens will be one of Ohio's top four or five administrators. That wasn't the case at Nebraska.

* I like seeing folks test themselves. Put themselves in uncomfortable situations and conquer them. Lincoln High graduate Kevin Kugler couldn't eat last Friday night. Couldn't sleep. I loved it!

On Saturday night in Las Vegas, the 41-year-old Kugler, for the first time in his career, handled boxing "play-by-play," working alongside Roy Jones Jr. for an HBO telecast.

Splatters of blood dotted Kugler's ringside notes. Perfect.

"I think it went just OK, from my standpoint," Kugler said Wednesday.

Like a lot of talented individuals, Kugler expects a lot from himself. He said next time he hopes to do a better job of properly identifying specific punches (jabs, hooks, uppercuts, crosses, et al).

I'm guessing there will be a "next time." How about for Omaha native Terence "Bud" Crawford's WBO lightweight title bout against Yuriorkis Gamboa on June 28 in Omaha? Kugler would welcome the chance.

* Hearing good reports about Spencer Long's early days with the NFL Washington club. The third-round pick is playing guard, as he did at Nebraska, but learning center and even a little tackle because NFL backup offensive linemen typically have to learn more than one position. The best news for Long: Jay Gruden's blocking schemes are very similar to Nebraska's. Not that Long would struggle to learn new schemes. You won't find many smarter players.

[entropy]

Steven M. Sipple: Meyers' resignation has uncomfortable vibe

STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star JournalStar.com

Things I know and think I know:

Good luck finding a job without in-house politics.

You probably couldn't find one at the corner market.

You definitely won't find one in Nebraska's upper-tier athletic administration.
After talking to sources for the past three days, my read is Paul Meyers to a large extent was done in by in-house politics. If all were hunky-dory, he still would be working for NU.

Bear in mind, Meyers made a strong behind-the-scenes push to succeed Tom Osborne as athletic director after Osborne announced in September 2012 that he was stepping down. Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman hired Shawn Eichorst, who had a more extensive resume than Meyers.

Thing is, Meyers isn't exactly a go-along-to-get-along employee. As Osborne once said, "Paul's very honest, very straightforward. He's not pushy, but he lets you know what it is he's trying to get done."

Considering Meyers' failed run at the AD job, and the clout he still carries with key donors and others (including Bo Pelini and Darin Erstad), one might understand why relations in the athletic department could become a bit awkward.

Even so, lots of folks were caught off-guard Wednesday when news leaked that Meyers had resigned from his position as associate athletic director for the Huskers Athletic Fund.

The news naturally created a few questions: How much of a factor was Perlman in the move? Should it be regarded as a "forced resignation"? (That's my feel). How much more is there to the story?

Howard Hawks, the chairman of the NU Board of Regents and a significant donor, said it well in stating, "New executives get to make new decisions."

This much is certain: The university lost a good man. A straight shooter. A man passionate about Husker athletics, which is partly why he's been able to raise $250 million for the department, according to Huskers.com.

Meyers was an All-America baseball player at Nebraska during the mid-1980s. I'm told his son, Omaha Westside star Jake Meyers, still plans to attend NU and play for Erstad. What does that say about the family's passion for dad's alma mater?

I've long respected Paul Meyers because he became a prominent figure at Nebraska despite preferring to remain in the background. He is a quiet force.

Pelini has abundant respect for Meyers ? Meyers is one of the Husker football coach's closest confidantes.

"He's always Paul," Hawks once said. "You don't have to wonder, 'OK, who is he and what does he stand for?' That's always paramount in him."

Meyers understands the culture of both the state and the athletic department. He's always sought to maintain that culture and win ? in that order.

Yeah, no reason to want that type of guy around the office, right?

* Be careful trying to connect former Nebraska administrator Michael Stephens' recent departure with Meyers' situation. Some might suggest Eichorst is cleaning house, but I'm unconvinced.

Stephens, who had been NU's assistant athletic director for marketing and licensing since the fall of 2008, recently was named senior associate athletics director for external operations at Ohio University.

Stephens will be one of Ohio's top four or five administrators. That wasn't the case at Nebraska.

* I like seeing folks test themselves. Put themselves in uncomfortable situations and conquer them. Lincoln High graduate Kevin Kugler couldn't eat last Friday night. Couldn't sleep. I loved it!

On Saturday night in Las Vegas, the 41-year-old Kugler, for the first time in his career, handled boxing "play-by-play," working alongside Roy Jones Jr. for an HBO telecast.

Splatters of blood dotted Kugler's ringside notes. Perfect.

"I think it went just OK, from my standpoint," Kugler said Wednesday.

Like a lot of talented individuals, Kugler expects a lot from himself. He said next time he hopes to do a better job of properly identifying specific punches (jabs, hooks, uppercuts, crosses, et al).

I'm guessing there will be a "next time." How about for Omaha native Terence "Bud" Crawford's WBO lightweight title bout against Yuriorkis Gamboa on June 28 in Omaha? Kugler would welcome the chance.

* Hearing good reports about Spencer Long's early days with the NFL Washington club. The third-round pick is playing guard, as he did at Nebraska, but learning center and even a little tackle because NFL backup offensive linemen typically have to learn more than one position. The best news for Long: Jay Gruden's blocking schemes are very similar to Nebraska's. Not that Long would struggle to learn new schemes. You won't find many smarter players.