H U S K E R D A N
FANS ADD TO THE 100 REASONS
Dear
Readers: Your response to Husker Dan's
"100 Reasons Why I'm a Cornhusker Fan" was over-whelming! HD heard from Husker fans not only from the
United States, but from several foreign countries as
well.
As Husker Dan promised, here is his list of some of the
best of responses. For the sake of space, HD had to edit some of the letters. Once again,
thanks to all of you who took time to write.
YOUR
LETTERS:
Dear Husker
Dan:
Courtesy of the US Army, we have watched Husker football in Orlando,
Florida with Johnny Rodgers; watched games at 2:00 a.m. in Germany with people
who have become life-long friends; at 8:00 a.m. at the Peanut Farm in
Anchorage, Alaska and this coming season, my husband will watch them from the
scorched sand of Tikrit, Iraq (4th ID Steadfast and Loyal). We have met
Husker fans in Munich, Germany, Pilsen, Czech Republic and right here in
Morgan's Point Resort, Texas. One of the greatest things about being a
Cornhusker is
Husker Pride,
Worldwide!
Tina Schmidt
(Morgan's Point, Texas)
HD:
I first
started being a Husker football fan on January 1, 1941, during the Rose
Bowl game in Pasadena. I was only 13 years old and going to a
country school in York County at the time. I listened to the game on
radio and have been a Husker fan ever since.
I attended
many games in the knothole section and have had season tickets since the
60s. For the past 12 years, I've been living in Colorado. I still
fly the Big N flag on game days. I will be in Lincoln for the season
opener, God willing.
James "Denver Jim"
McClatchey (Denver, Colorado)
HD:
Climbing the
fence outside the south end zone to get into the games before the athletic
office was built. I was ten years old when my buddy and I rode the bus
from Havelock to attend my first Husker game. The
date was November 23rd, 1963, the day after the Kennedy
assassination. It was NU and OU for the Big 8 title and a trip to
the Orange Bowl. Bud Wilkinson paced the sidelines and looked
worried, while Bob Devaney paced the sidelines and
looked smug. There were oranges on the field. We tore down
the goalposts and I ran down the field. I got separated from my
friend and had to take the bus back to Havelock alone. As I
walked in the back door, my mom said, "What were you doing running down the
field with that toilet paper?"
My first
thought was, "Wow! They DO know everything you
do!"
Major Lawrence
McCeney "Biff" Jones (Georgians For Nebraska)
HD:
The reason
I'm a Cornhusker fan is because of the Nebraska connection we former residents
carry wherever we go in the world.
Brad Booth, (San
Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua)
HD:
There can be
no doubt that I am the biggest fan of NU who doesn't actually live in the
states. Huskerpedia is my homepage, my car is
red and the license plate reads "HUSKRS" and the
plate holder is from UNL. My condo has plenty of art related to Big Red
football. My love for the Huskers began the night I saw Tommie Fraiser
destroy the Gators...I learned more about the team, the coaches and the people
of Nebraska and became hooked.
My dream is
to some day come down and see a home game in the promised
land.
Terry Collins
(Victoria, British Columbia)
HD:
Since you
mentioned Dana X. Bible, how about the really old-timers like Guy
Chamberlain, Verne Lewellen, Dave Nobel and the greatest of them ALL, Ed Weir?
They put Nebraska on the football map nationally. All Americans
like Sam Francis, Charlie Brock, Lloyd Cardwell and Forrest Behm kept the
Huskers great until WWII. We old-timers will always contend, "There Is
No Place Like Nebraska"!
Ted Randolph,
Class of '51
HD:
The Huskers'
1971 team was the best in college football history. What team in college
football played AND beat teams ranked #2, #3 and #4 (Oklahoma, Colorado and
Alabama) in the FINAL poll!!! Talk about "strength of schedule"! This
means that by playing and losing to Nebraska in '71 you got ranked higher than
if you never even played them!
Nebraska IS
Cornhusker football!
By the way, I
still have Husker season football tickets. It's about a 13 hour drive to
Lincoln and I manage to get back to several home games each
year.
Bill Simic
(Minocqua, Wisconsin)
HD:
I think you
should add to your list:
The Bob
Devaney & Tom Osborne 200 Wins celebration in 1984 with Bob Hope as the
featured speaker.
And the fact
that Nebraska continues to produce great teams even though the home state's
population is about the same size as the city of Dallas,
Texas.
Shelley
Schwarz Dallas, Texas (formerly from Bertrand, NE)
HD:
In the 2000
Orange Bowl, Tennessee tried an onside kick with 7 minutes to go (after Husker
drives of 97 and 99 yards) because they knew they would never see the ball
again.
Scott Pocock (Town
Not Listed)
HD:
Broderick
Thomas, the keys to Memorial Stadium, "Whose House? Our House?"
Even though I was like 10 at the time, I will always remember and love
that. Before HuskerVision, there was Broderick
Thomas!
Jay Saunders
(the state of Kansas)
HD:
The reason
I'm a Husker fan is because the great memories of watching the games with my
grandfather. I was 2 when the Huskers beat Oklahoma in the "Game of the
Century" in '71. My father, who was working on his Ph. D. at UNL,
managed to get a football autographed by that team. When my grandfather
passed away, my grandmother gave me the ball.
Bill Baker
(Olathe, Kansas)
HD:
The look on
Gary Barnett's face after #54 on your list! (the last second field goal by
Josh Brown to beat the CU in 2000)
Crouch levels
the Iowa cornerback in the '99 game.
Holding OU
without a touchdown in the rain at Norman in '88.
Mike Rucker's
block on Mike Fullman's punt return against K-State in Lincoln in
'95.
Wistrom and
Rucker sacking Corby Jones to end the '97 ("Miracle In Missouri") game at
Mizzou.
Frank Costa
picking grass out of his helmet the entire second half against the Blackshirts
in the '95 Orange Bowl.
The "deaf
applause" for Kenny Walker on Senior Day in
'90.
Jeffery Springer
(NTL)
HD:
Big Red beer
before the game and Runzas during the game.
Matt
"The Turmanator" Turman at K-State in '94-one start, one win and one
important performance in a National Championship
year.
Ron Norden
(NTL)
HD:
How
about the heart, determination, and never quit attitude displayed in the '94
Orange Bowl against Florida State? The Huskers were heavy underdogs,
people didn't think we belonged. Had some questionable calls gone our
way (the phantom "clip" on
Cory Dixon's punt return), it
would have been 3 straight National
Championships.
Aram (from New
York)
HD:
How about
adding the fact that Nebraska hung 63 points on Arizona State and Jake "The
Snake" Plummer in the first half in Lincoln in
'95?
Hans Johnson
(NTL)
HD:
The week
leading up to the annual battle with the Sooners. I couldn't get the
game out of my head all week and the actual game was an excruciating release
of bitter-or-sweet emotion depending on the
results.
Gifford E. Rogers,
Jr. (Detroit, Michigan)
HD:
How about adding Steve, The Red Clad
Loon, to your list?
Shawn Nelson
(Chandler, Arizona)
HD:
I'm a Husker
fan in California because Grandpa has season tickets and for one great day in
the fall, we drive across the plains honking at everyone we see in red, then
scream 'til our lungs are gone while counting pancakes and pitches. You
see, on every game day, though I might be many miles away and listening to a
scratchy radio broadcast while throwing lures at abandoned stumps, our Mighty
Huskers provide more than an afternoon's entertainment, they are a link back
to every day I have spent with my family from Nebraska and a reminder, as
corny as it sounds, of what really drives this great
country-PRIDE!!!
Jonathan Kafka
(San Jose, California)
HD:
Here's one
I'll always remember: The '83 Colorado-Husker game in which the Huskers
blew open a close game at the half (14-12, I think) by scoring 7 TDs in the
3rd quarter. I don't think the Huskers had a drive longer than 2 1/2
minutes in that quarter.
Jay Schultz
(Connecticut Husker Fan)
HD:
The security
guard hopping up the large steps by the student section while the entire
east stadium counted in unison.
The
incredible plastic cup chains (now outlawed) from the late 80s and early 90s
which erupted spontaneously with a little kid running around with a large
stack of used soda cups (it grew to thousands of cups which stretched from the
bottom of the stadium to the top and started back again as fans
relayed cups like mini-footballs from around the stadium. The event
was funny and memorable; it captured the fun-loving spirit of the people of
Nebraska).
Kory Barr
(Spokane, Washington)
HD:
Walking
through downtown Lincoln on a Saturday and hearing the game coming from every
business (including the women's lingerie
department).
Alan Christian
(Snoqualmie, Washington-formerly of Seward, NE)
(Alan: Tell
me you were just shopping for your wife, right?)
HD:
Being at the
Holiday Inn in Shreveport, LA and watching the staff and players talk and I
mean talk, with my boys. Lannie Hopkins in particular will
always be a special person to me because of the time he spent talking to
them.
Living in
Arkansas and being able to say that "I'm a Husker Fan!" Because no
matter how bad it gets, at least I'm not a Razorback fan.
Knowing that a return to dominance is imminent.
Knowing that a return to dominance is imminent.
Hearing
people say, "Nebraska Fans are the greatest" even when those people are your
opponents.
Tommy Reshel
(somewhere in Arkansas)
HD:
I thought you
might be interested in this story. I am a member of the Northeast Kansas
For Nebraska Alumni Chapter. One of our members was on a
plane recently with Broderick Thomas. He told our friend that each
Blackshirt defender has a mentor this year. Broderick said he
was Demorrio Williams' mentor. He asked, "Remember the
intensity of the 1995 defense? That's how the 2003
defense is going to play."
Gary McGirr
(TNL)
HD:
NU heading to
the 2002 Rose Bowl and seeing Colorado head coach Gary Barnett cry about
it.
Kelby Dickey (Kansas City
area)
(Priceless!!!!!!!!)
Readers:
Charlie Packard from Houston, Texas took exception
to my #54 (the NU-CU 2000 game) as the most dramatic Husker home
win. He thought the 1970 NU-OU game was more dramatic and then forwarded
me a write-up about the '68 Wyoming game won by the Huskers, 13-10, with
Paul "Golden Toe" Rogers kicking a 51 yard field goal to win it. I said
that while that game was exciting (both Charlie and I were at that
game but didn't know each other until now), it still wasn't as dramatic as
Josh Brown's last second field goal that beat the Buffs in
Lincoln in 2000.
But HD's thinking has changed. And here's
why.
What may have
been the most important win in Husker history, in both drama and
significance, may have been the '68 Husker-Wyoming game.
The
dramatic finish was set. The game was tied at 10 (the
Huskers had trailed 10-zip) and there were only 21 seconds to
go in the game (there was no overtime in those days). Rogers' kick got
an assist from Mother Nature that day. Rogers was kicking with the wind
(to the north-there was a stiff south wind that without it, the
kick likely would have fallen short). Had it not gone through,
the Huskers' record that year would have been 5-4-1.
The Huskers had
just come off a disappointing 6-4 season in 1967 and there had
been serious attempts to get Bob Devaney fired in '68. A 5-4-1
record, while still a winning season, probably would not have saved Devaney's
hide. If a new coaching staff had come in, we likely wouldn't have had
the two National Championships in '70 and '71, no Johnny "The Jet"
Rodgers and his Heisman trophy, and (gasp!) no Tom Osborne. It's an
awfully scary thought.
So Charlie,
thanks for your "detective" work. The '68 Husker-Wyoming game indeed,
may have been the most important victory in Husker history. Thanks
for writing.
Charlie Packard (Houston,
Texas)
HD:
I was a
late bloomer as a sports fan in general. College football was last on my
list. I was 23 when I became a Husker fan. It was the '96 Fiesta
Bowl that hooked me on college football, and most importantly, on the Big
Red. I love the running game and I loved overpowering the
opposition. Since that '96 game, I've learned a lot about
Husker football and I've become an even bigger fan. I was glad to see my
neighbors in New Jersey produced such players as Mike Rozier, Irving
Fryar and Jammal Lord.
Steven Turaniczo
(New York)
HD:
Your #97 is
incorrect. It should be the '77 Husker-Alabama
game.
Johnny Moran
(TNL)
Dear
Johnny:
Thanks for
writing. I knew that...I purposely made the mistake...yeah, that's
right...I did that to see if you were paying attention...yeah, that's
the ticket!
You can e-mail
Husker Dan at