Easy one for me. Up until this season I'd been to eight "big games" in my life. 88 Fiesta Bowl, 90 CU, 91 Washington, 99 Texas (the one we lost), 2007 Big 12 Championship, 2009 Virginia Tech, 2009 Missouri, 2010 Texas... and we had lost ALL OF THEM. It was a well known fact in my house that I am just CURSED when it comes to going to Husker Games against good teams. So this year, at the last minute, two tickets fell into my lap for the Ohio State game. The wife and daughter were out of town and I had my 10 and 11 year old boys. I decided to take them to their first ever Husker game (hoping to parlay the two tickets into three together out front before the game). First, we went to Husker Hounds here in Omaha where I bought them each red and white striped overalls (to go along with mine), Beat Ohio State pins, a cornhead for the 11 year old, Husker sunglasses for the 10 year old (you can't wear a cornhead when you want to show off your spray painted red Mohawk!) and matching Husker shirtts for all three of us.
We got to Lincoln and I was able to sell my two tickets and find a guy who had three together. We get inside and the boys are just in awe of their first Game Day experience at Memorial Stadium. We sat in front of an older couple and the guy told my 10 year old when the people in front of him would stand up to just stand on his seat and he'd hold him up and they could watch the game together so he'd be able to see (totally awesome!).
Then came the game. When Ohio State scored to go up 27-6 I was just crushed, thinking to myself, "The curse lives on."
The boys started trying to lessen the pain by telling me how it was fun to get to come to a game and all that crap that you tell someone when their master plan crumbles in spectacular fashion. What great kids they were. Then, the tide turned and what was once a nightmare soon morphed into the most improbable comeback I've ever seen from a Husker team. By the time we pulled ahead my 11 year old couldn't even speak, he'd lost his voice, and the three of us were just drenched, cold, and couldn't care less! We'd spray painted both of the boys' hair red and the rain had made it run so bad that their faces were covered and they looked like little Husker Ooompa Loompas. When the clock ran out they ran over and hugged me together and the three of us started jumping up and down together in the aisle with my two sons yelling (as best they could at this point), "THE CURSE IS OVER! THE CURSE IS OVER!"
Let's see...
First ever Big 10 game in Memorial Stadium.
My sons' first ever Husker Game.
The biggest comeback in NU football history.
The end of "THE CURSE"!
Perfection!
