Husker Prayer - Official Version

[Mavric]

Since there has been much ... discussion at times over the exact wording, this would seem to be the Official Version:

 

 

[GSG]

Pffffft. That guy doesn't even have a verified Twitter account

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/s

[Redux]

I'd be interested in knowing when the phrases changed. Obviously some letters/wording have evolved over the years, thus the debate.

 

If this is the official wording now, I'll go with it.

[NUance]

Stride versus stripes. I had always thought it was stride. Then someone pointed to a youtube clip, and it sounded exactly like they were saying stripes. So I went with that. (Stripes, as in the stripes people got when they were lashed with a whip back in the new testament days.) But now I see that it must actually be stride, given that it's printed on the wall in the stadium tunnel. So it's back to stride for me.

 

Really though, can't people just say whatever they want? I'm starting a campaign to change "stride" to "hype"! "A chance to equal our hype,"

[Redux]

It was me, and I think knapp convinced me before that.

 

Then I remember last year there was discussion it that supposedly before stripes it was strife.

[Landlord]

My favorite part is the bro in the suit.

[Blackshirt316]

Can someone please just ask Jack Stark what is correct so the debate can end?

[knapplc]

As often as this comes up, and as legendary as this prayer is in Husker Lore, I'm surprised more people don't remember where this poem came from.

 

 

Found this post on HuskerMax, I knew what stripes meant, but used this guys interpretation so I didn't have to retype it. Cory Ross says it wrong in the video and we say it wrong every week, but I have chosen to leave it alone. Choose your battles I always say. If you listen to old versions in videos from the 1997 season you can hear Wistrom/Peter say it this way...

 

 

If you read Jason Peter's book "Hero of the Underground" around pg. 65 or so, he has the prayer written and it states "A chance to equal all your stripes, a chance to do or dare."

 

Not to say that Jason is the authority but he was there during the prayer's rise to fame and I would bet that he said it a few times. :-)

 

The way he has it written in his book is as follows:

 

"Dear Lord,"

"In the battle we go through life, we ask for a chance that's fair."

"A chance to equal all your stripes, a chance to do or dare."

"If we shall win, let it be by the code, with our faith and honor held high,"

"If we shall lose, let us stand by the road and cheer the winners as they go by."

"Day by day,"

"Getting better and better."

 

"A team that can't be beat, Won't be beat!"

 

Since this is a prayer, I would take the Biblical interpretation here as "stripes." Starting with the opening "Dear Lord" followed by the line that says "a chance to equal all your stripes" would seem to me a reference to Christ's suffering prior to and during his crucifixion and then his subsequent resurrection. For the players to have "a chance to equal all your stripes" would seem to mean then for them to endure some sort of hardship or pain but overcome that hardship or pain to emerge victorious, much as Christ overcame death and was resurrected. Refer to I Peter 2:24 "who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed." Also reference Isaiah 53:5 "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed." But of course this is just my .

 

There is no "canon" version. It's not like this thing is etched in stone somewhere. The words vary from year to year. Who's to say Ross' version is wrong and Peters' is right? JP wrote his book ten years after he played at Nebraska. Memory fades.

 

None of these versions are accurate according to the source of this "prayer," which is a poem by Berton Braley titled The Prayer of the Sportsman. That goes:

 

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 I 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 take off my hat to the warriors who strode

To victory splendid and high;

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

And cheer as the winners go by.

 

[Kiyoat Husker]

Really this is like that game "telephone" or "gossip". IIRC, Jack Stark did not use the poem verbatim, but he modified it in some form. I'm not sure what his version was, but there seems to have been an evolution from:

 

"a chance that is equal with all in the strife" to:

"a chance to equal all your stripes" to:

"a chance to equal our stride"

 

personally I like:

"A Team that can't be beat..." over the current:

"Til' we can't be beat"

 

because it makes more sense. Bad grammar aside, I like the meaning behind "A team that can't be beat won't be beat" To me, it means refusing to ever give in.

[GSG]

As often as this comes up, and as legendary as this prayer is in Husker Lore, I'm surprised more people don't remember where this poem came from.

 

 

Found this post on HuskerMax, I knew what stripes meant, but used this guys interpretation so I didn't have to retype it. Cory Ross says it wrong in the video and we say it wrong every week, but I have chosen to leave it alone. Choose your battles I always say. If you listen to old versions in videos from the 1997 season you can hear Wistrom/Peter say it this way...

 

If you read Jason Peter's book "Hero of the Underground" around pg. 65 or so, he has the prayer written and it states "A chance to equal all your stripes, a chance to do or dare."

 

Not to say that Jason is the authority but he was there during the prayer's rise to fame and I would bet that he said it a few times. :-)

 

The way he has it written in his book is as follows:

 

"Dear Lord,"

"In the battle we go through life, we ask for a chance that's fair."

"A chance to equal all your stripes, a chance to do or dare."

"If we shall win, let it be by the code, with our faith and honor held high,"

"If we shall lose, let us stand by the road and cheer the winners as they go by."

"Day by day,"

"Getting better and better."

 

"A team that can't be beat, Won't be beat!"

 

Since this is a prayer, I would take the Biblical interpretation here as "stripes." Starting with the opening "Dear Lord" followed by the line that says "a chance to equal all your stripes" would seem to me a reference to Christ's suffering prior to and during his crucifixion and then his subsequent resurrection. For the players to have "a chance to equal all your stripes" would seem to mean then for them to endure some sort of hardship or pain but overcome that hardship or pain to emerge victorious, much as Christ overcame death and was resurrected. Refer to I Peter 2:24 "who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed." Also reference Isaiah 53:5 "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed." But of course this is just my .

 

There is no "canon" version. It's not like this thing is etched in stone somewhere. The words vary from year to year. Who's to say Ross' version is wrong and Peters' is right? JP wrote his book ten years after he played at Nebraska. Memory fades.

 

None of these versions are accurate according to the source of this "prayer," which is a poem by Berton Braley titled The Prayer of the Sportsman. That goes:

 

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 I 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 take off my hat to the warriors who strode

To victory splendid and high;

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

And cheer as the winners go by.

 

 

 

 

+1 I feel like we have this same conversation every year

[ColoradoHusk]

I understand that a lot of people on this board are into the prayer, but I could really care less about it. I think the prayer is a "players thing" and should be left to them. I understand fans want a connection to the players, but the fans aren't out there on the field, putting their bodies on the line.

[knapplc]

I understand that a lot of people on this board are into the prayer, but I could really care less about it. I think the prayer is a "players thing" and should be left to them. I understand fans want a connection to the players, but the fans aren't out there on the field, putting their bodies on the line.

They've been broadcasting the prayer onto the big screens at the stadium for at least all of last season, so the team is clearly involving the fans in the prayer.

 

If you don't care about it, maybe it's best not to post in the topic and let everyone else talk about it.

[Redux]

I understand that a lot of people on this board are into the prayer, but I could really care less about it. I think the prayer is a "players thing" and should be left to them. I understand fans want a connection to the players, but the fans aren't out there on the field, putting their bodies on the line.

Once it started becoming part of the pregame videos and before that the hype videos, it became part of the fans experience.

 

Personally, watching it gets me pumped for the game. Not so much me trying to connect to the players in any way. Besides, is us discussing the team religously year round any different than us doing the prayer thread every week?

[ColoradoHusk]

 

I understand that a lot of people on this board are into the prayer, but I could really care less about it. I think the prayer is a "players thing" and should be left to them. I understand fans want a connection to the players, but the fans aren't out there on the field, putting their bodies on the line.

They've been broadcasting the prayer onto the big screens at the stadium for at least all of last season, so the team is clearly involving the fans in the prayer.

 

If you don't care about it, maybe it's best not to post in the topic and let everyone else talk about it.

 

I understand that they have been making the Husker prayer more public and prominent at games. It wasn't something they did when I regularly attended games, so that's why I think it's odd. I will stop making comments about it.

[teachercd]

Or...how about we let people express their thoughts on it regardless of what they are...just like in all the other threads.

 

I "pray" that happens a little bit more...day by day