To Whom It May Concern

New Era

Nebraska Football.

I have followed it for my entire life. I can remember my father jumping up and down and yelling at the TV as Jarvis Redwine ran down the sideline, when I was like 6 years old, and how my father crashed to the floor when Redwine was called for a penalty for taunting the defensive player as he went into the end zone. I remember all the heartache of watching Oklahoma somehow come from behind to defeat Nebraska so many times. (happened last year, blah! haha)

The last few years it has been Texas that has been so difficult to play, as they have had Nebraska's number an astounding 6 times in a row and 9 of the last 10. The Big 12 Conference's apparent love affair with Texas created a lot of rift between Nebraska and the conference members, and last year of course, Nebraska and Colorado both bolted from the Big 12 to greener pastures, with the Huskers ending up in the Big 10 and the Buffs going to the Pac 10.

I was all for this, screw the Big 12, their commissioner Don Beebe, whiney Missouri fans, stuck up Texas fans, jealous Iowa State fans... but as we come closer to the fall 2011 season, I am somewhat saddened by the thought that my beloved Huskers will no longer be playing in Lawrence, we will no longer have the Jayhawks coming to Lincoln, or the NU vs OU showdowns that, despite a lot of blowouts in the last 20 years, have had some of the most incredible games ever played (see last year's Big 12 Championship).

But that is the past, there isn't much anyone can do about that. For Nebraska it was a no brainer, and not just the athletics. We can basically look past that for a moment... for Nebraska this is a major move academically, the Big 10's research prowess is legendary, and Nebraska can only get better with the addition into the fold.

Volleyball is going to be incredible, with arguably the top 4 programs in the nation being in one conference. It will bring an array of teams that you don't normally see in Lincoln, and Nebraska will be traveling to places annually and making new traditions and rivalries.

But there will always be part of me that longs for those old Big 8 days, listening to the radio in the dairy barn with my father and grandmother as the Husker football teams of old marched methodically along to another showdown with Oklahoma, and yet another chance at a national title. Ah the memories.