Why Nebraska Fans Are the Way We Are.

[PenthouseTiger]

Clemson is a tight family also within the university and alumni. Now I know that Nebraska as a state is solid Red and the state of South Carolina is fairly evenly divided (slight tilt towards USC due to their larger alumni base) in terms of loyalty. Our state as a whole will never have the kind of unity that Nebraska has.

 

However, the Clemson family itself is a very close group. In fact, the phrase "Clemson Family" is used often and is evident everywhere. A couple examples:

 

- A few years ago, an off campus apartment building burned down and left dozens of students with nothing but the clothes on their backs (thankfully nobody was hurt). Immediately, donations began pouring in from fellow students, faculty, the city of Clemson, and others. The morning after the fire, there was a message posted on Clemson's webpage stating where to send donated items such as clothing, books, school supplies, etc. By that afternoon - less than 24 hours after the fire - the message on the webpage had changed to something like "Please don't send any more donations of anything. We have way more than we will ever need."

 

- With the budget crunch this year, President Barker (Clemson's president) imposed a 5-day unpaid furlough for salaried employees this year to save money. Of course he didn't want to do that but money is very tight. As a result, a fund was set up for people to donate money to help those employees who would need money the most (obviously not for the highest paid professors but for the support staff who don't make much) and donations are accepted from everybody at Clemson. Students, faculty, and alumni all came together to donate in this fund to make up for the shortfall.

 

South Carolinians are a stubborn bunch and we stick together on most things with the notable exception of college football. Seems like Nebraskans are exactly the same except that every single one of you all across the state live and breathe Cornhusker football. And I would bet that y'all have a similar bond with fellow students and alumni and the campus itself that is as deep yet undescribable to outsiders. These similarities are part of what makes it so much fun for us Clemson fans to come over here on this board.

 

Finally, below are a couple of my favorite writings about Clemson. The first is entitled "Something in These Hills" and was written by an alumnus of Clemson College.

 

http://www.tigermemories.com/page.php?3

 

The second is the last two sections from a post on TigerNet (www.thetigernet.com) from a few years ago describing senior year and coming back to Clemson as an alumnus.

 

It is looking back and laughing at yourself when you were a freshman.

It is looking back and asking yourself where four years went.

It is realizing that the past four years were the greatest in your life.

It is the sweat on your brow as you finish your biggest project ever.

It is being able to walk in front of the Calhoun house.

It is being able to walk in front of the statue of Thomas Clemson.

It is knowing every square inch of campus while blindfolded.

It is walking down the aisle.

It is shaking the president's hand.

It is seeing your name on that piece of parchment.

It is taking one last walk alone through campus as a student.

It is your senior year.

It is coming back for the first time in years.

It is seeing Tillman again for the first time.

It is noticing the statue in front of Mell and having it mean something.

It is watching the demolition of Johnstone.

It is watching it grow younger as you grow older.

It is giving anything you can because you think of it as your child.

It is knowing that your best friends who are standing beside you were your neighbors.

It is looking into your old classrooms and sitting in your old seats.

It is standing on the hill for the first time in years.

It is a picnic out at Twin Lakes.

It is seeing your name that you carved during your junior year in the same place.

It is knowing that after you are gone, your children and friends were influenced by things you learned here.

It is knowing that it will be here when your children think the same thing you are thinking right now.

It is Clemson.

It is more to you than anyone will ever know.

 

full post is http://www.thetigernet.com/view/hof_post.do?id=218

I can attest to the clemson family thing

I was in San Diego on vacation (we got to stay in a sweet condo on Coronado Island for free). We decided to go to a Padre's game to watch former Tiger standout Kahlil Green (and root against visiting Barry Bonds). At the game we ran into no less than 3 other tiger fans, all locals, one of whom bought Padres season tickets immediately after Green was called up to the majors. Its so cool to realize that your school has such a loyal nationwide fanbase.

[drdann]

Not only are you born with it, but you die with it. The loyalty never leaves you.

 

You can travel all over the world with it, and it's always with you. And you inevitably meet somebody, somewhere, who is "one of us". There are hordes of us in every state, north and south, east and west.

 

. . .

 

Got that right. I left Nebraska half-way through 6th grade - returning only to visit family. I have remained loyal to the Huskers even through grad school at USC.

 

Nothing like Nebraska football!

[huKSer]

I can attest to the clemson family thing

I was in San Diego on vacation (we got to stay in a sweet condo on Coronado Island for free). We decided to go to a Padre's game to watch former Tiger standout Kahlil Green (and root against visiting Barry Bonds). At the game we ran into no less than 3 other tiger fans, all locals, one of whom bought Padres season tickets immediately after Green was called up to the majors. Its so cool to realize that your school has such a loyal nationwide fanbase.

Too bad Alex Gordon doesn't play for a major league team

[Micheal]

I can attest to the clemson family thing

I was in San Diego on vacation (we got to stay in a sweet condo on Coronado Island for free). We decided to go to a Padre's game to watch former Tiger standout Kahlil Green (and root against visiting Barry Bonds). At the game we ran into no less than 3 other tiger fans, all locals, one of whom bought Padres season tickets immediately after Green was called up to the majors. Its so cool to realize that your school has such a loyal nationwide fanbase.

Too bad Alex Gordon doesn't play for a major league team

lol

[HuskerEric]

I can attest to the clemson family thing

I was in San Diego on vacation (we got to stay in a sweet condo on Coronado Island for free). We decided to go to a Padre's game to watch former Tiger standout Kahlil Green (and root against visiting Barry Bonds). At the game we ran into no less than 3 other tiger fans, all locals, one of whom bought Padres season tickets immediately after Green was called up to the majors. Its so cool to realize that your school has such a loyal nationwide fanbase.

Too bad Alex Gordon doesn't play for a major league team

JOBA!

[huKSer]

I can attest to the clemson family thing

I was in San Diego on vacation (we got to stay in a sweet condo on Coronado Island for free). We decided to go to a Padre's game to watch former Tiger standout Kahlil Green (and root against visiting Barry Bonds). At the game we ran into no less than 3 other tiger fans, all locals, one of whom bought Padres season tickets immediately after Green was called up to the majors. Its so cool to realize that your school has such a loyal nationwide fanbase.

Too bad Alex Gordon doesn't play for a major league team

JOBA!

I'm sorry, but this is just burning in my head. Please don't hate on me, especial on New Year's Eve and people do get injured and die, but:

 

Q: How is Joba Chamberlain and John Daly alike?

 

A: Drink and drive

[Street Novelist]

There are few subjects in life that get my blood boiling. This is one of them. People who have not been to or are not from Nebraska will never understand just how united we are behind our Cornhuskers. My father didn't have a nice house, new car, or any of the things you see in those fancy stores in NY or LA. He grew up in a very small town where everyone knew each other...a few hundred people. There wasn't a whole lot to do. He's told me about fishing in the ravine and going swimming everyday in the summer. walking a mile to school, even in the snow during the winter. spending hours alone in the woods hunting...listening to nature. But if there's one thing he's most proud of, it's Nebraska football. The way it unifies an entire community, and state for that matter, cannot be described. It's that warm rush that comes over you. The closest thing I can compare it to is falling in love. When I root for Nebraska, I'm not just rooting for the team; I am rooting for a way of life.

[sarge87]

I can attest to the clemson family thing

I was in San Diego on vacation (we got to stay in a sweet condo on Coronado Island for free). We decided to go to a Padre's game to watch former Tiger standout Kahlil Green (and root against visiting Barry Bonds). At the game we ran into no less than 3 other tiger fans, all locals, one of whom bought Padres season tickets immediately after Green was called up to the majors. Its so cool to realize that your school has such a loyal nationwide fanbase.

Too bad Alex Gordon doesn't play for a major league team

JOBA!

I'm sorry, but this is just burning in my head. Please don't hate on me, especial on New Year's Eve and people do get injured and die, but:

 

Q: How is Joba Chamberlain and John Daly alike?

 

A: Drink and drive

Add Charles Barkley to that list.

[sarge87]

There are few subjects in life that get my blood boiling. This is one of them. People who have not been to or are not from Nebraska will never understand just how united we are behind our Cornhuskers. My father didn't have a nice house, new car, or any of the things you see in those fancy stores in NY or LA. He grew up in a very small town where everyone knew each other...a few hundred people. There wasn't a whole lot to do. He's told me about fishing in the ravine and going swimming everyday in the summer. walking a mile to school, even in the snow during the winter. spending hours alone in the woods hunting...listening to nature. But if there's one thing he's most proud of, it's Nebraska football. The way it unifies an entire community, and state for that matter, cannot be described. It's that warm rush that comes over you. The closest thing I can compare it to is falling in love. When I root for Nebraska, I'm not just rooting for the team; I am rooting for a way of life.

You can be a flaming liberal or a staunch conservative that may not agree on a single thing politically, but on Saturdays were all Huskers.

[zE bOp]

Not only are you born with it, but you die with it. The loyalty never leaves you.

 

You can travel all over the world with it, and it's always with you. And you inevitably meet somebody, somewhere, who is "one of us". There are hordes of us in every state, north and south, east and west.

 

Some of us even live on the other side of the world, in another hemisphere, where it is summer during winter and winter during summer. Even here, in this far corner of the globe, I have met other Husker fans.

 

Those from a neighboring state like to point out that "it's because your state is so bleak and so boring, that that's all you got." What they fail to understand is that we're everywhere.

 

No matter where I go in the world, I'm always happy to call myself a Nebraskan, moreso than anything else, even though I've lived in other places for much longer periods of time.

Essentially we are going to take over the world is what you are saying.

[808Husker in KCMO]

I can attest to the clemson family thing

I was in San Diego on vacation (we got to stay in a sweet condo on Coronado Island for free). We decided to go to a Padre's game to watch former Tiger standout Kahlil Green (and root against visiting Barry Bonds). At the game we ran into no less than 3 other tiger fans, all locals, one of whom bought Padres season tickets immediately after Green was called up to the majors. Its so cool to realize that your school has such a loyal nationwide fanbase.

Too bad Alex Gordon doesn't play for a major league team

Eat me. The Royals would be better off without pretty boy Alex Gordon. If the strike zone were the size of a DVD, AG would be lights out.... Unfortunately, its bigger than a trashcan lid. The kid is a stike out master who doesn't hit for the team. Teahan to Third. Trade Gordon to some NL team for middle relief.

 

 

Edit- Go Royals! 82 wins or bust!

[Eric the Red]

I think this thread will be very helpful for our Clemson visitors on this board and many other posters who may not completely understand our passion for Husker football and why we treat it the way we do.

 

Nebraska isn't a very large state in terms of population. Because of this, we are denied the luxuries of other states that have the population and economy to afford pro football teams, baseball teams, basketball teams, and more than one major university. We are so passionate about Husker football and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln because they are our football, baseball, basketball, etc. We have nothing else major to fall back on and come together with as a state. Nothing has been around long enough or been enjoyed as much over the years as Husker football. If we had more major sports, I guarantee the entire state wouldn't be as passionate about Husker football as they are, but it's all we have. That's why Nebraska is so special to us, because no other state has a tradition of one major sports team that has captured the hearts of an entire state like the Huskers have.

 

Most Husker fans grow up breathing the Husker aroma. Most of our families are born and raised Nebraskans, and the tradition of Husker football has been passed down for generations. I, personally, was born in 1989 and grew up right in the thick of arguably the greatest decade of football by any college football team ever. Three National Championships and a 1995 squad that blew our minds just fueled my passion.

 

I hope this clears up any questions that visitors might have. Feel free to add something to the post if you feel I forgot it. In short, I just wanted to explain to everyone why Nebraska fans are the way they are. We have nothing that unifies us like Husker football, and we don't have the population or economy that could support any other major sports team right now. All we have is the Huskers, and that's why we are Nebraska.

 

 

I think the fact that we don't have a pro team is overrated. If we did, I feel the passion for the college team woud be even greater because we want to prove that UNL rules supreme. Look at some cities that have pro sports, they couldn't give a sh#t one way of another: Detroit, Cincinnati and Seattle just to name a few. Even New York to an extent. We could always say they don't have a college teams which means they have nothing but pro teams. Passiona dn heart are so much more evident in college sports than pro.

[HuskerTrucker]

I think this thread will be very helpful for our Clemson visitors on this board and many other posters who may not completely understand our passion for Husker football and why we treat it the way we do.

 

Nebraska isn't a very large state in terms of population. Because of this, we are denied the luxuries of other states that have the population and economy to afford pro football teams, baseball teams, basketball teams, and more than one major university. We are so passionate about Husker football and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln because they are our football, baseball, basketball, etc. We have nothing else major to fall back on and come together with as a state. Nothing has been around long enough or been enjoyed as much over the years as Husker football. If we had more major sports, I guarantee the entire state wouldn't be as passionate about Husker football as they are, but it's all we have. That's why Nebraska is so special to us, because no other state has a tradition of one major sports team that has captured the hearts of an entire state like the Huskers have.

 

Most Husker fans grow up breathing the Husker aroma. Most of our families are born and raised Nebraskans, and the tradition of Husker football has been passed down for generations. I, personally, was born in 1989 and grew up right in the thick of arguably the greatest decade of football by any college football team ever. Three National Championships and a 1995 squad that blew our minds just fueled my passion.

 

I hope this clears up any questions that visitors might have. Feel free to add something to the post if you feel I forgot it. In short, I just wanted to explain to everyone why Nebraska fans are the way they are. We have nothing that unifies us like Husker football, and we don't have the population or economy that could support any other major sports team right now. All we have is the Huskers, and that's why we are Nebraska.

 

 

I think the fact that we don't have a pro team is overrated. If we did, I feel the passion for the college team woud be even greater because we want to prove that UNL rules supreme. Look at some cities that have pro sports, they couldn't give a sh#t one way of another: Detroit, Cincinnati and Seattle just to name a few. Even New York to an extent. We could always say they don't have a college teams which means they have nothing but pro teams. Passiona dn heart are so much more evident in college sports than pro.

I would take our college team over any pro team there is...period. And our fans.

[huKSer]

I would take our college team over any pro team there is...period. And our fans.

 

Even the Oklahoma Sooners from the '70s and '80s? They were paid well - and frequently on probation.

[Jeremy]

There is no place...like Nebraska.

 

 

It's always nice to visit the beaches or mountains, but there's nothing like coming back home to the wind-swept plains. Nebraska football has been a model for greatness, and not only in the sports world.

 

This is an early August morning just south of York.