I'm Finding a New Team to Cheer For

[NUance]

That gives me an idea - you could become a Badger fan, Lando. They may go into the tank once or twice a decade, but the brats are fantastic!

Sure why not, you'd have to go through a complicated initiation process though. It revolves around you drinking an entire keg of leinies and then passing out. Just a warning though...people's butts tend to hurt when they wake up in the morning. It's completely normal though. Just a symptom of a really special hangover.

So THAT is why the Badger fans do the jump around. They can't sit through four quarters of football on those aching butts.

[onlyHskrfaninIL]

So you stuck around thru the dark ages (the Callahan years) and now you want to quit? Whatever dude, do what you want

 

I personally do not have a problem with Bo and his temper. I've played for guys like that and really it was no problem. That said, I do think he needs to tone it down for three reasons....

 

1. Recruiting - There is no way his temper does not hurt recruiting. I don't know if the kids think much about it but parents see that stuff and they go crazy.

2. I don't know what to call this one, but it seems like whenever Bo loses it, the kids do too. They are just kids and I think they need a steadier hand - someone to tell them to keep going when things start to fall apart.

3. The refs - No way can you tell me the refs don't make calls against because Bo pisses them off. It happens a lot. The phantom PI call on Green or Evans in the second half of the bowl game is a perfect example.

[sd'sker]

i like it more when NU wins than when NU loses.

[JJ Husker]

If you're leaving, can I use your avatar? She's cute.

[da skers]

I think someone needs a hug.

 

I am NOT falling for that trick again!!

A guy does a double hand ass grab one time and he's branded for life.

[Excel]

That gives me an idea - you could become a Badger fan, Lando. They may go into the tank once or twice a decade, but the brats are fantastic!

Sure why not, you'd have to go through a complicated initiation process though. It revolves around you drinking an entire keg of leinies and then passing out. Just a warning though...people's butts tend to hurt when they wake up in the morning. It's completely normal though. Just a symptom of a really special hangover.

So THAT is why the Badger fans do the jump around. They can't sit through four quarters of football on those aching butts.

pschhhh sitting in a student section? Blasphemy.

[MJSkers]

Let me guess, you're going to become a fan of: Oregon, Alabama, LSU, or Boise State?

[Peoriahusker]

Whenever I complain about anything relating to Nebraska football, I'm told over and over again that "if you don't like it, then you should just find a different team to cheer for" or the always classic, "then you're not a real fan". I've never really understood this mentality. Why can't I voice my concern/displeasure without other fans telling me I'm a bad fan or I should just take my fandom somewhere else? But something occurred to me this year and maybe I get it now. Honestly, if I don't like it, there's nothing I can do about it. I'm not going to be able to change it and if I really don't like it that much, then my only real choice is to "take my business elsewhere".

 

I have found myself less and less on board with the direction of the Nebraska football program lately. I do not like Bo Pelini. I never have. He's nothing like what I've grown up knowing and loving about Nebraska as a state, a school or a football program. He showed this when he was Solich's D-Coordinator and he has continued to show it many, many times since. He's an embarrassment to Nebraska football...both as a coach and as the face of our once proud program. I was tolerant (at best) of him as our coach in the beginning but I just have a hard time getting behind pretty much everything regarding the football program under his tenure. I have found myself in increasing disagreement with so many things like player development, recruiting, coaching hires, playing time, dealings with the media/fan base, personnel choices, and on and on and on, and on and on and on. The guy is a disgrace and everyone outside of Nebraska knows it. Don't believe me? Go read other team's message boards or look at the commentary/coverage from just about every media source out there. He is running this program into the ground even more than Callahan. And at the end of the day it has taken the wind out of my sails as a fan over time.

 

The problem is, the general mentality of Husker nation is that he wins 9 games so you have to keep him around. I don't entirely disagree with this line of thinking as I think it is hard to justify firing a guy who wins 9 games. But most Nebraska fans have their heads buried in the sand so far that they can't or won't see that this is bigger than winning and losing. They can't get past the 9 win seasons and see the forest for the trees. They are so worried about the possibility of having a losing season that they don't realize the program is getting flushed down the toilet right under their noses. All things point toward much darker days ahead for Nebraska football. But until then, I'm just supposed to live with it until Bo starts losing enough games for people to realize it and he gets fired? Boy, that sounds like a great way to spend my time as a fan.

 

 

I've been a Nebraska fan pretty much all of my life. Nebraska is my alma mater and I was lucky enough to have attended school there during 2 of their National Championships and live in Omaha for another. Nebraska gave me 30 plus years of some great football memories and my fandom for NU grew stronger every year throughout their time in Big 8 and then most of the Big 12 and even after I left school and moved away after graduation...through Solich, through Pederson and through Callahan. So the thought of switching teams seemed crazy at first. It's just not in my makeup to even consider something like that. There are a lot of bandwagon fans out there who jump from team to team and never really get behind one program for very long. Well, I'm not one of them. I'm an all or nothing kind of guy so this really seemed like an impossibility at first glance. But the more I thought about it and the more I was told by "real" Nebraska fans that I wasn't a "real fan" for disagreeing with state of the program and "if I didn't like it then I should find another team to cheer for", the more I thought why not? I really have no other choice, right?

 

So, at the end of this season, for the first time ever as a Nebraska fan, I found myself at a crossroads. Given that I have no control over who Nebraska hires as a coach and he may not be going anywhere anytime soon if he just keeps beating the teams he is supposed to beat, I am left with really only two options. I can either live with my dissatisfaction or I can find a new team to cheer for.

 

For me, life's too short to just sit back and take it and I'm a college football fan to be happy, not miserable. So I've decided to find another team to support. I get it now. I'm not a real fan despite the thirty plus years and tens of thousands of dollars I've given to the program. That's fine with me. I really don't care anymore and I'd rather not be associated with a program as long as Bo Pelini is the coach. Best of luck to all of you and thanks for providing a nice place to discuss my former team. Good luck with Bo...you'll need it.

 

 

While I wanted to bash you for typing all of this garbage out..I thought about the fact that I just spent several minutes reading it. I'm an idiot.

 

I'm sure Alabama, or LSU or anyone else in the top 5 would be good targets for your new fan search. On a side-note, if you have any Nebraska Football collectibles you are looking to throw in the trash, ping me, I'll take them.

[mwj98]

LOL Huskerfreak!!! That was classic!

 

I complain about my beloved Huskers........I even complained about fans when I attended the university, I used to say "How could anyone have that much husker stuff?" Or, "These people are crazy about he huskers".....now, I have turned into the EXACT person I used to poke fun at. Shirts, flags, license plates, hats, pens all sorts of stuff...I got it.

 

Yea, Pelini has his moments. But Saban, stoops and the other coaches are the same. heck, that post where it shows saban all over Mccarron was classic. Didn't he even slap him on the butt??

 

Pelini will learn and grow. We have a program. Programs have sustainability. That's why you don't see Mizzou, CU, Utah, Texas Tech, to name a few stay relevant. We do, because, whether you believe it or not, Pelini does not make this program. It has been established. We will always be Nebraska! And we will always been mentioned as a top tier program. Doesn't matter who the coach is.

 

Now, come out of the corner, take your thumb outta your mouth, but on your big boy underwear and back the BIG RED!

[mwj98]

(sigh), Sorry folks, but this is going to be lengthy. Feel free to pass over. It's my opinions and genuine feelings about this whole deal. I was seriously thinking about starting a new thread with this but this current topic deserves it more. To the OP. Your discontent and disappointment and voicing those concerns perfectly within the boundaries of being a true/loyal fan. I'm sure you did catch some hell. Heck, I was probably one to dish some out, but honestly it does not make you less of a fan. Youre decision to find another team is what takes away the fan label, especially after having so much time invested into this one. It's very dissappointing. With that out of the way, here is a rather in-depth explanation for my wanting to and thinking EVERYONE else on board should stick it out. In 1997, thins were rolling along. We were doing things the right way. We had the best coach in football, he was from our state all his life. He was taking underskilled (yes they were) Nebraska kids and turning them into beasts. We had the best of everything. Our players were graduating. Bla Bla Bla. It was a very special place. Kids wanted to come here no matter what. Osborne built it by keeping coaches around for a very long time and developing a family atmosphere using continuity and things like the unity council. Nebraska had no business being one of if not the most dominant program in the nation, but it was. It was a special thing. Nebraska was different in some many ways. It was a blue collar type of program and there was an attitude and swagger. It was pretty much inexplainable at times. Those things more than made up for all the shortcomings that this program has to deal with such as location/climate, and lack of homegrown talent. Nebraska football was the anomoly of an ever-changing college football world, dating way back to Devaney. Then in 2003, we lost it. We lost it all. Everything that was special about us and gave us the edge we needed to stay on top was gone. We can go around and around about who's fault it is and all the what if's, but that's not what this is about. And I know it cant be used as an excuse or reason, but it really is. Many say we struggle recruiting because none of todays players remember Nebraska being what it once was and that is so true. That Nebraska is dead. It's gone and in the past. In 2003 however, we hired a defensive coordinator that for just 1 year, who had no previous ties with the state or program, got one hell of a taste of something special and unlike anything else in sports, from fan loyalty to dedication to just flat out being a great place to live. When Bo was hired in 2008, he said it was his dream job, it anyone could tell that comment from him was genuine. With Osborne above him, and as he said in his hiring, he is trying to bring everything back into the fold that once made this place special and to make it a family atmosphere again. The problem is it took Osborne 20 years for this program to develop the special intangibles that made it the freight train it was and when Bo was hired our win now and spoiled fan base was expecting it to happen overnight and it's simply not going to. The Nebraska program has to re-invent itself in a new more competitive world of college football, but we also have to make sure that every aspect that was once a special piece comes along in order for us to have that mystique that gives us the advantage we just cannot do without. I know Bo's demeanor and anger upset many, but if one cannot see that his drastic improvements over 4 years in that area dont mean for a good future, then I dont know what to tell you. I would love for everyone to stand behind the coaches and players all the time but I know it doesnt work that way. We have to have patience with this man. I see him making coaching hires of young guys that he knows and has worked with in an effort to develop this family atmosphere. I believe Bo is building for the long term, and as difficult as these 9 win seasons with facepalming losses are to swallow now, we have to remember everything will be fine. Now if the OP wants to go be a fan of another team, that's your perogative, but I'm afraid youre gonna miss out something special when we climb back to the top, because it's going to happen, and when it does, it's gonna make having to go through the lost decade of the 2000's that much more riteous. I also have the feeling that you'll come calling back to us becasue you'll realize there is just no place like Nebraska. This couldve been longer, but so many things that came to mind have been discussed so many times over and over.

 

 

AMEN!!!

[knapplc]

LOL Huskerfreak!!! That was classic!

 

I complain about my beloved Huskers........I even complained about fans when I attended the university, I used to say "How could anyone have that much husker stuff?" Or, "These people are crazy about he huskers".....now, I have turned into the EXACT person I used to poke fun at. Shirts, flags, license plates, hats, pens all sorts of stuff...I got it.

 

Yea, Pelini has his moments. But Saban, stoops and the other coaches are the same. heck, that post where it shows saban all over Mccarron was classic. Didn't he even slap him on the butt??

 

Pelini will learn and grow. We have a program. Programs have sustainability. That's why you don't see Mizzou, CU, Utah, Texas Tech, to name a few stay relevant. We do, because, whether you believe it or not, Pelini does not make this program. It has been established. We will always be Nebraska! And we will always been mentioned as a top tier program. Doesn't matter who the coach is.

 

Now, come out of the corner, take your thumb outta your mouth, but on your big boy underwear and back the BIG RED!

 

 

[austinhusker]

I just feel like spending the time to explain why you're giving up on the Huskers and finding a new team is a waste of time. If you want to leave, just leave. Nobody really cares...People aren't going to beg you to stay on our side...

[HuskerFowler]

Pleassssse Pleeeaasssse stay im begging you

[sd'sker]

i hope the op starts a blog chronicling his adventure in finding a new team and then how the fans, coaches, and players of that new team fill him with pride/disdain. this could get good and will give me some much needed talking points to use during the awkward silences i have with clients/in-laws/strangers.

[EZ-E]

Wish you would step back from that ledge my friend..