Pick a coin; any coin

There are a lot of things going on in the world this week, just like every week. The Dow Jones Average reached another new high on Wednesday, the United States has at least temporarily backed away from bombing Syria, and six bodies in two cars were found submerged in an Oklahoma lake, solving a mystery that had existed for decades. But the big story in Nebraska didn't have anything to do with money, war or death. It had to do with football; Nebraska football.

If you're alive and breathing and living in this state, you know that the number one story of the week was a secretly taped message of Bo Pelini, the University of Nebraska head coach, made almost two years ago after his team came from behind to defeat Ohio State. In that recording, he obscenely and constantly derided the Husker fan base for leaving the game when Nebraska was down by three touchdowns. He used the F word over and over again in his tirade, attacking not only the Nebraska fans but the Nebraska media too. This old recording was released after Nebraska was seriously thrashed in the second half last Saturday by UCLA after leading by as much as 21-3 in the first half.

I've been paying attention to Facebook this week to gauge the sentiment of the public about this issue and not surprisingly, people have staked out various positions. There's a core group of Nebraska supporters who stand firmly behind Pelini, mainly because Tom Osborne stood behind him this week too. This group thinks Osborne is a God and whatever Dr. Tom says is what they're going to do. I've never been a Tom Osborne fan because I think his behavior in the past has been duplicitous, but I've written about that in this column before. Despite his critics, many people still support Osborne in whatever he does or says.

I suppose the argument I hear that is most perplexing is an argument I always tried to use with my parents when I was growing up; that everybody else is doing it. It didn't work for me then and I don't think it works now either. Nebraska has long prided itself on fan loyalty and support and the highest ethical attitudes and behaviors from those people in charge. So to now hear fans give Bo a pass for his expletive-riddled rant is a mystery to me. You can't put yourself on a pedestal of proper moral behavior unless you live up to that standard and Bo certainly didn't do that. So saying everybody else is doing it just doesn't cut it.

The third argument, and the one I subscribe to, is that it's just time for Pelini to go. He came with great expectations, being hand-picked by Tom Osborne to replace the disastrous Bill Callahan, after serving as defensive coordinator here before. Maybe the fan support of Pelini has to do with that because he was replacing a coach who didn't live up to expectations, at least for Nebraska football. So huge expectations weren't placed on Pelini like they would have been had he been succeeding Osborne or Devaney and he's lived up to those expectations. The football team has lost four games each year he has been here, they've not won a league championship, and when they get beat, sometimes they get beat badly. I'm sure you remember that Frank Solich was fired after posting a 9 win season because Colorado beat the Huskers decisively in the last regularly schedule game of the season. Wisconsin beat Nebraska worse than that last year but Bo still has his job. On top of that, he berates players and officials on national television, never smiles and hasn't competed for a national championship since he's been here.

Now there's that same group of people out there who think this is okay too because other coaches have the same problems. It's again an argument that shouldn't hold much weight in Nebraska because our coaches aren't supposed to be like other coaches; they're supposed to be much, much better. We're supposed to set the standard for sportsmanship and admirable behavior and you can't do that when you're acting like everybody else is.

Bo's current contract runs through 2014 and if the results of the football team this year are similar or the same to football teams Pelini has coached since he's been here, I don't think he'll be back next year.

They'll pay off the final year of his contract and try and find someone who they think can put Nebraska back where it used to be and where, in the hearts and minds of many Nebraskans, think it SHOULD be; winning conference championships and competing for national titles while the fans and the coaching staff serve as role models for the rest of the college football world.