Minnesota

Minnesota Game 8, and I finally know what it’s like to be Bo Pelini.  Well, sort of.  I definitely know what it’s like to view the game from his vantage point!

On my first solo trip of the season, I landed a sideline Press Pass on the field thanks to Travis Morgan of KMTV Channel 3 in Omaha.  Absolutely  incredible.  It changed my entire experience as a fan, and I now have a sincere appreciation for how difficult it is to read plays from the sidelines when you are literally on the sidelines.  So much easier to spot routes and see the open wide receiver when you are 50 rows up in the stands!

I flew into Minneapolis on Friday night and realized quickly that I was not alone in following my ‘Skers when I spotted a Nebraska fan with the same Husker sticker on their laptop when we landed at the airport. My friend and coworker, Ryan, and his girlfriend, Katie, picked me up, and we headed to Uptown for dinner at one of the hotspots in the city:  Chino Latino (www.chinolatino.com).  The atmosphere was buzzing by the time we rolled up to the bar for our signature margaritas and dry ice martinis.  Great concept spot, as they serve food and specialties from places around the Equator.  Feeling adventurous, we tried the habanera jalapeño poppers with dinner, and we could not drink fast enough!!!  Thank goodness my team played the weekend a little more conservatively than I did my dinner.  We turned in after dinner for what we knew would be a LONG day of football on Saturday.

I awoke to Katie baking banana chocolate chip muffins, and I was in Heaven.  Talk about hospitality!  The weather turned out absolutely perfectly; not at all how I anticipated my travels to the coldest state in the B1G would turn out.  We threw on our game day gear (Nebraska, Minnesota and Michigan State…quite the trio!) and a fleece to cover up my pride once I hit the field, and we headed to the Nebraska Alumni tailgate at the McNamara Alumni Center. 

It was Homecoming week at Minnesota, so we were greeted by the gorgeous floats down Greek Row on our drive in.  Even caught the Alpha Phi one! J  Ryan dropped us off at the tailgate, and we grabbed a couple of drinks and a few photos with Goldy Gopher’s helium replica before I met Travis at the Press entrance to the Stadium under the “Dodge” county entrance.  The students were decked out in all gold:  paint, glitter, sequins, and even shiny spandex pants!  Given the projected spread on the game, I was impressed that their spirit was still strong.

Since I had purchased a ticket for the game and no longer needed it, we scouted a second ticket from a Nebraska fan so that Ryan and Katie could go as well.  Little did we know, the ticket from the Nebraska fan was a counterfeit!  I was never more disappointed in a Husker in my life.  The nerve.  Luckily, they still made it into the stadium and were able to enjoy the game right along with me.

I entered the stadium and walked into a nearly empty stadium, catching my breath to take it all in.  WOW.  I have only ever watched a Nebraska game from the sidelines once, and that was my Homecoming game my senior year at UNL in 2005 when I was on the Homecoming Royalty Court.  At that game, I sat behind the players’ bench, though, so the ability to roam the field and stand at the end zone was definitely not an option.  It was tough to play it cool, but I managed to pull off my new role like a pro. 

I watched the Huskers come out of the tunnel about 10 yards away:  AWESOME!

I was instructed to hang on Travis’s hip, and he explained my duties for the game:  game film logging.  How cool!  Basically, my job was to timestamp and outline the major plays of the game.  No longer was I moonlighting as a sports analyst, I was actually contributing as one!   I watched end zone completions, running touchdowns, and tackles a mere 5 yards away from me.  Every hit had sound, every penalty against Minnesota (and there were quite a few!) came with heckling from the fans behind us, and every big play was that much sweeter.  I could not help but feel like I could make a career out of this (if the sales thing doesn’t work out, of course). 

Entering the half up 34-0, we looked strong.  Half of my logs were on David tackles – man, he is really something.  Burkhead ran the ball well in the first half, and Martinez looked in control.  Exactly how Nebraska should be playing against the least challenging team in our Legends conference division.

At Halftime, we headed up to the Press Box where I rubbed shoulders with newscasters, analysts, and columnists from near and far.  The view of the stadium and of the campus was the best I had seen yet. 

I loved that they decorated every corner of the Press Box (including the bathrooms!) in the "M" for Minnesota; reminded me of those Cowboys at Wyoming!

By the second half, I was a logging machine.  Didn’t even need Travis’s cues!  Unfortunately, my logs were much less exciting, as Nebraska started rotating to 2^nd and 3^rd strings, and we did not execute as well on plays.  In fact, the Gophers outscored us in the second half 14-7!  While it was great experience for the players, we need to use games like this to work on play calling and execution. The final score was 41-14, hardly the spanking I expected we would give to Minnesota on our first trip to the Great Lakes state.

I caught up with Herbie on the field and took in the last moments of freedom on the field.  What a killer experience!

Our football journey continued after the game as we headed downtown to grab dinner at Ike's.  On the walk from the parking garage to the restaurant, I managed to pass the local Husker bar, Lion's Pub…what are the odds?  Full and happy, we rounded the corner to the Michigan State Alumni bar, Whisky Park, to watch the Spartans take on Wisconsin in what would turn out as one of the most exciting games of the season in all of college football.

Since Ryan is as passionate about Michigan State football as I am about Nebraska football, I figured I would return the favor of supporting his team by cheering them on.  Boy, am I glad I did!  As the game progressed, it became obvious that this one would come down to the wire.  When the refs ruled the Hail Mary complete for the game-winning touchdown, the entire bar absolutely ERUPTED.  Tequila shots flowed and the DJ turned the place into one giant dance floor.  I was impressed to say the least.  These fans are serious, and my excitement for their visit to Lincoln 7 days later grew all night long. 

We celebrated long into the night and made one more stop before we cabbed it home for more banana and chocolate chip muffins.  I swear I am going to have dreams about those.  Our football coma continued on Sunday with mimosas to kickoff the Lions – Minnesota game and some good bar food at Cowboy Jacks to finish it.  Ryan even let me drive his car when we did the round robin car pickup in the morning.  Minneapolis is a beautiful city.  A mix  between my city life in Chicago and the suburban life of Omaha, I could understand why so many folks love living here.  Come winter, though, I might change my tune.

With 3 B1G teams in the top 15, Nebraska’s home game against Michigan State will likely decide the fate of our season.  If we win and win out the rest of the season, we face Wisconsin (barring any upsets) in the Big Ten Championship game December 3^rd.  If we lose, we may knock ourselves out of BCS Bowl contention all together.  If Husker fans thought the Badger game was high pressure, this one might put them over the top.  Tomorrow’s 11:00 AM kickoff in Lincoln is sure to make a statement about Nebraska’s viability for the second half of our season.  Wow, are we lucky this one’s at home.