[Husker] List members (fwd)

[Steve Reichenbach]

I think I post enough as it is, but I'll post another Husker bio.  I
was born and raised in Lincoln, with lots of Husker heritage.  My
parents and several grandparents are NU alums.  I remember one of my
grandmothers twisting her hands with worry as she listened to the
Huskers on the radio.  My dad is an avid sports fan, especially the
Huskers.  I remember going with him to football games as a child, but
remember even better going to the airport to greet the team and getting
autographs from my heros --- Denny Claridge (who became a dentist, like
my father, and whose lakeside cabin is next to my parent's cabin),
Frankie Solich, Freeman White, Thunder Thornton, etc.  Among the most
memorable plays (I don't remember the game) was Frank Solich putting
down his hand down to keep his balance and slip past the defenders.

I remember basketball games in the Coliseum when it was so loud my
ears hurt.  I remember Stu Lantz, Joe Cipriano (who was on my paper
route, as was the late Bobby Reynolds, who was before my time, but my
parents assure me was one of the greatest), Nate Branch, Tom Baack.  I
don't think NU's basketball has been as good since.  I remember Fred
Hare's backward over-the-head shot to knock off #1 Michigan in
Lincoln.

I graduated from Lincoln Southeast (1972), where Solich was the
assistant wrestling coach of my wrestling team.  He really knew almost
nothing about wrestling, but I think he could have done pushups for as
long as most people could walk.  I remember the smell of popcorn in the
Coliseum when I couldn't eat in order to make weight.  Southeast was
the #1 State football team and Nebraska was the #1 NCAA football team.
First, the dominoes of 1970 and then Johnny R. and Jerry Tagge
stretching across the end-zone.  Devaney had made it look deceptively
simple.

I attended NU (and graduated with a BA in English, 1976) and worked at
Nebraska Book Store, at its old location where the Lied Center is now.
They'd let the part-time students leave for the game.  I got a laugh
this year when the student section was complaining about alcohol in the
luxury suites.  They should have seen the student section in those
days.  I remember the students would assemble bottles on the south end
of the East Stadium and I won't write here about the other indulgences
in the student section during the early-to-mid 1970s.  Those were the
years of Sooner Magic (1972-76, and, unfortunately beyond), so I won't
recount that either.

I became a secondary school English and Math teacher in Simms, Montana;
Ankara, Turkey (the American highschool); and Castle Rock, Colorado.
Then, I went back to grad school to study computer science in Colorado,
then Washington University in St. Louis, and William and Mary (letting
my wife, an USAF nurse, support me as a student house husband), so I
didn't get to attend many games.  And, too many of the games when
Nebraska was on national television resulted in a loss for another good
or even great season but always short of #1.  NU was robbed at Penn
State.  Then, Turner Gill got revenge and almost led NU back to the
top.  After that, NU seemed to slip backward again and often it seemed
that the QB got the blame.

After I graduated from William and Mary (and there were no more degrees
to get and my wife had enough of active duty and we wanted our kids to
grow up near family in the midwest), I took a job on the UNL faculty.
My wife (from St. Louis) became a good Husker fan and has helped raise
our kids with Husker religion.  (Well, I did convert to her religion
religion.)  My first year at UNL, there were questions whether the
sellout streak would continue.  Sports Illustrated ran what was
basically an obituary for NU's football prominence --- done in by cuts
in scholarships, a small recruiting base, etc.  The Daily Nebraskan
editorialized that Osborne should retire.  Even for Osborne supporters,
of which I was one, there was a sense that maybe "good but not #1" is
just how it would be.  Fortunately, Osborne didn't leave and there was
much more in store.

So, I've had season football tickets since 1990.  In the early 1990s
our seats were under the balcony and it seemed to rain many times.  One
time, the weather was so bad they stopped the game.  Students ran out
to slide on the Astroturf and the student section below us tossed so
may cups in the air that it looked like popcorn.  An old high school
classmate was a policeman and would ascend the south end of the East
stadium like steps as the crowd cheered.  After our seats were moved
out-from-under to Section 2, we've had great weather.

I don't think there can have been any better game for Husker fans than
the NU win over Miami.  Even the bigger win over Florida doesn't match
the release of all those years of being teased with being close but not
finishing on top.  Then, what a run in TO's last years.

Since then, I've been at some painful losses (Texas in St. Louis and
Miami in the Rose Bowl) and some good wins (Texas in San Antonio and
Oklahoma in Lincoln).  I took my dad to South Bend to see NU beat Notre
Dame, for his 70th birthday present, where we helped turn their stadium
red.  As I have argued here, I think Pederson made an ill-considered
move to fire Solich because he couldn't tell Solich how to micro-manage
the football program.  I like Callahan (whose daughter is a schoolmate
and friend of my youngest child), but the bar for judging success is
high (perhaps too high).  In the Callahan years, I've been to some good
games (the Alamo Bowl last year) and some disappointments (CU his first
year and OU in KC this year).  NU looked good this year, but they need
to beat some quality teams.

And, I've been on hand to watch the other teams:  some wrestling
matches (good but not great teams, but with a lower bar for success),
women's gymnastics (including the NCAAs when NU fell short of the
highest hopes), sparsely attended baseball games at Buck Beltzer, NU's
NCAA close-out at the Buck and then beautiful Haymarket Park.  I also
have NU men's and women's basketball season tickets (which go to my
parents) and I'm a big NU volleyball fan (although I've been told I
can't get faculty tickets without making a sizeable donation).  The
women's basketball team is good this year and I think Sadler will be a
winner.  Hopefully, I've got many more years of following the Big Red.

Well, that's more than anyone needs to know.  (I started small and got
carried away.)  As for many Nebraskans, there is a Big Red thread
through the lives of me and my family.

Steve Reichenbach