[Husker] What Do Husker Fans Want?

[Rod Wellman]

Bob Hamer's article is an interesting read:

http://www.theindependent.com/stories/122004/spo_hamar20.shtml

Do we want the "mis-steps" outlined in his article?  Certainly not.  
Maybe the better question is, "Do we want to condone and reward those 
mis-steps?"

Do we want to be viewed as "chicken" to play Houston?  I've read 
summaries of Steve Pederson's "explanation".  It doesn't sound like 
much of an explanation to me.

Do we want this football program to win a bunch of games next year?  
Will that "fix" this sick feeling I have when I think of the football 
program now?

Do we want them to lose miserably to more quickly affect a change? (I 
can never hope for them to lose!)

Do we want to win a national championship?  How would this feel?  
Anything close to our previous ones?  I think it would simply be an 
opportunity for Pederson to say "See, I told you so."  In my mind, this 
would justify his poor treatment of many of the Husker family, and 
simply perpetuate what is wrong with college football:  the "quick fix" 
mentality, big money, and a win-at-all cost attitude (it was pathetic 
what ND did to Willingham).  Three things I didn't necessarily 
associate with the Bid Red before.  I thought we were about 
persistence, getting more out of our resources than others do, and "in 
the deed the glory".

Every program has its problems, and you take the good with the bad.  
But at some point there might come a time where the program changes 
enough that what attracted the fan in the first place is no longer 
there. Sounds like for Mr. Hamer, he has reached that point.  Not to 
speak for him, but for Greg Mays, that may have happened when Solich 
was fired, or in hindsight, when Pederson was hired.  I wonder how far 
some of the rest of us are from that decision.

My 12 year old son has practically no interest in the Huskers now, a 
sad thing for me.  We just went to our first Packers game (an 8.5 hour 
drive) and had a great time, and as he begins to follow Packer 
football, I feel like we may never again share the deep, deep feelings 
of a common love of Husker football again.  When he tells me why he 
doesn't feel like "rooting for" or "following" the Huskers, I, like Mr. 
Hamer, have no answer.  He just doesn't understand the Solich firing, 
and even though I took him to meet Callahan and Pederson when they 
dropped by Sioux City last Spring, he hasn't warmed up to "the new 
Huskers".  Maybe that's just the viewpoint of a 12 year old, but 
sometimes they can see right through the fog, can't they?

Towards the end of Hamer's article, he asks how we, the fans, feel 
about those things that have happened this last year...things that do 
not reflect the consistent traditions of integrity, honesty, loyalty 
and class we have seen in men who have built the program's incredible 
success over the last 40 years.  Can you ever imagine Osborne yelling 
ANYTHING up into the stands?  Is it OK to lose those things as a fair 
trade for the winning ways that Steve Pederson insists lie ahead?

I for one say "no".

This isn't a re-hashing of pasts posts.  I challenge the list to have a 
civil, meaningful, deep discussion of what we as Huskers should do.  
Because as Hamer says, it IS up to us.  In a way, WE are Nebraska 
football, and it is OUR reputation on the line here, too.  What do we 
want to be known for?  What is our identity now?  What can we do to 
make sure it is one that we can all buy into?  Who is going to hold 
people accountable so that these past traditions are upheld, that 
things are done "the Husker way"?  Are we united, or are we divided 
beyond repair?

My contribution:  tomorrow I am going to buy a copy of "What it means 
to be a Husker", and send it to Bill Callahan.

I hope like hell he reads it.

Rod Wellman
Sioux City, Ia.


Rod Wellman
Writer/Producer
Kiel Pro Video, Inc.
3300 Northbrook Drive, Ste. B
Sioux City, IA.  51105
Ph. 712-293-0349
Fax 712-293-0352
email:  rod at kielpro.com