Game Day - Pictures

Tailgaters play a little bean bag toss on the parking lot in front of the stadium.



The view of the stadium from the tailgaters' parking lot.



A bronze statue of Brook Berringer (No. 18) and Coach Tom Osborne. Berringer was a QB for the Huskers in 1996 who died tragically in a plane crash. Oh, also some random kid.



Garage rooftop tailgating.



There is a U.S. Senate race in Nebraska right now and the supporters for Johanns (R) and Kleeb (D) can be seen. They were the most polite supporters that I have ever seen.



A really big clock inside the stadium.



The view of the field from my seat. There's the Cornhusker Marching Band, "the pride of all Nebraska".



The Huskers running onto the field after the tunnel walk.



Huskers QB Joe Ganz, No. 12, warming up before the game, along with his media entourage. I've often wondered how college kids like him, who are also statewide celebrities, can focus on their education in the media frenzy atmosphere that they inhabit. Maybe, they don't.



Formation for the opening kickoff.



There's a tradition here that when the Huskers score their first touchdown, the fans release red balloons. There were a lot of balloons released.



Timeout!



A closer view of the new stadium skyboxes. I believe there is approximately a 200-year waiting list for the boxes.



There's Hamilton Hall, the chemistry building, as seen from the stadium. Rumor has it that once upon a time, chemistry grad students would sit on the roof of the building, drink beer and watch the game. Remarkably, this practice was deemed "unsafe" and the practice stopped (before my time, I might add). I can't imagine what could be unsafe about sitting on the top of a roof with no guard rails, getting drunk, in a building filled with hazardous chemicals. The nerve!



A key 3rd-and-short play for Baylor, late in the game. The Huskers defense would end up stopping the drive.



The gigantic "N" and "Nebraska" flags that would be run around the end zone after each Husker touchdown. This display came after the Huskers' last touchdown of the game.



The final score. The giant Jumbo-tron screen was, sadly, to my back so I didn't get to see it terribly often. If I go again I should want to find a seat at the opposite endzone.

Game Day - During and After

Well of course, being the idiot that I am, I dawdled too long in my office and was almost late getting to my seat for the kickoff. I just barely made it. And, being the bigger idiot, I didn't bring sunscreen or a hat, and it was a very sunny day. So my face is a little sunburned right now. All in all I would say that the experience was actually rather unpleasant. The seats consisted of numbers on metal benches; my seat was on the aisle, and the lady sitting next to me was, shall we say, quite "ample" so that meant I only really got half a seat. For much of the first half my body substantially obstructed the aisle, which was jostled whenever anyone went up or down the aisle (say, after touchdowns). And the bright sun didn't help either. The prices at the concession stands were of course outrageous ($3 hotdog, $4 ice cream, $3 soda).

Fortunately the Huskers won, but it was close for a while. They actually trailed at halftime but the defense really stepped up in the second half and shut out Baylor completely from scoring. I actually got to see the Huskers score a safety - a relatively rare thing for all of football. But there were tons of Huskers penalties during this game, just like with the Missouri game. That was a bit strange because I thought they had turned that problem around. It seems that the Huskers this year are exhibiting a "conservation of improvement" - when the defense improves, the offense backslides, and fumbles on 3rd and goal; when special teams steps up, the defense then allows an 80-yard pass play. All the parts are there, they are just not in a rhythm. Next week we play Oklahoma, which is a very good team but not unbeatable. There is some optimism that we can actually beat them this year, although I wouldn't bet any money on it. But even if we don't beat Oklahoma, there is considerable enthusiasm that we will actually make it to a bowl game this year, finishing with at least 6 wins. Right now the Huskers have 5 wins. After Oklahoma the Huskers play Kansas, Kansas State, and Colorado. Kansas will be a close game; Kansas State should be a sure win; and who knows about Colorado. It's a rivalry game, and at home. Colorado hasn't looked too good this year but with rivalry games you never can tell. So we may even have 7 wins this year.

But by far the coolest part of the game for me came even before the kickoff. I was in a narrow hallway waiting to get to my seat, with a crowd of other people, when the National Anthem started playing. People stopped moving forward, took off their hats and sang along. That is actually unusual nowadays! What's more, there was a guy in the back who I guess didn't know what was going on and was shouting towards the front "hey let's go" and so forth, noting that progess in the line had stopped. He was immediately shushed by the other fans, out of reverence for the National Anthem. It's instances like these that make me proud to be associated with Nebraska.

In my next post I'll have some pictures.

Game Day - The Pre-Game

So I'm here in my office, which is right across the parking lot from the stadium, about 2 hours before the game is set to start. I had to get here this early if I wanted any hope of finding free parking in a walkable distance. It is a bit cool outside, about 40 degrees, but it is supposed to warm up to about 60 for game time. You can definitely tell it's game day; the reds and whites are out everywhere. Not too many crazy drunk people stumbling around, but after all it is an early game so I suppose it's not too surprising. I haven't seen any Baylor fans yet (or at least, those who would self-identify as Baylor fans); maybe they are still cowering in their hotel rooms? :) The parking lot just east of the stadium is Tailgating Central so I will head out over there and take a few pictures.

Great News

A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

The Presidential Debate

Speaking of the debate, I thought McCain did a very good job last night. I'm not sure why people thought Obama won it - he sounded more stridently liberal (e.g., class warfare rhetoric, "health insurance is a right", etc.) than in the previous debate. Like a lot of other people, I thought Brokaw did a terrible job; he turned it into a traditional debate instead of the more open format that was intended. My favorite part, though, was how McCain worked the rules. He seemed to get a disproportionate share of final answers to questions and he used those to take shots at Obama when Obama wasn't allowed, via the rules, to respond. And the one time when he did attempt to break the rules to respond to one of McCain's volleys, he was shouted down by Brokaw the Enforcer. Man I loved that part. For an old man, McCain's a clever guy.

And a lot of people are complaining that McCain didn't bring up Obama's connections with scurrilous folks like Ayers and Rezko. Actually I'm kinda glad that he didn't. That's not McCain's job. That the job of the right-wing blogosphere and punditry. And I think they are doing a pretty good job so far.

weight loss progress (or lack thereof)

Okay so my weight has remained more or less the same over the past month. I attribute this to a lack of consistency. I would sometimes stay within my calorie range and sometimes not; I would sometimes go to the gym and sometimes not. I've decided that this month I am going to focus on discipline. It matters less what I actually do (as long as it is helpful); it matters more that I do it regularly and consistently. So I've put off the weight lifting for now (because I don't actually like weight lifting) and I'm going to do only cardio, 6 days a week, in the mornings, without fail. And, I won't slack off on my other duties. I won't let my apartment get a messy wreck and then spend an entire day cleaning it; I will clean as I go. I won't let the dishes pile up in the sink. Etc.

But, then a further realization revealed that I've done this sort of thing before; I would make a commitment to do something, put my entire energy behind it, but then inevitably my will power would falter and I would slip back into the old ways. So this time I'm going to change things up a bit. I'm going to reward myself periodically for remaining disciplined. And, what better reward than beer! Lite beer, of course. And, only one mug. (Well maybe two.) And some associated keno. It won't be one big reward at the end for being successful, because I will never make it that far without some encouragement in the middle. So, twice a week or so I will treat myself in this way. One or two beers won't bust my budget or my diet and it will be something I can look forward to.

So far, so good. I did cheat a little bit today when I had a slice of pizza but I remained steadfast the rest of the time. And I had beer and keno last night after the presidential debate. This morning I weighed myself and I was at 231 lbs. So wish me luck. By the end of the month I hope to be below 230 lbs certainly, hopefully around 227-228 lbs or so.

More on Nebraska Gas

Here in Nebraska there is something weird. The price for mid-grade gasoline is actually less than the price for low-grade gas. The mid-grade gas has 10% ethanol and I believe that the price is due to ethanol subsidies. You see the same thing in Iowa. I've tried to find information on the Web to see how this came about but I've been unsuccessful so far, and I really don't want to wade through piles of legislative records. So, if you notice the price of liquor increasing in your area, you'll be happy to know that it's because I'm burning your alcohol in my car.

Wow

Wow, I didn't realize it had been a whole month already since I updated my blog. My apologies to my 2 blog readers.

Price of Gas

Hey guess what, today the price of gas here has fallen to below $3/gallon. I saw it at $2.99 and at $2.97. Good news indeed - I celebrate the price of gas that, just a mere 5 years ago would have seemed extortionate. Sure my retirement fund has been wiped out but I'm getting a great deal on gas!