Hail Pelini

Once upon a time I played on a basketball team that was ranked number one in the state. Yes, Kari, I'm going to talk about my junior year on the NHS Lady Panthers team. So we began 11-0, we were pretty damn good in the beginning, number one in class A, but as our schedule turned shitty (Fremont cough cough) we turned shitty. We played down to the level of the worse teams, which is exactly what I was afraid of for our dear Huskers yesterday. Why did no one listen to me? Having played on a number 1 ranked girls basketball team is basically the same thing as playing on a number 7 ranked in the nation football team, clearly I know what I'm talking about. But no, everybody said we were going to kill South Dakota. My dad even referred to them as a high school team a time or two. Well look what happens, damn it. Look what happens when you trot in on a high horse and look past a team. A ref calls a five second call after a mere three seconds and your entire high school dream of playing at the Devaney and getting ready in the cool Husker locker rooms and strutting around in warm ups while going to the concessions, the sole reason you didn't drink in high school and was sometimes mistaken for a lesbian due to lack of make up/wearing mens basketball shorts is shattered by a bunch of Fremont thugs and Emily the Machine Moran. Or something like that. I mean I'm still talking about the Huskers, I could care less about high school basketball, I'm sooooo over it.

I was sick to my stomach watching this game unfold. To make matters worse, I was sick to my stomach surrounded by greasy food and exposed butt cheeks at Hooters. And I was sober. Bad, bad combination. What went wrong? Where was the defense I know that gives me chills when they run out for tunnel walk? The defense that brought tears to me eyes freshman year because I was so overcome with emotion for the fact I will never have the opportunity to be a member of the blackshirts gang. The defense that seriously made me consider joining a womens football league so I too could feel the glory I saw on the field. My God, where was the heart? If these players don't want to play well get them off the field because I can think of another team who would gladly take their spots. And that team is the Night Hawks. Nebraska's new It Girl. Clearly this state isn't big enough for the both of them. So what if many of the Night Hawks are over the age of 30? Who cares if some have a criminal record? Doesn't matter that many spent the last five years training to compete in the Mens flag football division for the Cornhusker State games. Those players have heart. A helluva a lot more passion than I saw last night anyway. And maybe it has something to do with the fact that I've spent the last two weekends at Hooters, but the Night Hawk cheerleaders don't look too bad to me, either. I'm not claiming to be a football whiz by any means, I typically judge a game based solely on interceptions- if we had at least five that really caught my attention we played great, if we didn't have any we played mediocre at best. I just know this game sucked and lacked what the Lady Panthers always had: passion. Luckily, the Huskers came away with it, and I suppose a win is a win. But let's just hope yesterday wasn't a foreshadowing for worse things to come. In the meantime we've just got to say a few extra Hail Pelinis and Our Father Who art Tom Osborne prayers before bed tonight, it's really all we can do at this point.