all i can say is wow. my visit to lincoln was beyond what i would have imagined. first off, lemme apologize for being long winded, so let me explain.
i grew up in california as a cornhusker fan. i know, how the hell did that happen. well, i was brought up by an uncle that believed in running the football, so i chose Nebraska. i watched them since i was about 5, so that would be 1959. i always wanted to see a game in Lincoln. fast forward to last weekend.
flew in from oregon, drove down from omaha and arrived in lincoln around 1000. as soon as i got outta my rental car, i was surrounded by husker fans wanting to know why i was there and then, after explaining why i was there, everyone was so nice! first some background. i came from the left coast. i was a 49er season ticket holder way back in the late 70's. i went thru the 2-14 years, but also went to a super bowl in 82. back out at candlestick, we brawled with rams fans all the time. we cheered injuries to the visiting teams, we burned visiting teams fans jerseys, etc. we were animals, and we were as%holes. we drank like idiots, we tailgated like there was no tomorrow.
then, i rolled into parking lot 13. we were swept away by people that just wanted to understand how some west coast idiot could have been lured by the cornhusker mystic. i explained to everyone how i loved to watch nebraska run all over oklahoma every thanksgiving weekend. and that i hated the forward pass, and that i loved tom osborne and shared all the nebraska history back to my early days. the welcome i got from you guys couldn't have been warmer. everyone there was eager to know i was there for a bucket list. then, i went down to the haymarket. what a blast. we went to buzzard billy's and had lunch there. having the band come thru while we were eating was great. we headed to the book store to spent a shi$load of money on husker gear and headed to the stadium.
now i have to tell you, i am 61 and when i got to the north end of the stadium, i cried like baby-i could see it! i was finally gonna be there. i wanted to get to the area where the statue of tom & brook were. i found it and took a ton of pics. another misty eye time for me. then, on to the game. i had ducats to the club section so we went up the escalators to there. i walked in and started crying like a kid. i had finally made it to memorial stadium. what a place-i could not believe i was here! i'm sure you locals might understand what hallowed ground this really is. IAC, i watched a great game. i left there knowing I will be back again. the nebraska fans are the elite. until you come here, you would never understand. these are the best fans in the country. your venue is special. your team is special. your town is special. you guys get it.
i will be back soon. i am already making plans for the game vs oklahoma in 2022, if i make it that far.
here's to you, big red fans! you are the best!
