Winter, it ain't so bad, sometimes.

I am not sure how much more of this I can take.  Winter has swept in from the north, a horde of frosty barbarians, crashing across borders, setting up residence in the American Midwest, and making a complete mess of things, and total nuisance of itself (not unlike having children, when you think about it).  It takes a toll, to be sure.  When you add the Cornhuskers Basketball success to that it is almost overpowering.

Last night I tuned in to watch them play Indiana in Bloomington.  And, you know what, they won, by 10 points, and never trailed throughout the whole game.  Sure, the Hoosiers made a game of it with about 8 minutes left.  But, Coach Miles called a timeout and soon they regained the lead.  It was a tough game, but they won!  In Bloomington!  In March!   How about that?!?!

If the Big Ten Tournament started now Nebraska would have a first round bye!  They have a winning record, and a winning conference record.  And, they have won 9 of the last 11 games.  And, they have caused a lot of excitement about basketball in a lot of places, in March!

Petteway, Pitchford, Shields, Parker, these are becoming household names.  These guys could probably get elected to office right now.  I would move back, just to vote for them.  But, Coach Miles drives this ship.  He is as cool as they come, and always seems to be on the verge of breaking into a smile that looks so wholesome and wonderful it should be trademarked.

The guy just has something.  When Jimmy Jackson asked him, after the game, what he said during the timeout after Indiana had tied the game, the answer was a simple, sincere, "we have worked so hard to get here, are we going to let this affect us?"  Apparently not.

The crowd was wild, the Hoosiers were excited, and things were tense, but the Husker defense rose to the occasion.  They were everywhere, running, moving, getting back, closing out on shooters.  It was a frantic, fantastic, exhibition of the will to win, and my whole family loved it.

People said Coach Miles would start winning at Nebraska, and he has.  I think it surprised a lot of people
how quickly it happened.

In the dead of the night, sometimes, when things are still and the world is not moving, I can hear a plaintive, sorrowful cry from Lincoln.  "Why didn't we add a couple thousand more seats to the Pinnacle Bank Arena?"

All I can say, is thank you, Coach, and your impressive, hard working team.

In the immortal words of Bob Dylan.

"Summer days, summer nights are gone,
Summer days, summer nights are gone,
I know a place where there's still something goin' on."