Obsessions of a Husker mind: Topic No. 2

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BY BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star

This is the second in a weekly series looking at topics that constantly find their way into conversation among Husker football fans.

Our first entry discussed the popular conversation topic: Why don’t Husker defensive backs turn and look for the ball?

Today's obsession: It revolves around the simple act of standing.

Topic No. 2

It’s the kind of topic that can carry three hours of local talk radio and get 179 responses on a blog. It has ruffled its share of feathers and even provoked a man to write a jingle.

And it’s all because of the question of standing during a Husker football game. Is it just part of the game day experience and being a passionate fan or is it an inconsiderate act to those seated behind you?

It has been a Husker fan obsession for years, the topic at full-steam in early March when it was announced that about 2,000 student seats would be moved from the lower half of South Stadium to the upper reaches.

In large part, the move was made because students were standing during games, an annoyance to some fans behind them.

“Just so you understand, it’s been an ongoing issue for several years, students not just standing up, but standing on top of seats,” Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne said last month. “We feel everyone who pays for a ticket is entitled to see the game.”

The debate got going, name-calling sometimes along for the ride.

Those who are continually standing are occasionally called selfish or worse, while those who grow angry with the standing crowd sometimes get labeled as cranky “blue hairs.”

The standing debate is often seen as young versus old, though not always fairly so.  Age doesn’t necessarily determine which side you’re on.

It is more about your philosophy on what etiquette boundaries you think come with being a sports fan.

Some see standing as an important display of enthusiasm, believing the result to be a louder stadium and greater home-field advantage.

Others don’t see the point in standing all the time, especially when the game lacks drama. Their thinking is, they paid a decent chunk of change for a seat. They might as well sit in it.

Wrote one fan: “I consider myself to be one of the older crowd, and I would love to stand the entire game and be yelling my lungs out. But if someone is standing on the bleachers, that is not right or respectful of those behind them.”

Countered another: “This isn’t tennis. It’s football! Memorial (Stadium) has been seen less and less over the last couple of years as an intimidating place to play. Doesn’t matter how good or bad the teams are. The atmosphere from the Texas game (in 2006) should be how it is EVERY GAME!”

The debate is not without the occasional attempt at comic relief. One Husker fan even wrote a jingle about the subject matter, his lyrics set to the tune of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.”

“...They’re usually a harmless bunch of guys / But don’t stand up in their way.

“They’ll sit behind you, gripe and glower / And claim they missed the play ...”

So goes the back and forth. This Husker conversation piece isn’t going away, and neither is that old stadium cry, “Down in front!”

Reach Brian Christopherson at bchristopherson@journalstar.com or 473-7439.