Been a while, huh?
Right now, I’m watching the Coach Osborne: More Than Winning. I really miss that time past, when T.O. was the football coach at NU. And not just because all we ever did back then was win. (Although that would certainly be part of it.) It was almost like he was the face of the state. Nothing flashy, just hard working and honest as the day is long—living proof that good things could come with honest living.
That’s why I couldn’t have been happier back in October when he emerged as interim Athletic Director after Steve Pederson was fired. It was as though the morale in the state shot through the roof after four years of slow but sure decline. Pictures of previous Husker All-Americans were put back up, former players were once again welcome and encouraged to visit (even if they weren’t still in the NFL), and the Iron Curtain that separated the A.D. from the rest of us finally came down.
Coach Osborne brought back high expectations and accountability to the football program, too. Don’t get me wrong; I really liked Bill Callahan, and no one had wanted him to succeed over the past four years more than I did. To be sure, Coach Callahan devoted himself to the team, and he and his staff were certainly successful recruiters. Unfortunately, they weren’t successful in developing that talent, and that was their downfall. I don’t know enough about coaching to know why that was. Maybe it was the NFL mentality, in which losing isn’t as big of a deal, so long as you win enough to make the playoffs. Maybe it was Bill’s stubborn loyalty to a defensive staff that never achieved better than average success.
Anyway, after the Colorado game, Coach Osborne fired Bill Callahan and laid out the reasons why he did so. When he first took over, he told the coaches that if they won out, that they wouldn’t be fired. Any further losses, however, would’ve made it increasingly difficult to retain them. Even if they went 6-6 wouldn’t have been good enough. But he did support them as much as possible right up until the end of that Colorado game before making good on his ultimatum.
And now, Bo Pelini is our head coach. I’m stoked about that. Bo is as fine of a defensive coordinator you’ll find, and a true players coach—the kind for whom a player would run through the proverbial (or actual) brick wall. We’ve truly missed that. He’s an emotional guy who will fight for his players on and off the field and will demand nothing less than their best. Bo just gets it, and Husker fans are behind him. Already there are signs of what has been a very divided fan base coming back together. That is good to see. Spring ball can’t get here soon enough. In the mean time, I look forward to cheering on Coach Pelini as he operates the LSU defense for the final time when they play Ohio State for the National Championship in January.
Now there’s a Blue Man Group documentary on. It looks cool. If Angie and I are ever able to go anywhere again, maybe we’ll have to check them out in Las Vegas.
Right now, the two of us are counting down the days until our wedding on May 31 (173, as of this writing). Wedding plans are going forward. It’s not always the easiest thing. We’ll be glad when it’s all done and we can begin our lives together. We’ve both waited a long time for this, and it feels good that we’re finally hitting the home stretch.
You may not have heard, but we have also booked our honeymoon. We’ll be staying at the El Dorado Royale resort in Mexico’s Riviera Maya. I haven’t been to any tropical location before, so of course I’m excited. Truly, I’d be happy to be going anywhere so long as Angie was with me. :)
The holidays are soon approaching. Only two weeks to go. It feels like the time is just flying, as it always does. What a great time of year. I know not everyone feels that way, though. It can be stressful, with all the expenses, planning, traveling, etc. Not everyone has happy memories of this time of year, either. Thanks to the horrifyingly selfish and depraved actions of one troubled person this past week, for example, several families in Omaha are changed forever and may never look fondly upon this time of year again.
It’s in the face of such tragedy, perhaps, that the miracle of Christmas shines at its brightest. I realize that not everyone out there buys this. But I do.
I believe that, some 2,000 years ago or so, a man was born of a virgin into the world as a fulfillment to a promise made to God’s chosen people. A man who was, at the same time, God Himself. He turned heads everywhere He went, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and even raising the dead to life. He taught us to love our enemies as ourselves and that the meek would one day inherit the earth. He had the audacity to call upon us to turn from our sins and yet proclaim us forgiven at the same time.
Of course, it was for just that audacity that we killed Him, and brutally at that.
But in that death, His ultimate plan was fulfilled. On the third day after He died, He rose again to vibrant life. His broken body and spilled blood atoned for the sins of all humanity, reconciled them to the Father, and made manifest his promise that all who believed in Him would not perish but have life without end. After a time, He ascended to Heaven and sent us the Holy Spirit to aid us and guide us as we eagerly await His return. One day, He’ll return, and never again will we know hunger, suffering, or death.
In the face of tragedy, I cling to this and my hope is sustained. I hope yours is, too.
So, let’s see, what else has happened, lately? The last time I blogged was near the end of March. Summer turned out to be quite the Wedding-A-Go-Go, as expected. I was a groomsman in weddings for my friends Brad and Ted, and best man for my brother Tom. That of course meant attending three bachelor parties, as well. It was all an excellent time, but I was pretty exhausted by the end of it all, too.
After that, the Husker football season started, and as you might have guessed from reading above, I watched every excruciating moment of my beloved team’s steady decline. Even so, I didn’t miss a home game. Angie and I also followed the volleyball team, which was much more gratifying. We ended up watching the Husker ladies sweep Texas, South Dakota State, and Wichita State at the Coliseum. The latter two games were NCAA Tournament matches. Tom Osborne sat behind Angie, my parents, and myself for the SDSU game. :)
Well, that’s all I have for now. I’ll try to bang out another one of these again soon. But then again, who knows? Check ya later.
--N
