Well, crap. Nebraska is going to the Big 10. I have ignored this topic for a while, well, to be fair I have ignored all topics for a while. But as it vexes me so thoroughly I can no longer bear the shame of what my beloved Cornhusker football team has been subjected to by it's gutless and conniving caretakers.
Tom Osborne you get the free pass on this one, although you shouldn't. It's only because of your exemplary service in the past that I will break when I see you crossing the street But Harvey Pearlmen, J.B. Milligin, you two had should never forget to look both ways before crossing, or stand too close to the curb. And though I will probably never run you over because of the legal repercussions, I just want you to know on the off chance that you ever read this that you both suck.
Thank you for ruining football traditions that were as old and storied as any the game has ever seen. Of course, Harvey Pearlmen is no stranger to destroying old and storied traditions, this was after all the same man who killed the Nebraska state fair in Lincoln.
Of course economically, this was a victory. Nebraska received about $10 million in conference revenues compared to the $20 mill schools in the Big 10 got this year. And there will also be new storied rivalries created. Penn State, Michigan, and Ohio State are all among the winningest programs in NCAA history and if Iowa can keep on it's current roll it too will provide some great matchups for Nebraska. These are some things to look forward to, and some very nice things at that. But it's what we left and the way we left that makes me so angry. Economics and new rivalries be damned!
The fact that the Big 8 NEBRASKA's conference when it welcomed in a bunch of refugees from the old south west conference to form the Big 12 bothers me. The Big 12 should have been our conference too. But Nebraska football, and lets not kid ourselves football is the driving force behind all of the politics in college athletics, took a nose dive shortly after the Big 12 was founded. So the power dynamic shifted. Texas took over Nebraska's conference. So how does Nebraska respond when it finally gets strong enough to put Texas in its place? It abandons its own conference and skulks away like some upset child. I can just imagine Harvey Pearlmen looking and Big 12 commish Don Beebe and saying "If you don't want to pway nice I'll take my ball and go home." How embarrassing. Nebraska was a hairsbreadth away from regaining dominance in the conference, and they gave up right when they were on the cusp of victory. Absolutely pathetic. The Big 12 had problems that we could have fixed, Nebraska could have taken its conference back, instead they gave up and ran away to the east, abandoning their midwestern roots for a quick payout and some petty revenge.
The move from the big 12, no the big 8, was a betrayal. A kick in the back right as the conference was finally becoming healthy again. With the rise of Nebraska Big 12 North football was back on its feet and the climate of the conference was finally ready for meaningful reform. That's why Big 10 commissioner Jim Delaney knew now was the time to strike. If he waited much longer to slither in and rip Nebraska from the Big 12, the conference would have been profitable, modern, and immune to Delaney's unscrupulous power play. But I'm not that bitter, I'll let this go and enjoy all of the great football matchups that Nebraska will be a part of in the Big 10. James Delaney, may you enjoy interesting times and always come to the attention of those in authority.
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