It’s Friday! That means Ten Big stories in 10 little bites. We hit Brandon Crick and Albert Pujols, Bill Simmons and Derrick Rose, Nick Saban and Tiger Woods. But first, it’s perhaps the most underrated weekend of the year.

When I think of sports activity, I think of April (Masters, MLB Opening Day, Final Four). I think of October (World Series, college football and the NFL, NBA and NHL debuts). But Father’s Day, especially this year, is hard to beat.

Earlier in the week, I asked on Twitter what single game/event fans would watch if they had to pick just one. I received votes for the US Open, the NBA Finals, the Stanley Cup Finals, the Confederations Cup and, of course, the CWS. I suppose …

Read more »

Two years ago in May, Jim Delany was exercising in his Chicago home (treadmill, if I remember right) while taking my questions about college baseball.

Delany is a huge fan — his dad was a standout at Seton Hall and later a high school coach. Yet because it was baseball — not the BCS — the Big Ten commissioner’s opinions had gone mostly under the national radar.

Delany had spent 10 years seeking radical NCAA reform. He had proposed expanding the CWS to 10 teams and reserving two spots for northern schools. He told me that he was tired of beating his head against a wall. If the NCAA didn’t make life easier for northern schools, well, the cold-weather programs may have to form their …

Read more »

The last time Bill Callahan called plays, his offense put up 51 points. And his team lost by two touchdowns.

Callahan and his fancy play sheet are back in the spotlight. I can’t imagine a more combustible play-caller/quarterback combination than Callahan and Tony Romo. Pass the popcorn!

What did Jerry Jones see in Callahan that inspired him to undercut Jason Garrett’s authority? Hard to say. Callahan’s record has more smudges than shine, especially the past decade. There was the Super Bowl debacle, then the Nebraska debacle. Callahan is not a head coach and often he wasn’t a very good coordinator, either. (I’m imagining Joe Dailey and Tim Brown running into each other at an airport bar somewhere, striking up a conversation and forgetting …

Read more »

It’s Friday! That means Ten Big stories in 10 little bites. We hit LeBron James, George Brett and Gordon “Gee, I probably shouldn’t have said that.” We hit Julie Hermann and Doc Sadler, Mark May and Brian O’Connor, SEC scheduling and a little College Football Playoff talk.

But first, Tim Miles’ new crib.

The media, myself included, put on hardhats and took a tour of Pinnacle Bank Arena this morning. It’s 85 percent finished and will open in mid-August. You can see the photos and video on Omaha.com — I’ll have a story to go with it later today.

The building itself is obviously impressive, but there’s only so much you can do with an arena. What stood out to me is the development …

Read more »

Surprise, surprise, the big news in college sports is scandal in the Big Ten.

Rutgers isn’t competing in the Big Ten yet, but the ribbon is already cut. There’s no going back now.

Ohio State’s tattoo scandal was bad. Penn State’s Sandusky scandal was much, much worse. But for sheer administrative bloopers, it’s hard to beat Rutgers. I’m picturing a new reality show on Channel 438 — “Punk’d in Piscataway.”

In case you missed, it, Rutgers fired an athletic director because he failed to fire an abusive basketball coach, then Rutgers hired a new A.D. who … drumroll please … used to be an abusive volleyball coach! Hey-o!

Anyway, ESPN’s Dana O’Neil breaks down the details. Forbes says the Big Ten shares in …

Read more »

It’s Friday! That means Ten Big stories in 10 little bites. We’re loaded today, with Husker football and baseball, Eric Crouch and Mike Moustakas, Doc Rivers and RG3, Barrett Ruud and Urban Meyer, a unique high school story and a personal anniversary. But first, turkey for breakfast.

>> 11 a.m. against Iowa? I realize it’s not ideal for fans, especially those that want to stand in line at 3 a.m. for $6.99 mixing bowls. But in this era of 238 channels, it’s important to find time slots without competition. Nebraska-Iowa is just about the only game on TV at 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving Friday. That’s worth a lot, especially if you play well.

>> The ninth-inning loss to Ohio State Thursday was an apt …

Read more »

A tenacious, second-year Husker baseball coach takes his underdogs to the conference tournament and wins!

If Darin Erstad’s team pulls it off, it wouldn’t be the first time. This week in 1999, Dave Van Horn took his fifth-seeded Huskers to Oklahoma City and captured NU’s first baseball championship since 1950.

John Cole’s leaping catch in left field to beat Baylor, 4-3, was the unofficial beginning of a baseball boom at Nebraska. It represented one of the greatest (and most improbable) success stories in the history of the athletic department.

Can Erstad reignite the program 14 years later? He probably doesn’t have the arms to win the Big Ten tournament, which begins today in Minneapolis. He’ll probably have to wait another year to make an NCAA …

Read more »

It’s Friday! That means Ten Big stories in 10 little bites. We hit Tiger Woods and Bubba Starling, Ndamukong Suh and Julie Hermann and conference races in college baseball. But first, the head-scratching new Big Ten schedules.

In case you missed it, Nebraska doesn’t play Ohio State or Michigan in 2014 or ‘15. Neither does Wisconsin. Neither does Iowa.

Why would the Big Ten build a conference schedule whose biggest interdivisional matchup is Michigan vs. Northwestern? Good question.

Theory 1: All this talk about schedule strength as a critical factor for playoff selection is overblown and the Big Ten knows it. Yes, it’s going to be important to strengthen non-conference schedules. But the best way to assure yourself a spot — or two …

Read more »

Monday’s Chatter — without marquee local sporting events — is starting to take on the characteristics of Fridays. That means lots of small helpings without a main course. Hope that’s OK with you.

>> Friday Nebraska scored a big-time transfer in Alex Lewis. Saturday Lewis was arrested for second-degree assault. Read the report; it isn’t pretty.

If the incident takes place a week ago, Nebraska almost certainly doesn’t offer Lewis a scholarship. But now what? What will Bo Pelini do? He’s taken pride in keeping the Huskers off the police blotter. Based upon that standard, my guess is Pelini will ask Lewis to find another school.

>> Nick Bahe (an intense Tiger Woods fan) and I engaged in a Twitter skirmish last night …

Read more »

Andy Staples, one of the best in the sportswriting business, presented his post-spring Top 25 on Tuesday. No surprise that Ohio State was No. 4. What did surprise me is ranking three Legends Division teams from 14-22. And none of them was Nebraska.

Michigan certainly deserves a spot. Northwestern probably does, too. But Michigan State? Unless Mark Dantonio has solved his quarterback problems, I can’t imagine the Spartans in the top 15.

For the record, Nebraska doesn’t even crack Staples’ five “teams he might regret not including.” I’m not about to argue on behalf of the Huskers, who fell apart in Indy. But if Staples is right and the Huskers are the fourth-best team in the division, then Bo Pelini will be in …

Read more »