- THIS is country music. Drugs, women, booze, raw and real.
- Bill Callahan's new gig.
- The probable coaching line-up to join Bo in Lincoln.
Pelini's coaching staff
This appears to be the coaching staff Bo Pelini is in the midst of forming.
According to a source close to the situation, the defensive coaches are likely to be:
Mike Eckler (strength coach at LSU, played at Kansas State)
Marvin Sanders (former Husker, coached at NU in 2003 and also served as co-defensive coordinator at North Carolina)
Carl Pelini (D-line coach at Ohio for Frank Solich)
John Papuchis (a 29-year-old defensive intern at LSU in 2007)
And the offensive coaches:
Barney Cotton (former Husker, coached with Pelini in 2003 at NU, former Iowa State offensive coordinator)
Shawn Watson (NU's offensive coordinator in 2007)
Ted Gilmore (NU's receivers coach for last three years, recruiting coordinator)
Ron Brown (Coached NU's receivers for 17 years)
This leaves one more position to be filled. Hopefully an official announcement is soon coming.
- Mavs finally win on the road.
Hot Howard helps Dallas Mavericks beat Bulls
05:52 AM CST on Tuesday, December 4, 2007
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
esefko@dallasnews.com
CHICAGO – Josh Howard had one of those special games Monday, the kind that normally are reserved for a rare breed of NBA player.
Like Dirk Nowitzki.
But there was no doubting that Howard was the superstar on this evening. He burned the Chicago Bulls early with 21 first-half points as the Mavericks built a nice lead.
And when the Bulls adjusted to Howard's hot hand, he started firing on-target passes instead of on-target shots.
Howard finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and a season-best six assists as the Mavericks beat the Bulls, 103-98, winning a road game for only the second time since Nov. 8.
They even survived a scare to Devin Harris, who felt like a ton of bricks had come down on his neck – or at least a few hundred pounds of Chicago Bulls during the third quarter.
Harris got caught in the paint with nothing but big bruisers around him. Joakim Noah was one of several players that crashed down on Harris in the third quarter and he spent the rest of the evening in the locker room with a neck strain. X-rays were negative and Harris said it's too early to tell whether he will play Wednesday in San Antonio, although coach Avery Johnson sounded optimistic.
Meanwhile, Howard was a beast. He and Chicago's Luol Deng had a shootout in a preseason game here, with neither playing much defense on the other. This time, it was different. Howard outscored Deng 21-2 in the first half. And Howard handled all other facets beautifully, particularly not forcing shots when the Bulls ran two defenders at him.
"I got double-teamed when I got the ball and they were swatting at it," Howard said. "I was able to find guys and get over my norm of two assists a game."
Actually, he shortchanged himself. He was averaging 2.1 assists coming in.
"Josh was a stud," coach Avery Johnson said. "In the first half, he scored an awful lot. But in the second half, they double-teamed him more and he made the correct passes. And they not only were on time, they were on target. He has the potential to do that every night. And he knew we needed to get a win."
This usually is a bad time to catch the Bulls. They have a history of turning it on in December, when they went 14-3 last year. But it appears there is no bad time to play them these days. Howard made sure of it.
The Mavericks led by as many as 16 points in the third quarter and never really were in danger down the stretch, despite the closeness of the score at the end. They hit their free throws and the Bulls never had a chance to tie the game or even get within two points.
Nowitzki had 25 points in support of Howard and Jason Terry had 18 points, including four-of-six 3-pointers.
"Jet's always posting up for those 3s in the fourth quarter," Nowitzki said. "When that shot goes up, we just know it's money."
The Mavericks improved to 1-1 on the road trip with the visit to San Antonio remaining. The only concern was Harris' well-being.
He said it felt like two players came down on him.
"I felt his [Noah's] body come down and I tried to lift up," he said. "It's a little stiff. I'll get it worked on when we get to San Antonio."
- Romo just livin' man.
One day, Jessica Simpson will figure out how important it is to take things slowly when it comes to a fledgling relationship. Alas, that day doesn't appear to be arriving anytime soon.
On the heels of reports that she dubbed Tony Romo "my man" after only a few days of dating (and after being set up by her overly involved dad Joe), the Texas twosome made a half-hearted attempt to duck shutterbugs as they stepped out -- and reportedly made out -- Saturday night at Los Angeles hot spot Teddy's.
The occasion was a 30th birthday shindig for Jessica's BFF and former assistant CaCee Cobb, whose milestone celebration may have provided Simpson with the perfect opportunity to show off Romo, with a source telling In Touch, "She wants all her friends to meet him."
The Dallas Cowboys quarterback-cum-chronic starlet wooer, who got to know the entire Simpson clan over Thanksgiving, appears to have cast quite a spell on the unlucky-in-love blonde.
"They were talking the entire time and Jessica was very giggly around him," a spy relays to photo agency X17.com. "She had a great big grin from ear to ear the entire evening."
Simpson, looking lovely in a long, second-skin black dress that unfortunately (or fortunately -- your call) turned a mite sheer from the flashbulb explosion outside the club, holed up with Romo in a private booth at the beginning of the night, reports People.
Later, they progressed to wrapping their arms around one another and soon after, says the mag, they went in for a smooch smack dab in the middle of the packed nightclub.
Stealthy.
Romo, for his part, already seems to be enjoying the perks of having a high-profile Hollywood honey.
On Friday night, Simpson flew by private jet from Orlando, Fla., where she had just participated in a Disney Christmas special, to Dallas in order to pick up the NFL-er and give him a lift to Los Angeles, according to In Touch.
"Jessica is a little nervous but so happy to see him," a mole told the magazine. "Jessica thinks he is hot! He's a really nice guy and her family loves him."
Meanwhile, is Romo getting the Hoover treatment when he plants a wet one on Simpson? Not according to her rep, who pooh-poohs rumors she's had her lately poutier-looking lips replumped.
"Jessica did not have anything done to her lips," her mouthpiece insists to People. "She tried Restylane some time ago and did not like the way that it looked or felt, so she has not had anything done since."
- As much as the Sturminator still predicts doom and gloom by the end of the year for the Stars, the fact remains, they have the 2nd most points in the league, are leading the division by 4 points, and are the current #2 seed in the West. Shootout win in Columbus, ending a successful 4-2 road trip.
Familiar finish for the Dallas Stars
05:51 AM CST on Tuesday, December 4, 2007
By MIKE HEIKA / The Dallas Morning News
mheika@dallasnews.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The shootout has bailed the Dallas Stars out of some tight spots in the past.
On Monday, it merely accentuated a strong team effort.
Niklas Hagman scored as the 10th shooter in the tiebreaker, and Marty Turco stopped three of five shooters to give Dallas a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The win closed out the team's longest road trip of the season with a 4-2-0 record and pushed the Stars to 15-9-4 (34 points). Dallas remained in first place in the Pacific Division and maintained its four-point cushion over second-place San Jose.
"It was really good," Hagman said of the trip. "We had some ups and down. We lost a couple and didn't play well, and we got a reminder that we have to work hard to win games."
The Stars bounced back admirably from two rough games against New Jersey and Pittsburgh and closed the trip with two wins when they were probably running on fumes.
"I think you got two teams that are a little bit fatigued," coach Dave Tippett said of Monday's game, which was filled with turnovers, but also great scoring chances and great goaltending. "That's the kind of game we thought it was going to turn out to be right there."
Turco was outstanding with 25 saves, but he had to be to keep up with Columbus goalie Pasacal Leclaire, who was darn near phenomenal in stopping 33 shots. The Blue Jackets used that goaltending to protect an early 1-0 lead and appeared on their way to a tight victory. But Stars rookie Chris Conner fought through the checks of two defenders and scored on a third-period breakaway.
That forced overtime and, eventually, the shootout, where the Stars are an NHL-best 23-6 since the tiebreaker was instituted in 2005. Turco allowed goals to two of the first four shooters, but then he shut down Gilbert Brule when it mattered most. The Stars needed goals from Mike Modano and Mike Ribeiro to keep the shootout going and then won it when Hagman made a funky, sweeping backhand that slipped under Leclaire's pads.
"Nobody knew what Haggy was going to do, including us," Tippett said.
Hagman said he duplicated a move he used to score on a short-handed breakaway earlier this season.
"I've tried it a couple of times in practice, and maybe that's something goalies don't expect," he said.
Hagman said he doesn't think he will be taking the place of shootout specialists Sergei Zubov and Jussi Jokinen, who were both stopped Monday. In fact, he said a ton of Stars players could be used in the shootout ahead of him.
"We've got a whole bunch of guys who are good," he said. "The big factor has obviously been the goaltending. Marty has been really good, and Smitty [Mike Smith] has been really good. I would say the goalies have been a big factor, and then the confidence has been a big factor."
Either way, the shootout has been a big factor for the Stars the last few seasons.
"We've been able to win our fair share of them, and those are valuable points to have," Tippett said.
STRONG TRIP
The Stars completed their longest road trip of the season Monday with a 2-1 shootout win over Columbus. Dallas went 4-2-0 on the trip.
Date Opponent Result Comment
Nov. 25 NY Rangers W 3-2 Mike Smith's 39 saves carry Stars as they're outplayed
Nov. 26 NY Islanders W 3-2 * Mike Modano scores on rebound after perfect OT shift
Nov. 28 New Jersey L 4-2 Stars blow 2-0 lead, fall apart in second half of game
Nov. 30 Pittsburgh L 4-1 Sidney Crosby lights up Stars for two goals on eight shots
Dec. 1 Philadelphia W 4-1 Steve Ott, Jeff Halpern and Chris Conner lead gritty win
Dec. 3 Columbus W 2-1 ** Marty Turco shines; Stars improve to NHL-best 23-6 in shootouts
* Overtime; ** Shootout
- Mikey.
- Creepy Rhyner with SMU tennis coach and her sister.
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