BIG RED IS DEAD!

Please Have Me Killed! Big Red Is Dead!

There are some things that I can really count on in my life: Like my wife’s uncanny ability be unhappy about some aspect of her life, because of me. “You have made a terrible mess with the coffee again…now get down there and clean it up or you have seen your last of me in this bed through the end of this fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2004!” She is a financial analyst so when she puts me in the penalty box it is usually time bound. Lately the penalties have been getting longer.

There is also the certainty of death and taxes and gossip about the leader of our homeowner’s association. In my life there is also “Imus In the Morning” and Maureen Dowd always making me laugh and think; there is my love hot fresh brewed coffee, the Aliso Woods Canyon mountain biking trail; there is also the love of my children, the faith of my dog Murphy and of course the sanctuary of Man Island (my converted third car garage which is now a haven for men and all things important to them).

Things that you can be certain about and that you can take for granted are what make up the fabric of your life.

And so it was a terrible day for me yesterday when my beloved Nebraska Cornhuskers suffered their worst defeat in the 114-year history of their storied program.

I never ever thought I would see this in my lifetime: Texas Tech 70 Nebraska 10.

I have just finished having the blood drained from my Big Red heart. The transfusion was blood donated from my neighbor and fraternity brother Ed Flanigan. He went to undergrad at USC. Yesterday he and his son took Jake and I to the USC vs. CAL game. The feel of the USC tradition from tailgating to the sounds of the Trojan marching band were familiar.

Throughout the day I was comparing and contrasting for him the feel of a Nebraska game. At one point I think I even said this was no comparison between Memorial stadium and the L.A. Coliseum. Of course that is about as biased of an opinion that exists.

The game was amazing. It went to the very last play as the California Bears threatened to upset the number one team in the nation. Our son’s loved it. I know they will remember it for a long time and so will I.

But despite having a ticket for the best game of the day I had but one think on my mind: The Nebraska game. The USC victory ended at 4PM exactly the time Nebraska started.

We rushed to the car and beat traffic and made it to Man Island by 530PM. It was not on the radio so that during the ride home I continually refreshed my Blackberry obtaining one-line game updates. I nearly cried as I saw my screen give Texas Tech a 21 to 3 at half time. It is the first time I have ever followed a game by text only. Let’s just say it is not HDTV!

I had no idea what lay ahead in the second have. “Man, woman and child” as radio announcer Lyle Bremser used to say, it was awful. The seven second half touchdowns were like daggers through heart of a century old tradition. All I can say is please have me killed and pass the Jack, its going to be a long season because Big Red is dead!

The LA Coliseum is looking pretty good about right now.

Comments

[Brett Featherston]

After years and years of the Nebraska Cornhusker juggernaut beating up on small schools to pad their record, I take pleasure in my beloved Red Raiders posting 70 points on Nebraska. Go Tech!!

[Robert Carl]

A new face on ugly. Last week the bid red eeked out a win over Kansas. It was an ugly game at best. Today ugly has a new face. It can be said "Its a building year" for Husker nation, but in reality, we can only go up from here.

Rob

[Mimi]

Be sure to have the Jack Daniel's BEFORE they kill you ... if not, what a waste.