If you tried to find today’s Lunch with Tom chat, my apologies. The lunch chats are going on hiatus for the summer.
That doesn’t mean I’m going on a diet.
We’ll do two chats this summer, one on June 18 during the College World Series and one more on July 23, just before the Big Ten football kickoff in late July.
In the meantime, if you need to get hold of me, or yell at me, you can still find me at tom.shatel@owh.com or call 402-444-1025.
Have a great summer.…
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Ron Brown, outspoken and concerned citizen, dragged Ron Brown, Nebraska assistant football coach, into the news again.
He gave an interview to the Associated Press the other day, and the topic was the furor he caused in March when he spoke to the Omaha City Council about a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation. At the meeting, Brown spoke with passion, from the heart, quoting the bible, making no mistake for his disdain for homosexuality.
Now, this is in itself not news. I’ve had several readers wonder why I hadn’t opined on this, and, to be honest, I did. Last month. Last fall. Five years ago. Ten years ago. Fifteen. This was not Brown’s first rodeo, or, public hearing. His feelings and pulpit are mobile and well-chronicled.
But this time, it looks and sounds and feels …
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The response to my column on Lyell Bremser was overwhelming on Thursday, and pretty cool. Including a note from Bremser’s granddaughter, Beth Morrissette, who told stories about meeting young Husker fans today who know who her grandfather was.
Another good thing: hearing the origin of Bremser’s signature phrase “Man, woman and child.”
A couple of readers knew the answer, but the best explanation came from Al Mackiewicz, Bremser’s son-in-law and a longtime member of the KFAB Nebraska radio crew. Mackiewicz told the story as he accepted Bremser’s being inducted into the Omaha Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday night at the Scott Center.
According to Mackiewicz, Bremser heard the phrase growing up in Dow City, Iowa, and hanging around his father’s grocery store. Apparently the …
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World-Herald columnist Tom Shatel wrote about KFAB legend Lyell Bremser on Thursday. Bremser, the memorable voice behind some of the most famous moments in NU football history that took place during his 45 years in the booth, is set to be inducted into the Omaha Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday.
A few fun facts about Bremser:
Bremser is most associated with his call of the 1971 “Game of the Century” at Oklahoma. Read more »
He was vice president and general manager of KFAB for years during a time when it was one of the most successful stations in the country.
His last game in the booth was the 1984 Nebraska-Miami Orange Bowl, and one of the last plays he called was Osborne going for two. When …
The weekly “Lunch With Tom” chat has been moved back to Monday, at noon. Starting tomorrow.
It’s confusing, I know. I confuse myself all the time. I moved it last year because of the Nebraska football press conference’s on Monday and my own problem with time management. Mostly, my deal with time management.
I’m learning to juggle chat, first downs and picking up kids. Don’t worry, I don’t forget to eat. Monday is the best day. Everything is fresh from the weekend. This week, we’ll have Final Four and Masters to chew on, along with the assorted Husker talk du jour.
See you tomorrow. Until then, here’s a final score: Kansas 70, Kentucky 68.…
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Creighton’s Doug McDermott was named Associated Press first-team All-American this week. And he had a lot of help.
There were his coaches, who got him to put on more weight — and strength — last summer, then built a scheme around getting Doug the ball in the low block. Genius, right? Yes, put your best players in position to make the biggest difference.
There were his teammates, who passed him the ball and took some heat off by becoming a dangerous team from the perimeter. And those teammates then took all the Doug hype in stride, and surrounded their star with a supportive atmosphere.
Then there was Rob Anderson, Doug’s friendly neighborhood sports information director.
Anderson won’t get any credit for this accomplishment. But I’ll …
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In my next life, I’m going to be fast. I’m going to have the instinctive genius of Johnny Rodgers with a safety on my tail. I’m going to return punts.
So I can win “The Jet” Award.
Check out the trophy for the Johnny “The Jet” Rodgers National College Football Return Specialist Award. For future reference, let’s just call this “The Jet Award.”
It’s pretty impressive. As college football trophies go, it’s one of the better ones. The only problem is, if you try to imitate it, say, on the street, people will think you’re looking for a contact lens.
The trophy is a very well-done replica of Rodgers, leaning all the way forward, after the initial miss by Oklahoma running back Greg Pruitt, who …
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I met a lot of North Carolina folks last week. Good folks. Friendly. Hospitable. Regular people. My favorite kind.
I met 60 or so more North Carolina folks on Monday. Not so friendly. Very angry. These were Tar Heel basketball fans, with a passion any Nebraska football fan could relate to, upset with the Omaha columnist who would tell them Creighton wasn’t playing dirty in Sunday’s NCAA tourney game.
The emails poured in. They continue to pour in.
I hope the good folks listened to North Carolina coach Roy Williams’ radio show on Monday night.
I’ve known coach Williams for over 20 years. Met him on a hot July day when he was introduced as Kansas basketball coach, the successor to Larry Brown’s throne. That …
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What an interesting strategy to try to get physical with North Carolina. I wouldn’t have thought the Jays could do it, much less make it work. It didn’t. In fact, it served to fire up the Heels. But it was a way for the Jays to show that they weren’t going to be intimidated by Tar Heel blue. I don’t think that it was a bad strategy. The best strategy would have been to make more shots.
No doubt about it, Creighton’s lack of athleticism — major conference athleticism — showed up here. The Jays need to add more size and hops and quickness to the roster to get past these kinds of teams. But it’s a fine line. Dana Altman tried to up the …
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1. Big day for Greg McDermott. He got his first NCAA tournament win as a head coach. And he was a huge factor. All of the preparation for Alabama’s full-court press came in handy; the press didn’t bother the Jays that much. Also, Mac let his hair down and went zone in the second half. It may have added to some confusion late. With 4.7 seconds left and Alabama inbounding to go for the win, Mac showed man-to-man. Bama then called an inexplicable timeout after the ball was inbounded and two seconds ran off. When the teams came back after a Jays timeout, CU went zone, forcing a long 3. Well done, sir.
2. You gotta love Josh Jones. Like his teammate and friend Antoine …
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