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Around SBN: SEC Preview, Week #2, Part 1 Bar-right-arrows



Remembering Fiesta Bowl 1996

This weekend I dug out the 1996 Fiesta Bowl game and got that digitized as well.  In December 1995, we ended up getting our ticket request denied, so on Christmas Night, we were busy discussing what our plans for watching the game were going to be, when suddenly the story broke that there they had just added 1500 seats in the end zone bleachers for the Fiesta Bowl, and they'd go on sale the next morning.  Second chance to see history!

Well, we immediately began our planning.  Back in those days, there was no Expedia or Orbitz to use.  Travelocity was some rudimentary command line interface.  How the heck are we getting to Phoenix if we get tickets?  Well, we called the travel agent I used the year before to see what might be available.

We hit the gold mine... a charter still had a few seats and tickets left, and was marking them down.  It still was a little pricey...and there was one minor detail.  The flight was a Red Eye that left at 2 am after the game.  But we took it, and didn't look back.

The hotel was actually a very fine resort that had just been completely remodeled, complete with a heated pool.  Only the crazy Nebraskans dared jump into the 90 degree water, since the high temperatures in Phoenix were only in the 60's.

Oh... and the game wasn't half bad...

It was tough to edit this down without capturing the feeling of that night in Tempe.  Especially touching was Kent Pavelka's tribute to Brook Berringer, who would die in a plane crash just four months later.

After the game, we had just enough time to find the ESPN GameDay set where I got to yell at Lee Corso and Craig James "Wrong Again!"  Then it was off to the airport for a quick nap before the 2 am departure.  The flight was by far the worst part of the trip, as the last people to get tickets got stuck in the last row of the plane...the ones that don't recline.  What a wonderful red eye flight.  Not.

But what a night for Cornhusker football, and I was so lucky to witness the coronation of the greatest college football team ever.

One of my favorite lines was from David Letterman the next night:  "Oh, and Nebraska scored again!"

Poll
Are the 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers the greatest college football team ever?
  • Undeniably!
  • Maybe... they certainly are one of the best.
  • I'm not sure.
  • My name is Kirk Herbstreit, and I'm protesting this poll as biased. You can't seriously think that 1995 Nebraska is better than Ohio State's current dynasty!

  205 votes | Results

0 recs | Comment 5 comments

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Best ever?

Nah. I’d say 1994 Penn State (insert winking emoticon here).

by speedomike on Jul 15, 2008 9:15 AM CDT   0 recs

a little before this game

I attended the Nebraska – Minnesota basketball game up here at the Barn – and there were some Gopher fans who were giving me crap about how Florida was going to destroy us.

But one guy about three rows in front of me turned around and yelled at me ‘By At Least 20 Points!”, and I’m wondering what the hell he’s talking about. “You guys are going to beat Florida by at least 20 points!”. Now… I thought we’d win, but of course, I don’t think anyone expected the ass-kicking that came about, well, other than this guy in Minnesota apparel.
It was not so funny being in Minnesota before that game. Most people expected Florida’s speed to destroy us, and for a few weeks I got a lot of crap about what a letdown the game would be.

And then one man could break seven tackles on a single play and the rest is history. Greatest team ever. At least we have the past. :)

Go Big Red Nebraska!
Our Cobs Are Bigger Than Yours!
Corn Nation!

by corn blight on Jul 15, 2008 4:18 PM CDT   0 recs

The Letterman line...

...was mimicked by Mike Lupica on the Sports Reporters 2 years later, when (while discussing Tom Osborne’s retirement), he said, “and, by the way, Nebraska just scored again in that Fiesta Bowl game.”

Got Corn?

by huskerlibrarian on Jul 15, 2008 5:45 PM CDT   0 recs

Without the past

we cannot fully appreciate the future.

by Blankman on Jul 15, 2008 7:56 PM CDT   0 recs

What a Memory!

I rode out to Colorado with my Dad, from here in hell, to visit some old friends from High School for New Years. On the 1st of January, I’m playing basketball with a buddy in the old gym. Long story short, I go up for a jumper and rupture my Achilles Tendon.

But before that, on the way out, the football experts were adamant. Nebraska just simply did not have enough speed to compete with Florida. Being Cornhusker fans, of course, my Dad and I kept cussing the radio and we’d change the station now and then. Finally, one guy says, Nebraska wins and Nebraska wins big. I wish I had made a note of his name.

Anyway, on the ride home we listen to the game which had started about 45 minutes to an hour before we got home, and the game was still close. I sat out in the living room and watched it as my Dad watched from his bedroom. My Dad yeilled out during the Tommie Frazier run, “Look at that SOB go! Can you believe that!?” The worst part of the game was that I was on crutches and couldn’t do much in the way of jumping up and down, so I would just sit in that chair and thrust my arms up in the air every time they scored. There’s a picture taken of me standing with my niece, and my crutches shortly after the game on www.myspace.com/baldviking.

Three days later I had my surgery in Tulsa, OK and proudly wore my Nebraska stuff into the hospital. What a night that was!

The Minnesota Vikings - Undefeated in the Playoffs at Lambeau Field!

by BaldViking on Jul 15, 2008 10:15 PM CDT   0 recs

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