My Personal Husker Story

[MNSpartan1]

First, I know this is a long shot but did any of you know Mark Maciejewski from Lincoln? He graduated from HS in the early 80s. He was a great athlete playing point guard and QB.

Mark was my best friend. He died of lung cancer at the age of about 30. He never smoked, he was just really unlucky. We lived in Cincinnati as bachelors.

Mark touched my life in many ways but the biggest impact he made was he taught me the love and passion of college football. He was crazy about the Huskers and college football. We drank red beer on Saturdays. I am a crazy passionate college football fan and I love my Spartans but I learned it all from Mark.

One day Mark got this wild idea of renting a RV before the Huskers/Sooners game. This is the year you were ranked #1 and they were ranked #2. We drove all night from Cincinnati to arrive Lincoln on Friday morning. Stayed at his parents home. There must have been at least 8 of us. That day we went to Memorial Stadium. We talked ourselves into the stadium and we played football on your field. ABC was setting up. Nobody cared. It was great. That afternoon and night we went bar hoping. I kissed Barry Switzer's daughter that night - yes crazy.

I think about him every year the week of this game.

I am sure you guys will turn things around sometime soon but I hope not this week.

Go Big Red.

 

[gomerxx]

First, I know this is a long shot but did any of you know Mark Maciejewski from Lincoln? He graduated from HS in the early 80s. He was a great athlete playing point guard and QB.

Mark was my best friend. He died of lung cancer at the age of about 30. He never smoked, he was just really unlucky. We lived in Cincinnati as bachelors.

Mark touched my life in many ways but the biggest impact he made was he taught me the love and passion of college football. He was crazy about the Huskers and college football. We drank red beer on Saturdays. I am a crazy passionate college football fan and I love my Spartans but I learned it all from Mark.

One day Mark got this wild idea of renting a RV before the Huskers/Sooners game. This is the year you were ranked #1 and they were ranked #2. We drove all night from Cincinnati to arrive Lincoln on Friday morning. Stayed at his parents home. There must have been at least 8 of us. That day we went to Memorial Stadium. We talked ourselves into the stadium and we played football on your field. ABC was setting up. Nobody cared. It was great. That afternoon and night we went bar hoping. I kissed Barry Switzer's daughter that night - yes crazy.

I think about him every year the week of this game.

I am sure you guys will turn things around sometime soon but I hope not this week.

Go Big Red.

 

[gomerxx]

Great story! I did not know Mark but remember watching him play at Norris. great b-ball player

 

[MNSpartan1]

Great story! I did not know Mark but remember watching him play at Norris. great b-ball player

Wow. You saw Mark play. That is awesome Thanks for letting me know. He was a great guy.

 

[Okie70]

And OU won the game in '87. Great story and a great game. Although OU got spanked by our Miami pals in O Bowl.

 

[Huskers_Rule]

A touching story and thanks for sharing.

 

[augdog2012]

This thread just gave me the chills and felt compelled to reply.

Mark Maciejewski was my cousin! He was a great man with a beautiful family. My fondest Husker memories as a little guy was with Mark.

As a Christmas present, not sure how he arranged this, but Mark got Paul Miles to have a football signed by the team. That mid-80's team I believe played in the Fiesta Bowl against ASU. That Husker team had studs like Steve Taylor and Neil Smith.

Mark told me he had a surprise and we drove to Paul's apartment and gave me the signed ball. Needless to say that experience hooked me as a Husker fan for life.

I was in grade school at that time and was mesmerized by the whole experience of meeting a real-life Husker. I totally looked up to my big cousin and thought he was the coolest.

One quick funny story: As Mark advanced in his profession, he and his family moved to Colorado. Mark worked at a firm where he oversaw a team of people. Part of the on-boarding process was having the newly hired team member memorize the Husker media guide. They would then discuss details of the media guide over lunch.

Thanks again for sharing your awesome story!

First, I know this is a long shot but did any of you know Mark Maciejewski from Lincoln? He graduated from HS in the early 80s. He was a great athlete playing point guard and QB.

Mark was my best friend. He died of lung cancer at the age of about 30. He never smoked, he was just really unlucky. We lived in Cincinnati as bachelors.

Mark touched my life in many ways but the biggest impact he made was he taught me the love and passion of college football. He was crazy about the Huskers and college football. We drank red beer on Saturdays. I am a crazy passionate college football fan and I love my Spartans but I learned it all from Mark.

One day Mark got this wild idea of renting a RV before the Huskers/Sooners game. This is the year you were ranked #1 and they were ranked #2. We drove all night from Cincinnati to arrive Lincoln on Friday morning. Stayed at his parents home. There must have been at least 8 of us. That day we went to Memorial Stadium. We talked ourselves into the stadium and we played football on your field. ABC was setting up. Nobody cared. It was great. That afternoon and night we went bar hoping. I kissed Barry Switzer's daughter that night - yes crazy.

I think about him every year the week of this game.

I am sure you guys will turn things around sometime soon but I hope not this week.

Go Big Red.

 

[huskerbux]

Great thread. Thank you for sharing (and augdog2012)!

 

[MNSpartan1]

This thread just gave me the chills and felt compelled to reply.

Mark Maciejewski was my cousin! He was a great man with a beautiful family. My fondest Husker memories as a little guy was with Mark.

As a Christmas present, not sure how he arranged this, but Mark got Paul Miles to have a football signed by the team. That mid-80's team I believe played in the Fiesta Bowl against ASU. That Husker team had studs like Steve Taylor and Neil Smith.

Mark told me he had a surprise and we drove to Paul's apartment and gave me the signed ball. Needless to say that experience hooked me as a Husker fan for life.

I was in grade school at that time and was mesmerized by the whole experience of meeting a real-life Husker. I totally looked up to my big cousin and thought he was the coolest.

One quick funny story: As Mark advanced in his profession, he and his family moved to Colorado. Mark worked at a firm where he oversaw a team of people. Part of the on-boarding process was having the newly hired team member memorize the Husker media guide. They would then discuss details of the media guide over lunch.

Thanks again for sharing your awesome story!

Goodness gracious. Could you shoot me an email? I'd like to get in touch with Mark's Dad - Larry. I've got some stuff they might be interested in.

Thank you so much for your post today. It made my day and was equally chilling for me too.

My email is: cliffordmmorris@gmail.com

 

[augdog2012]

@MNSpartan1 - you have mail....

Goodness gracious. Could you shoot me an email? I'd like to get in touch with Mark's Dad - Larry. I've got some stuff they might be interested in.

Thank you so much for your post today. It made my day and was equally chilling for me too.

My email is: cliffordmmorris@gmail.com