It was 52 years ago.
My first experience of attending a Nebraska football spring game at Memorial Stadium
Before I rewind the calendar, I quick reminder of what happened last Saturday in Lincoln.
In front of 60,452 fans, the White/Green team beat the Red/Green team, 25-21.
If you missed the game on TV, NU quarterbacks wore green jerseys. Defenders could touch the QB, but no tackling.
Patrons paid fifteen dollars for a ticket – which had to be ordered through the Huskers.com web site. Tickets purchased at the gate meant digging into one’s wallet for an extra ten dollars.
Yep, twenty-five dollars to watch a glorified scrimmage.
The game was televised live by the Big Ten Network, and radio coverage was offered from the Missouri River to the Wyoming border via the Huskers Radio Network.
My first true spring game experience occurred on Saturday, May 8, 1971.
With my portable radio under my arm, Dick Perry of KFOR Radio in Lincoln described the Red’s 64-21 destruction of the White squad.
Legendary announcer Lyell Bremser and his KFAB powerhouse did not broadcast the spring games during the 1970s, as, again, they were viewed as a practice.
The 1971 game was played on a glorious, bright, sunny day, and I assumed the weather would be the same in 1972 and was determined to be part of the 1972 crowd.
Mother Nature had other ideas: Saturday, May 6, was cold and rainy. Dad had told me he would take me to the game if the weather cooperated. It didn’t, and Dad kept his word that he was staying home and so was I. After pouting for several minutes, my older brother Blaine came to the rescue and offered to take me to the game.
Against Dad’s protest, we jumped in Blaine’s 1963 Ford and raced through the relentless rain to Lincoln.
Finally, my chance to see the Cornhuskers in person and in living color!
I paid one dollar for my ticket, which was all the money I had in my wallet. That meant no concessions. Well, a Kennedy half-dollar for a Coca-Cola was just plain ridiculous anyway.
Just over 9,000 shivering fans huddled together under the stadium’s balconies to witness the White team upset the Reds, 21-19.
The game lacked the excitement of the year before, in part because Johnny Rodgers didn’t play after undergoing thumb surgery.
The rain also caused several fumbles as the players had a hard time hanging on to wet footballs.
While the rain certainly dampened the enthusiasm of the crowd, it didn’t stop me from romping through the stadium to witness the game from as many different angles as I could. I even climbed a set of stairs that led into the press box, only to find the door locked.
There was no tunnel walk, no fireworks, no pep band, no green jerseys, and live TV cameras were also absent.
KFOR’s Dick Perry announced the game, and I am sure they had a large audience in the Lincoln market.
The rain never stopped, and by the time we returned to Blaine’s car, Blaine’s hands were so cold he couldn’t grip the key used to unlock the door.
It was the last spring game that I viewed in the rain.
Sunny days graced Memorial Stadium in 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1976 and I was in attendance to each game.
I didn’t see any further spring games until 2009. As part of our registration for the Nebraska Associated Press annual convention in Lincoln, I was able to view that game from the skybox.
I don’t remember a whole lot about that skybox experience from 15 years ago, but I vividly remember the rain-soaked contest of 52 years ago that I was able to attend – despite my angry father’s belief I should have stayed home.
This, of course, was the same man who had no problem directing me to work cattle in the rain.