For those of you who may be new to the site, Benny was my blogging comrade in arms during MZone 1.0 from 2005 until early 2008. I continued for a few months after that then stepped away as well. When I started the blog back up last fall, Benny declined to return in order to have something called a life. Too many early mornings after a late night of MZone Photoshopping had him burned out. His keyboard was hung up for good.
But I did not give up. Ever since returning to the blogosphere, I have been begging and pleading with Benny to join me. To once again be bathe in the warm glow and acclaim that comes from putting up pictures of cheerleaders-turned-pornstars and having one's material stolen by Colin Cowherd. I wanted to get the band back together. For what was Simon without Garfunkel? George Michael without the other dude whose name nobody remembers from Wham!? But, alas, Benny always declined.
Until today.
Benny agreed to come back just for the Nebraska Know Your Foe (probably to get me to stop begging and pleading with him). And while he called me numerous times during the week, bitching and complaining about agreeing to do this because of the time suck, I think he's finally excited to be back judging by the the email below which I got from from him at almost 1 a.m. this morning:
"It's done.
Take a look. Edit if you like, certainly for any errors. I have to wash the dishes and take a shower.I hate you with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns."
Yep. As you can tell, Benny's excited as hell to be back. In fact, based on the above, I'm pretty, pretty, pretty sure he's going to tell me any day he's returning to blogging full-time. I can feel it.
So sit back, relax and enjoy our first Benny-penned KYF since 2008.
Yost
The Wolverines welcome the newest member of the Big 10 11 conference, the Nebraska Cornhuskers to Ann Arbor for the first time since 1962. Michigan has won three of the six meetings (there has been one tie in 1911). This is the first regular-season meeting between Michigan and Nebraska since '62, as they have split their two bowl match ups after that. The teams sport identical 8-2 records and both bounced back from losses with road wins last week. Who are these newcomers, and what should we know about them? To answer these and many other questions, the MZone is proud to present this week's version of KNOW YOUR FOE.
The seal looks like the wheel from Wheel of Fortune. |
Hey look, there's a star above Lincoln! |
There’s a 20 foot statue of a farmer up there – pretty cool. |
Lincoln’s main industry is service, and the economy is driven by the university and the state government. There are virtually no suburbs as most of the land around the city has already been annexed. The town is home to the second tallest capitol building in the U.S. and is the hometown to erudite talk show host Dick Cavett, and current major leaguers Joba Chamberlain and Alex Gordon.
Nickname – Cornhuskers. There's no conference in the country with the variety of excellent nicknames as the Big Ten. With the exception of the Wildcats, and maybe the Spartans, each Big Ten school boasts a nickname that are unique and instantly identify their teams. This might be the best reason to allow Nebraska into the conference. Cornhuskers is absolutely unique and brings to mind only one thing: Nebraska. So much so that the state officially co-opted the nickname in 1945.
Before the turn of the 20th century, the Nebraska football teams had a number of nicknames including the Old Gold Knights, the Antelopes, the Tree-Planters, the Rattlesnake Boys, and the Bugeaters, which was their most popular name until 1900. At that time, Lincoln sportswriter Cy Sherman believed that the Nebraska team deserved a more glamorous name. The Iowa teams at that time were sometimes referred to as Cornhuskers and Sherman thought that name was better suited for the Nebraska team. Besides, Iowa fans were partial to one of their other nicknames, the Hawkeyes. The Cornhusker nickname stuck and Sherman went on to a 60-year sportswriting career and is credited (or blamed) for originating the AP football poll that still rues its ugly head over college football to this day.
But what is a Cornhusker? Well, it’s one who shucks corn, something just about all of us have done. Know Your Foe still looks back fondly on the days when our mother would order us outside on a hot summer day to shuck the fresh Michigan corn on the cob.
Mascot – Herbie Husker. The Cornhuskers went through a number of mascots, starting with Corn Cob in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Yes, this was a guy wearing a giant corn cob head. 1962 saw the arrival of Husker Man who looked like Purdue Pete’s alcoholic brother. Husker Man didn’t stick around very long and gave way to another anthromorphic corn cob, Mr. Cornhead, in the mid ‘60s. Harry Husker then took over in 1965. Is there any doubt he was based on numerous boosters who set fire to the NCAA rule book?
The corn cobs are cool - the humans are seedy looking. |
I prefer original Herbie - he had a corn cob in his pocket. |
The colors haven’t changed in Lincoln for over a century. At one point the team wore gold as evidenced by the Gold Knights nickname in use in the late 19th century. But the scarlet and cream combo has been a Nebraska tradtion since the Cornhusker nickname came into being in 1900. The only slight deviation is the reference to the Nebraska defense as the “Blackshirts.” This nickname is in reference to the black practice jerseys worn by the first team defense in practice and dates back about 50 years when legendary head coach Bob Deveney wanted the defense to wear a contrasting color to the offense’s red scarlet. Thankfully the Huskers haven’t succumbed to the uniform nonsense of late and haven’t gone to a black uniform. Yet.
Looks like something from Laugh-In. |
No need to mess with this. |
Fight Song – Apparently the Cornhuskers have at least two fight songs. According to this source, they play Hail Varsity after a touchdown, and There’s No Place Like Nebraska (also known as Dear Old Nebraska U) after the extra point. It’s unclear what they play after a field goal or a safety. If There’s No Place Like Nebraska sounds familiar, it should. It’s extremely similar, if not the same, as Florida’s fight song, We Are The Boys of Florida. How could two powerhouse football programs - who met for the national title in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl - have the same fight song? Evidently, they also share the song with the Toledo public school system.
The lyrics to the two songs are quite different. Hail Varsity is pretty standard fight song fare, with a touch of communist march – heavy on loyalty, a politically incorrect sexist bent, and talk of fighting for victory.
Hail to the team!
The stadium rings as everyone sings
The Scarlet and Cream
Cheers for a victory echo our loyalty
So on mighty men!
The eyes of the land upon every hand
Are looking at you
Fight on to victory
Hail to the men of Nebraska U!
There’s No Place Like Nebraska on the other hand is much more charming and unintentionally funny (not to mention a better tune). Any song that mentions that the women are hot, the men are nerds, and the weather sucks is OK with us. The only questionable lyric is the “true blue” mention. That might not fly with Cornhusker fans this week.
There is no place like Nebraska
Dear old Nebraska U
Where the girls are the fairest
The boys are the squarest
Of any old place that I knew
There is no place like Nebraska
Where they're all true blue
We'll all stick together in all kinds of weather
For dear old Nebraska U.
Academics – According to the most recent U. S. News' ranking of America's Best Colleges, Nebraska is 101st, by far the worst rating for any Big Ten school. Even Sparty is ranked 71st. Nebraska's tied in the rankings with such academic powerhouses as Florida State, NC State, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Tennessee. That group might make up a good sports conference, but it’s far from Ivy League in the classroom. Maybe the N on the helmet stands for “knowledge" (I know: an oldie but a goody).
Athletics – Nebraska is in their first year in the Big Ten and was a charter member of the Big 12 Conference (and all its various incarnations) in 1907. It’s too early to tell who the Cornhuskers’ rivals will be. Back in the ‘70s and ‘80s there was none better than Nebraska-Oklahoma on the gridiron. But when the Sooners moved to the South division of the Big 12 they didn’t meet every year. There was an attempt to make Colorado a rival but that never really took.
The Huskers field 21 varsity teams (Michigan has 27), including women’s bowling and women’s rifle. The women’s volleyball team is one of the most storied programs in the country. It must be all the beaches in the state that produce such great players. Nebraska has won three NCAA titles (1995, 2000, and 2006), has been a runner-up three times, and has five other final four appearances. The Cornhuskers are second only to Stanford in titles and winning percentage. The men’s gymnastics teams has won eight national titles, though none since 1994, and the women’s track and field team has two national titles, though none since 1984. The men’s basketball team has been a disgrace. They haven’t won a conference title since they shared the Big Seven title in 1950! Know Your Foe didn’t even know there was a Big Seven. They haven’t won an outright conference title since winning the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletics Association in 1916. They’ve never won an NCAA tournament game, they’ve made only six tournament appearances, and their first trip to the tournament wasn’t until 1986.
When this guy's your all-time leading scorer you have a bad program. |
When it comes to Nebraska athletics it’s football, football, football. The Huskers began playing football in 1890 and have won 46 conference titles and have won or shared five national championships, including the undeserved share of the 1997 title. Only Michigan and Texas have won more games than Nebraska. Let’s hope the Huskers don’t catch the Longhorns this weekend – Texas has 856 victories, Nebraska has 855. Michigan leads with 892. Only Rutgers has played more football games than Nebraska (who’s tied with Navy and one game ahead of Michigan), and Nebraska’s all-time winning percentage (.704 entering the year) is 8th best (Michigan’s .733 is tops). Not only has Nebraska had tremendous on-field success, but they’ve sold out every game since November 3, 1962, an incredible streak of 317 games.
Maybe Carnac knows who will win on Saturday. |
Three Nebraska graduates have been U.S. senators, five have been U.S. governors, and one was even the president of Latvia, but, alas, no U.S. Presidents.
The Game – Michigan might have played their best game of the year last week in Champaign. Hell, it was the best defensive performance for Michigan since probably 2006. Meanwhile the Huskers were also gutting out a tough road win. But they’ve been on a bit of an "on one week off the next" pattern. That bodes well for Michgan if it keeps up. The Wolverines appear to be peaking on D and the offense is still potent if not powerful. The team has played very well at home and Saturday will be no different. MICHIGAN 20, NEBRASKA 13.
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