np_husker Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Pale Red: Nebraska fans may be sparse this weekend By John Delong JOURNAL COLUMNIST Wednesday, September 5, 2007 Nick the ticket guy was almost apologetic, or maybe embarrassed. “We, uh, actually still have Wake Forest tickets available,” he said. It was 3:40 yesterday afternoon in the East, or 2:40 p.m. Central Daylight time, and the athletics-ticket office at Nebraska had a “limited number” of tickets on sale for Saturday’s game at Groves Stadium. You didn’t have to be a big-bucks Nebraska booster to buy tickets. You didn’t even have to be a Nebraska fan to buy ’em. And you didn’t have to come to the box office to pay and pick them up. They could be waiting for you at will-call in Winston-Salem. Of course, you couldn’t walk up to the ticket booth inside Bridger Field House at Groves yesterday and buy tickets from Wake Forest. And you can’t buy Wake Forest season tickets and get tickets for Saturday that way, because season tickets are sold out. But you could call out to Nebraska and order two over the phone, for just $50 apiece, plus a $5 handling charge. This is a pretty alarming revelation, and one that should be very comforting to Ron Wellman, Jim Grobe, Wake Forest players and Deacons fans everywhere. Nebraska football is steeped with tradition. And part of the tradition is, Nebraska fans love to travel. The image is of waves of red filling opponents’ stadiums, after Cornhuskers fans take over the town the night before. Does anyone remember Nebraska’s trip to South Bend, Ind., in 2000, when it beat Notre Dame 27-24 in overtime, and how it seemed that about half of the 80,232 at Notre Dame Stadium were Nebraska fans? There are legendary stories about Nebraska fans buying season tickets from opponents, just to ensure that they get tickets for Nebraska’s game at Home Team U. Well, Nebraska fans might show up out of nowhere on Saturday wearing red, pillaging and plundering as their reputation suggests. But if you live in Winston-Salem and don’t have a ticket and would like to go to the game, call out to Lincoln, Neb., and give ’em your credit-card number. Don’t even bother going on eBay. Not that those tickets are exorbitant, either. There were some opening bids stuck on $15 yesterday around the time that Nick the Nebraska ticket guy was offering them up for face value. Good news for the Deacons, indeed. Wellman, Wake Forest’s athletics director, said yesterday that Nebraska got an allotment of 3,002 tickets for Saturday’s game. That’s the same number that Wake Forest got when it played in Lincoln in 2005 in the first game of this home-and-home series, when Nebraska won 31-3. Wellman also confirmed that tickets to this game never went on public sale in Winston-Salem, and that Wake Forest had to eventually cut off its season-ticket sales at just more than 17,000 because the remaining seats in Groves go to students, alumni who are allowed to buy single-game tickets, and the opponents’ allotment. Nebraska fans did buy some Wake Forest season tickets - Craig Keilitz, Wake Forest’s associate AD for marketing, estimated that number at around 800 yesterday - but that would still add up to less than 4,000 total. So there really shouldn’t be a sea of red anywhere in Groves on Saturday. If old-school math adds up, Wake Forest fans should outnumber Nebraska fans somewhere in the range of up to 8-1. Clemson brings more fans to Winston-Salem than that, and certainly North Carolina and N.C. State. “We hope our fans have not sold our tickets to Nebraska people,” Wellman said. “I know there probably could be a profit associated with selling the tickets, but we believe our fans are loyal and will keep their tickets and will be dressed in black rather than red.” It’s good news for Wellman, Grobe, Wake Forest players and fans in another sense, too. Maybe this means that Nebraska fans aren’t as sold on this team and Coach Bill Callahan as we have been led to believe. Or maybe Nebraska fans are sold on this team but are staying home and looking ahead to next week, when No. 1 Southern Cal comes to Lincoln. Or maybe they’re looking so far ahead that they’re saving their money for the Big 12 Championship game in San Antonio on Dec. 1. The rest of the road schedule certainly isn’t full of wonderful trips. There’s Nebraska at Texas on Nov. 3, which is undeniably a great trip. But that’s it. Colorado is nice in the summer but not necessarily on Nov. 23, when Nebraska goes to Boulder. And beyond that, it’s at Missouri and at Kansas. Then again, maybe they’re sandbagging and will show up Saturday. Of course, the outcome is usually decided by the players and coaches, not the fans. And this one will ultimately hinge on how quarterbacks Sam Keller and Brett Hodges throw the football, and on how tailbacks Marlon Lucky and Micah Andrews run the football, and how Grobe and Callahan game-plan and adjust. But tickets are still available for a sold-out game, and they’re available through Nebraska only. Here's the link: http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellit...s=1037645509200 Quote Link to comment
Necava Husker Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Must have been from some returns or cancelations. I know of people who could get as many tickets as they wanted, or get any at all. But I'm happy that I got mine!! Look for me. I'll be wearing red. Quote Link to comment
seed60 Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Must have been from some returns or cancelations. I know of people who could get as many tickets as they wanted, or get any at all. But I'm happy that I got mine!! Look for me. I'll be wearing red. Me too. But I'll be sitting with Wake alumni because of the free tickets I got. It's gonna be great wearing red in the middle of all their fans. GBR!!! Quote Link to comment
Chef K Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 It's possible, tomorrow is my anniversary. And I belive my wife got me tickets to a game of some sort. Wake Forest would only be a days drive down and I could stop and see my brother in Concord N.C. over the week-end. Quote Link to comment
huskerdavo Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Maybe this means that Nebraska fans aren’t as sold on this team and Coach Bill Callahan as we have been led to believe. The rest of the road schedule certainly isn’t full of wonderful trips. There’s Nebraska at Texas on Nov. 3, which is undeniably a great trip. We play Texas October 27th btw This guy sounded like a slouch on the radio (590am this afternoon) and from his article it showed. He did not do his research. There will be many husker fans there and yes the reason your season tickets are sold out is because of us. Your welcome! I know for a fact many of those other season tickets are being donated to Ft. Bragg and military fans to see the rest of your games. Do some research Mr. Delong and come back then...peace! Quote Link to comment
s.c. husker Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 tHE TICKET OFFICE AT NEBRASKA TOLD ME THEY DIDNT HAVE ANY TICKETS FOR THIS GAME, SO I PAID AN INFLATED PRICE ONLINE, THAT PISSES ME OFF. Quote Link to comment
maryland husker Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Nebraska fans did buy some Wake Forest season tickets - Craig Keilitz, Wake Forest’s associate AD for marketing, estimated that number at around 800 yesterday - but that would still add up to less than 4,000 total. Here's the link: http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellit...s=1037645509200 Maybe 800 BODIES bought season tickets, but I bought a block of 6, and several others in our group bought up to 10 sets of season tickets, so his numbers are probably way off. I bet we are at least 1/3 of the 31,500 capacity, and that's outstanding. By the way, we are donating the rest of the season package to the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Winston-Salem, as stated in a previous thread. Quote Link to comment
HuskerJosh82 Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Don't underestimate us Mr. Writer guy, it could bite you in the butt come Saturday. Quote Link to comment
Husker B Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 I bought 4 season tickets and will be there with family. I do believe there will be ALOT more people there than these people believe. They just don't want to believe that we could fill that place up, no matter how many times it has been done elsewhere in the past. Quote Link to comment
s.c. husker Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 My wife and I are coming from the upstate of S.C., we had a big group coming but they were just coming to party, most are clemson fans, and ticket prices kept them away. Quote Link to comment
Husker8up Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Nebraska fans did buy some Wake Forest season tickets - Craig Keilitz, Wake Forest’s associate AD for marketing, estimated that number at around 800 yesterday - but that would still add up to less than 4,000 total. Here's the link: http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellit...s=1037645509200 Maybe 800 BODIES bought season tickets, but I bought a block of 6, and several others in our group bought up to 10 sets of season tickets, so his numbers are probably way off. I bet we are at least 1/3 of the 31,500 capacity, and that's outstanding. By the way, we are donating the rest of the season package to the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Winston-Salem, as stated in a previous thread. Thats great maybe we will see you there, we are leaving tomorrow and we are going to drop the rest of are season package by big brothers and big sisters before we head to the hotel. Quote Link to comment
maryland husker Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 Thats great maybe we will see you there, we are leaving tomorrow and we are going to drop the rest of are season package by big brothers and big sisters before we head to the hotel. ' Same here. we are due to meet Elizabeth at about 5 Friday before heading to Greensboro. Quote Link to comment
papersun87 Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 Maybe this means that Nebraska fans aren’t as sold on this team and Coach Bill Callahan as we have been led to believe. That writer sure knows how to extrapolate. Quote Link to comment
Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 Well, Nebraska fans might show up out of nowhere on Saturday wearing red, pillaging and plundering as their reputation suggests. Are we pirates now? Quote Link to comment
huskerdavo Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 Yarrgaaahhhh!!! Quote Link to comment
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