Well... I guess count me in the camp that although I've hated our product for a long time I still am all in. My daughters just got their new NU cheerleading outfits and they are excited for the season as well. For me, even though we suck, I have a sense of pride being an alum, growing up in the state and definitely look forward to football every year even though it'll probably all come crashing down game 1. Husker Football is in my blood and as much as they try to push me away I will continue to support it until I die and probably waste much more of my precious time on this board discussing some hope of optimism for the upcoming or current season. Go Big Red!
I got totally hooked on Husker football in 1962 when I was 9 years old. You're right, it gets in your blood. I guess, I've always loved the football highs more than I hated the football lows. And we've had a helluva dose of both sides of those emotions.
I'm the type of "fan" who is wllling to throw a head coaches ass out the door when he proves he no longer, or never could, produce an on field product we can have pride in cheering for.
I refuse to pay one penny to a program that lingers for a few years when its apparent NU has the wrong guy leading the team. Frost is the latest in a long list of coaches who offer ZERO hope of regaining respect.
Us fans have went from the Devaney/Osborne days of receiving a 100K a year emotional paycheck to the last 2 decades of mainly trying to subsist on food stamps and having our spirit broken while waiting for the day a stimulus shows up with returning to a respectful place among the top 20 teams in the nation.
We've become like a family that enjoyed 30 years of emotional uplifting and consuming the benefits of a highly successful diet of winning to that of a beaten down/nearly broken family that necessity has forced into the food pantry, picking out dented cans and out of date food, trying to not make eye contact with those who know we no longer belong in the expensive arena.
For those that continue to think Frost inherited a mess, which he did, and it could take another 5 years to build this program, I say bullshit. In a completely different era, Devaney showed up and took over a team, in the preceding 5 years had season records such as this from 1957-1961:
1-9, 3-7, 4-6, 4-6, 3-6-1.
The University of Nebraska has never been opposed to sending huge amounts of money into the football program to strive to become an elite program. With the facilities, the ability to raise large amounts of money, the building of a high tech facility and the best of the best of offerings to potential players. Throw in the NIL money that NU has been willing to use to gain some real good players through the portal, I refuse to believe this program is totally dead. On life support, but still breathing.
The overall physical structure of this football team continues to vastly improve. Of course, NU has shortcomings in the Offensive line, and other critical areas. But, the physical part proved last year it could compete with high level teams despite the apparent weaknesses in coaching.
The missing piece is finding that one coach, who may or may not exist, and NU can return to respectability.
With all due respect, this has amounted to a Friday reminder to myself, that all is not totally lost.