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Posted (edited)
45 minutes ago, hhcmatt said:

Recently realized I had no idea what this was @Dead Dog Alley . Anyone please fill in the details for those who don't know about this Danny Nee era creation. 

 

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The idea, from what I remember, stemmed from Johnny Orr allegedly saying that the Devaney Center crowd was a bunch of "dead dogs".

 

For some reason, Danny Nee and crew thought this would be an excellent marketing opportunity.  I'm not sure why embracing an insult from an opposing coach would be a successful marketing strategy; I never really understood the logic of it.  But, as Danny described it (with some paraphrasing) "I want our crowd to be crazy, be wild like a bunch of dogs."

 

So, every student that bought season tickets got a Dead Dog Alley t-shirt.  Nebraska went 10-18 that year.

 

 

Edited by Dead Dog Alley
Posted
1 hour ago, Dead Dog Alley said:

 

The idea, from what I remember, stemmed from Johnny Orr allegedly saying that the Devaney Center crowd was a bunch of "dead dogs".

 

For some reason, Danny Nee and crew thought this would be an excellent marketing opportunity.  I'm not sure why embracing an insult from an opposing coach would be a successful marketing strategy; I never really understood the logic of it.  But, as Danny described it (with some paraphrasing) "I want our crowd to be crazy, be wild like a bunch of dogs."

 

So, every student that bought season tickets got a Dead Dog Alley t-shirt.  Nebraska went 10-18 that year.

 

 

 

I thought it was Norm Stewart that was the one that coined the dead dogs term.  But I also may be misremembering.  Either way, it was a weird idea to try and use it to motivate the students or use it as a nickname for the student section at Devaney.  There's a pretty good reason why this promo lasted only one year.

 

I got one of those shirts, I think I may actually still have it somewhere.

 

Back in those days the Big 8 had probably the best collection of hoops coaches in the country:

Norm Stewart

Billy Tubbs

Johnny Orr

Danny Nee

Eddie Sutton - it's remarkable that Eddie Sutton's predecessor was Leonard Hamilton

Lon Kruger/Dana Altman

Roy Williams

 

and then, there was Colorado.  So 7 out of 8.

Posted

Tom Shatel says it was Norm Stewart: https://huskerextra.com/news/basketball/mens-basketball/shatel-nebraska-fans-made-pba-one-of-the-best-home-court-advantages-in-college-basketball/article_2564a2fe-da78-11ee-8222-9791232dba3a.html

 

Way back when, Missouri coach Norm Stewart called Nebraska fans a bunch of “Dead Dogs” after a game. NU coach Danny Nee turned it into a slogan and “Dead Dog Alley” became a T-shirt.

 

Given Tom Shatel's level of accuracy I stand by my assertion that it was Johnny Orr.

 

 

Posted
37 minutes ago, Dead Dog Alley said:

Tom Shatel says it was Norm Stewart: https://huskerextra.com/news/basketball/mens-basketball/shatel-nebraska-fans-made-pba-one-of-the-best-home-court-advantages-in-college-basketball/article_2564a2fe-da78-11ee-8222-9791232dba3a.html

 

Way back when, Missouri coach Norm Stewart called Nebraska fans a bunch of “Dead Dogs” after a game. NU coach Danny Nee turned it into a slogan and “Dead Dog Alley” became a T-shirt.

 

Given Tom Shatel's level of accuracy I stand by my assertion that it was Johnny Orr.

 

 

 

Yet ol' Tom Shatel is a Mizzou alum, so maybe in this rare instance T.S. would happen to know that's what Norm said. 😉

Posted
12 hours ago, Dead Dog Alley said:

Tom Shatel says it was Norm Stewart: https://huskerextra.com/news/basketball/mens-basketball/shatel-nebraska-fans-made-pba-one-of-the-best-home-court-advantages-in-college-basketball/article_2564a2fe-da78-11ee-8222-9791232dba3a.html

 

Way back when, Missouri coach Norm Stewart called Nebraska fans a bunch of “Dead Dogs” after a game. NU coach Danny Nee turned it into a slogan and “Dead Dog Alley” became a T-shirt.

 

Given Tom Shatel's level of accuracy I stand by my assertion that it was Johnny Orr.

 

 

 

In all fairness, Shatel is and always has been a pandering hack.  Journalistic integrity never was his strong suit, and it very well could have been Johnny Orr that said it.  

 

But Orr didn't really seem like the kind of guy to just hurl insults like that at his rivals while Norm Stewart totally was.  So whether it's true or legend, it seems to make more sense that it would have been Norm.

Posted
13 hours ago, Dead Dog Alley said:

Tom Shatel says it was Norm Stewart: https://huskerextra.com/news/basketball/mens-basketball/shatel-nebraska-fans-made-pba-one-of-the-best-home-court-advantages-in-college-basketball/article_2564a2fe-da78-11ee-8222-9791232dba3a.html

 

Way back when, Missouri coach Norm Stewart called Nebraska fans a bunch of “Dead Dogs” after a game. NU coach Danny Nee turned it into a slogan and “Dead Dog Alley” became a T-shirt.

 

Given Tom Shatel's level of accuracy I stand by my assertion that it was Johnny Orr.

 

 

 

This checks out, per another Shatel quote

 

https://omaha.com/sports/huskers/shatel-haymarket-gives-a-major-bounce-to-husker-hoops/article_e0582e7e-c118-590e-abab-a34d877ef168.html

 

Yes, a Nebraska basketball crowd. The late Iowa State coach Johnny Orr, who once said Devaney Center crowds had the energy of dead dogs, would never believe it.

Posted
16 hours ago, HB said:

I do believe he also referred to Pete Manning as Dr. Manning. 

 

13 hours ago, Dead Dog Alley said:

 

Norm's contribution was to call NU a bush league operation.

 

Yes on both, per Mike Babcock's Huskers on the Hardwood book

 

 

Screenshot 2024-10-01 100617.jpg

Posted

I'm surprised "Jean" didn't take offense with the slogan since it failed to give equal emphasis to cats. But I suppose this was in the day when cat-loving women had not yet been invented.  

Posted
2 hours ago, hhcmatt said:

 

 

Yes on both, per Mike Babcock's Huskers on the Hardwood book

 

 

Screenshot 2024-10-01 100617.jpg

 

That performance that night by Missouri was one of the most impressive ones I ever saw at the Devaney.  They also brought the Golden Girls with them, as well as quite the ho-train that sat behind the bench.

 

Posted

Let’s remember this was at the Height of BIG Monday on ESPN when the Big Eight was arguably the Best Basketball Conference in the Country. The Big East at 6:00, followed by the Big 8, then the Big West with UNLV was usually the Nightcap. We didn’t know how lucky we were…

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