The Romance of Football (Australian Style)

My review of Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy went live on AAR today.  Not only is the novel a really nice romance, it also brought back lots of childhood memories for me.  Because these dovetail so nicely, Tigers and Devils is one of my Desert Isle Keepers, a book I'll read and cherish forever, even though Tigers and Devils covers Australian football (an unknown to me) instead of American college football.

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of going to Cornhusker football games in the fall.  For those not in the know, the Cornhuskers come from that Midwestern giant, the University of Nebraska, now with a slash at Lincoln.

But in the days when I was a on-site fan, it was just NU with no "/ Lincoln."  The games were rarely played in warm temperatures, but usually in gray, over-cast, often sleety conditions on real turf.  My parents had 50-yard line seats in the lower section under the overhang, so when the serious weather started--the wind, sleet, and snow--they were protected.

My brother and I, however, were "treated" to knothole seats in the end zone.  There, sitting on boards over a steel framework, we bundled in our coats, sweaters, hats, gloves, and cups of hot chocolate as the wind whipped around us.  Knothole benches are lousy seats.  We couldn't tell where anyone was on the field and just reacted with the crowd around us, everyone dressed in as much red and white (the school colors) as we owned.

I thought we were crazy.  I still do.  But when NU plays football and the game airs on TV, I'm still right there, yelling at the players and cheering when the team scores.