ESPN Classic recently had a show where the top 32 teams of all time -- as chosen by who I don't know -- faced off in a votin' tournament. This proceeded smoothly, except for suspiciously strong support from a 1971 Nebraska team that though the forward pass was a small bird native to Tierra Del Fuego. Kirk Herbstreit protested. When the final ended up 1971 Nebraska versus 1995 Nebraska, Herbstreit was Not Amused and made that abundantly clear:
My favorite part is imagining the frantic phone calls from cable companies in Nebraska to ESPN headquarters:
Nebraska The Cable Guy: "THEY'RE COMING THROUGH THE WINDOWS! YOU'VE GOT TO SHUT HIM UP. ABORT! ABORT!"
ESPN Suit: "Herbstreit gets to say what he likes since he's really pretty. We can have Mark May and Lou Holtz help you out though."
NTCG: "Great! That's great. My soon-to-be corpse thanks you profusely."
(Via We Are The Postmen)

































Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-15-2006 @ 6:51PM
rlc said...
Indeed funny, when Herbie picked his choice for the championship game based on the team logo I almost died laughing.
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12-15-2006 @ 9:55PM
Jackwraith said...
Actually, that 1971 Nebraska team averaged about 40% of its average yardage via the pass (180/game) and was led by one of the great receivers (and punt returners) of all time, Johnny Rodgers. That's not to say they were the 2nd-best team of the last 32 years, but they did know how to toss the rock.
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12-16-2006 @ 3:12AM
Other Andrew said...
Herbstreit's upset because the whole thing is dumb. He should have known that ahead of time, though. He's dumb for bothering to show up. Let's let the fans decide! Wheeeee! Fans know everything! They certainly know football from thirty years ago. Wooooooh!
I tuned in to this live for about 45 seconds before I realized that it was going to melt my brain.
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12-16-2006 @ 7:14AM
don said...
herbstreet is an idiot. hes got his head so far up the ohio butt its not funny. nebraska is the greatest team of all time.get it right buckeye boy.
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12-16-2006 @ 10:04AM
LMD said...
I went through the bracket myself, because ESPN always suckers me into these things. I had TX '05 and NEB '95 in the final. People who extoll the virtues of USC '04 never mention their escape against Cal, in LA, in a game in which they were dominated. NEB '95 never played a close game; no one else (MIA '01 struggled against BC and VT) can make that claim. I must say, however, the NEB '95 / MIA '01 semifinal is probably the #1 game I'd like to see. I can do without OU '56 and USC '04, I know how that turns out.
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12-16-2006 @ 11:15AM
Charles Duncan said...
Kirk Herbstriet is biased. He is obviously Ohio State biased. Ok, they are the best team in the country this year, and will likely win the NCAA title this year. But he hates LSU. Last year, he harped about how great Auburn was. Auburn was pummeled in the Capital One Bowl by Wisconsin. This year LSU is the most talented team in the SEC,but he doesn't say that. He said that Arkansas would have their way with LSU. LSU 31 Arkansas 26--Little Rock, Arkansas. LSU screwed themselves this year and would be a better opponent for Ohio State. The Buckeyes would still probably win, but Herbstriet is so biased against them it's sickening. He loves USC and was annointing them as the greatest of all time last year and their 3 peat. Hey, they shared the title with LSU in 2003. They didn't play. No one knows who would have won. He and the idiot Brent Musberger were literally lobbying for Notre Dame during their pasting against USC for the Rose Bowl. Had the BCS done the right thing and put Michigan in the Championship Game against Ohio State, LSU would be playing USC. I am an SEC guy, but Michigan was better than Florida. But Michigan in the Rose Bowl goes against Herbstiet's wishes. Pretty boy doesn't want his beloved Buckeyes to have to play the Wolverines twice. They need more objectivity on ESPN and ABC. Mark May is great as is Lee Corso and John Saunders. Craig James is biased also. The book is still out on Flute. I am interested in Prett Boy's Sugar Bowl Prediction. I hope he and Musberger's Irish lapel don't get in the way of their Mid-West Biased brains.
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12-16-2006 @ 1:07PM
luke said...
i love how nebraska fans get so mad if anyone says anything about nebraska. im a notre dame fan and i live in nebraska. so yea, i have alot of fun with these cornhuskers.
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12-17-2006 @ 11:07AM
Steve Schlueter said...
To watch this for any other reason than for entertainment would be a joke. Each time these wanna be's open thier mouth the viewers get to see thier true bias mentallity. Everyone wants thier opinion to matter but in reallity nobody cares what your panel says. Why don't you all decide what we should think and tell us and forget the vote then we could watch something else.
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12-17-2006 @ 10:45PM
marty said...
cudnt agree more...watched about a minute to figure out wasnt computer generated like those old boxing matches and was done by fans voting....geez....best of all-time....no one will know...oh and if yu wanna actually really compare those boys in 1995 were way way bigger and faster than anyone from 1971......think bradshaw had it right when he said best of a generation......
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12-20-2006 @ 9:09AM
Riley said...
Did not even see the undefeated 1994 Penn State team mentioned... one of the greatest offenses in college football history...too bad they did not get to play Nebraska for NC...they beat Ohio State led by Eddie George 63-14 , USC 38-14, and Oregon in Rose Bowl 38-20
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1-12-2007 @ 6:07AM
blaine said...
I find it funny that people believe only Nebraska fans did the voting for this program. We roughly have 2 million people in the entire state, half of which probably don't have ESPN, let alone cable. Get over it, and it's funny how "every team deserves a chance, every team is worthy" was stated, what do you think this was? They all got their chance, and those were voted the two best teams in college football. And the fact that Tommie Frazier wasn't the Heisman Trophy winner that year, was a joke. Beating 4 Top 10 teams in one year, all by more than 3 touchdowns, please. Show me a team with numbers half as good as theirs.
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1-14-2007 @ 5:56PM
Arnie Brown said...
One of the ways to figure out who was the best is by comparing the #1 and #2 teams for a given year. 1945 Army with Doc Blanchard would not beat any team in the top 75 today, and they shouldn't be asked to. All teams should be judged by how well they did against their peers. I'm not a Husker, but a good argument can be made for the 95 Huskers as the best. Sagarin had 1959 Mississippi as the 3rd best of all time, but where were they on the ESPN special?
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