Here's my take on Jayskers. If you are a Nebraska fan, live in Omaha, I have no problem if you are Bluejay fan as well. Creighton is based in Omaha, so why not cheer for the hometown team? But this is where Jaysker fans need to realize something, if you are a Nebraskan that lives anywhere outside of the metro and have no ties to the program, there is probably a 99.9% chance you don't give a rat's rear end about Bluejay bastketball. I am from Nebraska, outside of Omaha. I grew knowing one and only one thing, Husker football and because of that I always support all other Husker sports. The only University that represents the entire state is Nebraska. Creighton represents the city of Omaha and Catholics. If you aren't Catholic or live west of Gretna we might as well be talking about Florida Atlantic basketball to the rest of us, we don't care.
Why don't Nebraska fans like Jayskers? Now when I say "Nebraska fan" I mean fan of all Nebraska sports first, Jayskers are Husker football fans and Bluejay basketball fans. Nebraska fans know they have a terrible basketball history but we also know what a good history is having played Kansas two times every year since the beginning of time. What bugs the crap out of Nebraska fans is Bluejay fans thinking their program is God's gift to basketball when in reality it is at best one step above Nebraska. This drives Bluejay fan crazy because they will never admit it. You've won 3 freaking first round NCAA tournament games in the last 30 years. Really Bluejay fan? Your conference sucks but you will never admit that either. You get more then one team from the Valley in the tourney any given year and we have to hear about how great your conference is. You get one team from the Valley in the sweet 16 and we have to hear about how great your conference is. Really Bluejay fan? That should be a given every year if your conference is even close being "great". Oh and maybe you should win a few more National Championships before the last team to do it are all great grandfathers. You are in a mid major, unless you make a move to something like the Big East, you will always be a mid major, get over it.
Of course the usual response from Bluejay fan is "Yea, but we got more tourney wins then Nebraska!" Hey Bluejay fan, we know we suck. What does it say about yourself when you are always comparing your success to Nebraska Basketball? Why not compare it to someone like Mizzou or Kansas? Answer, because you can't. All you have and all you will ever have until you actually do something significant is you are better then the Huskers.
What scares Bluejay fan the most is if Nebraska ever did become a good or great program, they would never ever be able to compete with the popularity of the Huskers, even in Omaha. Being in a BCS conference is a huge advantage when it comes to drawing people. Of course Bluejay fan will come back with "look at our attendance compared to yours". You know why you get crowds? Because there isn't anything else worth a darn to watch sportswise in Omaha, period. You know why Nebraska doesn't draw crowds? Because they don't deserve it until they start putting better teams on the floor. If you ever went to games during the Danny Nee era, the Bob was a happening place, great crowds, even better student section, great atmosphere. Heck even DickieV made it to the Bob for a game. When fans can watch a good basketball team play in a great conference against great teams, it's a no brainer who will win the battle of the fans. If you live in West Omaha and the Huskers were actually good would you rather watch Nebraska against Michigan or the Bluejays play some Valley school like Evansville?
This takes me to my final point of why Nebraska fans don't like Jayskers, because if Nebraska ever did get good all those Jayskers would try to jump back on the Nebraska bandwagon just like they did with Creighton. How many Creighton fans were going to the games in the Civic? Last year couldn't have been better example of what Bluejay fan is all about. Last year they suck much like Nebraska. They still got good crowds but you can tell that besides the maybe 5-10K of hardcore fanbase, everyone else going to those games is there just to be a part of the scene. It could be Cirque du Soleil for all they care because it's the thing to do in Omaha right now.
I will give you credit if you have been following the Jays all your life, had season tickets back in the Civic days and can name players from 93 team. But the reality is most Bluejay fans are just there to be there.
As for Nebraska basketball, they have nobody to blame for what they have then themselves but I am glad to see we are finally taking basketball serious with the new arena and practice facility. If Doc implodes once again this year which it appears he is well on his way, Dr Tom needs get a finally get some sack and get a real coach and spend some money on him as well.
