- Wow. What a show last night. Although the lower bowl was only 60% full, and the lawn about 40%, Smirnoff was hopping last night.
- Scott Weiland has to be a top 5 frontman of the past 20 years. I'll put him against anyone. His presence is unreal. He's got the voice, the moves, and the aura.
- Don't read the review from the Dallas paper, that guy's an idiot.
- Looking at that band last night, I realized they're the last band of a great era. They're raw, untouched from over-bearing producers and record execs, and look like they should still be playing the Viper Room on Sunset Blvd.
- They bring back memories of hard rockers of the late 80's/early 90's, pre-grunge. When bands like the Crue, Metallica, Guns N Roses and the like were bumming around various West Hollywood dives trying to make a name for themselves. You seriously can't find a true rock band anymore, they're one of the last ones.
- In an era of cookie cutter crap music, of American Idol karaoke singers, of pop-rock, of over produced "fit a mold" shat music, Velvet does their thing. They are f'ing rock and roll. They party hard, they live hard, and they don't try to look pretty.
- They'll never get air play and the proper respect in record sales that they deserve. Who's going to play them? Everything's Top 40, country is mixed with pop now, and everything's just so muddied and crap-filled.
- And I don't want to hear about some of these other bands I see on MTV being rock. Bullshat. They sing duets with rappers, they pander to the MTV crowd, and they are p*ssies. Velvet hits you in the mouth, shats down your throat, screws your girlfriend, gets wasted on drugs and booze, goes to rehab, and doesn't care what the hell you think about them. That's a rock band.
- The biggest cheers were for the STP songs. Vasoline. Interstate Love Song. Sax Type Thing.
- And of course, I had to be in line to beat the 10:30 beer sale cut off and miss the one song I didn't want to miss....Fall To Pieces. I'll post the video for the 2nd day in a row, but that video encapsulates everything I love about Velvet and those guys. Hard living, hard rocking, playing in a Hollywood run down bar, etc.
- As much as I love U2, Bono irritates me. I want my country music singers and rock bands/front men to be hard living, hard drinking, and not trying to save every 3rd world country they can. I applaud them for doing that stuff, but man, be a rocker first. And Weiland definitely fits that mold.
- If you wanted to see the tore up concert goer of the 80's, they were out in full force last night. Lots of tight jeans, long hair, tore up and tight black shirts. Basically it was a bunch of Axel Rose's and Scott Weiland's roaming the place last night.
- And the outfits were the exact same as in these 2 pictures. The police hat, the red shirt, the tie, and tight black pants. And of course, the shirt off.
- All in all, great show.
Grade - A
- 5 keys to Saturday's game vs. Iowa State.
Five Keys To Iowa State
Dillard might be the key to Blackshirts' road to redemption
by Samuel McKewon
September 27, 2007
Nebraska's Big 12 Conference opener couldn't be any softer if it were a daybed at Macy's.
We love our pigskin-challenged neighbors from the east, but let's be honest: Iowa State, at 1-3, lacks confidence, continuity and, most importantly, raw athletic horsepower. If ISU doesn't win again this season, it will be neither a surprise nor an indictment of first-year coach Gene Chizik's leadership skills.
Chizik did not inherit a good team. Or a fast team. Or a physically dominant team. Or a team that won't beat itself. The Cyclones have already done that twice, and gave it the old college try against Iowa, too.
At every position, except maybe place-kicker, NU has a slight-to-cavernous advantage in talent. It should be one of those old-school, Barry Switzer "let's hang half a hundred" mercy killings.
If only the Blackshirts weren't begging the state for a little clemency of their own.
It's quite possible that no Cornhusker defense, since Bob Devaney took over, has been so maligned this early in the season. Yes, the 1990 crew got humiliated in its last three games, and 1983 squad is generally blamed for denying the best offense in college football history a national championship.
But has any unit quite been this out of sorts?
One of the vocal leaders for the last two seasons, linebacker Corey McKeon, was surprisingly honest and vulnerable at Tuesday's press conference, but he also sounded like Johnny Fontaine from 'The Godfather."
"You think it just ends on the field with the fans booing us?" McKeon said "No, it doesn’t end there. It does not end anywhere. It is hard for me to go to class after playing the way I played. It is hard to sit there knowing that everyone around me is looking at me thinking something."
It was great, raw material for the press and, on a larger level, it went right to the heart of the dilemma that big-time college athletes face. But as far as the Husker defense is concerned, it's likely to be about as effective as Zack Bowman taking off his Blackshirt for practice, or Steve Octavien telling fans to love-it-or-leave-it, then apologizing for it.
Off the field, Nebraska's defense seems to be freelancing as it much as it does during the game.
The defenders are unified in defending Defensive Coordinator Kevin Cosgrove, but their defense seems almost, well, in gratitude to his kindness. They love playing for him - just not with discipline or very well.
You can argue about schemes, about whether nose tackle Nda Suh should be moved over, or about Tierre Green's play at safety. But it comes back to emotional chemistry. And these days, we don't see much of Jekyll, and Hyde overstays his visit for Saturday afternoon tea.
Which brings us to our first key:
The EQ of the D That stands for "emotional quotient," in case you didn't know. The IQ of a defense, or a scheme, can't be fully realized without a successful EQ. Right now, the EQ of the Blackshirts is in the bidet. Before snaps, the defense looks panicked. On blitzes defenders sometimes play out of control. And in the open field - oh boy. It's like Defcon One.
The Huskers need an organizing principle, and usually that's a single guy who rallies the troops. It used to be McKeon, but he's clearly struggling. Bo Ruud is a captain and a good guy, but he's not going to pull the heart out of some teammate's chest and show him it's not beating hard enough.
It just might be Phillip Dillard, who had a Butkus moment during the Ball State game. Maybe you saw it; Dillard read the running play at midfield nicely, anchored himself at the line scrimmage, waited for impact, and just drove a forearm into the ball carrier. That's technique, brute strength, and just plain ol mean-muggin.
Dillard isn't built like Brian Urlacher, he's built like a short, squat rock. Except he's fast.
Which brings us to his Nitchske moment.
First and goal for Ball State, right at the end of the game. If the Cardinals, who led 37-35, had scored a touchdown, the onside-kick fairies would have been booking a flight for Memorial Stadium.
BSU runs a toss play. Dillard reads it, flies to the spot and does something smart: He waits. On that play Dillard had the sense to sit down in the hole and spank the running back. On the very next play he did it again.
On either, he could have overplayed the run and whiffed on the tackle, or tried to bounce it outside to the sideline. Instead, he did what a middle linebacker is supposed to do: Find the runner, hit the runner, wrap the runner. And frost the cake with some emotion.
Not every play's about being a heat-seeking missile. Part of McKeon's problem is that he's clearly a guy who loves being in the backfield, but doesn't do so well four or five yards from the line of scrimmage. On occasion, a defender just has to meet an offensive player in the one gap and deliver what he's got coming to him. There's a defense between lurking and playing slow, and Dillard knows the difference.
He'll need those skills as we explore the second key.
Another mobile quarterback ISU's Bret Meyer is more of a classic scrambler - no way can he make the throws Nate Davis was making across his body for Ball State - and thus he presents a grand opportunity for the Huskers to polish their tackling skills. Just like we said above: Make the play, not a highlight.
Meyer's in a new offense, and he didn't necessarily process reads all that well to begin with, so he can be suckered into some mistakes. He can also gain a lot of confidence in the open field.
And he'll run bootlegs. Somehow, NU has to improve against the bootleg pass. Both defensive ends - whoever they are on a given down - have to keep contain and limit Meyer's options.
No doubt about it: Davis put 14 or 21 points on the board with plays Callahan likes to call "off the chalkboard." That's not excusing the Blackshirts' performance; that's just reality. It took NU way too long to appreciate how good Davis was. It cannot afford Meyer the same opportunity.
The ground game It's a fair question to ask: Is Marlon Lucky really the best fit for a running game that requires him to cut back against the grain? If Lucky's acceleration and straight-line running are his gifts, why negate them with power stretch plays? Lucky's proven to be quite tough - he's carried most of the load and leads the team in receptions - but, other than the Nevada game (which, clearly, was an anomaly) he has not been a homerun hitter.
Callahan and Offensive Coordinator Shawn Watson's running attack is intricate, clever and ultimately difficult to execute: It asks guards to make tight, vicious pulls inside the tackles. It requires some good blocking tight ends. And it requires progression to the linebackers on the second level of the defense. In theory, it allows offensive linemen to treat defenders almost like an assembly line, as each of the front seven should get chipped, cut off, or blocked sufficiently enough to create a blast into the secondary. Often, these are thrilling running plays to watch, because, when done correctly, they're as flawless as a diagram in a textbook.
The best stretch play - at least for Nebraska - have been ones run right to the edge of the defense, on the short side of the field. If the Huskers get the linebackers pinned inside, Lucky has a clear lane to the corner, or near it.
But, too often, he has to cut back and pick through the traffic. He's not big enough to bull through it and he's only doing a fair job of navigating. Or Lucky's just getting hit by a knifing defender who makes it through the progressing zone blocks. Or Lucky's picking the wrong, slender hole.
Maybe it's just me, but the Huskers' line seems better at mashing than cutting and tandem blocking. The running game will continue to hit and miss until Callahan puts more straight-ahead running plays in, or the offensive line gets better at zone blocking, or Lucky just gets better at picking and dancing.
Better returns The Huskers just can't bust one the kickoff returns, can they? It's not that Cortney Grixby, Andre Jones or Ricky Thenarse are poor returners; there's just not that perfect alchemy of blocks, holes and cuts that make up a huge return. You sense Nebraska is close. And, in Iowa State, NU will face a willing dance partner.
On punt returns, however, Nebraska has not really been close at all, except for one Grixby return against Ball State. Some of it is due to some good punting, and some of it is due to punt returning being a hard thing to do well. Just so long as the Huskers don't fumble any, one supposes.
The jugular Barring some miracle, the Cyclones will most certainly stretch their necks and give the Huskers a good look at their big red artery.
Here's the thing: So did Ball State.
Remember, the Cardinals didn't get going until the second quarter. NU squandered some good chances to put BSU in a hole and in desperation mode earlier than it wanted to be.
This week? Nebraska can again put some distance between it and its opponent. Not four points. Nevada plum quit against the Huskers, and part of it was because NU opened a 21-10 halftime lead. Eleven points - that's two possessions to overcome it. Maybe three. For Iowa State, it could be four.
Good teams should understand that the difference between 49-10 and 28-24 is smaller than it seems. Often, a bad team wants a reason to stick around in the first half. Some hope. A couple stalled drives. A three-and-out. A turnover. With Ball State, it was a bunch of third down conversions right at the beginning of the second quarter, which eventually led to a touchdown.
The Huskers, and especially Sam Keller, play pretty well with their backs against the wall. Not so well with a lead. Come to think of it, Nebraska had the same problem last season in games against Kansas, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M. Throw Missouri in there, as well. In each game, NU hit a lull. The Huskers held off Mizzou, survived Kansas, nipped A&M and collapsed at OSU. Three out of four ain't bad.
So Nebraska has a survival instinct. Does it have a killer instinct?
- Eddie Jones sees a hungry, on the cusp team. As do I. I've said all along, they proved to me they have what it takes to win a championship. They're there. They just had to go through some hard lessons.
Rarely does a team just jump from 2nd round failures to NBA Champions. It just doesn't happen. You must go through growing pains. Throw last year out of the window, that F'ing team played out of their minds, and in the NBA, everyone has kryptonite, I don't care who you are.
Let's get this thing on.
New Mav Jones says team is 'hungry'
Veteran free agent sees a team ready to take the final step to a title
01:14 AM CDT on Friday, September 28, 2007
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
esefko@dallasnews.com
This week in the NBA, everybody is unbeaten and bulletproof.
If hope springs eternal in baseball, fear falls briefly for the Mavericks and everybody else in the NBA at this time of year.
The Mavericks are back in business with oodles of optimism. They will have physical exams this weekend and open training camp on Tuesday. The worries and agony of a long off-season after the epic first-round loss to Golden State will give way to positive vibes and a new commitment.
With good reason, says one of the newest Mavericks. Eddie Jones has been around long enough to know when he sees the goods. The Mavericks, in his opinion, have the goods.
The 13-year veteran will be one of the few players on the roster this season who did not go through the Golden State humiliation. But he knows plenty about this team, partly from the 2006 playoffs, when Jones was with Memphis and the Mavericks beat the Grizzlies in four games in the first round.
What's happened to the Mavericks since then – a failed trip to the Finals in 2006 and a total meltdown in the first round in '07 – will help steel their will, Jones says.
"I felt like the team had it that year," Jones said of '06. "Unfortunately, they didn't finish it. That's why this team is growing. It's a steppingstone every year. The first year, they were halfway there. And it was sort of ripped out of their grasp.
"And then the next year, you know what happens when you face a team that has your number. That's just the way it goes.
"This year, I think they're hungry. Two years in a row with the best record, make it to the Finals and lose ... you've got to be hungry enough to try to attain it now."
Hunger should be the least of the Mavericks' worries. What might be a more useful resource is toughness. There was little doubt that Golden State's brutish style, combined with their athleticism, was what doomed the Mavs in the first round. The Warriors were tough guys and the Mavericks weren't.
The Mavericks could use a Nick Van Exel. He was one of the last players they had who possessed the trait that opponents weren't always sure what he would do.
Jerry Stackhouse owns a similar reputation. But he can't do it alone. A serious contender needs a rugged personality, even if it is primarily a finesse team.
Jones, who turns 36 next month, is a no-nonsense player. While his best years are behind him, his salty edge should serve the Mavericks well. And there is no doubt in Jones' mind why he has landed in Dallas.
"No. 1, I'm here to defend," Jones said. "No. 2, I'm here to make timely shots. And third, to help the young players grow. In that order."
Everybody knows Jones is a wonderful locker-room presence. He has been a strong leader everywhere he's played, and that's covering some territory with stops at the Lakers, Hornets, Heat (twice) and Grizzlies.
It is Jones' belief that the Mavericks are in solid position to win big. They didn't make big roster additions or subtractions this summer, but they didn't need to. Jones and power forwards Nick Fazekas and Brandon Bass will be the only significant changes, with Austin Croshere the primary departure.
"There's a time period where a team is going to be good for four or five years, and that window closes," he said. "You never know when you're going to have that opportunity again. And with the type of talent they have here, the opportunity is here to do it.
"I think it's my time. This team is ready."
That's what the Mavericks thought last season. And the season before.
Now it's that time again.
Camp invitees: The Mavericks, concerned about their lack of depth at center as training camp nears because of injuries to Erick Dampier and D.J. Mbenga, will sign former Denver Nugget Jamal Sampson to a make-good contract.
President of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said there is a chance Dampier will not be available at the start of the regular season. Sampson is a 6-11 24-year-old who has played sparingly in two NBA seasons, though he did have 13 rebounds in a season-ending game against San Antonio last season.
The Mavericks also will sign 6-5 swingman DeAngelo Newsom, who has played in Germany the last two years, and, perhaps, NBA veteran Darvin Ham.
