Some Random Links

Womens Sand Volleyball.  Bikinis.  Rachael Schwartz of Nebraska.  Yup, that was an event that I should have gone to last night at the Qwest Center.

According to this blog, P'Allen Stinnet of Creighton is tied for the most technical fouls in his 2 years at Creighton over the past 2 seasons.  This isn't the type of stat Head Coach Dana Altman likes a player to lead the country in.

Is it just me, or do we in Omaha really like buildings colored silver and blue?  

It's funny how many Omaha Cubs blogs have pop'd up since the sale to the Ricketts family of the big club but this is a good one to follow the story

If you are going to rip on me on a message board, can't you at least spell my name right? 

Looking for some fun eye candy....this girl should do the trick.  She is also from the ABC reality show that nobody watches about beauty

Big 12 Counter:  2-4.  As I stated before...those last 3 conference games were going to be L's and tonight Nebraska has a desperate Texas Tech team on the road to face.  Must win game?  For both.

Rest of the Way

This year has been so messed up that I thought it would be fun to see if I could predict the rest of the season for CU and then see how close I get.  I expect to be dead wrong but here goes:

01-27		Indiana St.            W
02-01		Missouri State      W
02-04	at	Drake                   L
02-08	at	Northern Iowa      W
02-11		Bradley                 W
02-14	at	Southern Ill.           L
02-17		Evansville             W
02-24	at	Missouri State      W
02-28		Illinois St.              L

Final Record in the Valley:  11-7  probably 3rd or 4th place.  Not what people expected for sure but something to build on for next year.  If they win their Bracketbuster game (TBD), they would wind up with 22 wins 9 losses.  Not a resume for an at large bid but probably good enough for 1 home game in the NIT.  In fact, Ken Pom as the same prediction for a record.  All records continued...but not where the fans had hoped to see this team this year.  

Is the Pressure Getting To Creighton?

Choking?  Wilting under the pressure of high expectation? Maybe.

The Qwest Center is one of the most beautiful buildings in the country for college basketball.  The city of Omaha has flocked to the arena for Bluejay basketball games like nowhere else in the Missouri Valley Conference or most places in the country for that matter.  You have to ask though - after the past 3 home games - are the large crowds becoming a pressure cooker for these young Jays?  You could see in their eyes today....they looked scared as things slipped away.  You could almost feel their disappointment as they knew they were letting everyone down.  

17,100+ people were at the game today - that's a lot of eyes on a struggling team.  It leads to a lot of cheering and loving on when you win...and a lot of attention around town.  But the stage is large and the expectations are growing with the crowds.....when you pay hard earned money to watch basketball - people want to watch a winner.  Omaha doesn't like to watch losing....and they hate to watch a team that doesn't appear to understand how to do the little things.  

Now, the Jays are still a good team and Coach Altman didn't forget how to run his program but these young players are beginning to fall apart at home when pressed.  The players want it too much.  They are trying too hard to be the hero going 1 on 5.  The fans are awesome but these players might not have the make-up to mentally handle all the attention that comes with 17,000+ a night.  Those are NBA type attendance numbers for players that play in an NBA type-arena.  Unfortunately for CU - they don't have any NBA type players on their roster.  

The Drake game today was just another example of this team not being tough enough.  Killed on the boards, killed on 50-50 balls and forced to play Drake's style of game in 2nd half.  The Jays were pushed around at home again and if it wasn't for a miracle win against SIU in overtime - Creighton would be in the middle of their first ever 3 game losing streak at Qwest Center Omaha.  Let's see what happens on Tuesday night but the fans are restless after this loss.  They want to watch a winner and right now, they don't know what they are going to see night to night.  Scarely, I don't think Coach Altman does either.

Jays are 2-2 at home in Valley play.  3-2 on the road.  It's been that kind of year.  Makes no sense.

Big 12 Counter - 2-3.  Doc Sadler had his first Dana Altman-NIT-Chase the refs off the court moment today in Lincoln.  2 point overtime loss to Okie St but what made him flip was a non-call on a intentionally missed FT by Ryan Anderson.  Doc thought there should have been a foul called....but there was a lot contact on both sides.  It was a good non-call.  Cowboys win.  Kansas up next.  I said the next 3 will tell you a lot - 0-2 and here comes KU.

Great Story

Got this story sent to me via email:

KURTIS THE STOCK BOY AND BRENDA THE CHECKOUT GIRL

In a supermarket, Kurtis the stock boy, was busily working when a new voicecame over the loud speaker asking for a carry out at register 4. Kurtis was almost finished, and wanted to get some fresh air, and decided to answer the call. As he approached the check-out stand a distant smile caught his eye, the new check-out girl was beautiful. She was an older woman (maybe 26, and he wasonly 22) and he fell in love.Later that day, after his shift was over, he waited by the punch clock to findout her name.

She came into the break room, smiled softly at him, took her cardand punched out, then left. He looked at her card, BRENDA. He walked out onlyto see her start walking up the road. Next day, he waited outside as she left the supermarket, and offered her a ride home. He looked harmless enough, and she accepted. When he dropped her off, he asked if maybe he could see her again, outside of work. She simply said it wasn't possible. He pressed and she explained she had two children and she couldn't afford a baby-sitter, so he offered to pay for the baby-sitter. Reluctantly she accepted his offer for a date for the following Saturday.

That Saturday night he arrived at her door only to have her tell him that she was unable to go with him. The baby-sitter had called and canceled. To which Kurtis simply said, "Well, let's take the kids with us."She tried to explain that taking the children was not an option, but again not taking no for an answer, he pressed.. Finally Brenda, brought him inside to meet her children. She had an older daughter who was just as cute as a bug, Kurtis thought, then Brenda brought out her son, in a wheelchair. He was born a paraplegic with Down Syndrome. Kurtis asked Brenda, "I still don't understand why the kids can't come with us?" Brenda was amazed. Most men would run away from a woman with two kids, especially if one had disabilities - just like her first husband and father of her children had done. Kurtis was not ordinary - - - he had a different mindset.

That evening Kurtis and Brenda loaded up the kids, went to dinner and the movies. When her son needed anything Kurtis would take care of him. When he needed to use the restroom, he picked him up out of his wheelchair, took him and brought him back. The kids loved Kurtis. At the end of the evening, Brenda knew this was the man she was going to marry and spend the rest of her life with. A year later, they were married and Kurtis adopted both of her children. Since then they have added two more kids.So what happened to Kurtis the stock boy and Brenda the check-out girl?

Well, Mr. & Mrs. Kurt Warner now live in Arizona , where he is currently employed as the quarterback of the National Football League Arizona Cardinals and has his Cardinals in the hunt for a first-in-franchise-history Super Bowl win!

Is this a surprise ending or could you have guessed that he was not an ordinary person.It should be noted that he also quarterbacked the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.

He has also been the NLF's Most Valuable Player twice and the Super Bowl XXXVI's MVP

Both Nebraska Teams Impress

I haven't had much time to write about the Jays win over Evansville but as I said on the air tonight.....If Kenny Lawson comes to play - the Jays are a very good team. If he doesn't - they are very average. Big win on the road....30 point lead at one point....next up - Drake. Drake, got killed tonight by Missouri St. (It was a very weird night in the Valley as Wichita beat Ill. St! and UNI nearly got beat by Bradley). Jays will see a pissed off Drake team Saturday afternoon.

Big 12 Counter - 2-2. The Huskers showed a lot of heart tonight against a much better Oklahoma team tonight. Sure, it got away from them at the end and it got a little chippy with Blake Griffin but overall - nice effort.  

The Huskers luckily didn't play new post player Brian Diaz....however let's see what happens on Saturday.  He does not need to play this year...period.  It's wrong for him and selfish of Nebraska if he does play.

Something for Today

I get my JFK today.....Yes We DID!

Oooo Nasty Tx vs. OU Girl Smack!

This is awesome :)

We Are One Hits A Homerun

Picasso once said "The Artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place:  from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from the spider's web".  Today in DC, you saw the return of open thought and the accepting of those who are different as Obama gets set to take office on Tuesday.

Barack Obama's celebratory concert at the Lincoln Memorial featured the likes of Beyonce', U2, Usher, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen and others...even Garth Brooks.  It was moving to see the sheer number of Americans who came out to show their support and excitement for the President-Elect.  It was an awesome reminder of that amazing election night victory and the hope he has brought to the country.

For the last 8 years under Bush, we lost our ability to dream, to think about things in the abstract, and to accept those who are different.  We lost our freedoms and changed some of the principles this country was founded on.  Now, September 11 had a lot to do that but so did the leadership of the USA who had their own motivation for silencing the voice of dissent.  The Artist was pushed aside as this country was lead down a dark path that we are now just trying to recover from.  Songs, poems, and paintings won't help us fix the economy - but it can get us into the right frame of mind to begin the process.    

The "We Are One" show reminded me of the 9/11 concert that raised millions for the families affected by the tragedy right after that horrible day.  Unfortunately, our then President took the people's good will as a chance to go to war with a country that didn't attack us - losing all the people who had open hearts and motivated minds to help America recover.  Today, I felt I got my country back.  I'm proud of a President who understands how the Arts can affect our society and open our souls to the idea of the unique.  

Tuesday can't get here fast enough!!    

Bad Sign For CU

The 2008-09 season has some dark clouds on the horizon for Creighton Basketball.  Today in Wichita, those clouds blocked out the sun. 

Loss 3 on the year in the MVC is gonna stay with the Jays for a while.  They got crushed on the boards by a Shocker team that was longer, quicker and stronger.  Kenton Walker and Kenny Lawson Jr. combined for a sad 7 boards as CU gave up 20! 20! offensive rebounds.  It was sick to watch and CU looked like they simply couldn't get to any loose balls today.  On the road, 50-50 balls have to be won more than lost.   

The problem is now that the Jays are 14-5 on the year but 4-3 on the year in the league.  They are 2 games behind UNI now and have already lost to them.  The problem is size, strength, and heart.  Going to Wichita and losing isn't that big of deal.  It has happened 3 of the last 4 years.  It's the way the team lost that has the Jays fans worried.  The Jays lost their toughness today without Chad Millard who is gone for a month.  Booker Woodfox is no where near 100% and P'Allen Stinnet looked uninterested in the game. 

Rebounding is going to be the reason why this team won't make the NCAA tournament.  They have the talent and they have a few of the pieces needed...but they don't have the sheer bulk and size needed to compete night in and night out.  

Big 12 Counter: 2-1 Nebraska crushed Kansas St. today who looked as bad as Creighton did today.  Kansas St really is lacking in talent but they didn't play well at all against the Husker tough D.  Now real fun begins for Nebraska...let's see where we are after the next 3 games.  

My Christmas Gift

So Brian - the Producer of the Big Show - got me a bottle of Vodka (something I've yet to get :)! ) and a Snuggly for Christmas which is on back order!  He got me the Snuggly cause I lauged my ass off at the ads on ESPN NEWS.  I hope he laughs at this video but it's funny :)

What A Game - What Crazy Calls

Refs can giveth it and refs can taketh away. Tonight, they did both in the Jays win over Southern Illinois. 73-72 in overtime. What an awesome atmosphere for the 2009 White Out. It's how the Bluejays got to Overtime and then how CU won will be what people are going to be talking about for the next few days....and how loud the 15,500 who braved zero degree temps were inside the Qwest Center at the end of the game as well.

SIU Coach Chris Lowery was left wondering (by the way - did anyone else think that the new look Coach Lowery looked like the skinny version of Sherman Klump from the Nutty Professor movie!?) what the heck happened to his team down the stretch. One issue that he had to be thinking about was how the the refs had a hand in the way the game went down.

Jays down 3 with just 4 seconds to go and Cavel Witter drew a call on a 3 point try. The Jr. then stepped up and buried 3 huge Free Throws to send the game into the extra frame. But the refs weren't done - calling a charge on Cavel and a tie up that gave the ball back to SIU and suddenly, Jays were down 4.

Jays needed the ball back and Josh Dotzler simply took it from Freshmen Kevin Dillard and gave it to P'Allen who buried a 3. Could there have been a foul called? Sure. But then the refs did make a call on a charge against SIU. After 3 by Booker - the Jays were on their way to a crazy victory but not until Sr. Bryan Mullins capped off his Qwest Center career with a halfcourt 3. Fitting for a guy who was such a pest for Creighton over 4 years to bury a prayer shot at the buzzer.

I know being a ref is tough. It's thankless but all I ask for is consistency. I don't care if you call it close or loose. I don't care if call a lot of fouls or none. Just be consistent with whatever you are going with with the whistle. Tonight, it was a crap shoot as what was going to get called. The Jays won - I'll take it but it was a hard game to get a feel for cause the refs were all over the place - especially in this final minutes of this game. The foul on Cavel's 3 probably won't get called too often so the Jays can't put themselves in that position again.

Big 12 Counter:

Huskers got down big again but came back again. This time, on the road, they weren't able to come back. 1st L of the year 65-53. Maybe next time, Fox Sports Midwest will think twice about putting a Husker game on and bumping CU vs. SIU. The games weren't even close for entertainment value. 1-1 on the year.

BTW - Does Husker BB fan now admit that not having P'Allen in a game decided by 2 points was a major factor in the outcome? Can we play it again with P? I mean, he only had 29 points today....more than NU had the entire 1st half vs. ISU. He was 4-4 from 3 at one point. Just saying :)....

WHAT The?

Thanks to Rob Anderson of CU for sending me this but are you serious!? Whatever Bradley :)....

S My D?

This is bad but funny at end....

Hell Of A Win

All heart tonight Creighton....an all out effort.  No Booker Woodfox due to an ankle injury.  P'Allen Stinnet shooting 4 for 13 with 4 turnovers.  Yet the Jays went into Carver Arena to take on the 1st place Braves and won 73-64.  5 players had 9 or more points and Freshman Antoine Young played his best game as Jay.  It was a really big win and it saved the Jays' regular season championship hopes. 

Creighton shot 54% in the 2nd half and held Bradley to just 34%.  Yes, the Jays got outrebounded again - by 2 - but that is acceptable on the road.  The big stat was the play of the Kenny Lawson Jr. who had 4 offensive boards and 8 rebounds overall.  He added the inside presence that the Jays HAVE to have.  

I will say it again:  This year will hinge on the play of the Jays' Sophomores shoulders.  They needed a big game out of Kenny - and got one tonight.  It was a huge heart effort for the Jays as a team...not like one player in games before.  Booker Woodfox being out might have been the best thing for this young team to see that they can do it without him. 

After watching the game again - Antoine Young set the tone for the Jays in this game.  He gave the team a shot in the arm in the same way he did in the first half against UNI.  I think Dana just got his answer as to whether or not he can trust AY.  Antoine hit his first 2 3's of the year after missing his first 11 - something that shouldn't be overlooked for his confidence.  Playing that well on the road should really help him go up against a tough SIU team on Wednesday.  Now the question - which point guard sits to let AY play more?  

Now, Indiana St beat the Redbirds tonight.  Bradley is 4-1.  UNI won as well and is 4-1.  The Jays are 3-2 and so is Illinois St.  Let the Valley craziness begin.  

Big 12 Counter

At the beginning of the year, I put the over/under for Nebraska in Big 12 wins at 5.  I took the under - just for the record.  Others disagreed and took the over.  

Today, Big 12 play began for Nebraska and I didn't see anything that will make me change my mind.  Sure, they won 56-51 but they gave up a 18 point lead at home to Missouri and couldn't do anything on offense in the 2nd half.  They got lucky to hang on and could have easily have lost the game.  I felt Missouri just didn't come to play.  It was a great defensive effort in the 1st half but the Tigers did a horrible job in the first half of taking care of the basketball.  They were soft with the ball and as we know - NU plays great on-ball defense.  The second half was better but Missouri had dug too big a hole for themselves. 

The Huskers schedule is favorable to begin with.  Missouri is a team that Nebraska has dominated in recent history so a win was predicted by me.  Next up - at Ames for Iowa St - winnable but the game is on the road.  Then Kansas St at home.  3-0 is possible but so is 1-2.  

Yet after that - then it gets to the part where I think there are problems for NU:  3 of 5 on the road and Oklahoma, Okie St, and Kansas amoung others.  

Win Counter: 1-0.  We will see what direction the team goes from here but a win is a win - no matter how you get it.

Love It When I'm Right!

What a great win tonight by Florida and Tim Tebow.  In the first half, the first 2 picks were so unlike him but he bounced back to throw for over 230 yards and ran the ball for over a 100.  As a college player - he is 2nd to none in terms of heart and effort. 

Told ya - Gators by 10.  24-14!  2 title in 3 years!  Go Gators!  

Update on Blog...

Hey,

A lot of you guys who read this blog have emailed to ask about the comments section on this blog and message board off of BigSports590.com. Both have been removed by us for the same reason - the same people, everyday, writing nothing but negative and nasty comments. We were recieving lots of calls from parents and listeners concerned about what was being written on our sites.

This blog is linked to our main page so what happens on it gets the eye of Journal. The content isn't an issue - the fan involvement is.

So, thank you reading and I hope you will continue to do so but the comment section has been disabled until further notice. - Matt

PS - I'll write tonight about the state of the Jays program.

A Year in Review For Guys

Have fun - it takes a little long to load but it's worth it:

http://coedmagazine.com/girls/49581/

If you can't find a gal you like in there....well, you aren't trying to.....

Now this is funny....

I bet Erin didn't see this coming from Ray Maualuga of USC! :)

Something To Make You Smile

Ok - Tonight was rough for Bluejay fans. Bad weather. Bad game. But this is really funny.....it's an ad from Australia. Could you imagine this for a Super Bowl ad!? :)

Big Game Tonight! - PARTY CANCELLED

This is for everyone who is in and around the Omaha area. Tonight, I'm hosting a Bluejay viewing party at The Cove on 144th and Maple for CU's big game against Illinois St!

The Redbirds are 13-0. Creighton is 12-2. The Jays have won 9 straight. Illinois St. has won 13 straight. Something has to give!

We'll be at The Cove from 7 to 9 with tickets to the UNI game on Tuesday, CU giveaways from our friends at Lawlor's and other great stuff as well! Drink specials and a chance to watch the Jays game with your fellow Bluejay fans at The Cove tonight.

EDIT: THE VIEWING PARTY HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR TONIGHT DUE TO THE WEATHER

Happy New Year

To All who read this blog...whatever our differences - I hope nothing but the best for 2009.  Happy New Year!