Caitlin Casey's blog

The rivalry between Nebraska and Iowa intensifies as the game draws closer.  Nebraska’s current record is 7-2 and Iowa is sitting at 4-5.  Nancy Seeman hopes to attend the game. (Quote from Nancy)  The game is scheduled for Friday, November 23, at 11am.

Along with the Nebraska-Iowa game comes Thanksgiving break.  Whether it’s watching football, spending time with family, or Black Friday shopping everyone’s traditions are different. Kylie Kneifl is planning to go home for the holiday. (Quote from Kylie)  There is no right or wrong way to celebrate the holidays; every family has their own style.

Meanwhile the Mustang football team continues to roll through their schedule with ease.  Recently named GPAC Champions and still undefeated, they are set to play Briar Cliff this weekend at 1pm.  One Mustang supporter, Alex Howrey, has made it her goal to make it to every game she can. (Quote from Alex)  Good luck to the Mustangs as the face Briar Cliff and with the rest of their season.

On game day Saturday everyone wears his or her colors proudly, and the trash talking on campus begins.  Friday, November 23 is the day Nebraska or Iowa gets bragging rights for an entire year just because of one football game.

Ever since Nebraska moved to the Big 10 the Heroes game, as it is now called, is known as one of the best rivalries in the sport.  Being right by the border of the rival states, Morningside is greatly affected by this competition.

A majority of the students that attend Morningside are from Iowa or Nebraska.  Cheering and booing can be heard up and down the hallways of the dorms during game time.  It usually doesn’t matter who wins or loses that week either; almost everyone is guaranteed to have a comeback if something is said about his or her team.

Alex Howrey is a very strong supporter of the Iowa Hawkeyes.  She is a sophomore here at Morningside College, originally from Moville, Iowa.  You often see her strolling around campus decked out in her Iowa apparel.  With Iowa being the home of two college football teams what made her choose the Hawkeyes over the Cyclones?

“Because I have pride in my state and Iowa State sucks,” she said.

None of her family graduated from there; she supports them because she was born and raised in Iowa.  She has never attended a game but that doesn’t stop her from cheering on her team every Saturday.

“I also like the colors gold and black,” she added as an afterthought.

Jacey Tomhave, also a sophomore at Morningside, is a very avid Husker fan.  Originally from Valparaiso, Nebraska, her family recently moved to Pennsylvania but she still bleeds Husker red.  Like Alex, Jacey doesn’t have any relatives that graduated from the school she so strongly supports.

She says she is a Nebraska fan because “that’s what my Dad raised me to be.”

She attended her first game with her dad when she was 5 years old.  She loved the atmosphere and has been hooked ever since.

As the season continues, the suspension mounts.  This year the game will be held at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City and it will be interesting to see if being at home will give the Hawkeyes an advantage this year.  Last year Nebraska won 20-7 and hasn’t let Iowa forget it.  It also doesn’t seem to matter how well, or bad, the teams have done throughout the season.  With this big of a rivalry a good game is always expected.

Jennie Vaugher is a third party observer who likes to keep the peace and refuses to pick a side.  She just sits back and watches as the trash talking commences.

“Coming from Colorado it’s weird to see a rivalry so huge but I guess it makes sense since neither state has a professional football team,” she said.  “I think it’s just kind of funny to watch.”

With a rivalry this strong some may wonder how Morningside deals with the division between the students.  Teachers often get involved and sometimes even take sides.  After all, what’s wrong with a little healthy competition?  Both Alex and Jacey live in an apartment with 7 girls, including 2 Nebraska fans and 2 Iowa fans.

“Yes, it causes some tension between my roommates, but overall that is a very small factor in our friendship,” Alex said.

“It definitely makes things more interesting when we don’t agree on everything,” Jacey said.

   Red, red, and more red are my very first thoughts when referring to Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.  This is the home of the Nebraska Cornhuskers and also holds some of the best memories that I’ve shared with my Dad.  One game in particular that has stayed with me through the years was a night game that we went to.  We were playing a Texas team (I can’t remember for sure which one) and it came down to the very last play.  It was the loudest I had ever heard the stadium and I didn’t have a voice the next day because of it.  It was tied; the other team had just scored a touchdown and were going for two to try and win the game.  Everyone was screaming for the defense to stop them but they couldn’t quite get the job done.  I love close games, even though we lost, and sharing that with my Dad I think made it all the more memorable.

I have been going to Nebraska football games since I was 4 years old.  The atmosphere is unlike anything else I’ve experienced.  It is one of those things that you don’t completely understand until you’ve been there and seen it for yourself, but I am going to do my best to describe it.

Memorial Stadium sits in downtown Lincoln.  Almost every game I’ve been to I have gone with my Dad.  The first view we get of the sea of red is all the people as they cross the viaduct.  By the time we reach the street right outside, the amount of red has doubled.  As we walk along the street the stadium is on our left.  The saying “Not the Victory, but the Action; Not the Goal, but the Game; In the Deed the Glory” stretches across the outside of the west side of the stadium.  As we enter through gate 10 I always look up to read “Through these gates pass the Greatest Fans in College Football.”  The smell of hot dogs, pizza, and Runzas instantly fill your nose as you enter through the gates.  The first look I get of the stadium as I walk in always gives me goose bumps.  By the time you’re actually in the stadium, as Kayla Solonen says, “You you are literally overwhelmed by a sea of red.”  Everywhere you look that’s all there is.  We make our way up the stairs to row 34 and greet the people in the surrounding seats.  These seats were occupied by my grandma and grandpa before us, so we have gotten to know everyone that sits around us over the years.  The big screen is to our left, the visitor section to our right.  Everyone slowly makes there way in to the stadium until the sea of red is complete.

One of my favorite parts of the game is the tunnel walk.  It changes every year and always gets the crowd pumped up.  Before they will even start the tunnel walk the crowd has to yell back and forth ‘HUSKER’ and ‘POWER’.  I consider this the ‘warm up’ to get people ready to really start yelling.  More goose bumps make their way up and down my arms as the tunnel walk starts.  It usually includes highlights from the past years and a couple shots of the state of Nebraska or just Lincoln in general.  Then they always throw some history in there as well.  This year marks the 50^th year of sold out games.

The tunnel walk always ends with the team running out onto the field to an eruption of cheers.  You can hardly hear anything except screaming all around during the first series of play and if they go three and out the noise is almost deafening.  In Kylie Kniefl’s words “It is one of the best experiences ever.”  The game continues and the crowd cheers when something good happens and boos when they don’t agree with a call the referee made.  Something I really admire about Husker fans is that a majority of us respect the other team and their fans.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a Husker or an opponent on the field that is injured, when they get up everyone cheers and applauds as they make their way to the sideline.

It is just amazing to me how one team can bring so many people together.  I have been to other games in other stadiums, and in my book there is no comparison.  The game, the fans, and the overall atmosphere; I just love everything about it.  In short, there is no place like Nebraska.