Why am I a Husker fan?

[r06ue1]

Saw the '83 championship game, even though they lost, fell in love with them and the option, been a fan ever since.  

[HuskerNationNick]

Reason I am a Husker fan. It goes deeper than just being born and raised in Nebraska (Omaha). Even deeper than having rabid family that I have that would, sometimes, feel like it was louder in our house than the actual stadium. From the cheers of first downs to touch downs, to the "What the F#$KS" and screams when things didn't go the way they were meant to. 

 

For me, it was growing up hearing about Henry Micheal Tingelhoff, AKA Mick Tingelhoff. I wanted to grow up to be the next Tingelhoff to step on that field, but not as a Center, as a QB or RB. We can all dream right?! Anyway, I always heard of his accolades at Nebraska, followed by his amazing career at Minnesota!  I remember having Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners... and all the way up to 2015... it was... "How in the hell is this man not in the NFL HOF yet!?" Sure, there might be some bias there, but on the other hand, he was an incredible player. I guess (I don't remember) I had met him at a family holiday when I was younger. How I wish I would've remembered.

 

So that is what instilled it... then there was the eye opening players that helped solidify my love and passion. Watching my favorite QB's who I emulated in the back yard. Berringer, Frazzzzzier, and Scott Frost! I was a spoiled child watching all those wins, championships and pure domination on both sides of the ball. While I will always remember those, and have my expectations high... I also know how to realize that those days, are called "those days". Will they ever come back around? Maybe never like it did (60-3 run). But I do believe, with the right coach and money, we can bring a championship back to Nebraska. Until this happens, I will always support Nebraska, but I won't expect anything less than what can do. I will remain a realist and know it won't be anytime soon, but screw it, it's fun to drink the koolaid sometimes and think you have a chance to make a good run at your division and conference!

[In the Deed the Glory]

Why am I a Husker fan?  I was born and raised in a small Nebraska town and that is just how things are done.  It was never a choice for me, it is inherited from the generation before you.  It is as much me as my last name is.  There just aren't fans of any other team.  The lives of everyone in town revolve around Nebraska football.  It was different back then, however.

 

I grew up in the 80s and 90s.  Back in the 1980s, almost every game was listened to on the radio.  It was Kent Pavelka and Gary Sadlemeyer with my dad in the truck or with the battery powered AM radio while we (he, really) worked.  It is my closest connection with my father and grandfathers, and for that reason I will cherish it forever.

 

If you aren't from here, and especially from a small town, I don't know if I can explain it to you in a way that would do it justice.  It is a piece of who we are, passed along in the DNA from our fathers.

[ladyhawke]

19 minutes ago, In the Deed the Glory said:

Why am I a Husker fan?  I was born and raised in a small Nebraska town and that is just how things are done.  It was never a choice for me, it is inherited from the generation before you.  It is as much me as my last name is.  There just aren't fans of any other team.  The lives of everyone in town revolve around Nebraska football.  It was different back then, however.

 

I grew up in the 80s and 90s.  Back in the 1980s, almost every game was listened to on the radio.  It was Kent Pavelka and Gary Sadlemeyer with my dad in the truck or with the battery powered AM radio while we (he, really) worked.  It is my closest connection with my father and grandfathers, and for that reason I will cherish it forever.

 

If you aren't from here, and especially from a small town, I don't know if I can explain it to you in a way that would do it justice.  It is a piece of who we are, passed along in the DNA from our fathers.

I came to love Nebraska football after I married my husband who was from Omaha. We turned on Kent Pavelka on KFAB every football Saturday. I loved the way Pavelka knew every kid on the team and if they were from Nebraska, as many were back then, he could tell you where the kid was from and what high school he went to. Loved that!

[Huskerboxerpapa]

2 hours ago, ladyhawke said:

Welcome Huskerboxerpapa and thank you for chiming in!  This has been such a refreshing thread! Please feel free to jump in on any thread!

Thanks Ladyhawke for the welcome wagon.  

[Michiganball]

When I was a kid I always liked the idea of a team from the middle of the country where you dont see to much shine and splash and big cities with neon lights(it was the 80's) and go out there and consistently play well, it was almost exotic to me.  So I became a fan, then got to know more about the state, other fans and there it is.

I still have a propensity to cheer for out of the way teams, somehow it seems a bigger deal when you win without having the obvious advantages to win, there is just something deeper at play there and in the end it means more.

[germanforbigred]

Born, raised and living  in Germany. Spent a year as an exchange student in the US starting in summer 1996. Dreamt of going to Florida or Cali. Ended up in Nebraska by coincidence. Best thing that ever happened to me. Loved it. Still do. The first game I remember watching was the shutout at AZ. Everybody was shocked, I was clueless. Prior to being in the US I had never watched football, ocassionally played Madden on C64 or Amiga. Ran "Fake punt pass" quite often cuz I thought this was the only passing play.

 

My host family was crazy about the Huskers, took me to the Missouri game that year. Ever since then I am hooked.

[ladyhawke]

Another reason I'm a Husker fan is that we as fans never give up on our team. They might not be the best right now but those young men are not quitters!  GO BIG RED!!!

[Bolt VanderHuge]

I'm just old enough to remember the 'almost-but-not-quite'  era of the late 80s, although this was mostly though watching my parents and grandparents frustration.  My first real emotional memory is the crushing defeat to FSU at the end of the 1993 season.  Which made crossing the "un" off of the "unfinished business" on my homemade shirt that much better the next year. Later, I remember getting more drunk than I care to admit in college after the OU game with the Stuntz-Crouch pass.  I remember listening on the radio, while on a family trip, to the Independence Bowl loss to Ole Miss.  I remember being really, really surprised (and hurt?) at a 7-7 finish.  

 

Now my experience as an adult if it were a book title would be, "And Then It Got Worse" 

 

I have season tickets, because I always wanted them, but now it feels like an obligation.  I have to pay to watch some bad football.  I'm sure some people will say I'm a bad fan for saying that.  Or for me leaving early.  But after putting in 2 hours road time, the cost for parking, food, and then a "donation" for tickets I don't think it's much to ask for some quality product on the field.

 

My son still likes going to games, mostly because of the pageantry.   But very very soon even he is going to be able to see what is being put out there on the field, and he doesn't have the championship memories to fall back on.

 

That reply is too long.  Why am I a fan?  Because I'm from Nebraska, I expect Nebraska to win, and I expect them to win because Nebraskans should be able to do more with less rather than less with more.       

Edited November 5, 2017 by Bolt VanderHuge

[gbrnu1]

A T-shirt I have sums it up:  Nebraskan by birth,  Husker by blood. 

My dad attended Huskers games as a kid going to the "knothole" section. He's 87 now and attended games until he was 81. (watches from the luxury of his home now on TV)    When I got my season ticket a few years back he was the first person I called. Told him my seat assignment. He said that's the same section & row I sit in.  It hadn't dawned on me when I got the notice in the mail. But yeah..my seat is just down the row from the seat my dad had sat in for decades. What are the chances that would happen?? West stadium Section 23.

    I can't imagine NOT supporting the team or wearing red on game day.  The team isn't very good right now, but have confidence that things can be turned around. It is in my blood.

[ScawFraw]

I know this is a few years back, but I got a bit emotional seeing this.  Not exactly sure why, but it made me feel good again.  I love our fans still, and I love our state and team, through the good and (currently) bad times

http://www.businessinsider.com/most-loyal-fan-bases-in-college-football-2014-7

[San Diego Husker]

On ‎10‎/‎31‎/‎2017 at 11:35 AM, ladyhawke said:

Damon B. brought up an  interesting topic on 1620 the Zone this morning. He was sharing a quote by a former husker player who said, “We (Huskers) need to find a coach that can bridge the gap between the ‘glory days’ fans with the fans of today. Then he asked this question, “Why am I a husker fan? Is it because my parents were?  Is it because I live in the state of Nebraska?

Is it because (for the young kids in our state) I want to be in the next Rex Burkhead?

  For myself, I’m a ‘glory days’ fan. I am also a Tom Osborne fan. 

  What about you HB folks: Why are you a Husker fan. An even better question is this:

Why are the younger folks Husker fans? Most of them weren’t even alive during the glory days. Do what draws them to be Husker fans?

When I was 5 living in Southern CA, when NU played OU on thanksgiving (not day after) everyone would come to the house to watch the game.  I got to see Johnny the Jet tear up OU and never forget how the whole house went crazy.  Both my mom and step-dad are from Neb (panhandle) so growing up NU fan was a right of passage in my house.  I have never been to a regular season home game.  went to the spring game in 2012 which was canceled due to the storm.  have the ticket framed and on the wall.  I hate to lose but can deal with it as long as we make the other team earn it.  Nothing more humiliating to an NU fan than watching a team lay down on the field and surrendering the game they way they did vs. OSU.  Some of the kids were trying but most (and coaches) "phoned it in" that game.   

[skers83]

Born and raised in Nebraska. First game I really remember is game of the century. My grandma was probably the biggest fan in my family. We listened to a whole game sitting in the car in her driveway once cuz her radio in the house quit working. She always called the huskers-her boys. Thought everyone bled husker red when I was younger. Anyway trying to pass it on now like it was to me. 

[Judoka]

I didn't grow up wanting to play or even watch football.  Due to my size my Dad thought it would be safer for me to play soccer.  When I started running my mouth during soccer games, he got me into martial arts.  His reasoning was that I'd either gain wisdom from my instructor and learn to shut my mouth on the field, or be able to better defend myself if I talked smack to the wrong bigger player.  Fortunately for me, both happened and I never needed to use what I learned because of my.....youthful exuberance. 

 

My Dad was the only football guy in the house at the time, which is really odd in retrospect as he had three sons.  Anyway, he was HUGE into Husker football, he went to Lincoln on a partial gymnastics scholarship during The Devaney Years and now and again would talk about classes he shared with team members, training table stories, going to home and away games during their championship seasons, etc. etc.

 

The 80s were particularly rough for him because he had witnessed first-hand what success looked like in The Devaney Era and was eager to see it again with Osborne, but time and again he (along with all of Husker-nation) was let down.  In 1990 he talks me into playing football my first year in high school, to help my understanding of the game I start watching football with him and I was hooked on the Huskers (and the sport in general.)  

 

I was always a "Daddy's boy" and football only cemented that bond further.  I'm fortunate to not have had to wait as long as some fans to see what football dominance looked like, and I'm glad that I got to share all three National Championship seasons with him (shooting off leftover fireworks in the snow after the Miami game was fantastic!!!!). 

 

From what he tells me, this is what it felt like before the Devaney hire, a lot of directionless uncertainty.  Hopefully, history repeats itself and the next coach for the Huskers gets them back on track.  Because as much as I'd like to see this team win titles again, I know it would mean more to him because it's been his team much longer than it's been mine.

[beorach]

I'm a proud Nebraskan and being Cornhusker fans is pretty much the one thing we (generally) all share.  I also have a master's from UNL.  It's possible I was the last UNO (visiting campus as opposed to degree campus) graduate student to get season tickets.  There was a bit of a hassle on my end and I got the impression the "loophole" was in the process of being closed anyway.  p.s. - First time I heard my pops use the "f-word" was after a loss to the Sooners.  He directed it at Switzer and turned off the TV.  The first game I remember watching was against Clemson for a national title.

Edited November 8, 2017 by beorach