HUSKER UP: Western Michigan

2 comments so far August 29, 2008 by Darren K. Carlson

It's the Friday before the first game of the 2008 season. No way you are paying too much attention at work right now. You are surfing the web, looking for something (anything!) about the Huskers' upcoming tilt against Western Michigan that you haven't found already. You, my fine friend, are ready to HUSKER UP. This week's installment features a little something for everyone - thoughtful ideals from a legend, thoughts on football from a potential legend in the making and some video full of vicious hits. It's all designed to get you even more jacked for Saturday night. Good luck concentrating now.

It's Not the Critic Who Counts
I'm going to start things off with one of my absolute favorite quotations. This is from Theodore Roosevelt's speech "Citizenship in a Republic" from 1910.

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Why share this? Because it has a serious implication for sports. Fans and media (yes, bloggers too) are often quick to criticize their teams, coaches and players. Rather, I'd hope we all can do everything we can to enthusiastically support the team...even when they fall short. I am also excited to see the kind of all-out effort from the Cornhuskers that Roosevelt talks about. Under Bo Pelini and his staff, I'm confident the NU players will throw everything they can into every game and every play. They'll know the rewards of playing for a team and a state that invests heavily in them, regardless of outcome.

Best of Bo
Speaking of Coach Pelini, he's been known to let a sound bite or two drop occationally. For a guy who is so blunt, he's remarkably quotable. Here are just a few of Bo's recent best that I thought appropriate the day before the first game.

"There's a lot of pride and passion for the program. That's a great thing because I know the support is always there. It just really increases the responsibility that I have for this program."

"We want to play physical football at Nebraska. We want to be able to run the football when we want to. We want to impose our will on opposing teams."

"It's time to put an opponent out there and see where we stack up. The time for talk is over. It's time to go out there and play."

Damn straight on all counts, coach.

AV Club Presents...the Blackshirts of Course

Enough talk. Let's get to hitting some people.

Cue the Band
If the video didn't get you going, then maybe you need something with a horn section in it. Blare it...

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