It Always Comes Back to This

Special Props to Husker linebacker Corey Mckeon for going to the "cheap" card when explaining the Mizzou offense in the Husker press conference on Tuesday. (Omaha World Herald, November 1st edition) Despite having both knees blown out, a full body cast and being in a wheelchair, Mr. McKeon has kept his sense of humor by using almost the exact same quote that Texas Tech coach Mike Leach used...just before his team was pummeled at home. I don't necessarily believe in bulletin board material, and as far as smack talk goes, there wasn't much to look into. But if my team just got torched like his did just 3 days prior, I don't know if I'd be raising eyebrows with any comments about a team that put up nearly 400 yards on Oklahoma and is 7-2. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Nebraska have trouble with OSU when they went no huddle? Uhhhhh, OK.

* Right now there is a woman in our office with an "Air Cornahan" t-shirt on. She is an idiot.

* As you can tell, this has been a strange week. Needless to say for me the white-hot rage of all things Nebraska football is still stuffed into my guts, where it will burn for all of eternity. However, the mopey, Eyore like reaction of Husker fan after the Okie State loss has made it difficult to go for an all-out and full frontal attack. As I've stated a lot this week, nearly all Husker fans I've talked to are confident...but nobody wants to really come out and say it. (Today I got my first "Huskers by 21" e-mail. Only took til Thursday too.)

But that has changed a bit.

One thing I rather enjoy about this blog is looking at the stat summary and taking a look at all the different message boards who link into the blog. Most of them are premium (so I can just see the thread names and replies) and most of them are Husker...so needless to say I don't do much more than take a peek at who is driving my traffic. However, yesterday...on one of the premium Mizzou boards, some assclown Husker fan throws out the obligatory, "He's just jealous" and "He has no life" blah blah blah blah blah. That part is all fine and good. I get that 100,000 times a day, and some random Hick fan on a Mizzou message board isn't going to change my way of thinking much.

However, what he did next was lob a Jeff Granger fastball right down the middle and went to the "No other group of fans treats other teams and fans like we do. What is he thinking?" He then went to list 35 quotes from Mack Brown and a bunch of Texas players from the game the other day about how great Husker fans were to them after their win.

Let me tell you about an experience I had with Husker fan...and then I'll get back to this.

Last year I went to the Missouri vs. Nebraska game in Columbia, and sat in the Northwest corner of Faurot Field. As many of you know, that particular corner is home of the Husker "student section" when the hicks leave their combines and head south for their bi-annual pilgrimage to see the Huskers on the road. Sitting in front of them and directly to our left were a pair of red clad lesbians, 4 guys in red Dale Junior jackets with Husker hats and 4 younger people with red sweaters and khaki slacks. Needless to say, we all got along great. Husker fan may be gracious to Texas when they get a "moral" victory over a superior team. Husker fan may clap for Nicholls State as they trudge their horse jockey-esque bodies off of Tom Osborne field when the clock strikes 0:00. But Husker fan doesn't handle getting his ass kicked very well.

After a lively first half...just about the time when Brad Smith was running for his 440th out of 480 yards, Husker fan started to break down. Random quarters, cups and even used chaw (my favorite) flew from time to time out of that particular section of Hick fans. As Tony Temple galloped into the end zone to push the lead to 17, Husker fan headed for the exits. At that point, I met the poster child for everything you people stand for.

Being literally dragged out by his buddies stood beaten Husker fan. he was 25-30 years old...his red jacket crumpled up toward his chest. His faded Husker hat was pushed to the side as two of his buddies grabbed him by his shoulders. As he was dragged the 40-50 feet to the exit tunnel, his face was coiled in rage. Not just pissed off rage...I'm talking about war movie rage, just when some soldier is about to make a bayonet charge into a cave full of Japanese guerilla rage. Nearly in tears, dude threw out taunts like Ali being led from a press conference. "Fuck you guys." "You guys aren't nothing" "You guys haven't won shit". "You guys are nothing" Over and over and over until he finally disappeared down into the tunnel. We of course smiled and waved, wishing him a pleasant journey home.

That's the Husker fan I know.

Husker fan is "Classy" because Husker fan's favorite team used to beat the hell out of other teams year in and year out. Husker fan is "above everybody else" because it's easy to be so if you rarely, if ever get thumped. Even against Texas this year, how would Husker fan have reacted if Texas beat them 48-10? Was Husker fan "classy" when K-State dropped a 38-9 bomb on them a few years ago? When the chips are down, is Husker fan consistently humble and gracious? WHY DON'T YOU PEOPLE GET THIS!?!?

It's true that you can't hold one or two people accountable to represent an entire fan base. And yes...for the most part I will agree with you that going to a game in Lincoln isn't like going to a Raider game in Oakland dressed in a Larry Johnson jersey. But this whole "class" crutch that you people fall back on when somebody says something bad about you is part of the arrogance I bring up almost every day. You see, nobody gives a shit how classy you are. Nobody gives a shit if Mack Brown wants you to line up so he can give you all handys after the game. Nobody gives a shit how much better of a fan you are because you can recite the linescore from a game 30 years ago. Nobody gives a shit about your big jumbotron, your hillbilly celebrity suite holder, your polite nature, your wholesome values. None of it.

I've said it once and I've said it 50,000 times. You are absolutely no different (better or worse) than anybody else. I'd be "classy and gracious" too if I watched my team win 85% of their games over a 40 year period. But if you were the greatest fans on earth..how come the Devaney Center sits empty during basketball season? Worse yet, why are there so many red sweatshirts at Creighton basketball games? Why was Husker wrestling so big 5-10 years ago, but now that they suck, you never hear anything about them? Why are 17,000 people going to Husker baseball games at Rosenblatt in April, when just 15 years ago (when you sucked) you could literally count the fans? Why do I get hate mail and death threats because I simply don't like your team? (Even though I never personally attack players and say that I actual enjoy every other part of living here)

So again, 85,000 of the "greatest" fans in all the world will band as one on Saturday, and will a mediocre band of players led by a pathetic group of coaches to hopeful victory. They'll clap in rhythm to a band that broke up in 1985. They'll stop their Tony Lama's in unison as an underachieving group of college age youths participate in the greatest spectator sport on earth. But should fate fall against them, and the visiting team leaves leaves victorious, I doubt "gracious" and "classy" Husker fan will rise above the chaos his team has become and set an example for all others.

Just ask that kid that got dragged out of the game in Columbia last year in a fit of rage....part of the classiest fans on earth. Just ask him.

We'll breakdown the game a bit tomorrow.

More to come.

(Photo Thanks - Grand Island Independent)