Success Begets Success

[Swan88]

1 hour ago, AuroranHusker said:

 

I've heard that exact expression from some in my hometown.

 

“Exact expressions,” in both politics and sports, arise from a partisan narrative—they are a sure-fire indicator of a bias (e.g., a closet Kansas St. fan masquerading as a true-blue—but “realistic”—Husker).

[AuroranHusker]

44 minutes ago, Swan88 said:

“Exact expressions,” in both politics and sports, arise from a partisan narrative—they are a sure-fire indicator of a bias (e.g., a closet Kansas St. fan masquerading as a true-blue—but “realistic”—Husker).

 

Fatalistic viewpoints annoy me. There is usually hope found in any dire situation, otherwise I wouldn't have attended all the games in Hoiberg's first 3 seasons.

 

 

[AuroranHusker]

1 hour ago, 49r said:

 

Someone on r/Huskers the other day (a Husker fan nonetheless) made a comment about the Skers being the "worst P5 men's hoops program of all time" and it sent me into an apoplectic rage.  I had to correct him and point out that our overall winning percentage put us ahead of about a dozen other P5 programs.  It's just the "never won in the tournament" narrative that so many folks cling to that gives them that impression.

 

Like, I think people are genuinely surprised to learn that we have a better win % (and more wins overall) than Iowa State even though we've gone through 25 years of pretty pathetic records and Iowa State has been elite for 40 years now.

 

And Nebraska has a pretty sizeable advantage over ISU, even though ISU kind of dominated that last 15 years in the Big 12.

[KZRider]

 

3 hours ago, Navin R. Johnson said:

 

The people I'm talking about are Husker fans, at least in football and volleyball, and are not Creighton fans.  I'm not grouping all Nebraskans in this category and you are right, we do sell out PBA when we are playing well.  My experience comes from outside of Omaha or Lincoln.  I will stand by my statement that many in our state see NU basketball as a failure and a joke and probably will until we are consistently a threat to be a final 4 team.

I have cheered doggedly for the Huskers all of my life. Still, by any measurable standard Nebraska HAS BEEN a basketball failure with a few outlier seasons along the way. MOST Nebraskans desperately want to cheer for the Huskers as opposed to Creighton but decades of disappointment has made MANY timid about it. Everyone knows the issues. Alas!!!

- Nebraska has not won a regular season conference title since 1950. 1950!!!! That means not in my lifetime! We would be giddy about finishing as a double bye team!

- Nebraska has only made the NCAA tournament 7 times and is the ONLY P5 conference team that has never won a game. This state would come unglued if the Huskers changed that this year. If Creighton won the NCAA title and Nebraska just won a first round game FEW in this state would be talking about Creighton. Almost everyone would be talking about the Huskers!

- Despite playing every year, Nebraska has only beaten Creighton 6 times in this century (one of the wins was an NIT match). It SICKENS me to eat crow instead of Bluejay every year!

 

There is not systemic reason why Nebraska has done so poorly. I don't think we have to be a Final 4 team. But this whole state is a spring wound tight ready to rally around the Huskers. It could be like no other program in the country. We just need some hope!If If Hoiberg can get this train rolling and Sam G/Derrick Walker are the hinges on which the gate of success swings then I say bless 'em and put up some statues!

 

GBR!!!!

Edited February 23 by KZRider

[49r]

9 minutes ago, KZRider said:

If Creighton won the NCAA title and Nebraska just won a first round game FEW in this state would be talking about Creighton. Almost everyone would be talking about the Huskers!

 

Well this is quite hyperbolic to be fair, but the point is made.  I think it would be true that if Creighton made it to the round of 16 or 8 and got eliminated there, that would be greatly overshadowed by a Husker first round win for sure.

 

But if they made the Final 4, that would definitely be a bigger headline locally than the Huskers just getting past the first round.

[KZRider]

1 minute ago, 49r said:

 

Well this is quite hyperbolic to be fair, but the point is made.  I think it would be true that if Creighton made it to the round of 16 or 8 and got eliminated there, that would be greatly overshadowed by a Husker first round win for sure.

 

But if they made the Final 4, that would definitely be a bigger headline locally than the Huskers just getting past the first round.

Probably right but.... ONLY IN OMAHA!

Edited February 23 by KZRider

[Minnesota_Husker]

I feel like Fred stopped looking for Uber talented guys like Bryce McGowens and instead looked for guys who played with fire and heart.

He has found that in guys like Gary, mast, Allick, his son, Keisei and sooooo many more. Guys who play with that edge and fire. They don’t care what the box score says, they just want to win.

Don’t love we have to live in the portal but that might just be todays college basketball.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AuroranHusker]

22 minutes ago, 49r said:

 

Well this is quite hyperbolic to be fair, but the point is made.  I think it would be true that if Creighton made it to the round of 16 or 8 and got eliminated there, that would be greatly overshadowed by a Husker first round win for sure.

 

But if they made the Final 4, that would definitely be a bigger headline locally than the Huskers just getting past the first round.

 

T H I S  

 

[AuroranHusker]

22 minutes ago, KZRider said:

Probably right but.... ONLY IN OMAHA!

 

Sadly, it would be beyond one city, it would be the eastern half at least. Baylor Scheierman & Isaac Traudt have a pretty staunch following in central NE.

 

[cipsucks]

14 minutes ago, AuroranHusker said:

 

Sadly, it would be beyond one city, it would be the eastern half at least. Baylor Scheierman & Isaac Traudt have a pretty staunch following in central NE.

 

 

Still living in east central Nebraska, I strongly disagree.  No one out here gives two squats about either one of them.  It would have been a different story had they went to Nebraska.  I don't fault them for their decisions.  It's their lives. Good for them.  Maybe they can get pats on the back in downtown Omaha.  I'm sure you know people in Aurora and Grand Island who care.  No one else does. I guarantee it.

[AuroranHusker]

50 minutes ago, cipsucks said:

 

Still living in east central Nebraska, I strongly disagree.  No one out here gives two squats about either one of them.  It would have been a different story had they went to Nebraska.  I don't fault them for their decisions.  It's their lives. Good for them.  Maybe they can get pats on the back in downtown Omaha.  I'm sure you know people in Aurora and Grand Island who care.  No one else does. I guarantee it.

 

Guarantee is a pretty strong word, cip. I wouldn't guarantee anything related to one's fandom. A lot of ppl like Scheierman, hard-care and even casual sports fans. Maybe I just know all of 'em, but I doubt that's true. Anywho, I agree that B.S. would have been a bigger star in the state of Nebraska if he had worn RED instead of blue. That's true, for sure.

[unl]

One thing to push this narrative is NIL. We need whoever runs the ship, the Peed’s?, to give like never before to basketball. Imagine getting a Chucky or a Ware (Ok Ware is going to the nba this season guys) and what we could do. NIL can be as valuable as a pro contract at times.  Moreso NFL than NBA but the point still stands. 

[Serenity Now]

6 hours ago, Swan88 said:

I’ve also been around the entire State of Nebraska my entire life.  And I’ve rarely seen such statements or attitudes from people who care about Husker sports in general.  There may be expressions of disappointment from time to time, when things are particularly bad—but those expressions change, immediately and joyfully, when things start looking up.

I’m stunned by this. I figured every Nebraska basketball fan had heard the Nebraska basketball sucks sentiment 100s of times from other Husker fans. I experience it all the time. Huge Husker football fans constantly making jokes about about how awful we are at basketball. “Don’t care, don’t watch, they’re the worst program in P5”. Obviously it’s far less right now, but it’s been a constant since the Collier era. Pisses me off to no end. Hell I know plenty of NU grads that are now Creighton fans because “Nebraska is terrible”. Bunch of pansies. 

[Huskerpapa]

Until the advent of this site, I thought there were only about five true basketball fans in this state.  Others were casual fans or band wagon jumpers.  Seriously, if you tried to sit down with most Nebraskans, their eyes would tend to glaze over when husker (or even Creighton) basketball would be brought up. 

Now, I know that is an over-exageration; but this site introduced me to true, for the most part, deeply passionate husker basketball fans.  We can literally discuss our team 24/7/365.

[AuroranHusker]

20 hours ago, Huskerpapa said:

Until the advent of this site, I thought there were only about five true basketball fans in this state.  Others were casual fans or band wagon jumpers.  Seriously, if you tried to sit down with most Nebraskans, their eyes would tend to glaze over when husker (or even Creighton) basketball would be brought up. 

Now, I know that is an over-exageration; but this site introduced me to true, for the most part, deeply passionate husker basketball fans.  We can literally discuss our team 24/7/365.

 

Amen, CWS. I stopped posting elsewhere, tbh. I had to cull my fervor a bit & pick 1 site and stick with it. HHC is that good, it's one big family in my book. GBR

 

 

Edited February 24 by AuroranHusker

[royalfan]

Nate Loenser being tasked with the defense and much more responsibility at the end of that season with Bryce,  and relieving Sadler of much responsibility really helped move this thing forward as well.  We instantly started playing at least a little d at the end of that season and got some wins.  

[millerhusker]

10 hours ago, Serenity Now said:

I’m stunned by this. I figured every Nebraska basketball fan had heard the Nebraska basketball sucks sentiment 100s of times from other Husker fans. I experience it all the time. Huge Husker football fans constantly making jokes about about how awful we are at basketball. “Don’t care, don’t watch, they’re the worst program in P5”. Obviously it’s far less right now, but it’s been a constant since the Collier era. Pisses me off to no end. Hell I know plenty of NU grads that are now Creighton fans because “Nebraska is terrible”. Bunch of pansies. 

Yep. The Nebraska sucks sentiment has permeated the Husker football fan base for 25 years. Those people frustrated me so damn much in the Collier and Sadler years. But I almost get more frustrated with them in times like this year (and 2014, 2018) when they suddenly become basketball “fans”. Call me selfish, but I don’t think they deserve to enjoy the good times. I’d much rather talk hoops with a Jaysker than a fake Nebraska basketball fan who has no idea who Nate Johnson is. 

[hhcmatt]

43 minutes ago, royalfan said:

Nate Loenser being tasked with the defense and much more responsibility at the end of that season with Bryce,  and relieving Sadler of much responsibility really helped move this thing forward as well.  We instantly started playing at least a little d at the end of that season and got some wins.  

 

The hire of Nate Loenser began the transition from specialized assistant roles that clearly were not working to more traditional roles where all the coaches contribute in all areas. We formed a basketball identity instead of trying to bring in highly rated guys that often did not fit together.  As noted that identity allows us to filter our search for new talent into skills and attribute that we've seen work here.  Very encouraging that what we're doing isn't with highly recruited players and that it seems sustainable.

[Swan88]

11 hours ago, Serenity Now said:

Hell I know plenty of NU grads that are now Creighton fans because “Nebraska is terrible”. 

Ha!  There were disappointments in the early Hoiberg era, where the anti-Husker narrative gained some traction.  But that ended, abruptly, with the drubbing in Omaha last season.  Husker fans are on board—with deep and abiding interest. Many will cheer for other teams in many different contexts. But no one is genuinely saying, “Nebraska is terrible.”  No one.

[OmahaHusker]

20 hours ago, Navin R. Johnson said:

 

The people I'm talking about are Husker fans, at least in football and volleyball, and are not Creighton fans.  I'm not grouping all Nebraskans in this category and you are right, we do sell out PBA when we are playing well.  My experience comes from outside of Omaha or Lincoln.  I will stand by my statement that many in our state see NU basketball as a failure and a joke and probably will until we are consistently a threat to be a final 4 team.

 

This kind of mentality is just natural with fans in a football-first school I think. Making fun of basketball is acceptable because it's not football. When basketball is good, they'll jump aboard. When they're bad, they'll joke about it and brush it off, because there's no real investment like there is with football. All of my friends out in Holdrege are kinda wired like this. It just comes with the territory when football pays the bills and you're not a basketball blue blood. And it's not specific to just us. Georgia basketball is mediocre to bad. When they're good fans jump aboard. When they're bad fans joke and brush it off. 

[cornfed24-7]

12 minutes ago, OmahaHusker said:

 

This kind of mentality is just natural with fans in a football-first school I think. Making fun of basketball is acceptable because it's not football. When basketball is good, they'll jump aboard. When they're bad, they'll joke about it and brush it off, because there's no real investment like there is with football. All of my friends out in Holdrege are kinda wired like this. It just comes with the territory when football pays the bills and you're not a basketball blue blood. And it's not specific to just us. Georgia basketball is mediocre to bad. When they're good fans jump aboard. When they're bad fans joke and brush it off. 

I agree with all of this, but I also would like to add to it. I think there's something that adds to this sentiment. Let's stick with the SEC. Is any fan of Georgia football rooting for Georgia Tech basketball? Or Alabama and Auburn respectively? Few if any. So I think because of the dynamic of Nebraska football/Creighton basketball fans in this state it kind of amplifies the negativity historically, surrounding Nebraska basket real or perceived. Also...F¥€k jayskers! 

[AuroranHusker]

3 hours ago, royalfan said:

Nate Loenser being tasked with the defense and much more responsibility at the end of that season with Bryce,  and relieving Sadler of much responsibility really helped move this thing forward as well.  We instantly started playing at least a little d at the end of that season and got some wins.  

 

Winning three straight road games after starting that season 1-16 in the B1G is one of the most crazy things about the Hoiberg tenure in Lincoln. Made both Penn St. & Wisconsin cry on their Senior Nights. It was glorious. Loenser basically helped save Freddy, tbh.

 

[AuroranHusker]

6 minutes ago, cornfed24-7 said:

I agree with all of this, but I also would like to add to it. I think there's something that adds to this sentiment. Let's stick with the SEC. Is any fan of Georgia football rooting for Georgia Tech basketball? Or Alabama and Auburn respectively? Few if any. So I think because of the dynamic of Nebraska football/Creighton basketball fans in this state it kind of amplifies the negativity historically, surrounding Nebraska basket real or perceived. Also...F¥€k jayskers! 

 

The original Jaysker started with KU hoops and NU football, so that's the dynamic that began the duality.

 

Edited February 23 by AuroranHusker

[cornfed24-7]

Just now, AuroranHusker said:

 

The original Jaysker started with KU hoops and NU football, so that's the dynamic that began the duality.

 

Don't worry they can get some too. F¥€k the Kansas Jayhawk jayskers

[AuroranHusker]

12 minutes ago, cornfed24-7 said:

Don't worry they can get some too. F¥€k the Kansas Jayhawk jayskers

 

Omaha Jayskers were much later in the sports spectrum. Younger folks don't necessarily know that history, so I try to remind 'em of it.