The Start of Something

In addition to my Boston Red Sox blog, I am starting a blog on my first and most consistent sports love. Even the Sox take a backseat to Nebraska Football when the season starts to change from summer to fall. Come the last weekend in August or first weekend in September, the wardrobe turns from red and blue, to red and white.

I may have been born and bred in South Dakota, but my roots lie in the state of Nebraska. The football culture is a big part of it, and my aim is to cover it the best I can because I like to. Writing is something that comes easy to me, and I don’t have to work very hard at it, which is an added bonus for me. Also, most of the information I contain and spew out at my fiancé gets a little lost because of her ties to sanity. Of course she doesn’t care that Junior Running Back Marlon Lucky rushed for 4,881 yards and 81 touchdowns in high school. Or that I know the words to “Hail Varsity” and I sort of mumble the words when my phone rings during the season. Anyway, let’s talk a little more about some background as to why I like this team so much.

There are few destinations on my short list of stadiums that rank high. Memorial Stadium, despite it’s proximity (and the fact that I’ve been there numerous times), is on the top of said list. Fenway Park is a baseball Mecca for sure, however the smells and sounds of Fenway do not measure up to the game day atmosphere in Lincoln, Nebraska. At least for this fan. From it’s humble beginnings in 1923 to the NCAA record 282 consecutive sellouts, Memorial Stadium is the heart and soul of Husker Nation.

Personally, I decided to attend college elsewhere, however my love for this team has never waned. I’ve been avid in my statistical mental bookkeeping for stats and players since I was 12. I watch as many games as humanly possible and if I can’t watch the game on television, I’m sure to be near a radio to hear the broadcast. I read the profiles of the recruiting class to a sickening degree. I highlight (literally, on a piece of paper with a highlighter) awards, high school stats, and analysis on workout results. I watch the progress on the current roster in the off season. I’ve even attended a couple of spring games with t-shirts to prove it. As you can tell, I’ll have a lot of technical data to forward to you in the coming months and years. However, I don’t think I’ll lose sight of the big picture that rises above the current players and coaches, and that is the traditions that make Nebraska Football as exciting as it is. Add these ingredients together and you have a recipe for why the Huskers have an entire nation of rabid fans.

I’ll delve in to the history and pomp and circumstance of the team in the coming couple of months. As exciting and information packed as an off season can be, you can’t write much about how summer practice is going every day. So, here we go. Another sports fan writing in the sports blogosphere. Hopefully it will be worth your time and effort.