Today I went to my first Husker game in about 4 years. It was a great time with sweet seats! The game was really exciting, and I got to go with my old buddy from high school James Shada, his wife, and his dad who was my boss all those years at the rec dept in Bellevue. I was glad they took me again (see #2 and 3 below), since my previous record of games is really not too impressive.
1. NU wins 56-27. But it was Frank Solich's first as head coach, Bobby Newcombe tore his ACL, and a quarterback/receiver combo Tim Rattay and Troy Edwards from LaTech looked unstoppable. Rattay had almost 600 yards passing, over 400 of those to Edwards.
2. Loss to Texas 16-20 which ended a 47 game home winning streak, though I did get to see Ricky Williams play.
3. NU 21-7 over TCU. Pretty run of the mill game, but this was the 2001 opener, the year of the infamous get blown out by Colorado then somehow inexplicably make the title game and get blown out by Miami.
4. Loss to Colorado 26-20, the last game in Bill Callahan's inaugural season which ended 5-6. This was the game that ended the NCAA record bowl streak and non-losing season streak. I did get to sit in the student section for this game with my brother John, which was a good time and quite the experience.
For those of you who follow college football... check that. For those of you who are Nebraska fans (because we are no longer relevant in the broader college football world), you know what a big game this was for NU. We were sitting at 5-4, coming off a blow out loss to Oklahoma, and desperately needing a win against a quality opponent. It was definitely a big win, and I had a great time with the Shada family. Hopefully my jinx is over!
Quick story about how I got to go. Mr Shada (my boss all those years in the recreation dept) called me during work yesterday to let me know he had extra tickets to today's game. I was quite torn. Weekends (this month) are when I get to spend a lot of time with Stephanie and the boys, and she really looks forward to them as a break for her as well. I came home and had basically decided I would probably just stay home and have some quality time with the newborn, the 3 year old, and the wife. I still wanted Stephanie to know what a big sacrifice I was making (of course), so I told Stephanie that Mr Shada had offered me tickets. She immediately responds "Oh, that's great! You should go!" To which I reply, "You know, I would feel bad leaving you alone with the two boys." She then reminds me that her mom and sister were coming for the weekend. Score one for the in-laws!!! I can honestly say I've never been so excited to see them :)
