The Cornhuskers' ballad

This evening there was a very rare event in college football.  Up until now, the universities of Nebraska and Oklahoma had faced each other a total of 85 times.  And as of tonight, both teams shared exactly the same won-loss record since joining the Big 12 conference!  Pretty wild, for one thing.

Second, this would also be the last time these 2 teams would ever meet in a Big 12 title game (since Nebraska is moving to the Big 10 next year...).  So tonight's game, considering the intense rivalry involved, would be a historic tie-breaking contest.

Now, when considering this, there are probably 2 basic ways one could approach such a game. You could either play like you really want to win, or play like you're afraid to lose.  Guess which one Nebraska chose... Again.

Which sorta begs the question - what is it about Nebraska (the state) that contributes to this all-too-frequent "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory"?  Since I"ve been to Nebraska numerous times, I wanted to think about this for a second...

For one thing, Nebraska is the closest to the middle of all the states in the continental U.S. So does that make it America's belly button??  I'm not sure, but it's definitely in the midsection, which is perennially under appreciated.

Also, being a predominantly agricultural state, there's a definite "earthyness" to the people there.  And I think this adds a certain humility and dislike of bragging and other sorts of social pretension. It's also fairly common to see people dissing on the state of Nebraska.  For example, I recall once on Letterman, Andy Roddick (who was born in Omaha) told Dave that he got out ouf Nebraska right away.

I also remember about a month ago when Craig Ferguson was talking to Jason Segel, and somehow their "witty banter" ended up being pretty dismissive of Omaha.  It was to the effect of saying that Omaha (and Nebraska by extention) was very dead and boring, especially for nightlife.

Actually, the Missouri River flows right through Omaha, giving the city (and surrounding area) a lot of coolness.  There are bluffs nearby, too :)  Plus, Bright Eyes (and the whole Saddle Creek team) is from there, and still work there sometimes.  Omaha also went for Obama in 2008.  Therefore (and to quote Han Solo), "she's fast enough for you, old man"  ;D

Anyway, my point is that Nebraska, like the football team, is (as Miley would say) pretty cool.  And somehow it needs to understand that it's just as good as the other state (or team).  And to the Cornhuskers, please learn the difference between playing to win and playing like you're afraid to lose!