A series of articles by Brandon "Blankman" Cavanaugh.

A Big Red Weekend

Hey there Husker fans. First off, I’d like to send a thank you out to Mr. Andy Washburn who was instrumental in hooking me and my crew up with a fantastic day. Props to you, A.W. Now, as I sit here in the evening of Saturday, my freshly bought NU replica basketball jersey over my shoulders and the smudge of the stamp on my hand fading with every wash, allow me to regale you with tales of the Capitol City and a Saturday that was truly both big and red.

- The Calm Before The Storm

The night prior to Saturday, I went down to Lincoln with two purposes. One, to jaw with some very good friends of mine who also are drenched in Huskerdom and two, to find out if Bob’s Gridiron Grille was really all that. Let me tell you, this place could’ve been hokey, but it is well done. The walls leave you repeating “Oh, I SO want that!” more times than a CU co-ed who laid eyes on Kyle Korver. There’s everything you could imagine. Helmets, posters, pictures, autographs and all of it framed and presented very professionally. The menu features great names (such as Sugar Bowl Jambalaya Pasta and Special Teams Meaty Meatloaf) and great actual good (such as steak, steak and more steak.) The corn is even served with husk, so you can’t help but get a tear in your eye. Oh yeah and there was some guy there named Milt and I almost got ran over by a big guy named Fonoti.

- The Spring Game

Freshly out of Huskers Authentic, I soon jaunted over to where the Booster of Substance must hibernate within the bowels of Memorial Stadium to find out that, for a day, I would become a member of the club seats. Just to make sure I wouldn’t be shot upon the discovery of my yearly income, I asked several helpful Husker Sages to direct me to my seat. I ascended three escalators, the scent of lilac and vanilla increasing with each step into the peak of society, at least for a Husker fan. I reached the summit of Mt. Ching Ching and was greeted by vendors making their very first rounds with fresh trays of Valentino’s pizza, runzas and popcorn. I, being an odd sort of Blankman, found my section and seat while saying nay to the pizza pushers and sushi vendors. I know, I know, football without sushi? If you can call THAT football.

I must’ve literally been the first one to sit down because as I gazed out upon Mecca, that is, Memorial Stadium, I saw no one that wasn’t in security yellow. Various folks scattered around below to prepare for the scrimmage whose attendance would satiate the Athletic Directors of most small colleges. Hours past and finally, it was here. Red vs. White. Jammal looked solid, at least more comfortable passing than last year, so perhaps those pep talks via Cotton weren’t such a bad idea after all. Stewart Bradley delivered the kind of hit on Garth Glissman (and later, others) that would leave other humans exclaiming, “Stop bleeding, stop bleeding, dear God, stop bleeding!” David Horne looked fluid, Josh Davis, determined and Dusty Stamer just plain fast. In all, 47 passes flew through the air with the defenses coming up with a bevy of picks. The O-line pushed folks around and the defenders didn’t quit until their man was face-first in Field Turf. These guys looked pretty good for Spring time, I can’t wait to see what summer and fall brings.

- Intermission

Rain peppered us all during the Spring Game, leaving me to wonder if the bout between the Huskers and the Longhorns would commence over in Hawks Field. My father and I meandered over to Crane River (a great microbrewery and restaurant if you haven’t been there) and enjoyed hearty bowls of Mighty Red Gumbo with yours truly enjoying a Black and Tan Brownie for dessert. As we departed CR, the clouds remained but the rain had mostly vacated. So, we wound our way through downtown Lincoln and parked within short walking distance to Haymarket Park. A fellow Husker baseball enthusiast explained to my father and I that the first pitch had been moved to 4:30. The hunt, she was on.

- The Texas Longhorns vs. The Nebraska Cornhuskers

So here I am, sitting right behind the Nebraska dugout (thanks again, Andy) and LOVING Haymarket Park. The complex is fantastic and the view, marvelous. You get a great shot of Memorial Stadium and the Capitol Building from right in your seat. Texas jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of homers which made me think perhaps the rain would’ve been best. The two teams traded scoreless innings before Nebraska belted a 3-run homer to make things a little more bright at 3-2, but the ‘Horns were going to keep things interested and made it, eventually, 3-3. The ‘Huskers wouldn’t have any of that though and Hopper CRUSHED another 3-run homer making it 6-3 NU. At this point, I would like to apologize to the Texas 3rd Base Coach. Your mullet is actually quite full and hearty, despite my jeers.

Texas scored another run to make things 6-4, but NU ended the game on a double play, the crowd erupted, the team stormed the field and the exclamation point was put on the perfect day. For those of you who haven’t yet been to Haymarket Park, I strongly recommend you go sometime. Even if you don’t like baseball, the attitude and enthusiasm is VERY contagious and I think it makes for a wonderful family outing.

So, that’s the long and short of it. I expected much and that’s what I received. A fantastic day filled with thrills, chills and that goofy-assed play where Glissman acted all aloof and then goes darting down the field like someone said the training table was almost out of custard while the runningback lobs up a pass. Hey, it was worth my 9 bucks right there. Ah, until next Spring…oh, you mean there’s some season coming up?

Questions, comments and props to YOUR homies can be sent to [email protected]

===Brandon a.k.a. Blankman #71===

Return to articles.