Let us pray....Husker Prayer ONLY!

[knapplc]

This is from last season. I forgot I had it until today. DeJon Gomes had Husker fans do the prayer on Facebook:

 

[funhusker]

A chance to equal our stripes..............

I believe that last word should be "strife".

or "stride".....

 

GOOGLE isn't that hard to use, folks!

[HuskerThor]

A chance to equal our stripes..............

I believe that last word should be "strife".

or "stride".....

 

GOOGLE isn't that hard to use, folks!

Strife actually rhymes with life.

[knapplc]

Here are the original words, if anyone is interested. It gets a bit muddled in the locker room when these guys do the prayer...

 

Prayer of a Sportsman

 

Dear Lord, in the battle that goes on through life

I ask but a field that is fair,

A chance that is equal with all in the strife,

A courage to strive and to dare;

 

And if should win, let it be by the code

With my faith and my honor held high;

And if I should lose, let me stand by the road,

And cheer as the winners go by.

 

And Lord, may my shouts be ungrudging and clear,

A tribute that comes from the heart,

And let me not cherish a snarl or a sneer

Or play any sniveling part;

 

Let me say, "There they ride, on whom laurel's bestowed

Since they played the game better than I."

Let me stand with a smile by the side of the road,

And cheer as the winners go by.

 

So grant me to conquer, if conquer I can,

By proving my worth in the fray,

But teach me to lose like a regular man,

And not like a craven, I pray;

 

Let me take off my hat to the warriors who strode

To victory splendid and high,

Yea, teach me to stand by the side of the road

And cheer as the winners go by.

 

-Berton Braley

[funhusker]

We all use different words and methods.....

 

 

But we all pray for the same thing.

 

 

Husker Fans UNITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[funhusker]

Here are the original words, if anyone is interested. It gets a bit muddled in the locker room when these guys do the prayer...

 

Prayer of a Sportsman

 

Dear Lord, in the battle that goes on through life

I ask but a field that is fair,

A chance that is equal with all in the strife,

A courage to strive and to dare;

 

And if should win, let it be by the code

With my faith and my honor held high;

And if I should lose, let me stand by the road,

And cheer as the winners go by.

 

And Lord, may my shouts be ungrudging and clear,

A tribute that comes from the heart,

And let me not cherish a snarl or a sneer

Or play any sniveling part;

 

Let me say, "There they ride, on whom laurel's bestowed

Since they played the game better than I."

Let me stand with a smile by the side of the road,

And cheer as the winners go by.

 

So grant me to conquer, if conquer I can,

By proving my worth in the fray,

But teach me to lose like a regular man,

And not like a craven, I pray;

 

Let me take off my hat to the warriors who strode

To victory splendid and high,

Yea, teach me to stand by the side of the road

And cheer as the winners go by.

 

-Berton Braley

We've been royally messing this up for a long, long time..........

[HuskerThor]

Here are the original words, if anyone is interested. It gets a bit muddled in the locker room when these guys do the prayer...

 

Prayer of a Sportsman

 

Dear Lord, in the battle that goes on through life

I ask but a field that is fair,

A chance that is equal with all in the strife,

A courage to strive and to dare;

 

And if should win, let it be by the code

With my faith and my honor held high;

And if I should lose, let me stand by the road,

And cheer as the winners go by.

 

And Lord, may my shouts be ungrudging and clear,

A tribute that comes from the heart,

And let me not cherish a snarl or a sneer

Or play any sniveling part;

 

Let me say, "There they ride, on whom laurel's bestowed

Since they played the game better than I."

Let me stand with a smile by the side of the road,

And cheer as the winners go by.

 

So grant me to conquer, if conquer I can,

By proving my worth in the fray,

But teach me to lose like a regular man,

And not like a craven, I pray;

 

Let me take off my hat to the warriors who strode

To victory splendid and high,

Yea, teach me to stand by the side of the road

And cheer as the winners go by.

 

-Berton Braley

We've been royally messing this up for a long, long time..........

 

Lol. Your welcome.

[caveman99]

Here are the original words, if anyone is interested. It gets a bit muddled in the locker room when these guys do the prayer...

 

Prayer of a Sportsman

 

Dear Lord, in the battle that goes on through life

I ask but a field that is fair,

A chance that is equal with all in the strife,

A courage to strive and to dare;

 

And if should win, let it be by the code

With my faith and my honor held high;

And if I should lose, let me stand by the road,

And cheer as the winners go by.

 

And Lord, may my shouts be ungrudging and clear,

A tribute that comes from the heart,

And let me not cherish a snarl or a sneer

Or play any sniveling part;

 

Let me say, "There they ride, on whom laurel's bestowed

Since they played the game better than I."

Let me stand with a smile by the side of the road,

And cheer as the winners go by.

 

So grant me to conquer, if conquer I can,

By proving my worth in the fray,

But teach me to lose like a regular man,

And not like a craven, I pray;

 

Let me take off my hat to the warriors who strode

To victory splendid and high,

Yea, teach me to stand by the side of the road

And cheer as the winners go by.

 

-Berton Braley

We've been royally messing this up for a long, long time..........

This may be the original but the version used in the lockerroom is different.

[funhusker]

 

We've been royally messing this up for a long, long time..........

This may be the original but the version used in the lockerroom is different.

 

I agree. Everything I've watched, read, seen regarding the "Husker Prayer" uses the words "chances to equal our stride". That is the only reason I got involved. The poem Knapp posted is the original source of the prayer, it is NOT the Husker Prayer....

[NUance]

Is this right?

 

 

Dear Lord, the battles we go through life,

We ask for a chance that's fair

A chance to equal our stride,

A chance to do or dare

 

If we should win, let it be by the code,

Faith and Honor held high

 

If we should lose, we'll stand by the road,

And cheer as the winners go by

 

Day by Day, we get better and better!

Til' we can't be beat...

WON'T BE BEAT!

I've had it in my profile for a long time. I can't remember where I got it. Pulled it off the Interwebs somewhere.

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

I say from now we'll just go with "A chance to equal our <insert whatever version you like here>"

[ladyhawke]

This is the one I go by. It says stride:

 

 

 

The Husker Prayer

Dear Lord, the battles we go through life,

We ask for a chance that's fair

A chance to equal our stride,

A chance to do or dare

 

If we should win, let it be by the code,

Faith and Honor held high

 

If we should lose, we'll stand by the road,

And cheer as the winners go by

 

Day by Day, we get better and better!

Til' we can't be beat...

WON'T BE BEAT!

 

There was an explanation of the prayer on this blog: http://huskermike.blogspot.com/2008/08/husker-prayer.html

[JTrain]

Here are the original words, if anyone is interested. It gets a bit muddled in the locker room when these guys do the prayer...

 

Prayer of a Sportsman

 

Dear Lord, in the battle that goes on through life

I ask but a field that is fair,

A chance that is equal with all in the strife,

A courage to strive and to dare;

 

And if should win, let it be by the code

With my faith and my honor held high;

And if I should lose, let me stand by the road,

And cheer as the winners go by.

 

And Lord, may my shouts be ungrudging and clear,

A tribute that comes from the heart,

And let me not cherish a snarl or a sneer

Or play any sniveling part;

 

Let me say, "There they ride, on whom laurel's bestowed

Since they played the game better than I."

Let me stand with a smile by the side of the road,

And cheer as the winners go by.

 

So grant me to conquer, if conquer I can,

By proving my worth in the fray,

But teach me to lose like a regular man,

And not like a craven, I pray;

 

Let me take off my hat to the warriors who strode

To victory splendid and high,

Yea, teach me to stand by the side of the road

And cheer as the winners go by.

 

-Berton Braley

 

I posted this a while back. I think there should be an "I" in the second stanza.

 

I'd love to find the original publication of the poem, as there are minor inconsistencies in the places I've seen it reproduced. It was probably in a magazine or newspaper originally. The best estimate I can come up with has it originally published around 1920. (Braley was from Madison and wrote lyrics for one of John Philip Sousa's UW march.)

 

I wonder if there is any tie-in with the philosophy professor (and also apparently poet) who wrote the words for the stadium's corners ("In the deed..." and others). The stadium went up in 1923 right as Braley's poem was becoming fairly well-known. Probably just a coincidence. Either way, I'd like to know which Husker started the tradition and how it came to be.

[QMany]

I've always followed this:

 

 

Gives me chills every time I hear it.

[Count 'Bility]

So, this prayer thread every week. Does it always end up in a bicker fest? If so, I might have to start joining in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not really.