Husker Legends

It is said that "absence makes the heart grow fonder" and that you don't truly appreciate what you have until it's gone. Both of those clichés ring true when pertaining to Nebraska football. I completely took for granted the accessibility to the Cornhuskers when I lived in the Midwest. However, there is one great thing about living far away. Sometimes, the Huskers come to you.

I've been fortunate to discover--or have a husband who discovered for me--a strong alumni (and friend) group in Washington. Not only does this group sponsor the ever-popular Husker watch parties, but also some pretty cool events during the year, such as the Washington Cornhuskers Spring Event. This evening consisted of a silent auction, runza dinner, and speech by keynote speaker "Touchdown" Tommie Frazier.

With our good friend, Tommie

Jon good-naturedly accompanied me to the Ballard Elks Lodge where we bid on a number of items in the auction. Ironically, the only thing we "won" was a set of Washington Husky tickets (which Jon outbid me for--seriously). We had our obligatory excited fan photo taken with Tommie and settled into our delicious runza dinner, complete with green salad and Dorothy Lynch salad dressing (again, two things I took for granted). We randomly chose excellent seats that allowed us to chat with some nice folks, check out a beautiful Seattle sunset, and shake hands with Tommie as he finished his speech.

Mmmm...runzas (although admittedly not as good as the ones Grandma used to make)

One would think that would satisfy this Husker fan, but the fates smiled down on me again a couple of months later. The Oregonians for Nebraska were sponsoring their dinner/silent auction in Portland at the beginning of May. Ordinarily I wouldn't drive two hours on my own for dinner, but Johnny "the Jet" Rodgers was there and he brought his Heisman Trophy. Pretty hard to pass up. And coincidence of all coincidences, the dinner was held in the banquet room of the SAME hotel as the dance competition I would be performing in the following day. Now if that wasn't a sign I needed to go, I don't know what was.

The Heisman pose was his idea...although I totally would have done it anyway

Now, if only getting tickets to this September's "Battle in Seattle" would work out so well...