[Husker] Personal data

[RBEVERAGE at aol.com]

This is really a fascinating thread, so I thought I should add my  background 
to go with all the others.  As my little brother,  Roger, has already posted, 
I'm 71 and live in Orange County California,  where I've been for over 30 
years.  We were raised in Plattsmouth and were  Nebraska fans almost from the 
time we could walk.  My first memories are  listening to Tom Daley broadcast the 
games over WOW in Omaha in 1945, and I made  a scrapbook of that season that 
lasted until my mother threw it out sometime in  the '80's.
 
First game seen in person was NU-Oklahoma in 1949.  I was there for  Band 
Day, and we sat in the south end zone.  We lost, 48-0, and I still  have the 
program from that game as I do of all the other Husker games I have  attended over 
the years.  I did not attend the University, much to my  chagrin, but went to 
Colgate University in Hamilton, NY.  Don't ask me how  that happened, but it 
was a major culture shock.  It meant that I missed a  lot of Nebraska football 
games, because I followed the path west to Berkeley for  graduate school and 
have lived in California ever since.  In 1976 I began  to make an annual visit 
to Nebraska for the Missouri game with the annual  Californians for Nebraska. 
 That game was an exciting disappointment as we  lost,34-24.  I vividly 
remember Joe Stewart getting behind the Husker  secondary to catch what turned out 
to be a 98 yard pass and run to turn the game  around.  You could hear a pin 
drop in the stadium as Stewart broke away  around our 35 yard line and ran 
untouched into the north end zone for the TD not  far from where I was sitting.
 
Since then, I've seen at least one game live each year, in the last 15  years 
usually 4 or 5, peaking at 7 games in 1995,   I've seen the  Huskers play in 
every Big 12 stadium except Kansas State, have gone to Michigan  State, 
Arizona State, Cal, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and have seen them play  in most bowl 
games west of the Mississippi.  Most memorable games?   1997 at Columbia, the 
1996 Fiesta Bowl and 2000 at Notre Dame.  Was in  Lincoln for the 2001 Oklahoma 
game, which so far has been a watershed event in  Husker history.  Have all of 
the Husker media guides, 1973 forward.
 
Some years back, the wife of Larry Gerlach, who is from Lincoln and is  
chairman of the history department at the University of Utah, commented to both  of 
us, "Around the first of September, you guys get up in the football tree and  
don't come down until January."  That's about right. My brother joins me  
faithfully in the tree along with his sons and my daughter, who are as devoted  
as we are.  She went to UCLA, where we also have season tickets.  It's  a 
little difficult to assimilate all of this football, but we manage.
 
The list is great, and I have learned a lot over the years.  Like  virtually 
everyone on the list, I don't like the petty sniping, and I sometimes  think 
some of the posters can't see beyond Memorial Stadium in their analysis,  but 
that's just my opinion.  Mike Nolan has done a wonderful job in riding  this 
tiger over the years, and I hope it remains active for many years to  come.
 
Dick Beverage-Californians for Nebraska