[NU Sports] Nebraska

[Jim Leonard]

Fellow Wildcat Faithful,

I think I am the only one, but I am disappointed to see Nebraska joining the Big Ten. I know this is Mike's other team and I won't dwell on it. I'll simply state my opinion once and then add UNL to the list of red-wearing Big Ten teams I don't like.

Oddly, UNL and NU are liked in history by the year 1995. That's the year NU football came back to life and Nebraska football, in my opinion, became an embarrassment. After thumping Michigan State in East Lansing the Huskers returned to Lincoln. Sometime later that evening Lawrence Phillips physically assaulted a fellow scholarship athlete, Kate McEwan. Phillips pleaded no contest to misdemeanor trespassing and assault. 

Coaches are not responsible for the individual actions of their players. People are people and they can (and sadly will) make dumb choices. It has happened at NU when a few players decided to gamble in 1994, when Robbie Glanton snuck into female students dorm rooms at night, and when Donnie Holmes stole credit card numbers. You can lecture, teach, and advise, but you cannot prevent individuals from making bad choices. However, coaches can and must make the right decisions when such mistakes are made. 

I think Tom Osborne was wrong in 1995. I think Lawrence Phillips should have been kicked off the team. Perhaps a 1-year suspension and mandatory counseling would have been acceptable - perhaps. I know that for me, allowing Phillips back on the field in the same season was unacceptable. With the whole world watching Tom Osborne sent a pretty clear message that winning football games takes priority over violence against women at the University of Nebraska. 

I don't think a University should forever carry a black eye because of the decisions made in its past. I know that NU had a long period when black students had to live off campus and I have accepted that as an unpleasant mark on in university's history. In the case of Nebraska though, the man who made this awful decision 15 years ago still represents the school. Tom Osborne is still the face of Nebraska athletics. So, at least for me, the school is still linked directly to the embarrassment of 1995. I imagine that 20 years from now this will fade into history like so many other mistakes. For now seeing Tom Osborne represent the school makes me believe that the board of regents at UNL still doesn't think he was wrong. 

Victory & Honor,
Jim