Harem of the Goddess: Marcus’ Dispatch from Nebraska
September 17, 2007
The bro and me arrived in Lincoln, NE Saturday morning 9am, in time to be two severely outnumbered USC fans among 14,000 severely red Huskers jamming Memorial Stadium for… you ready for this?… College GameDay’s live ‘cast from their mobile set on the 50. Yeah, I said 14K. And for the two hours they never once sat down. For GameDay buffoonery, no less.Husker fan redefines “devout”… and “class.” When the three-hankie GameDay seg on deceased ‘SC kicker Mario Danelo ended, the house broke out in respectful applause. Ten hours later, when ‘SC’s Vincent Joseph finally showed a sign on life on the field after going down with what looked way more serious than a bruised larynx, the house broke out in respectful applause. We later marched into a Big Red tide over the 10th St. ped bridge en route to pre-game mayhem downtown, expecting to get smacked with the grief I’ve taken at Michigan, Cal, ASU… but midway across a so-hot blond Husker babe stepped in front of the bro, smiled, said, “Here, let me help you with that,” and proceeded to jokingly button up his jacket over his USC tee. That was as hostile as it got……Save for a few tees on sale: “FUSC,” “Get Booty” and our fave, “The only Trojan I like is the one I wore last night.” Mind you, these shirts were on 
sale at a Phillips 66 where Huskers laid out grub trays and beer barrels right up to the gas pumps. I’ve seen enthused ‘gating at N.D., Michigan, ‘Bama… but Husker fan outdoes ‘em all. Block after block, downtown Link was fabulous mayhem. The weekend-long refrains we heard from locals as we sported ‘SC threads: “Are you having a good time in Nebraska?” “Is everyone being nice to you?” Yes, yes, and yes some more. When Big Red was being crushed 42-10, Husker fan – to our astonishment – stood and screamed for every 1st down against ‘SC’s 3rd-stringers to the cold, bitter end. We noted that had it all been reversed in L.A., the fifty or so ‘SC/UCLA fans left would have sat on their cold hands. Husker fan, conscious of the program’s rebuilding status, was not exactly expecting to win, just hoping their boys could keep it close. But Husker fan, being way college ‘ball astute, knew the final score should have been 65-3 had Rey Malaluga not “disconcerted” Nebraska on that early 4th-down kick, and had Pete not dialed back after a 21-point 3rd quarter.
Yet Sunday morning from Lincoln to Omaha, Nebraskans still wore red and everywhere we aimed our smiling grills Big Red flags with that iconic white “N” flapped proud and hopeful above the Plains. From afar, I grew up disdaining Husker fan. Now, I’m secretly one of ‘em. Husker fan is everything that’s right about college football… and, for that matter, this fabulous country.
-Harem Member Marcus, pictured below with some new friends
Awesome Marcus! Am happy to hear the pure spirit of college football is alive and well in Lincoln Nebraska!
Now, what about Karl Dorrell, eh? I am not even a Bruin, but I agree with your statement: “I like everything about UCLA football except the coach.” Truly. A team on the verge of cracking the top ten as UCLA was before it’s 44-6 smackdown by Utah this weekend simply CANNOT fall apart like that and it seems Dorrell’s teams ALWAYS do. They have a fragility to them that a top team just can’t have.
I’m glad you got treated well in Lincoln.. All of us in the Big 12 are proud of how the Cornhusker fans treat visiting guests. They are well above the bar when it comes to being courteous. I’ve heard this is not just during football season, but extends to basketball and baseball season too. I’ve heard of very few complaints when fans go to Omaha for the College World Series.
Hook ‘em, and Go Huskers!
mG
I was at gameday and even though I did hear some heckling and the fact that at the end of gameday the seat cushions that were givin out when you went into the stadium turned into weapons used towards a couple of helpless USC fans it was the best football day of my life. Even though i’m 100% positive that the quietest time of that day was when Corso picked SC after talkin us up the whole time… P.S. watch out now the children of the corn have a new leader….