January 8, 2005 NEBRASKA REWIND Back to regular updates with a look at some of what's been going on in Nebraska By Jim D. Berryman MissingNebraska.com MissingNebraska.com has been missing in action for the past month or so, but now problems have been corrected. The web site is back in action, so to speak. A lot has happened in the time the site has been away. I hope all had a nice holiday season. Mine was hectic but enjoyable here in Connecticut. I was not able to make it home to Nebraska for Christmas because of work commitments, lack of vacation days, and the high fares being offered on the days I needed to fly for a quick 3-day visit. Black out dates are a headache. From the painful closeout of the Husker football season to Governor Johanns being nominated to become U.S. Ag Secretary, to the NU volleyball team losing before making it to the Final 4, to a Lincoln smoking ban becoming law, to a post-holiday Nebraska snowstorm, it's been a busy time in the Cornhusker State. For those who did make it home for the holidays, we invite your observations on your trip home and how Nebraska is doing these days. So here's a little rewind of some of what's been going on in Nebraska, and darn it if most of it has to do with Husker football. HUSKER BLUES Of course, Nebraska sat home during bowl season for the first time in 40 years. It was a strange feeling to go through the month of December and into January and not have even a low-level Husker bowl game to look forward to. There is something about that "N" on the helmet that looks so good on TV in December or January, no matter if it's Miami, Tempe, Pasadena…heck even that ugly blue field in Boise. The Huskers and bowl season go hand in hand, right? Well, not anymore, my Big Red friends, not anymore. After NU went 5-6 on the season, assistant coach and former Husker standout Turner Gill and a number of players are gone. They all quit. Media reports are full of comments similar to one exiting player who said in effect that NU football had become too much of "a business" under Coach Callahan, and it "wasn't fun anymore". Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson publicly humiliates himself yet again in passing on a nationally televised season-opener with Houston on September 1 on ESPN. Instead, the Huskers will host mighty Division 1 AA Maine in Lincoln that weekend. One must think the man is incapable of making a sound decision. The Husker football program is as red in the face as a Maine lobster and it's getting to the point where it just isn't fun any more. At least in my humble opinion. Sure I want the Huskers to win every game and challenge for a national championship every season. However, there are graceful ways to have struggling seasons and poor ways to have them, and the NU football program seems to keep coming up with poor ways. It seems like true Cornhusker football and all that comes with it has been lost forever. The jury is still way out on whether or not Coach Callahan can produce an 8, 9 or 10-win team in a hurry. Perhaps. But so many bridges have been burned in such a short time that it will be difficult for the Nebraska football program to return to the glory days of the past. I wish the Huskers the best and will always root for them no matter what. According to a story in the Omaha World-Herald, the Husker '05 recruiting class is ranked number 1 by rivals.com, so good things may well indeed be ahead for NU. However I certainly hope the Husker powers-that-be stop making bonehead decisions and acting stupid in public before the fans really start to slip away. IRAQ & TSUNAMI DISASTER Of course, all of this is meaningless when compared to the things going on today. The war in Iraq rages on and our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the soldiers and their families, with hopes that somehow this whole mess can be resolved. The victims of the tsunami in South Asia are also in our thoughts as we see the widespread devastation and desperation. Nebraskans I'm sure reacted in a similar way to how they reacted after 9/11. They reached out to help, just like people all over the U.S. and world are doing right this moment. GOV TO D.C./HAGEL IN '08? Governor Mike Joahanns was nominated by President Bush to become U.S. Ag Secretary. Barring some unexpected scandal, he will be confirmed. Nebraska will soon have a new governor. Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel has been staying visible on national talk shows since the election, continuing his stinging criticism of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He was always the Republican thorn in the side of the Bush administration during its first term. One wondered if he wasn't grand standing a bit at times, prepping himself for a run for the White House in 2008. Still he is a national face now, and even though he's polling toward the bottom of the pack of potential Republican '08 presidential candidates, I see him having middle-of-the-road appeal to Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. We'll keep you posted on the change in the governor's office and more in the coming weeks and months on MissingNebraska.com. HOLIDAZE OVER, SNOW SHOWS If I eat one more Christmas candy I'm going to explode. Or at least my dentist will explode in anger. Every day from about mid December to a few days after New Year's, there was some kind of home-baked holiday candy, cake, whatever at our coffee station at work. My favorites are the ones with the Hershey's Kiss in the middle of them. They can either be sugar cookies or peanut butter cookies. There seemed to be a new batch of these cookies every day. I devoured them, only to go back for more. And as I write this on Saturday morning January 8, 2005, it is raining hard onto about 5 inches of hard-as-a-rock, crunchy snow. Even so, it's been a milder winter in Connecticut this season than last. We've had three 4 to 6 inch snow events, only to have it warm up into the 50s a couple days later. The snow completely melts and then it starts all over again. It's predicted to be in the 50s by Wednesday, so it looks as if the cycle will repeat itself yet again. Nebraska had more snow and more bitter cold than New England January 5th through 7th. 14 inches was reported in Omaha. Grand Island got 10 to 12 inches. Temperatures dipped below 0 in many parts of the state. Complicating matters was a sheet of ice under the snow in many areas that made travel dangerous. Nebraska too will moderate only to chill down again in the week to come. That's a bit of what's been going on in Nebraska. Links to news and Husker stories will be posted on the News & Notes and Huskers pages on MissingNebraska.com. We're glad you're along. Feedback