I grew up in Iowa, 160 miles from the Nebraska border. Before coming to Omaha for college 9 summers ago, my knowledge of the Huskers was limited to the yearly drubbings of nearby Iowa State in football, their successes and failures in bowl games, and their general mediocreness in every other sport. But I had no real feelings one way or the other towards them. Oh sure, the Husker fans that existed in Fort Dodge were obnoxious; talking smack when they were outnumbered by fans of not one but two schools 100-1. But every school has those fans.
Likewise, my knowledge of Creighton was even less. I remembered them losing to Iowa in basketball a couple of times in the early 90s, but that was about it. Lets just say that since I enrolled in the fall of 1997, my knowledge of them is, well, lets just say I've done what I can to educate myself on their past to fill in those gaps.
When I came down here to go to school, the extent of my knowledge of Nebraska basketball was this: Andre Woolridge had left their program to transfer to the Hawks in the early 90s. And they had a coach with Pat Riley's hair. That was about it. I lost a drinking contest in the dorms on this question: Name two Big-6 conference teams to have never won an NCAA Tournament game. I knew Northwestern. Figured Florida State was the other. Really? Nebraska? No! A lot of shots went down that night.
My first year at Creighton, 1997, the Jays and Huskers played at the old Civic Auditorium. I can remember a couple of things about that game. First, a lot of bitter hatred of the other team from both sides. Like they couldn't coexist in the same building, almost. When their coach, Danny Nee, took the floor, he was flanked by security guards. I thought "this is awesome, they're so afraid of someone attacking the coach, he's surrounded by guards! Now this is big time college basketball!" I was informed that the security was in fact to protect him from his own fans. Strange.
The presence of Tyronn "Who?" Lue was not enough, as Rodney Buford and the Jays won 84-73. It was Altman's first victory over the Huskers -- he has only lost twice in my years in Omaha -- and my first taste of the rivalry. Although from the student section, its sort of hard to get a read on it.
Creighton didn't have many fans back then. The student section was only really full for two or three games a year. The rest of the old Civic was half full on a good night.
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By the time my junior year rolled around, I'd endured enough hatred from Nebraska fans -- being a Hawkeye and a Creighton fan seemed to make me a marked man -- to really enjoy the Jays victory for more than just the win, but for bragging rights. It was apparent that year -- 1999 -- that there was something simmering. Creighton had been to the NCAA's the year before and beaten Louisville in the first round, before bowing out to Stevie Francis' Maryland squad in Orlando. Nebraska had never won a game before, and this seemed to cause some frustration.
I experienced it first hand in Lincoln the next year, when I went to the game at the Devaney center. I've been to Twins games at Comiskey, in the worst neighborhood of Chicago, and gotten nasty looks from guys who were probably three-time felons in Sox hats. I've been to New York City and had Yankee fans invent new curse words to throw my way. Hell, I was at a Creighton game at Northern Iowa in 1997 where Doug Swenson took a swing at a Panther player starting a brawl, nearly instigating one in the stands behind me. But I've never felt so uncomfortable as I did for those two hours in Lincoln. It was two hours of Husker fans screaming the worst things you've ever heard in your life, and Creighton fans returning the favor. I think that 2000 game was where the series turned into an ugly rivalry -- both sides accusing the other fans of being obnoxious, out of control and irrational. Based on what I sat in the midst of, both sides have a point.
The next year, 2001, we were out of school and couldn't sit in the student section anymore, so we bought tickets on TicketMaster. We wound up in the middle of the Husker section. You can guess how that ended up...especially with another Jays win...rivalries are fun, aren't they?
So we're at that game, and these two drunk Big Reds are behind us. When I say "big", I mean big -- I'm talking McDonalds for breakfast lunch and dinner big -- and they continually spilled beer on us all first half. Always followed by some smart-ass remark, like "You're a Creighton fan, you can afford to buy a new shirt." or something like that. And the little old ladies in front of us were the worst! Who knew the elderly could swear like that?
The NIT game in 2004 was the worst. Our season ticket section was infiltrated by Big Red, and they were obnoxious. I got accused, in their best moments, of being any number of derogatory terms for non-heterosexual people, of having unmarried parents, and of being named Richard.
After the Huskers win, one of the Big Reds said rather loudly, "Well, that oughtta shut these people up." I started laughing, despite the stomach punch just delivered with the 71-70 win on a last second shot. That's the line the owner from "Major League" utters during the championship when the Yankee hitter slams a homerun.
Outside the arena, a father walked with his son, swearing up a storm all the way to the bus stop to take us back to our cars. I think he said all us Stupid Bluejay fans would now be Husker fans, since they'd beat us. In what might have been the greatest moment of my life, I turned to him and said "Hey Dad, Way to set an example for your son!" The people around, blue and red alike, applauded.
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I could keep on going. Here's the bottom line. I don't hate the Huskers. I don't like the out of control ribbing from fans of a team that has never accomplished anything, I don't enjoy being derided for daring to root for a team not named the Huskers, and its not fun to be assumed a fair-weather fan just because I happen to root for a winning team. All those things aside, I don't really hate Nebraska any more than I would Michigan or Ohio State in football -- Its a laissez-faire relationship. I don't care how you do, except for one game against Creighton.
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Tomorrow: Predictions on the game!
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