Back in Action

So after four days, five cases of beer, three concert performances, and approximately 700 games of flippy cup, I return from WeFest with no voice and a battered body. I took some great memories from the experience, though I probably blacked out just as many. But since this is a Husker blog, not one for me to blabber about my personal life on, I'll just pass on a few tidbits:

- I highly recommend anyone from the midwest going to this event. Expensive? Yes. But for 100 to 150 bucks, you can see some of the best acts in country music, which was worth it to me. I saw Kenny Chesney, Dierks Bentley, and Brad Paisley. That's not even counting to the acts I didn't go to, such as Sugarland, Rascal Flatts, and Taylor Swift, among others. One of next year's headliners? Tim McGraw.

-Some kid at an adjacent campsite made the mistake of wearing an OU hat around. My brother and I (and this was at about 1 AM, so we were in rare form) went over and proceeded to talk about the glory days and how we were going to return to prominence now that we had Bo back in the fold. The funny thing is, about 1 minute into the conversation, he told us he wasn't even an OU fan, he just likes the hat. The sad thing for him is that we kept going for about 20 minutes.

-I was wearing my "Big Red Code" shirt around all day Friday and received several "GOO BIIIG REEEDDD" chants from campsites I was walking near. I chatted up one group from Sioux City for a while about this year's prospects, and came away with that warm feeling you get from being part of such a loyal and knowledgeable fan base. I'm not trying to pump up Husker fans, but it's true what they say: You can't really describe it unless you are one.

-I didn't realize it at the time, but afterwards I realized I had never closed the valve on my sleeping pad, which means I essentially slept face-down on the ground for 4 nights in a row....along with the dehydration and sleep deprivation, it might explain why I felt like I was hit by a car on Sunday morning.

Anyways, on to the Huskers.

-Glad to hear that Major Culbert is thriving at safety. Last year seemingly everyone was desperate for the coaching staff to make a decision and just stick with it, no matter what it was. Now, given the opportunity he's been waiting for, Culbert is turning heads and giving Larry Asante a run for his money at the strong safety position.

- I was wondering how among all the hullabaloo about the Lucky/Helu situation that Quentin Castille had seemingly been neglected. It was to my relief then when I read that he has been just as impressive through camp as anyone, save for maybe Culbert or the surprising Jared Crick. I thought at times last year that Castille was playing well above his necessary playing weight, so it was no surprise that he was getting into Javorskie Lane territory, nearly topping out around 260. When pictures from spring ball started coming out showing him running around at a svelte 235, I nearly started drooling with anticipation of what is going to happen to the first poor safety or corner who runs up with the intention of tackling him in the open field.

Speaking of which, is there a more disappointing development in football the past 10 years than the fact that no people in the secondary wrap up and tackle properly anymore? Who the hell is going around telling these kids to do combat rolls into the ballcarrier's legs? It's completely inexcusable and drives me insane. Usually, they whiff on 5 out of 6 attempts, but you can bet your ass that on that one time they make the play, they get up and act as if they had cured cancer and wanted the whole world to know about it. I hate bad fundamentals, and even more so I hate those who practice them and then show off when they somehow trip up the back or receiver. Do your job, go back to the huddle. OK, rant over.

-Another position battle I've been keeping my eye on is the backup QB spot, which Patrick Witt and Zac Lee are fighting over. I'll admit, I've always preferred Witt after seeing him two spring games ago and throwing some nice balls while getting his ass kicked by the #1 defense (which was the only squad our #1's beat last year). Lee's mobility, on the other hand, is a factor that can't be ignored, so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out throughout the season and who comes out with an early lead to be next year's starter.

For the rest of the week, I'm hoping to do a look around the nation a little bit, as well as review Jason Peter's new book, "Hero of the Underground". So check back in throughout the week (and uh, the rest of the season, of course).