[Husker] Fwd: Ed Cunningham [ ref:00D480H6.5004Cvvcm:ref ]

[Smith, William]

A few impressions of last week's game, at the risk of maybe doing some serious stirring of the pot.

Due to circumstances beyond my control I had to miss the first quarter.  Imagine my delight and surprise when I turn on the game to see Mizzo has been generous enough to spot us a 24 point lead. 

Of course that means that I watched three quarters of the game during which Mizzou outscored (17-7) and I'm sure outgained us.   It's difficult to say if we got outplayed for those last three quarters.  A calm, objective assessment (!?) could go either way.

Which leads me offer... 

1.  based on the last three quarters, I was impressed with Gabbert.  More than once he put the ball exactly where he had to under very tight coverage.  There were many times when, lacking an open receiver, that we failed to contain him and he ran for good yardage.   

2.  I don't much like Franklin and Cunningham.  Particularly Franklin.  He makes a lot of mistakes, plus there's just something about him that is not engaging.  (he's incapable of subtly laying down a compelling narrative, which characterizes really good announcers).  I would disagree that he and Cunningham are biased against Nebraska.  There were several (and I mean several) times in the second half that Cunningham was practically swooning over the Husker defense, especially the secondary.  Plus they gave lots of kudos to the O-line.  

3.  Unfortunately this helmet-helmet controversy is taking up way too much attention as we assess the media coverage.  I agree with the minority on this list.  I am very concerned with the safety of the players and reducing the frequency and intensity of these hits is a good thing for ALL teams.  The game has changed from the days of Meylan and Glover.  The players are bigger, faster and stronger (by a standard deviation on all dimensions).    "There will always be helmet hits" may be true, but is far from a compelling justification to keep things the way they are. 

4.  We got a break from the officials when officials failed to call the facemask penalty on the goalline (also the replay showed no fumble).   Was this a significant break given that it would have been first and goal from the half yard line instead of the one?  The extra half yard may have encouraged Pinkel to run four straight sneaks, or may have made a difference when we caught the tailback just short of the goalline.  None of this makes a lot of difference, and certainly doesn't take away from the great stand by the D on that series (aided by a stupid motion penalty by Mizzou freshmen).  I just don't buy the claim that the fix against Nebraska is in place and officials are part of some organized effort to deny us victories.  


Here's hoping I can find saturday's game in Boston.

Bill Smith
Towson, MD 



> 
>> 
>> 
>> Begin forwarded message:
>> 
>>> From: ESPN Customer Care <support at espncustomercare.com>
>>> Date: October 31, 2010 12:12:04 PM CDT
>>> To: "steve.borer at connectseward.org" <steve.borer at connectseward.org>
>>> Subject: Re: Ed Cunningham    [ ref:00D480H6.5004Cvvcm:ref ]
>>> 
>>> Dear Steve,
>>> 
>>> Thanks for writing.
>>> 
>>> Being a national network, we do our best to select announcers who  
>>> are fair and neutral to the games that they cover, yet offer  
>>> insightful and entertaining analysis.
>>> 
>>> We'll be sure to address your thoughts and concerns with our  
>>> producers.
>>> 
>>> Sincerely,
>>> 
>>> Casey
>>> ESPN Viewer Response
>>> 
>>> --------------- Original Message ---------------
>>> 
>>> Please do the entire State of Nebraska a favor and do not allow Ed  
>>> Cunningham and Ron Franklin the opportunity to continue to broadcast  
>>> Nebraska football games.  They quite obviously have a bias against  
>>> Nebraska and do not appear to be willing to broadcast the games  
>>> fairly.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Thank you.
>>> 
>>> Steve Borer
>>> 
>>> 
>>> ref:00D480H6.5004Cvvcm:ref
>> 
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