Why bother being a Husker fan?

My first game was back in the mid-80's against KState known as the snowbowl. It was a very snowy and miserable day for a football game, but we stayed the entire game. The 80's were tough for most farm families, and we lived 300+ miles from Lincoln. The opportunity to go to a game needless to say didn't come around very often. I started college in 93'. I've had the privilege of never attending a game in which we lost. The closest scare was the Wyoming game in 94'. The last game I attended was in 03' against Texas A&M. After Solich was fired and Clownahan hired, I pretty much made up my mind I wouldn't attend another game. I had a bad feeling about what was about to take place. After Clownahan was fired, I really couldn't get behind TO's short list of Grobe, Gill, and Bo. I would like to go back to a game, but I have young kids who really aren't old enough to appreciate going.

I'm a lifelong Husker fan. No matter what happens, I'll still be a Husker fan. I'm not in the camp of starting all over from scratch, but there needs to be a come to Jesus meeting so to speak about why we play so poorly in November.

 
1995 Redux said:
Why do I bother? That is a serious question. Ever since I became a die hard around 2004 they have done nothing but let me down. It truly is beyond frustrating. Investing this much emotion into something you know cannot possibly meet your own personal expectations let alone the rest of a fan base.

Saturday I took my brother to his first ever game. I expected a poor turnout of fans. Nope. Even through the bullsh#t I read on here, we showed up to support like normal thankfully. I had not attended a game all year and was already feeling down about the year. Once the tunnel walk hit my brother told me how pumped he was, how he had goosebumps. That alone was worth the price of admission. During the 1st half Minnesota was in FG range and we started a block that kick chant. Magic happened as Randy got a hand on it and Gerry took it to the house. That moment...that was special. I hadn't felt that way in over a month. The level of excitement in our section coupled with how happy my brother was, just awesome.

We know how this ends. My attendance record against conference foes falls to a dismal 1-8. I was my usual pissy depressed and distraught self. Then, my brother tells my wife thank you for the ticket and what a great time he had. He then goes and buys a "Lincoln F$#@n Nebraska" shirt on the way out. It dawns one me at this point. We lost a tough game, at home. Yet the fans showed up and had a good time. This board isn't the majority. The endless threads of crap that get posted every weekend of how we aren't good enough, they don't matter. What is a fan? A fan can be that guy who won't shut up about how terrible the coach is or he can be that guy who is still finding his footing and isn't jaded and can still have a good time.
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Good post, I'm glad you still had a good time. I have to ask though, what happened in 2004 that made you a die-hard fan?

 
I posted on here for the spring game. I took my son to any Husker event for the first time ever. It was special.

I never pushed him to yell "Go Big Red!" or clap with the crowd, or anything. I just allowed him to take it all in. I actually didn't think he would particularly enjoy it much since there are no slides, Thomas the train, or any dinosaurs around, so I was expecting him to be bored, or wanting to do something else before the end of the first quarter.

I watch football like crazy, I am a major football nut. So he "knows" of football, but honestly had never watched it.

However, we spent some time outside the stadium and he absolutely loved it. He made me buy him a foam cornhead and a oversized #1 finger. And he absolutely just took it in and loved it. During the game, he joined in on clapping with the crowds, and of course, yelling "Go Big Red!!" with the crowd. He loved it. He loved the comraderie, he loved how all these people came together to cheer for one purpose. That to him was the special part. He didn't really pay attention to the game, but he loved every moment of being in that crowd.

After the game, he spent all day yelling "Go Big Red!!"

I'm not saying I wasn't disappointed in the outcome. I have been a fan since I was 6. Calvin Jones was my first "favorite player". I hate losing, it sucks. But I learned something from my son. He loved being a fan. He loved that all these people came together. He doesn't really understand it, but he definitely gets it. More so than us. He was only 4 at the time, but he gets it. There's just something absolutely special about being in that stadium. There's something special about bringing all these people together, even at other people's homes. I am not poetic enough to explain it, but all I can say is that being a fan, is more than just cheering a team that is winning.

 
1995 Redux said:
Why be a fan if you cant enjoy it even a little?

Where were the 1.5 million of you going to sit exactly?
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A) I usually enjoy most of the first 3/4 or so of the season, but lately the last 25% is pretty tough to stomach. And August is always a really fun time to be a Husker fan, so I've got that to look forward to.

B) We sit on bar stools, couches, recliners and often the floor when the party gets to big. We drink beer, shots of fireball, eat fried foods, chips and dip and way too many cheese and crackers. Our feet are always warm, our car rides always short but our passion is no less. We have just as much red on, just as much vested, and just as much of a voice. Our numbers far exceed the 90k that show up on game day, and our viewership money is what drives the program and the conference. As our numbers begin to dwindle, the effects will be far larger than a few empty seats in the stadium. You've already started to see it during bowl season, you're going to see it more. The apathy around the program is beginning to impact the next generation of Husker fans as well. It's concerning, and it should be. It's bigger than one guy and 9 wins. A divided fan base is not sustainable long-term, and there is zero indication that something in the future will bring the base back together without change.

As for attending. The game is an "experience". Win or lose the "experience" is usually enjoyable (my most recent Chiefs game was anything but however). But only a small percentage of fans are able to have that experience and so for us the sound of 90,000 Husker fans cheering despite the inevitable collapse is not something that will skew an opinion. What I see all to often is front and center, replayed 2-3 times and rarely positive. It needs to change.

 
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As much as I didn't want to go to the game Saturday, we still forked over the 400+ dollars to go and to sit at the top of new addition. Great view by the way, I would sit up there each week if I desired to go each game. Anyway, my wife and I took her parents to the game because neither of them have been to a game since the 1980 Oklahoma game or somewhere in that time frame give or take 2 years.

We were up 21-7 at half and I turned to my wife and said...this thing is NOT over. We really hadn't played great all game and we were kind of lucky to see us up 14. Should have been 14-10. Last time I was at a game we were up 21-3 and gave up 38 unanswered to UCLA. Same story different game and year.

Left disppointed. But also hopeful that the game would bring some positive change to the program. Will it? Starting to doubt it the more I think about it. But to address the original question? I gave up being passionate with Husker football after the TAMU game in 2010. Waiting for someone to coach that isn't so conceited.

 
I'm kinda sorta partway there with you, 95 Redux.

1) This board is too toxic. I'm doing plenty of the flaming myself, so I'm not pointing fingers. But sometimes you gotta step away from the Internet.

2) It's still a game. This one came down to a freak play at the goal line in the last second. 90,000 people were cheering. Some plays and moments gave you goosebumps. That's not nothing.

3) There are 100 other fanbases who could easily be asking the same question at this point, including those at Michigan, Notre Dame, USC, Texas, Tennessee, Penn State, Va. Tech and some of the other winningest programs in college football history.

 
I also think being a fan is more than just about the team's success. It's about a culture. Remember the fans in Lincoln applauding the Huskies after they won in 91'? How about when Ricky Williams won there? That is the way we are. I went to the game at the Rose Bowl against UCLA in 2012. It sucked, but afterwards, I turned around and shook an old guy's hands who had on Bruin garb. You could see in his eyes the happiness, and also the look of "crap, we are starting to win, maybe USC aint gonna be the king of L.A. this year. It's been miserable the last few years." There were no fights in the stands, everyone behaved themselves, that's just how it works. It aint Folsom Field. It's about Jack running down the field in that spring game. It is just different, there really is no place like Nebraska, and I have only been in the state once!

 
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One more thing, stay being a die hard fan. Believe me, out here in So Cal, I don't expect anyone to show up at the gym this week with SC garb. In the 1990's, these people were AWOL. In the 2000's they were everywhere. Fair weather as can be. Husker fans aint like that...

 
I am a Husker fan, and I stay a Husker fan because that's what I am. I grew up in a Husker family in the 80s. I attended and graduated UNL in the 90s. I watch every game religiously, even though I moved away from the state in 1999. I try to a game in Lincoln or on the road each year. I am teaching my kids to be Husker fans, even though they will probably never live in the state or attend the school.

 
Born and raised a Husker fan. I knew Pelini wasn't head coach material the day they hired him but hoped for the best. Now we'll get a new staff and I hope everyone gets behind them.

 
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