Almost back to normal.

     The drive back home was loooong.
     The band made a few bucks, entertained some new fans, and probably committed a couple of misdemeanors with their, ahem, followers.
     But, that's the biz.
     Lloyd and I were anxious to get back. We needed to see if there had been any word on Susan. We thought that maybe she had skipped ahead, if Mickey's info was worth anything. It was possible that she was anywhere from Utah to Pennsylvania. We had to narrow down the search area.
     We asked the lads where they had been scheduled to play.
     "Not sure, mate," said Nigel. "We know she booked several gigs in Lincoln, the L.A., deal and she said several other travel opportunities."
     "Did she mention where the travel opportunities were?"
     "Dunno," Chas chimed in. "Sounded right foreign to us, Ohio, Iowa, Michigan..."
     "Chicago!" Derek interrupted.
     "Chicago?"
     "Yeah. I remember Susan telling me that she had to go to Chicago at some point to secure the venue for a gig. I remember it because it was the one place I had heard of."
     "All nighter, Lloyd?" I asked.
     "We can do it. If we drive in shifts and sleep when we get the chance, only stopping for gas and food, we can get home in 24 hours."
     We blazed right by Las Vegas. The lads got mad. Maybe on our next vacation, I told them.
     We stopped in Cedar City, Utah, for gas and packaged preservatives in snack cake and beef stick form.
     As we roved through the mountains, Derek observed that the Rockies could have inspired Tolkien for the Misty Mountains.
     Derek has got some depth, to him.
     I started keeping an eye out for goblins and trolls. Especially around Boulder.
     From Denver we swept through the plains. Lloyd and I struggling to stay awake. The coffee and five-hour energy shots hardly living up to their name.
     The lads were rapt. I wondered if they expected to see the whole Sioux Nation riding out to waylay us. Nothing about America fascinates the Brits as much as the Wild West.
     I promised them each a Stetson, because Stetsons are cool.
     We finally rolled back into Lincoln, unloaded the gear and caught a few hours of kip time. They had a gig on that Saturday.
     That Saturday turned out to be Anxiety Saturday. The Huskers played well, Taylor had an awesome game. But Bo was ill, sidelined, under the weather.
     He didn't come out of the locker room. He took an ambulance ride. The press didn't know where he went or what was done. They were thwarted by privacy laws.
     They don't know that you have to talk to housekeeping. Housekeeping knows all and moves like wraiths through the halls of every hospital. They are invisible, but they know and see all.
     Malcolm is a junior pre-med student who pulls shifts at St. E's. He's on scholarship, but needs cash to take care of some things. He will also impart information from time to time for the right dead president; or statesman if it's really good.
     For the price of a conversation with Mr. Franklin, Malcolm said that the brought Bo in, ran his EKG, ran the full cardiac panel and rayed his chest. He had some of the symptoms for a cardiac event, but the blood levels and EKG were normal. They proceeded with the G.I. cocktail, a mixture of Maalox and liquid lidocaine. Discomfort resolved. Dx papers signed and Bo was out the door.
     As for this weeks game against Idaho State, get your media guides out. You will see names you have never heard before.
     Rex will get about ten carries as we welcome him back. Ameer will shoulder most of the load and Braylon and Imani will get a lot of work in the second half.
    I think Taylor will run the show in to one possession in the second half, then give way to BK3.
     We welcome back Chase Rome to the team who settled his personal issues. I translate that as he broke up with his girlfriend from back home, just a theory, I could be wrong.
     Zaire Anderson got hurt, blew up his ACL. Sadness. Time for Santos to step it up.
     Final score, Huskers 63, Idaho State 10.
     Getting caught up takes a lot of work,
     Husk-husk and on the qb.

Post Minnesota

I just wanted to drop a quick line on a few impressions from the Minnesota game.
This is going to be a bit nit-picky, since one really can't complain too much about a game that was over by the half.
Taylor, there are still times that you try too hard. Third and goal from inside the one, even if it looks like you are stuffed, plunge ahead, don't ever pitch the ball, especially when Rex isn't expecting it. Fourth and goal inside the one has many more possibilities than fourth and goal from the six.
Rex Burkhead (I-backasaurus Rex) can single-handed turn a no-gainer into a three yard gain for a first down. Dear o-line, he shouldn't have to. Lots of good work from the guys up front, but short-yardage situations have been tough, this year.
The Husker receivers look good for the most part, except for a couple of hands issues. Bell had a drop when his feet went out from under him, and Turner had a drop that would have been an easy six. Marlow snatched a pass from the air that kept a drive alive for a good hands effort.
Brandon Kinnie showed he can bust a move when he needs to.
Odd series in the third quarter. 1st and 10 from the Gopher 34, deep pass to Bell, open in the end zone, clearly interfered with, no flag. 2nd and 10, deep pass to Marlowe, Taylor overthrew him like an Mid-East dictator. 3rd and 10, deep pass to Turner, ball falls into his hands and he drops it. Two things about this sequence. I completely get why Beck called three deep passes in a row, the receivers were all wide open every time. They blew past the corners on all three plays. I usually avoid coulda woulda shoulda, but the second and third attempts would not have been necessary had the interference call been made. The other thing, it's extra practice, up by 34 points, lets get some more reps for the play, why not?
The d-line looked pretty good. I like Chase Rome's nastiness, but he's got to reel it in to keep it legal. Bo informed him that a shot to a guys ear when it has absolutely no bearing on the play is quite unacceptable, and that the Nebraska coaches and fellow players view such acts unbecoming and simply will not be tolerated. There were probably some f-bombs, but I would be speculating.
Overall the D looked pretty good. One touchdown set up by a double-reverse-flea-flicker that the d-backs were still able to converge on. Gophers got in on a 3rd and goal play that the defense froze on when they heard the "ball" call. One touchdown against the second string, on a drive that was kept alive on a 4th and 2 completion that I thought the Gopher dropped as he went out of bounds. ABC did a horrible job covering the explanation as to why the "continuation" rule didn't apply. They were at a commercial. Not surprising. I think the game had ABC's regional third string unit. Note to ABC, hire some guys that actually know the rules, especially the one about how a backward pass is a live ball, OK?
General impressions for the rest of the country. Stanford is under-rated. OU should have been dropped into the fire for losing, at home, to the worst passing defense in the country. In two weeks, Illinois has gone from B1G contender to slightly better than Indiana. I have to wait two weeks for the LSU-Alabama game that is the de facto National Championship game. Sparty fan is now completely convinced that instant replay is the greatest innovation since TV dinners and the remote control.
Huskerfan will be lamenting and wailing the Sparty game this week with the following logic. Thesis: Wisconsin blew Nebraska out. Antithesis: Michigan State was better than Wisconsin. Synthesis: Michigan State will blow Nebraska out.
All apologies to Hegel.
One last impression, this dude is fast.