http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2009/0...82874295389.txt
Skydiver, field in good shape after Larry concert
By JEFF KORBELIK / Lincoln Journal Star
Tuesday, Jul 07, 2009 - 09:23:43 am CDT
The skydiver is OK, and so is Tom Osborne Field at Memorial Stadium.
Saturday’s Larry the Cable Guy concert went “very well,” said Butch Hug, UNL’s assistant athletic director of events.
“The grounds crew was really surprised,” he said. “They were apprehensive about what would happen, but when they took the floor off, (the grass) bounced right back.”
It was the first major event at the stadium outside of a college or high school football game since Farm Aid III in September 1987.
The sold-out concert drew 50,275 paid spectators, according to Outback Concerts, which staged the event with Parallel Entertainment.
The only mishap occurred when professional skydiver Dan O’Brien from Sacramento, Calif., missed his target because of rainy and windy conditions and landed in the stands prior to Larry taking the stage.
O’Brien spent the night in a Lincoln hospital and was released Sunday, Hug said. He suffered a facial cut and injured his finger, “but nothing was seriously broken,” Hug said.
Outback Concerts and Parallel Entertainment also were pleased with how well Saturday’s event went.
“It was perfect,” Outback president Mike Smardak said. “It was a phenomenal experience. Butch Hug and his building crew were the greatest. It enabled us to give the people of Lincoln a phenomenal Fourth of July.”
Larry’s concert went so well, Hug said, he wouldn’t mind doing another event like it again.
“From my standpoint, I would do it no question,” he said. “But it’s not my call.”
Athletic Director Tom Osborne said when Larry the Cable Guy, aka Dan Whitney, announced the concert, it was a “one time deal” as a thank you to Nebraska athletic fans.
Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.