[Husker] Big One

[Mike Jaixen]

That's easy; yesterday was the 10 year anniversary of
winning the 95 Orange Bowl, which was as thrilling of
a Husker game as I can remember.  My memory consists
of shovelling 4 inches of snow on New Years Eve
morning to get to the airport, and that night walking
along the beach in Fort Lauderdale.  The guy in the
motel, when asked about how to get to the Orange Bowl,
telling us that "you don't want to go to that part of
town, just stay in your room and watch it on TV".

Finally experiencing the inside of that stadium which
had long been the scene of many New Years Nightmares
and feeling that we had a good chance to finally slay
the Miami beast.

The cathartic expressions of joy from the Husker
section when Cory Schlesinger, with 2:46 to go, rolled
into that far end zone, where Turner Gill's 2 point
conversion fell incomplete and Byron Bennett's FG fell
wide left.

The Husker fans still cheering and chanting in the
stadium a half hour later, half not wanting to stop
celebrating and the other half afraid of what the
locals were doing outside.

Chanting "Our House!" while going down the ramp to
exit the stadium.

Running into Miami fans at our parking place, a Dairy
Queen about 5 blocks from the stadium, who were afraid
of what the Husker fans were going to do that night to
them.  We shared some beverages, and gained a lot of
respect for their fans.

Waking up around noon on Monday the 2nd, and spending
the day on the beach where it was sunny and 84.  I
think I checked on the score of the Penn State-Oregon
Rose Bowl game twice that day, but couldn't really
care less.

The next day, arriving back in Omaha to single digit
temps and stopping at JCPenneys for a National
Championship sweatshirt on the way home.  Then
rewinding the VCR and watching the whole thing over
again, including the local reaction on channel 6's
coverage of Dave Webber hugging Frank Solich with his
corncob and the scenes from 72nd & Dodge.

That was the greatest football event I've ever
experienced.  Yes, the 96 Fiesta Bowl was a coronation
of the greatest team, and the 98 Orange Bowl was a
satisfying end to the greatest 5 year runs in modern
history.  But the drama of that 95 game against Miami
and the emotion of finally winning it all for the
first time that I could remember (Too young in 70/71)
makes the 1994 Championship something I'll place among
my fondest memories.

--- Bob Beach <rrbeach at rrbeach.com> wrote:

>      Here are some memories of TO's first National
> Championship.  The 
> print version of the Lincoln Journal-Star had a big
> spread about that 
> game today.  I am not sure what prompted the story
> at this time.  It 
> kind of seems as if it is rubbing things in
> Callahan's face after one 
> season.  I did enjoy reading it, though.  It brought
> back a lot of memories.
> 
> 
> http://tinyurl.com/6areo


=====
Mike Jaixen


		
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