For those of you unaware of the very important event that took place on Saturday, September 18, 2010, allow me to enlighten you. The Nebraska Cornhuskers descended on the Pacific Northwest to crush the Washington Huskies by a score of 56-21. This game had been on my calendar--and that of thousands of other Husker fans--for quite some time and it made my heart swell with pride to see so much red in Husky Stadium.
And it wasn't just red at the stadium. While we were waiting at the airport for my brother, sister-in-law, and niece, we saw throngs of Nebraska fans. (Jon thought it was pretty indicative of what was going to happen in the game when they all kept going the wrong direction for the baggage claim. It wasn't. The Huskers found the endzone just fine, thank you very much.) There were even more touring downtown Seattle on Friday. Pike Place Market was full of fans...and the vendors knew it.
What you must understand about Nebraska fans is that they are devoted with a capital "D" (which would make it "Devoted," I suppose). They also don't have any other teams to root for, at least on such a large scale. But even those fans who have moved away to areas with big-market sports are incredibly loyal, resulting in alumni and friend groups across the country. I even saw some fans with "Carolinans for Nebraska" t-shirts, which was surprising since Seattle is just about as far as you can get from Carolina, even farther than Lincoln.
So, with that being said, it should come as no surprise that a lot of families plan vacations around away games--Husker fans travel extremely well. It may be tough to swallow for the home team to have that many opposing fans in their stadium on game day, but like Jon said, "Despite the outcome of the game, Seattle wins. Big." In fact, when my mom and I were scrambling to get into the stadium before kick-off, a very kind Washington fan welcomed us, wished us luck...and then urged us to spend lots of money.
But the best part of the event for me--even more than the Huskers' domination on the football field--was having my family come out to visit. For a variety of reasons, no one in my immediate family (with the exception of my mom) was able to make the trip to the Pacific Northwest until this game. The fact that it occurred about a week before we moved away was a bit ironic, but we still had an awesome time. It was so much fun showing everyone around, and we felt honored that our niece's first plane trip was to visit her aunt and uncle.
Jon is a top-notch tour guide, so everyone was in excellent hands, and it was a good opportunity for Jon and I to do a lot of "Northwest things" before the move, like grilling fresh salmon on a cedar plank, going for a walk to the beach, touring Seattle, eating mini-donuts and piroshky at Pike Place Market, watching a Mariners game, hitting up "the Ave." (University Avenue), devouring a Red Mill burger, enjoying a Dick's Drive-In milkshake... Are you surprised that we've vowed to cut back a bit on our food indulgences, participating in what we've dubbed "Memphis Detox"?!?
All in all, a great time was had by everyone (well, Jon didn't exactly enjoy the game). Next year, the Huskies travel to Lincoln for a re-match. Jon has already scorned my grandpa's season tickets and vows to sit in the visitors' section...which begs the question, will there even be a visitors' section?
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