Another Cornhusker football spring game has come and gone.
This past Saturday, the Blackshirts (consisting of white jersey wearing defensive players) beat the offense (dressed in red shirts), 43-39, in front of more than 54,000 fans.
I’ve been following Husker spring games for 51 years.
My first?
May 8, 1971.
I listened to Dick Perry of KFOR Radio in Lincoln describe the Red’s 64-21 destruction of the White squad.
The 1971 game was played on a glorious, bright, sunny day, and I assumed the weather would be the same one year later.
I 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 Galaxie 500 and raced from our rural Valparaiso farm through 25 miles of relentless rain to Lincoln.
This was my first chance to see the Cornhuskers in person and in living color! Just over 9,000 shivering fans huddled together under the stadium’s balconies to witness the White team upset the Reds, 21-19.
The 1972 game lacked the fireworks of the year before, in part because future Heisman Trophy winner 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.
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.
I was a 12-year-old seventh grader. What did I care about being wet and cold? This was Cornhusker football!
One year later, the weather did cooperate.
The 1973 game was the chance for over 20,000 Husker fans to get their first look at a Big Red team not coached by Bob Devaney in 11 years.
Tom Osborne was now in charge.
Mom and Dad allowed me to attend the game by myself.
The Reds beat the Whites, 35-25.
As I did during the 1972 game, I roamed through the stadium with my trusty radio.
KFAB and announcing legend Lyell Bremser did not broadcast the game, so my companion that day was, once again, Dick Perry of KFOR, who did an admirable job. While Perry did not possess Bremser’s commanding voice, he was very fluent and offered an on-air presence of having fun.
While Perry was honored as the Nebraska Sportscaster-of-the-Year several times in the 1960s and 1970s, he has not yet been honored as an inductee in the Nebraska Broadcasters Hall of Fame. It is a recognition that I hope will be bestowed on Perry, although posthumously, sometime soon.
Dick Perry died on August 14, 2004, at age 72 after losing a battle with emphysema and phenomena.
Along with broadcasting Cornhusker football and basketball games, he also hosted the KFOR morning show from 1960 to 1978, earning him the title of “Lincoln’s Morning Mayor.”
Perry usually teamed with another Lincoln radio legend, Bill Wood.
Perry and Wood also hosted “Big Red Breakfast” on KFOR each Saturday morning of a home Cornhusker game. The broadcast originated from the Villager Motel at 52nd and O Street, which is no longer standing. The radio breakfast would feature several guests, including an NU assistant football coach. The NU pep band would appear and perform a few numbers while dressed-in-red bacon and egg indulgers would clap in unison.
KFOR’s Big Red Breakfast was an entertaining and informative beginning to each Cornhusker football home Saturday — thanks to Dick Perry. Perry was a gracious host who was skilled at making sure the person he was interviewing was the focus of the radio listener.
Obviously, Nebraska’s spring football game helps bolster several of my childhood memories.
I’ve only scratched the surface.
And, since this is Holy Week, I will share a prayer with you that I learned in 1972:
Our Father, who heads the athletic department,
Devaney be his name.
Our kingdom comes,
If the touchdowns be done,
On grass as well as artificial turf.
Give us this year our dozen wins,
And forgive those who score against us.
Lead us not into Oklahoma,
But deliver us the Orange Bowl.
For thine is the stadium, sellout crowds, and the National Championship,
Forever and ever.
Amen!
As I said, I’ve only scratched the surface.