Bret's first game day began early as we made our way downtown. We made our way to a great parking spot right by the action. After taking in the Ultimate Home Delivery tailgate (Bret picked up some free stuff and we threw some footballs during a game), we walked through the farmer's market and then to Old Chicago for an early lunch of Italian Nachos. I then wanted to show Bret where I taught at the College of Business Administration building but the doors were locked. Then we just hung out for awhile down by the Sheldon Art Museum.
The game time was clicking closer (ok, not really it was still just 12:30 and the game didn't start until after 6). We got in touch with my sister Cheryl, who was tailgating with some friends in Lot 7 by the stadium. We made our way back to the car and got our chairs and a cooler to take to the event. It was a good time. We had a great view of Memorial Stadium (until a big bus came and parked right in the viewing area. It was funny because all of the people rushed off the bus, grabbed their coolers and headed out looking for a place to party like it was the 1970s or something). Bret and I played that tailgate game with the golf balls connected to the string but it started to get a little dangerous with all of the drunk people walking by. Don't get me wrong though, it was my best tailgating experience ever prior to a Husker game. I hope they have us back in the future (Go to The Fort!).
As the game time got closer still (it was like 3:30), we made our way to the event at the Pavilion. I'm not that thrilled with that event. It's a pretty boring thing actually. I always think maybe there will be something new like madden football games on the big screen but there never is. Our other goal was to find Bret a balloon to let off at the first Husker touchdown. But our search failed (when you don't want one you can't get away from the people). We also were a witness to the first unity walk, where the team came off the bus and the fans made a human tunnel for them to walk through. We could get into the stadium at 4:30 so when the time hit we found our right gate and made our way in. It's our family tradition to get a piece of Valentino's pizza before the game so Bret gobbled one of those down while we sat by the big clock in North Stadium. We entered the pearly gates and found our seats. Right behind the goal posts in North Stadium (if you got the pay per view you might have seen us) and the time seemed to go very quickly. From the band to the fans to the debut of the tunnel walk, it all came together great. The people in front of us were ok with Bret standing on their seats when they stood up so he had a good view of the field.
Oh yes, the game! I really liked the way we are still able to attack in the passing game. It's a joy to watch. I'm sad that we still can't run the football. Maybe they were stacking the box to force us to beat us throwing but in the good ol' days we could still ram it down their throats. In the fourth quarter, we got it going and in the future if we can do that I will be happy. The other good stat is that we held Western Michigan to just eight yards rushing. I know that they got pass happy too but really all they could do was pass and I like it when we make teams one-dimensional. I'm not sure if it was good routes or bad communication but there was a wide open Bronco on nearly every play. We need to fix that quickly or apply more pressure. When we pressured the quarterback, he couldn't find that person.
One other note, at halftime we went back down to the Pavilion to meet up with Nunez and his family. It's become a tradition for them to go down there and run around and throw a football. It was a great idea and a beautiful night to do it.
After the game we made our way back to the car around 10. So it was nearly a 12-hour Husker filled day for Bret. I was so proud of him and his interest in the game and the scene. He got into the cornstalk wave after the touchdowns and even chanted Go Big Red! It was a great day for a dad and his son!
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