The Joe Ganz Fan Club

I have been on leave prior to the deployment, hanging out with the relatives and doing some Nebraska stuff. The highlight of the week was going to the Nebraska vs. New Mexico State football game this past Saturday. My sister scored two tickets to the game and gave them to me for my birthday. My brother in law Mark went with me, he was a football player and high school football coach so it is pretty interesting getting his perspective on football.

Backing up a bit, Saturday started off with a pretty good ten mile run at Chalco State Park (near Gretna in Nebraska), they have a path that goes around a lake, across a dam and generally through some Nebraska terrain - - low hills, nice prairie grass, picnic areas, some trees, etc. Overall a good run route, I got some good speed going towards the end, dropping it down below my marathon race pace for the last 3 miles or so. I went there with my older sister Melissa (she gave me the Husker tickets), who was meeting her friend and partner in running crime, Anne, for a shorter run and patiently waited for me while I knocked out my longer run. I was planning on 8, but it was a nice morning, and my trail just kind of wandered for a couple of extra miles. Good run, nice trail, great way to start the day off.

After the run, me and Mark made the drive to Lincoln and went to the game. The game against NM State was supposed to be our last warmup game before the real football starts for Nebraska. We had good seats in the South Stadium - - right next to the president of the Joe Ganz Fan Club (pictured below in the white hat). For non-Huskers: Joe Ganz is Nebraska's current quarterback, and is pretty good at it. According to the young man right behind us, Joe Ganz was slightly ahead of such Husker greats as Eric Crouch and Tommie Frazier, and was a lock for the Hiesman Trophy this year.



Here are a couple of his quotes:

After a scramble by NM's QB in which he ended with a slide: "Joe Ganz would have took the hit . . .'

After Joe Ganz caught (that's right, caught) a TD pass from Marlon Lucky: "Almost as good as Eric Crouch (Nebraska's third Heisman winner, who caught a TD pass against oklahoma during his Heisman Season)"

After Joe Ganz threw a TD: "Sam Keller has nothing on you, what were they thinking last year?"(Sam Keller was the big name QB that bill callahan played ahead of Joe Ganz last year, Keller didn't do so well, Ganz replaced him with four games left in the season and threw for HUGE yards in those games).

Anyway, great game by the Huskers, I have posted some of my pics from the game to the blog.

Couple of game notes:

Nebraska has pretty much erased the statewide nightmare that was bill callahan and scott pederson (our ill-fated athletic director and football coach for the previous 4 years, they were unceremoniously fired by Tom Osborne). During the pederson regime, most mentions of previous Husker glory was played down by pederson. He went as far as to take down the pictures of Nebraska All Americans (there are a few of them) and most of Nebraska's bowl trophies from the football offices. The final straw was when he would charge Husker greats the price of a ticket to come and watch the game from the sidelines. The current administration has made it a point to bring back Husker greats and highlight Husker tradition, big props from the Husker fans for this.

During the pre-game festivities at Memorial Stadium a few Husker greats were inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame including Husker legend Grant Winstrom (member of three National Championship teams). Very cool. Also honored was Dan Coneally, one of the foundations of the Blackshirts (the nickname of the Husker's Defense) during the 1994 National Championship Season. He never made it in the pro's, but Nebraska fans remember him.

Before the Huskers come out of the tunnel at Memorial Stadium they play a Husker Legends montage on the HuskerVision screen, starting with Bob Devaney, going through Tom Osborne and now Bo Pellini. It has shots of Husker greats (Mike Rozier tearing it up) and great moments (Tom Osborne winning the 1997 National Championship). Very cool.

For some reason, one of the Nation's Supreme Court Justices, Clarence Thomas, has taken a liking to Nebraska football. He was named an honorary coach for the game and got to stand on the sideline for the game. It was funny to see someone that you think of as a quiet, reserved person going nuts on the sideline when the Husker's rolled. Very Cool.

OK, back to Riley here soon, talk to you later on.