With only 61 days until kickoff of the 2008 season, I thought I would post this video that DizzturbedNUfan shared with me. It should get the football juices flowing!

Eshuante Jones, a 6′4″ shooting guard from Ft. Wayne, IN.  Jones, who goes by the nickname “Bear”, committed to Indiana out of high school, but didn’t qualify academically, and instead went to Hargrave Military Academy.  From there he committed to Oregon State, but was released from his signing due to coaching changes. 

According to his AAU coach, Eric Vaughn, “Bear” has the potential to shine.

If Nebraska gets him, he will be, in my opinion, one of the best players to ever play at Nebraska. He’s one of those players that has ‘it,’ whatever ‘it’ is.

I really hope so Mr. Vaughn because I am still steaming mad about losing Roburt Sallie!  Sallie signed with Memphis, so there will be many opportunities to watch what could have been ours on T.V.  Welcome to the Husker Family, Bear! 

[courtesy of Lincoln Journal Star]

Nebraska will crush it’s first three opponents in the dark this year.

Home games against Western Michigan, San Jose State and New Mexico State have not been chosen as part of the Big 12 television package.

The last time at least one of Nebraska’s first three games was not televised by a network was during the 1989 season.

The Nebraska-Virginia Tech game will be broadcast, though it is not yet determined which network will broadcast it or when kickoff will be.

[via Lincoln Journal Star]

The college football press sees brighter days ahead for the Huskers, but not just yet.

Athlon Sports and Lindy’s have Nebraska finishing fourth in the Big 12 North, while Phil Steele’s 2008 College Football Preview places the Huskers second. But all of the publications said better days will come, mainly because of Pelini.

So what does Pelini think about all that?

“Everybody has an opinion. Who cares?” Pelini said. “That’s why you play the games. I don’t worry about all that stuff. It’s irrelevant to me.”

Pelini said he might go as far as look at the cover of a preseason college football magazine. But only if it’s “cool,” he said.

Pelini would rather engross himself in a novel - like W.E.B. Griffin’s “The Shooters.”

“I like the political, the spy, the special ops type of stuff,” he said. “I get a lot of ideas from that.”

All three magazines believe the Big 12 is the nation’s second-toughest conference, behind the SEC.

[via Omaha World Herald]

According to Lincoln Journal Star, NU regents approved a 13-year contract worth $110 million with media and marketing giant IMG at their Friday meeting.

The new deal, which would run through June 30, 2021, essentially would position IMG as a marketing agent on behalf of the athletic department, streamlining NU’s marketing efforts.

IMG would seek corporate sponsorships for NU, for example, and sell advertising for radio and television broadcasts.

In addition to Nebraska, IMG provides marketing services for numerous other schools, including Kansas, Texas, Michigan, Oklahoma State and Tennessee, according to its Web site.

What’s not in the Journal Star article is the fact that Loserhan came to us through his agent at IMG.

Bad news keeps rolling in for Husker Nation. Thursday, Khiry Cooper was selected with the 169th pick in this year’s MLB draft. Cooper is a standout center fielder for his high school team, and helped lead them to their second straight state baseball championship this year. Khiry possesses all the tools a major league team desires, as he is very athletic, smart, and has high moral character. 

According to his high school coach, Rodney Traweek, the opportunity is almost too good to pass up.

 He’ll talk with the Angels’ organization and see if they can get things worked out as far as what the plan is for him money-wise and when they might expect to be in the big leagues. He’ll look at all of that for sure to see if he can get close to what he wants. And if he does, I’d say chase the dream and play major-league baseball. But if he doesn’t, he knows he has a really good thing waiting him in Nebraska, too.

I wish nothing but the best for Khiry. After listening to some of his interviews, you can tell this is a special kid and NU would be honored to have him put on the Scarlet and Cream. But the fact is this is money sitting on the table with the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream. If it was me, I would take the money and the chance to play professional baseball. He literally could have a 20 year career awaiting him. And for some reason if it didn’t work out, he could always come back to college and play football. Good Luck Khiry!