news

THE 2024 HUSKERS – Cautious Optimism vs. Red Flags: Choose to Believe in Miracles Nebraska Matt Rhule Ted Lasso Dylan Raiola

Vaseline August 30, 2024

And no, it’s not Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights again. But don’t you dare try to tempt me.

Don’t worry, this won’t be a list of the 10 Husker games since 2014 that made me want to drink a fifth of Sailor Jerry’s like Bluto while the movers were cleaning out the Delta house. Or dare Mike Tyson to punch me in the face like Steve-O. Or juggle some cactus . whatever, you get the idea.

But there was one thing that was different.

That damned Dublin Northwestern game. For me, it was worse than the 62-36 thrashing of Nebraska-Colorado in 2001, although I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. Maybe it was the unshakable belief that the “greatest 3-9 team of all time” was about to turn the corner that season. Who knows? I just remember feeling bewildered afterward. The bill was promptly paid, I quietly packed up my things and went home to the crazy, happy little Aussie (Coco) I was babysitting.

This is me about three minutes after I got home and twenty minutes after the last shot. It took a couple of decades, but I had finally learned how to move on from disappointments after games. Now, farting with a borrowed dog may not be for everyone—maybe a Farrelly Brothers comedy (one of the first) or biting the cork off your favorite brown liquor while enjoying a cool evening on your patio will set you on the right path—but all I know is that the following weekend I went to the North Dakota game with my daughter and her boyfriend.

It’s the hope that kills you

For fans of Ted Lasso, the line above is a familiar one. (And if you haven’t seen Ted Lasso , I recommend it without reservation. Come for the outrageous humor, stay for the fantastic characters and their stories.)

It wasn’t invented by the show, though; it’s a real line that English football fans have used for years to help them avoid the emotional damage that comes when high expectations are dashed. People in the pub had said it to Ted repeatedly, and he took it with him into the dressing room before a big game:

“…I think the lack of hope gets you. See, I believe in hope. I believe in faith. Now, where I come from, we have a saying, don’t we? A question, really. “Do you believe in miracles?” Well, I don’t have to answer that question for you… but I want you to answer that question for yourself…”

Some are more fun than others, even if they involve a few punches in the stomach – okay, okay, a lot of punches in the stomach, kicks in the ass, slaps on the cheeks, and other figurative abuse – but if miracles happened every day, we’d get bored and have to give them another name.

And this season, “Do you believe in miracles?” isn’t even on the agenda. It’s more like “Do you believe in measurable improvement and a bowl game?”

Yes, I can believe that.

DRAG IN THIS SEASON

I don’t have nearly the ego required to believe that this little article will make readers throw their arms to the heavens and declare themselves cured, hallelujah!! And believe me, there are still times when I want to test the thickness of my skull with hard objects. Like when I have to stare down at Deion’s Buffaloes partying on the turf of Memorial Stadium next Saturday night.

But I’ve learned to push it aside quicker and that allows me to hope harder. That’s about all I can ask for.

A little known and underrated film called “The Upside of Anger” has the quote that perhaps best describes it for me. Kevin Costner and Joan Allen starred as a pair of caustic but functional alcoholics who drink their days away while slowly falling for each other. Allen tries to explain her pain and Costner has the answer:

(about her broken heart) “It’s not the kind of thing that ever heals.”

“Yeah, it does. It heals. It just heals funny. You know, you kind of… walk with a limp.”

I think the best way to put it is: I have a terrible limp, but I still walk. Even if there isn’t always a borrowed dog around. And every now and then there’s a sip of rum.

Go for Big Red.

Now, more than ever, I’m dying to hear where everyone stands as kickoff approaches. Everything from “I have a therapist on staff” to “We’re going 11-1 and I don’t care who knows!!” is fair game – throw it in the comments below!