GO BIG RED!!!

One of the ways that people cope on deployments is to compartmentalize. You simply stop thinking about certain aspects of your life. Your life back home is so far away that you will drive yourself nuts if you do not put it on the shelf for a while. For me this has meant forgetting about laying on the beach in Charleston, walking my dog around the community pond, or taking a road trip down to Kiawah Island. But, now I am getting close to leaving Afghanistan. Life back home does not seem so far away. I can start thinking about better days ahead.

For as long as I can remember, sports have been an important part of my life. My earliest memory is getting my picture taken as a 3 year old with a baseball cap on and a wiffle ball bat in my hands. I can recall clearly watching sports practically non stop as a kid. New Year's Day 1984 was a marathon of college football for me. I sat in our TV room and watched 3 football games in a row. The last game was one of the greatest games in college football history. It was the 1984 Orange Bowl between the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Miami Hurricanes. The game ended just before midnight when Nebraska went for a game winning 2 point conversion and were denied. Miami won the game 31 to 30. They were crowned national champions. Bernie Kozar was Miami's quarterback. He was only a freshman at the time. Of course, he would later become a hero in my hometown as the quarterback of the Cleveland Browns.

Fast forward to 2004. I was a first year resident (intern) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. I was living among countless diehard fans of the aforementioned Nebraska Cornhuskers. They call it Husker Nation. Late in the fall that year, I obtained 2 tickets to a Nebraska football game. I invited my good friend Allen. He was nine years old at the time. I was serving as his "big brother". We made our way to Lincoln and found our seats high up in the 72nd row. The wind was howling. Allen became uncomfortable and scared. He was quite upset. We left our seats and went down to ground level. Allen asked me, "Why don't we just get another seat?" My reply was something like, "Buddy, this stadium has been sold out since 1962! There are no other seats." We were standing there and Allen began to cry. I did not know what to do. Out of nowhere an usher approached me and asked me what the problem was. I explained the situation. He said that perhaps he could find a solution to our dilemma. He lead us through the crowd, talked to a few people, and the next thing I know we were sitting at field level right behind the end zone! It was incredible. At halftime this same usher found us and led us through the stadium. He took us on a tour of the locker room and weight room. He then showed us the trophy cases including the National Championship and Heisman Trophies. Our day was complete. I became a Husker fan for life.

On Friday it was announced that the University of Nebraska would be joining the Big Ten Conference. Are you kidding me? I am so fired up!!! It will be fabulous to see the Huskers play the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus some day soon. I cannot wait for the Huskers to dominate Michigan in the big house. It will be a blast when Nebraska plays Iowa. My nephew Joe is a die hard OSU fan. Let the trash talking begin! My good friends Brad Meyer and Drew Porter are big supporters of their alma mater, the University of Iowa. They both met their wives in Iowa City. We will have fun tailgating in Lincoln together. Geoff Cooper loves his Penn State Nittany Lions. A trip to see a football game in State College, Pennsylvania is a must now. I get excited just thinking about all this. Good times are ahead. Afghanistan will be in the rear view mirror soon. I will come home a changed man for sure. This was a life changing experience. But, very little can change the core of one's personality. After all, I came out of the womb a sports fanatic. So, the news of Nebraska joining the Big Ten is music to my ears.

GO BIG RED!!! (By the way, the N on the Husker football helmet stands for Knowledge)