[Husker] A Question for the List...

[Matt Phillips]

Hey Jeff,
 
An excellent question, and very well posed!
 
As for me, I have no expertise whatsoever.  Then again, I don't post that often.  I just like football and love the Huskers.  
 
Also, I think I can recognize pretty readily when a coach out-thinks himself (see Mike Martz every Sunday), or whether a staff doesn't make good adjustments within a game (see Texas Tech), or wins consistently with 'inferior' talent and a superior scheme (see the 90's glory years).
 
Or if the coach plays to the strength of his players, rather than press-fitting them into a system that even seasoned professionals can't master... but i digress.
 
While few of us really have the pedigree, I think we can still have some pretty valid opinions sometimes.  
 
Also, I think that the list may have had some real football experts (ex. Greg Mays?), but over the years, we've managed to chase those people away.  That is a real shame.
 
$.02,
~m
 


Jeff Volk <jeffv at alphavideo.com> wrote:
In reading the posts, not just after the CU game, but during a good portion of the season, one nagging question, or set of questions continued to pop up... 

With so much of the talk on the list about play calling, schemes, coaching styles, etc. - I wonder how many people on the list are actually qualified to speak on the topics. How many Listers have ever been a football coach, never mind a head coach or coordinator, in HS, never the less college - especially at a D1 program? My guess would be few, which makes all of the talk criticizing play calling, offensive styles, etc. just a lot of pontificating. Do the people currently on the list that record the game and "review the game tape" to break it down actually have the experience or necessary skill set to break it down into any sort of meaningful information? Does coaching a Pee Wee team, reading a book on football or watching them break down plays on Sportscenter arm one with the proper knowledge to criticize the schemes and play calls of people who have dedicated their lives to it?

Have Bill Callahan, or Frank Solich, or Ron Zook or Ty Willingham or any other coach that has come under fire of late individually forgotten more about the game of football than the members of this list collectively know? Probably so. 

I realize that all of these topics make for entertaining banter and that the Internet and talk radio age that we live in is responsible for creating what I like to now call the, "I am expert, hear me roar" crowd, but at what point do you just say enough? 

Unfortunately what typically happens, and it happened on this very list, is that the "experts" run off all of the people that do have some expertise and valuable information to share. 

I am all for an open exchange of ideas and opinions in any forum on any topic, but in the end is there really anything sadder than listening to a select group of individuals, neither of whom completely knows of what they speak, argue over and over about the same topics as if they are somehow qualified to do so? 

In closing I realize that I was one of the Husker List Members that was guilty of many of the things that I have listed above - but as the season has progressed, I guess I have just grown weary of all the personal insults and discussion of the same topics. Here's to hoping that not only does the Husker Football Team return to glory, but that the Husker List returns to a place where fans, many of whom are displaced and no longer in Nebraska, can turn to for intelligent conversation and valuable information about the one thing that we all hold close to our heart - our Cornhuskers. 

And here's to hoping that everyone has a safe and Happy Holiday Season!

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Volk


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