Osborne Knows Big Red is Global
By Randy York
Never underestimate the loyalty of Nebraska football fans, even when it comes to helping their Big Red brethren overseas. Thanks to a Viewers’ Choice vote on the ESPN America website, the Southern Miss-Nebraska game will be televised live internationally today, joining the Notre Dame-Navy game in Dublin, Ireland, and the Ohio-Penn State game in State College, Pa. It’s been a week-long campaign for Husker fans to come to the rescue of Big Red fans who otherwise would have no live TV access to their favorite team’s season-opener.
The N-Sider thanks Nebraska fans worldwide for helping the Huskers go global today. One was Adam Hunter who lived in South Korea last year and now lives in Germany. “I just want to write a quick thank you note for posting the information about voting to get the Nebraska game shown overseas,” Hunter wrote in an email. “Being a Nebraska native and a UNL alumni living abroad, it’s pretty difficult to catch a live broadcast. Most of the time, the best we can do is wait for it to be shown the next day on Big Ten Network On Demand (the last two years they’ve had an international program that lets us watch the games after midnight). The best thing about this season-opener is actually getting some of my German friends to come over and watch the game live instead of the following day when I already know the outcome. Thanks again for considering your fellow Nebraskans living abroad.”
The N-Sider heard from fans all over the globe, including Jay Denzin, who works for U.S. Navy Security at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, Africa. “I appreciate your article calling attention to ESPN’s poll,” he wrote in an email. “We get ESPN feeds through the Armed Forces Network and how great it is to watch the first Husker game of the year live in Africa. I’m a mobilized Navy reservist who lives in Lincoln. I was born and raised in Nebraska and have been a true Husker fan since I was old enough to remember. My civilian job is a police officer for the City of Lincoln, so you can understand how much I look forward to GameDay. Even with the increased workload, there is no place like Lincoln on a GameDay Saturday. When you interact with all the die-hard tailgaters, they want everyone to let walk away from their area with the proper amount of home-cooked tailgate food in your hands. It’s an experience like no other, and I can say I miss that atmosphere while deployed. Thanks for helping bring GameDay to Africa.”
Drew Turner also thanked the N-Sider for linking him to the ESPN America site. “I cast my vote for the Southern Miss game in hopes our Husker brothers and sisters would able to watch it, too,” he said. “I’m an Air Force brat who graduated from high school in Belgium. The Armed Forces Network was in its infancy at the time. In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, we only had Armed Forces Radio, and they never carried sporting events. Some of the bigger bases in Frankfurt, and Ramstein, Germany, had Armed Forces television, but again it was very rare to televise sporting events. I still remember my dad taking me and my mom to Ramstein over the Thanksgiving weekend so we could watch Nebraska play Oklahoma. I also remember driving five hours on Thanksgiving weekend in 1978 so we could check into base quarters and watch the big game early the next morning. We got back in the car afterward and drove back to Belgium. Thanks for your love of the Big Red and the coverage you provide.”
Danny Carl lives in the Northern Territory of Alice Springs, Australia. “I’ve been a lifelong fan and listener of Nebraska football since I was a young boy,” he wrote in an email. “I grew up in the Ewing, Nebraska area and still remember listening and following Johnny Rodgers, Jerry Tagge, I.M. Hipp and all the others who have passed through the doors of the best college football palace in the world.”
When Husker GameDay begins, “I fire up the computer for a listen to the game on Huskers.com,” Carl said. “Kickoff over here is very early in the morning, but like your column said, it’s very well worth it. The evening games are a little later in the mornings so a person can get a few more hours of sleep. I have not met any other Nebraskans over here yet, nor any competitors from other universities to listen to the games with.”
Being in the tourist industry, Carl has run across a Texas Aggie fan who called him a Cornhusker when he departed from his shop. “The gridiron game is not the most popular sport over here because they’re into their footy,” Carl said. “It looks as if they are playing soccer, basketball, baseball and football all rolled into one sport. I guess it all boils down to what a person has grown up with, and I have certainly grown up with the best College/University Football in the WORLD … the UNIVERSITY of NEBRASKA. Good Day and Cheers!”
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