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Jerome Tang Coaches Kansas State Basketball / Souhtwell
« on: January 24, 2011, 10:43:48 PM »
Got Damn that [redacted] can pass.
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Pelini matched Sarkisian's field pass and jersey, then announced he would allow a chosen sailor to call one play during the Holiday Bowl. The luncheon attendees went wild with hoots and applause; someone was going to live out a dream.
Unfortunately for Ryan, he never got the opportunity. Nor, as it turns out, did Pelini ever intend to honor his commitment.
"It was a joke, ma'am," the sour head coach barked at me in his Holiday Bowl postgame news conference.
That was news to Ryan, who told me this week that no one told him he had been punked by Pelini. In fact, Ryan said numerous Nebraska assistant coaches and some of the players had talked with him after the luncheon. "A lot of players, maybe 15, asked me what play I would call," Ryan said.
I asked Ryan what his reaction would be if he had found out Pelini had no intention of letting him call a play?
"I would understand," Ryan reasoned. "It's a bowl game. It's not just a regular game."
When I informed Ryan that Pelini told me the whole thing was a joke, his face fell.
He sat in front of me, looking a bit stunned. He displayed no anger, just sat there, staring into space.
Finally, he spoke: "I would've thought something else if I had asked him about it (calling a play).”
Ryan looked upward, searching for words, when his trained discipline kicked in. "I would rather not think about that," he said firmly.
It was a gut-wrenching moment to witness. Ryan had been let down by the head coach of his favorite team. In front of his peers. But Ryan kept his emotions in check. He was not going to dishonor Pelini.
There used to be a joke in the industry that if you saw a college player driving a Datsun 280Z, then you could forget about signing him. It was widely known Doc had a hookup at a Datsun dealership in Southern California.