[Husker] versus Fl State on ESPN Classic Now

Wed Dec 2 15:28:34 CST 2009

Oh, you youngsters.  My 10-12 year old disappointments were the season
ending losses to OU and Arkansas to finish 9-2 in 1964, the season
ending loss to Alabama to finish 10-1 in 1965, and the season ending
losses to OU and Alabama to finish 9-2 in 1966.  Three seasons in a row
undefeated up until the last game or two, only to finish out with
losses.  That was hugely disappointing and led to a fatalistic outlook
about NU's prospects facing top teams.  However, the next two seasons'
6-4 records (which caused discussions of firing Devaney) made 9-2 in
1969 look pretty good and the two championships in 1970 and 1971 even
more gratifying.

The two MNCs in 1970 and 1971 set too high a bar for the next two
decades and there were times that it seemed it would never happen
again.  In the mid and late 1970s, there was a long losing streak to
OU.  Fans talked about how Osborne wasn't measuring up and Osborne
considered coaching elsewhere.  In the early 1980s there were bad
calls and missed opportunities in defeats of really good teams.  NU and
Osborne seemed snake-bit.  At the beginning of the 1990s, SI wrote an
article on why the new restrictive rules signaled the long-term decline
of NU football and there was a serious funk.  The DN opined that
Osborne should resign (because everyone was tired of 9-win seasons and
losing big games).  The game had passed Osborne by.  I remember two
fans sitting behind me at an NU basketball game who talked about the
need to replace Osborne.  I shared their sense that Osborne would not
get NU a MNC, but being pretty pragmatic, I turned around and told them
it would be foolish and challenged them to provide a name of a better
coach who would come to NU and be more successful than Osborne had
been.  (I don't remember their answer.)

It is just as Jay writes that that the experiences of enduring those
near misses in the big games, which NU's overall success provided as
opportunities, contributed greatly to the exhilaration of 1994.  Even
though there were great aspects to the 1995 and 1997 seasons (domination
and Osborne's capstone), the win in 1994 released long pent-up
anticipations of being close but not winning through.  For me, it
was the happiest win because it was the longest in coming.

So, NU's success this year brings up another big opportunity and the
result could be disappointment or exhilaration.  David Elfering had
a great post about how fortunate it is to have those opportunities,
whether NU wins or loses.  I'd go even further and say that the
winning is made sweeter by the struggle to get there, so there will
be something given to us by the game whether NU wins or loses.

Another great comment by Elfering was that "money and exposure cannot
consistently buy [success], but rather than it is based on the
collective will and constructive design".  I'd add that in addition to
collective will and constructive design, patient implementation also is
required.  (Dave probably would include this in constructive design.)
Patient implementation requires continuous re-evalution and
improvement.  There must be a willingness to change, but also a
recognition that impatience usually leads to failure.  Achieving the
greatest level of success in a pursuit that many other organizations
with higly talented people are pursuing at great cost is a tremendous
challenge.  Every fan enjoys the years when NU is champion, but most
years we have to take what we can from both wins and losses.  Hopefully,
from the losses, the coaches take away valuable lessons for re-evaluation
and change.  Hopefully, from losses, the fans take away a better
appreciation of the wins to enjoy and of the opportunities to get them.

Hey, NU is in the Big 12 Championship Game against undefeated Texas
with a chance to win a berth in a BCS Bowl.  Go Big RED!

> I was 10 in the same situation with the 84 Orange Bowl and the missed 2 point
> conversion.  The season was NOT supposed to end that way.  The OB was supposed
> to be the night NU was crowned.  Especially after the prior two years fiascos
> against Penn St and Clemson.  It was much tougher living through the following
> years, especially with NU losing streak in bowls starting a few years later,
> etc.  But that, in part, is what made the run in the 90's so incredible and so
> gratifying.
> 
> GBR,
> 
> - Jay
> 
> Quoting aroundomaha <aroundomaha at gmail.com>:
> 
> > I was devesated by the end of that game, and partially because I thought the
> > Huskers would never have the opportunity again. Was I EVER wrong about that
> > one. It simply marked the beginning of an incredible run.
> >
> > Be that as it may, I cannot watch that game to this day.
> >
> > On Wed, Dec 2, 2009 at 7:18 AM, <J1a2c3k at aol.com> wrote:
> >
> >>
> >>
> >> In a message dated 12/2/2009 1:10:39 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> >> awolfson0 at gmail.com writes:
> >>
> >> I was  watching the Florida-Florida State game before that one, but... I
> >> couldn't  bring myself to watch it. It's been 15 years, and I just can't do
> >> it. I was 10  and I cried myself to sleep.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> It's sometimes hard when you know the final score (like  yesterday's game)
> >> but what was fun to watch was Tommie Frazier in action. His  hand offs or
> >> fakes were FAST, compared to the current guys. ....for as little as  I know
> >> about football moves, it would seem that if we could get back to that
> >> quickness, we would be up a notch on our plays.
> >>
> >> Jack
> >>
> >>
> >> If you forward this, please DELETE any previous addresses , including MY
> >> email address!   Deleting the address history helps prevent Spammers from
> >> mining addresses and  viruses from being propagated!
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >> husker at tssi.com
> >> http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/husker
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > ---
> > David Elfering
> > aroundomaha at gmail.com
> > _______________________________________________
> > husker site list
> > husker at tssi.com
> > http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/husker
> >
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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