PhilBleenor
New Fish
We were having lunch at Highland Park Golf Course in Birmingham, Ala., eating hot dogs, sipping sweet tea and remembering. Three years ago, Bobby Bowden and I were discussing his legendary coaching career when the subject suddenly turned to Nebraska football fans.
I mentioned to Bowden that I grew up in Lincoln. Immediately, Bowden's mind flashed back to the fall of 1980. He had taken his Seminoles into Memorial Stadium and, with less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter, Florida State clung to an 18-14 lead. I was nine-years-old and sitting in the West stadium stands that afternoon, and three decades later Bowden and I replayed how Nebraska quarterback Jeff Quinn proceeded to fumble the ball at the Seminoles' three-yard line. Game over.
Then something stunning happened -- something Bowden remembered all those years later with the vivid detail of a firstborn's wedding. The crowd in Lincoln rose to its feet in appreciation of the underdog 'Noles. At first it was a polite clap, but then the noise swelled into one of the loudest roars of the day. As Bowden recalled the moment at lunch that afternoon in Birmingham, he got goosebumps.
"What a moment," Bowden said, a smile lighting his face. "Wow. The classiest thing I ever experienced."
Read More:http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/co...130917/bo-pelini-nebraska-fans/#ixzz2fG0SFfZV
I thought we were their first
I mentioned to Bowden that I grew up in Lincoln. Immediately, Bowden's mind flashed back to the fall of 1980. He had taken his Seminoles into Memorial Stadium and, with less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter, Florida State clung to an 18-14 lead. I was nine-years-old and sitting in the West stadium stands that afternoon, and three decades later Bowden and I replayed how Nebraska quarterback Jeff Quinn proceeded to fumble the ball at the Seminoles' three-yard line. Game over.
Then something stunning happened -- something Bowden remembered all those years later with the vivid detail of a firstborn's wedding. The crowd in Lincoln rose to its feet in appreciation of the underdog 'Noles. At first it was a polite clap, but then the noise swelled into one of the loudest roars of the day. As Bowden recalled the moment at lunch that afternoon in Birmingham, he got goosebumps.
"What a moment," Bowden said, a smile lighting his face. "Wow. The classiest thing I ever experienced."
Read More:http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/co...130917/bo-pelini-nebraska-fans/#ixzz2fG0SFfZV
I thought we were their first