Game Day

If you have lived in Nebraska for long, chances are you love Saturday afternoons in Lincoln. For many people a like one of their favorite times in fall, is heading to Memorial Stadium to watch the Red and White take the field.
With a restless night of sleep behind me and an exciting day ahead, I get dressed in my red, planning to match the other excited fans in Lincoln doing the same thing. It is on this brisk, sunny Saturday afternoon I stand in line shoulder to shoulder with all different kinds of people. With a group of rowdy, foam finger toting college students, with their painted chests and faces. With the older men who are wearing their radio-headsets listening intently to the pregame show, and the women with overbearing perfume and stickers of the husker mascot on their cheeks. Although we don’t know one another we are forming into one unit. Our conversations all start to form into one, talking to anyone and everyone about the exciting event just inside the gates. “I am so excited; this is only my second game.”, “We need our defense to come around this game.” are just a few topics swirling around me. Then in a loud unison chant the group of students’ turns and yell at the top of their lungs “GOOOO BIIIIG REEED” and in unison right on cue the rest of us excited fans shout “GO BIG RED”. Everyone is standing, waiting anxiously at our chance to enter the gates the roar of the people inside is finding its way outside to where we stand making the hairs on my arms and neck stand on end. I’m eager to get inside the gates and become a part of the most amazing fans in college football, eager to become part of the “sea of red”. When I reach the front of the long red line the excitement builds up inside of me even more. I am met by a burst of welcoming smells, popcorn, hot dogs and Runza’s all inviting me to stop for a quick bite to eat, its then that I stop and realize that I have finally made it to yet another husker game.
When I make my walk up the ramp to the gleaming sunshine peering through at the top, I quicken my step hearing the consistent roar of the crowd build as I get closer. At the top of the ramp I step out into the sun light to finally lay my eyes on what I have been waiting for. The crowd is buzzing with excitement, chanting cheers and moving around, it is impossible to stand still. I make the walk up to my row and slide in front of other eager husker fans dressed in red high fiving every stranger as I go by. I don’t know anyone that I have passed but it dosent matter at this point. At that point I realize that we are a family, we are a close group will only one goal in mind. For the next four hours the only thing on our minds will be the football game about to kickoff. When I reach my seat I look down at the hard, cold bench that I know I won’t be sitting on for long. I take a quick look around I see numerous kinds of people. First the little boy who looks like he is attending his first game; standing on the bench holding his grandfathers hand and wearing his brand new bright red jersey with the number 5 on the back. I notice the permanent smile on his face and the looks of amazement he give his grandfather. Next his grandfather beside him who has been through many seasons, wearing a jacket which reads “Back to back Champions ’94-’95” and a hat covered with Nebraska ticket stubs and the words ’75 Champions embroidered on the front. Then there is the rowdy student fan already losing his voice, jumping up and down, high fiving everyone and acting as his job is to make the most noise in the stadium.
When it seems like I cannot wait any longer, and that the time would never come, the familiar sound of the “tunnel walk” begins to play and the noise in the stadium grows to an even louder roar. Again the chills flow throughout my body and I can’t help but let out a yell. “Let’s go red!” My eyes are glued to the jumbo screen in the far end zone, which is playing bone jarring hits and amazing plays of past and present. Tommy Frazier’s touchdown run against Florida, Eric Crouch’s catch against Oklahoma, and pictures of the national championship trophy help up by Tom Osborne and his players. The tunnel walk which starts with the same repeated energized sound builds into the crashing loud music, lighting a fire in everyone inside the stadium. No one around can hold in their yells and the crowd noise grows in volume. The jumbo screen shows the team making its way down the tunnel toward the field and finally the doors to the field come open and the scarlet and cream rush onto the field. The loud unison chant of “Go big red” takes over the stadium. Then the first eleven players take the field in front of the 286th consecutive sellout, the 86,000 fans all hoping for and wishing for the same result. The hype is at its peak and all of the waiting is over. The kicker approaches the ball and the game begins. Watching the game unfold, I and the others beside me do our part to help the huskers win. The game is a huge part of the lives of all the 86,000 screaming, crazy fans for the next four hours.
The sound of the harsh whistles cut through the roar of the crowd and my eyes move to the scoreboard, reading Huskers 10 and USC 7, Halftime. After peering at the score board for a short time trying to add a few more points to the Huskers side I glance at my watch. What seems like only a half an hour has become two hours and the game is half over. Everyone’s eyes are still peering toward the center of the massive structure as the figures on the field marching to forming a massive N across the field while plying sweet music to please the ears of all the fans. The tune of Mr. Touchdown and Football USA ring throughout the entire stadium. When I take a step back and look around at the neighboring fans, I can tell that although they seem entertained, tapping their feet to the beat and singing along with the band, I still catch them and myself glancing at the clock waiting until the game begins again.

When the band exits the field conversations start to arise all around me. The once strangers are now talking like they’ve known each other for years. Even some of the conversations shift away from football, to kids and family, but eventually all conversations end up back on the topic of the game at hand. After what seems like a lifetime the band clears and the players return to the field. Every moment speeds by and the clock seems to never stop running. Even when the tide turns into the other teams favor the crowd dose not budge. We all are still the “sea of red” and we still try and do our part in winning the game. But in the waning moments of the final quarter even the rowdy student fan cannot make the play on the field change. No matter how loud they get, or many chants they start the outcome is still the same. One of the worst sounds than screeches through every inch of the stadium it’s the final horn and my eyes move to the score board for the final time. Huskers 31 USC 49. For the last time I step back and take one final look around, the people around are no longer yelling and jumping but rather standing and staring at the field, wishing they could change the outcome. The walk out of the stadium is a slow, somber one and the excitement that once drew me into the stadium is long gone. There is no more high fives, no more chants of “Go Big Red”, just scattered conversations about the game linger in the air.
What an amazing feeling it is to be a part of such a close knit, passionate group of people. You may not know anyone sitting close to you in the sea of red but it still feels like a family get together. There are not too many other places where you can have such a fulfilling experience than at Memorial Stadium on a fall afternoon. Whether the Husker win or whether they lose the experience is one that will last a lifetime. It’s the passion of those sitting next to you and the tradition that hangs in the air of the stadium that really makes it an awe-ing experience. How amazing it is to think about how 86,000 people come together all for the same purpose and who all share the same passionate feelings toward something that they really don’t have control over. To be able to attend a game in Lincoln, and feel the amazing hype, passion and camaraderie so easily is a great asset for the people of Nebraska. The way the passion for Nebraska football is passed on keeps the tradition at such a high level. Once you experience a game in Memorial Stadium it will be a definite lifelong memory, one that all should experience.