[NU Sports] A bowl too far?

Mon Oct 20 19:52:10 CDT 2008

Paul (and everyone else) -- totally understand. Two words: Oregon State.
Anyone can beat anyone. Believe it. 
Paul (in particular) -- get better soon!
Go Wildcats!

________________________________

From: neonrye at aol.com [mailto:neonrye at aol.com] 
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 5:47 PM
To: Abrahamson, Alan (NBC Universal); nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] A bowl too far?

Alan,

With all due respect--and I respect your opinions greatly--there is one
thing that this 'Cat team and most 'Cat teams lack compared to a number
of squads we could end up with as bowl opponents:  Overall team speed.
We have pretty good size, and we have more depth than in past years,
having so far avoided crippling injuries.  But if we had to play a
typical SEC team or a PAC-10 team or even a Big XII team, the speed
factor could undo us.  Just think back to how quickly the 22-0 margin
evaporated in El Paso and recall the Bruins fleet feet, which I think
was a big factor.

So I vote for a matchup that gives us a real shot at getting off the
proverbial "schneid" and winning the game.  Just think what a boost that
would be for Mr. Hall of Fame Fitzgerald when he walks into the living
room of a Blue Chipper with brains.....

By the way, speaking of voting, I am about to cast my very first
Absentee Ballot, as alas, NEONRye is grounded.  I had elective surgery
on my Achilles Tendon today, and I am happy to report things went well.
But I will not be able to go to any bowl this year, I'll just root on
the 'Cats and pull for all of you to enjoy a win--in person.  I do
intend to be at the opener next year in Syracuse, and hope to meet many
of you there.

Paul Levinson

-----Original Message-----
From: Abrahamson, Alan (NBC Universal) <Alan.Abrahamson at nbcsports.com>
To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Sent: Mon, 20 Oct 2008 8:38 pm
Subject: RE: [NU Sports] A bowl too far?

 My two cents:

 I want to go to the Rose Bowl and win.

 If that's not possible, I want to go to the highest-ranking bowl we can

get to, and win.

 If we don't win, it's a bummer. But better to get to a top-tier bowl

than not.

 I acknowledge and respect Jim's opinion below. Mine is different.

 My take is that we -- all of us -- get over the mindset of the bad old

years that drilled into us, understandably enough, that any Wildcat

victory is a colossal turn of fortune. This 2008 Northwestern team is

flawed but still very good. If it doesn't beat itself with penalties and

turnovers, this team can win every game.  

 Football savants might now stand up and say, a-ha, Alan, you are being

completely obvious -- penalties and turnovers are always killers. True

enough. But that's especially so in analyzing the 2008 Wildcats. Their

margin for error is so slim. But their talent and execution levels are

also a step above what we have seen over the past several years.