[NU Sports] The finality of it all

[Jeff Beamsley]

My knee jerk reaction from a lot of years of coaching is to react negatively
to any attempt to blame a loss on the officials.  These folks are really
trying to do the best that they can to control a chaotic situation.

The only ones that I feel have earned the right to criticize a game official
are those who have been willing to do the same thing.  You don't have to
spend too much time calling a game before you gain a new respect for how
difficult a job it is.

That said, I think that just like the rest of us, those who officiate have
good days and bad days.  Occasionally, the whole crew seems to have a bad day
together.

If anyone saw the WV/Pitt game, that was another example of a crew having a
really bad day and nearly giving the game to the home team (WV).

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On
Behalf Of johnadeg at comcast.net
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 2:48 PM
To: WildElk2 at aol.com; nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] The finality of it all

We were at that Hawaii game and if the fix wasn't in with the officials then
it might as well have been.  Theythey were about the worst bunch I've ever
seen.  MSU had the same experience that NU had the next week.  Let's hope
Hawaii gets blown out in their bowl game.

John DeGroat
 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: WildElk2 at aol.com
> Sure, we all knew we weren't going any place, but now that it's  
> official, it hurts (although not like the late night punch in the 
> stomach at  Hawaii in
> 2004 debacle).  I was looking at the Big 10 standings, and I  wonder 
> if beating Duke would have mattered?  When Indiana beat Purdue, and  
> Michigan St. beat Penn St., they would have both jumped ahead of us in 
> the  pecking order.  We'd really be pissed if we went 7-5 and stayed  
> home. Now if we're playing the what if game: let's let the loss to 
> Duke  stand.  If we beat Iowa or Michigan (I'm not counting Purdue, as 
> they put  it to us in the 4th Q.) , games that we gave away and finish 7-5,
do we go to a  bowl?
>   At 6-6, I think most of us know, what with our easiest schedule in  
> ages, we didn't deserve a bowl.  No big wins, unlike the 2003 season 
> in  which we finished 6-6 and corralled Wisconsin (16-7 was it?).
>    I'm not sure how to look at this season.  I talk out of  both sides 
> of my mouth.  With Bacher the starter all season, we had a  passing 
> game that kept defenses guessing.  That alone merits  improvement.  
> But 6 wins against a mediocre schedule; I wonder if we're any  better 
> than the 2-3 we posted to end
> 2006
> with Bacher?  Sure, that included  a miracle win by MSU; so say we win 
> that game like we should;  Was 2007  better than a 3-2 record Bacher 
> piloted in 2006?
>    I'm still surprised how weak our defensive front  seven was.  
> Whether it was a bad game or not,  Brad W. from our  list commented how
poor our tackling
> was vs. Illinois; in our 12th game.   We looked like a bad high school team
at 
> times.  The idea is to take 2  and 3 star recruits and get them better 
> after two or three years.  That has  happened on offense; but not on 
> defense.  2004 was the last year we had a  good defense, save the book 
> end losses vs. TCU and Hawaii.
>    On offense, we moved the ball, but when it was crunch time, we
struggled. 
>  Still, our "big" problem is on defense. (Note: our special  teams 
> were better; we went from an F in 2006 to a C this season)
>    After 6 years, it's time for a change.  Whether it's a  recruiting 
> issue, or technique, Colby has got to go.  Giving a person  6 years to 
> get results in D-! football doesn't happen anymore.  I'm glad NU  is 
> patient, but as much as I believe Colby was safe after the 2005 season 
> in  which our defense was porous, it hasn't got much better.
>    Oh well. A long off-season begins.
>  
>                GO  CATS!!!               Eric
> 
> 
> 
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