Bad sports weekend for me

This was a bad sports weekend for me. Sure there were some bright spots here and there, but mostly it was disappointing. Where to begin?


Mavs lose two in a row, fall to Central Missouri with bad second half

Thankfully, I attended this game instead of watching the Nebraska game (more on this later), but this one didn't turn out much better.

The Mavs played a great first half but stumbled after halftime, losing to the Mules 49-31 on Saturday at Caniglia Field.

UNO squandered an amazing performance from freshman running back Levi Terrell. The youngster rushed for a season- and career-high 218 yards, including a 64-yarder in the second quarter.

The score was 14-14 at halftime, but if you just watched the game itself you would have thought UNO would have a lead. The Mavs forced two turnovers and executed its offense well at times, but they also made some mental mistakes with penalties and turnovers.

Quarterback Greg Wunderlich completed 19 of 31 passes for 239 yards and a touchdown, but had a hand in one of the biggest turnovers of the game when he threw an interception at the end of the first quarter that was returned for a touchdown. The pick six tied the game at 14.

After halftime, the game was in control of the Mules. They amassed 270 yards of offense in the final two quarters and scored 35 points. UNO's offense still performed well, but they just couldn't get the ball in the end zone. The Mavs put up 515 yards of offense, their second-highest output of the season.

With the loss, the playoffs are all but gone for the Mavs. Still, even if there are no playoffs in sight, a winning record is still attainable. Players have said that its their goal to win out the rest of this season.


Huskers lose...to Iowa State? In Lincoln?

Yes, they did. The Nebraska Cornhuskers, what was once a prideful and tradition-rich football program, have fallen to a new low that even Bill Callahan managed to keep us out of: losing to Iowa State at home.

It's been 1977 since the Cyclones have walked out of Lincoln with a victory. Oh wait, no, it's actually been since Saturday. You see, the Huskers did something nobody thought they would ever do again: LOSE TO FRIGGIN IOWA STATE AT HOME.

You can blame Bo Pelini, Shawn Watson or the Hamburglar. It doesn't matter, this team stinks right now. I'm not sure who you can blame for 8 turnovers. Maybe it's a team mentality thing. But if it is, doesn't that fall under coach Watson and Pelini? Why is this team in a funk? Why does Niles Paul drop and fumble balls? Why does Zac Lee play every snap ?

Thankfully, the only silver lining from Saturday was that I missed watching the Nebraska game, so I was in a much better mental state than everyone else. But I still had to watch that trainwreck of a second half for UNO.


Nicole Baier is my hero

UNO's soccer team is having an extremely successful season so far, with a 12-4-1 overall record and record of 11-1 in the conference. Much of this success has to do with redshirt freshman Nicole Baier.

Baier has been in beast mode for the past, oh, eight weeks now. She has rebounded from her ACL injuries last year to have an unbelievable freshman campaign in 2009.

Through Oct. 19, Baier leads the conference in goals (12), goals per game, shots (66), shots per game, points (34), points per game, and assists (10). Although since then, Baier has scored 4 more goals and registered another assist to give her a conference-leading 16 goals and 11 assists.

The team is currently tied for first in the conference with Truman and are playing great futbol right now. Much of it has to do with the Mavs' impressive defense and the development of the other Mav forwards. There is, however, no denying the impact that Baier has already had in her first year. The future looks bright for this Maverick.


Volleyball team break out of 4-game slump

The Mavs finally woke up from their worst losing streak in the season. They lost 4 games in a row from Oct. 10 through the 23rd, three of those in five-game sets.

I went to the Truman State game on Oct. 10, and let me tell you: that heartbreaking loss really demoralized the team. Head coach Rose Shires had a long postgame talk with the team, but the team went on the road for their next game and lost in another 5-game set to Central Missouri.

The Mavs returned home on Oct. 21 to face Missouri Southern State, but the team lost in yet another 5-game set. This time, there was no speech on the court. The team went immediately to their locker.

Two days later, the Mavs lost in 4 sets to Pittsburg State. The Mavs finally rebounded on Oct. 24 to beat Southwest Baptist 3-0.

Let's see if this team is capable of regaining their compsure. They're still in good shape at 18-8 overall and 8-5 in the conference, and the team has plenty of talent to make a run in the playoffs.