Has Nebraska ever scheduled a football game 11 years in advance?
Do it now. Do it today. Call up Oklahoma Athletic Director Joe Castiglione and get Nebraska-Oklahoma on the docket for the 2021 season. That would be the 50th anniversary of the “Game of the Century.’’ Make it a home-and-home. That’s an anniversary, and a rivalry, worth remembering twice.
Do it now, too, because in a few years the big nonconference games in college football may be almost extinct. The nine-game conference schedules — that you will soon see in the Big 12 and Big Ten — are going to slowly kill them off.
Why? The big boys all want at least seven home games (which now bring in $2 million to $3 million each) to pay the bills. In a nine-game league schedule, some years schools will have only four home games. They’ll need three nonconference home games to balance the books. That means goodbye to the home-and-home cross-regional games like NU-Washington, NU-Tennessee, NU-UCLA and NU-Miami that are coming up through 2017.
By 2021, an entire generation of Husker and Sooner fans won’t know that the two schools were interlocked in one of the great rivalries in college football. All the more reason to give them a history lesson.
• One casualty of this future scenario could be games like Iowa vs. Iowa State. According to Sean Keeler of the Des Moines Register, the Iowa-Iowa State contract has an out clause if either school’s conference expands or realigns. Fortunately, according to Keeler, both schools want to keep playing and are talking renegotiation. Good for them. Even if it means six home games for someone, some traditions are too important to lose in this crazy expansion world. Hawks and Clones is one of them.
• Indianapolis is a great choice for the inaugural Big Ten championship game. Indy might be the best college town with an NFL team in it. Easy access by car or plane. But if you want a table at St. Elmo’s steakhouse, you might need to book it now.
• I couldn’t get enough of Emmitt Smith’s Hall of Fame induction speech. Every young football star should watch it. My favorite part was when Smith singled out his fullback, Daryl Johnston, and thanked him to his face. That made me think of all those Nebraska fullbacks who paved the way for I-back glory. Remember the Nebraska fullback?
• No news on the UNO hockey rink front. All of the construction workers in town are busy working on the UNO football video board. The Mavs should consider showing Nebraska football games on the board and charging extra admission. Kidding. Kidding.
• The Anthony Tolliver story keeps getting better and better. Hard to imagine that he once sat in coach Dana Altman’s office being questioned about his work ethic and dedication. Good thing he didn’t walk away then. It’s a classic lesson in hard work and hanging in there. There’s a late bloomer in a lot of kids.
• If you’re a fan of 1970, there are a couple of events coming up just for you:
1. Jerry Murtaugh and his Legends Radio Show (590 AM) is hosting a reunion of the 1970 Nebraska national championship team on Saturday at Tiger Tom’s, with a live show at 9 a.m. including former Huskers like Jerry Tagge, Van Brownson and Jeff Kinney.
2. The Omaha Royals will honor the 40th anniversary of the Royals’ 1970 American Association championship with an Aug. 20 dinner on the field at Rosenblatt Stadium. More than 20 former members of that team are coming back, including manager Jack McKeon, Paul Splittorff, Tom Burgmeier and Galen Cisco. Tickets are $45 and available by contacting Jason Kinney at 402-738-5104 or at jason.kinney@oroyals.com
• Omaha has hardly abandoned Rosenblatt Stadium, even in the late-summer heat. The Omaha Royals produced paid crowds of 10,000, 9,000 and 7,000 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. I love the old yard, but in this kind of heat, hang out in the hot-box concourse and you understand why a new park will be welcomed.
Contact the writer:
444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
