It’s amazing how certain events in our lives never depart from our craniums. Death, how much in taxes we pay, your first vehicle, anniversaries, birthdays, graduations, and what I was doing during certain Cornhusker football games tend to top my list.
I wish the 2023-24 bowl schedule of 43 games would create more of those Cornhusker memories for me.
Well, maybe in 2024. Or, better yet, early January of 2025.
The Huskers were last in a bowl game on December 30, 2016. Big Red lost to Tennessee, 24-38, in the Music City Bowl in Nashville.
NU last played in the Big 10 title game on the night of December 1, 2012, when the Cornhuskers met Wisconsin in Indianapolis.
The Badgers edged Nebraska, 70-31.
The game’s highlight came early in the fourth quarter. Wisconsin led, 63-17, and my focus quickly evolved from a numbness that spread from head to toe to that of total joy. Out of the corner of my left eye, I could see my oldest daughter, Kacey, approach. Without saying a word, she handed me a letter addressed to Kacey from University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Harvey Perlman. Dr. Perlman was offering Kacey a UNL Regents Scholarship with a four-year value of $29,000. She informed me was going to accept his offer. Hey, if it means my child being awarded a huge scholarship, I’ll take a Husker whipping of the Gluteus Maximus.
I’m also happy to inform you that Kacey would go on to graduate from UNL with honors.
Other notable memories that are related to a Cornhusker football game:
September 4, 2021: Nebraska 52, Fordham 7. The game kicked off at 10 AM MDT. Seven of my family members and friends joined me in our small TV room to cheer on Big Red. Two hours after the game’s conclusion, I walked my youngest daughter down the aisle of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Alliance to be wed.
September 20, 2014: Nebraska 41, Miami 31. Earlier that day, the Alliance Bulldogs softball team, which included my daughter, Christa, who started in right field, snapped a 42-game losing streak by defeating Chadron, 8-7, at a North Platte tournament.
November 29, 2013: Iowa 38, Nebraska 17. The last time Cynthia, Kacey, Christa, and I attended a Husker football game together. Well, half a game. Christa and Cynthia were so cold they left at halftime and watched the rest of the contest on TV at the NU Student Union. Kacey and I toughed it out, though.
December 5, 2009: Texas 13, Nebraska 12 in the Big 12 title game. Earlier that day, the Alliance High School one-act play team was crowned district champion in Sidney. Kacey was a member of the cast that was crowned Class B State Champions a week later in Kearney.
October 24, 2009: Iowa State 9, Nebraska 7. I listened to this stunning loss on the radio as I was riding on a school bus with the Alliance High School band traveling to the State Bandmasters competition in Lincoln.
September 20, 2001: Nebraska 48, Rice 3. It was the Huskers first game after the 9-11 attacks. I had driven the Alliance Middle School volleyball team to Sidney for a match. I sat in the bus and listened to the game on the radio. Husker football announcers Warren Swain and Adrian Fiala handle a very emotional pre-game tunnel walk, which served as a tribute to firefighters and law enforcement, with total class.
November 13, 1999: Nebraska 41, Kansas State 15. The temperature in both Alliance and Lincoln that day was 83 degrees. It was a beautiful day for football and, unfortunately, a funeral. That morning, Mr. Robert Placek was laid to rest at the Cavalry Cemetery north of Alliance. Bob was always a gracious host, inviting me and several people over to his home near Laing Lake each Independence Day to enjoy fireworks.
October 31, 1998: Texas 20, Nebraska 16. The Huskers first-ever loss of a game played on Halloween Day. To help kill the pain, I dressed up Kacey, who was three-years-old at the time, as a Husker football fan for her trick-or-treat adventures.
January 1, 1993: Florida State 18, Nebraska 16 in the Orange Bowl. I watched this game with my good friend, Hal Murray, at his home located at 784 West 14th Street in Alliance. As the fourth quarter began, the Huskers trailed, 15-7. It was at that moment that Hal informed me that his niece, Pam (Gunia) Cyza had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Pam and I had been friends for years. My heart sank to my knees. It wasn’t long after Hal’s announcement that the Huskers came back and took a 16-15 lead. However, Florida State won in the final seconds on a short field goal. Pam came back and beat cancer. We’re still celebrating Pam’s victory.
November 7, 1992: Nebraska 49, Kansas 7. This was the first Husker game that Cynthia and I attended together. I would propose to her three weeks later, about two hours before the Huskers would beat Oklahoma, 32-9 in Norman. Oh, and she said yes.
October 6, 1984: Nebraska 17, Oklahoma State 3. I was dressed in a fancy tuxedo and served as an usher for a good buddy, Ron Kubalek, who chose this day to get married. He did so at a church on Lincoln’s east side. Over on the west side of town, the Big Red was in a nail-biter with the Cowboys. During the wedding reception, I sneaked away to my car to catch the fourth quarter on the radio. With the game tied, 3-3, the Huskers scored two late-game touchdowns on a punt return and long pass play. However, my absence from the reception was extremely conspicuous when the groom introduced my empty chair — located at the head table — to a full house.
October 30, 1976: Nebraska 31, Kansas 3. I was a senior in high school and somehow managed to convince my parents to allow their 17-year-old son to travel to Lawrence, Kansas to experience his first Husker road game. To add more mystery to their decision, I did so with four of my buddies who now attended UNL. Was the trip harmless fun? If you consider the fact that I confiscated a fake ID so I could (and did) crash the nearby Topeka speakeasies, then – certainly.
November 6, 1971: Nebraska 37, Iowa State 0. As a fan who has jumped up and down, screamed, cursed, consumed human antifreeze and operated various types of machinery while following 576 Cornhusker football games, this contest is the only one in which I was ever injured. I was listening to the Cyclones at NU game on the radio while walking around a small lake located about two miles from my childhood home. My faithful companion, Wolffang (a German Shepherd dog), was trotting alongside. Late in the second quarter, Johnny Rodgers returned a punt 62 yards for a touchdown. In my excitement, I wrapped my arms around Wolffang and gave him a big hug. However, he lifted his nose towards my face and his nose met my Adam’s apple as I attempted to hug his neck. My throat was sore for four days – but I didn’t miss any school.
From dogs to daughters, oh, those Husker memories.
God willing, I’ll be around to make more in 2024.