Corn Nation is celebrating Nebraska's move to the Big Ten conference by counting down the days from 100 until the official "joining" date of July 1st, 2011. Yesterday, we asked people to list 100 reasons why they were happy to be moving to the Big Ten. Today's theme is taken from a 1980's song by the German singer Nena. 99 Red Balloons.
At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, fans release red balloons after the team scores the first touchdown of the game. This tradition dates back to at least 1963. If you are a fan of the opposing team in Memorial Stadium and you see the balloons early in the first quarter, be prepared for the worst. The floodgates have opened on the Sea of Red. When you visit Memorial Stadium, you're goal should be to congratulate the three year old who is excited about taking their balloon home from the game. That means that we failed to score a TD that day. It doesn't happen very often, though.
So Husker fans, have you let a balloon go at one of the games before? While you write your response and feelings about the balloon tradition, I'll leave you with some music for today. The original by Nena and a remake from the 90's band Goldfinger.