Wildcat, Husker fans celebrate gameday
GAME from page 1
same.
And if the team goes all die way to
the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, the
fans will add one more element to their
get-ups.
“We’ll do it a little bit differently,”
Guenin said. “Maybe we’ll add glitter.”
***
j For most of Saturday, the Cat
Tracker, a purple bus covered in Kansas
State slogans and filled with partying
football fans, sat parked at the comer of
14th and O streets in downtown
Lincoln.
Big, loud and purple, the Cat
. Tracker presented a vengeful Husker
fan with an almost heaven-sent oppor
tunity.
But in the hours after the Huskers’
41-15 victory over the Kansas State
i Wildcats, the Cat Tracker was the target
of only a handful of pro-Husker shouts.
, It was the subject of almost no anti
Wildcat insults and even let a few
Husker fans aboard to join the fun.
Fans of all ages wearing both red
and purple drank openly on the Cat
Tracker for at least an hour.
At about 6:45 p.m., the Cat Tracker
rolled slowly into the packed, post
game traffic, playing a variety of uni
versity fight songs and John Philip
Sousa marching tunes.
Partying fans at the rear of the vehi
cle chanted with the music and swayed
to the gentle rocking of the Cat Tracker.
*** y
There may have been a few places
around Lincoln that Kansas State fans
were welcome on Saturday
Smack dab in the middle'of the stu-*
dent section wasn’t one of them.
That didn’t seem to bother Kayla
Diebalo and Bob Hartford two Kansas
State fans sporting solid purple shirts
and sitting in the middle of east stadium
during the game.
Even though there were times they
were forced out into the aisle by enthu
siastic Nebraska students, the two did
n’t seem to be bothered.
“The red guys here have been very
cordial and respectful of us,” Diebalo
said.
It was a first-time visit to Memorial
Stadium for the two. Diebalo was from
Manhattan, Kan., and Hartford was
from Albion.
“It really is football land,” Diebalo
said.
And when the question about how
someone from Albion could cheer for
Kansas State came up, Hartford refused
to comment
“I’m keeping my-mouth shut,”
Hartford said.
i7 . ***
Sitting just across the aisle from
'where Kansas State fans gathered in
Memorial Stadium sat a young boy, an
old man and a middle-aged woman.
j The boy wore a black Huskers T
shirt and the woman wore a bright red
■■ polo shirt
< i The old man sat between them,
clothed in a purple shirt and hat.
“There’s no battles here,” joked
! Dale Kinyoun, a resident of Superior, as
he glanced at his daughter and grandson
next to him.
How did a resident of Superior
become a Kansas State fan?
•f Living in a town not far from the
Kansas border and graduating from
Kansas State in 1951 had something to
do with it, Kinyoun said
Despite living in a small Nebraska
town, Kinyoun’s front door is painted
purple. He has the same color decora
tions inhis yard
Joan Ferguson, Kinyoun’s daughter,
•and Omaha resident, said she was proud
to sit next to her dad despite his loyal
Wfathfp f*T PMnncin/nW
The biggest gameday tradition is packing Memorial Stadium with abort
77,000 fans, creating what is called “Nebraska’s third largest city.”
«
The Kansas people that we had in here .
were really cool.”
Steve Ramos
bartender
ties.
“We figure, as a family, someone
will go home happy,” Ferguson said
***
Bartenders and bouncers working
in downtown bars Saturday were sur
prised by the good relations between
Nebraska and Kansas State fans.
Tom Sheahan worked the door at
O’Rourkes Tavern, 1329 O. St, for sev
eral hours Saturday evening.
Sitting about 20 feet away from a
purple Kansas State party bus, Sheahan
said he was surprised by how well most
fans got along.
“I saw a lot of Husker and Kansas
State fans walking up and giving each
other hugs like they were old friends,”
Sheahan said.
Sheahan said bar employees do not
judge gameday customers by die team
they support but by how they behave
and tip.
Another bartender working at
O’Rourkes on Saturday told Sheahan
Kansas State fans were some of the
nicest she’d worked with all year.
Steve Ramos, a bartender at
Sandy’s Bar, 1401 O St., had a similar
experience.
“The Kansas people that we had in
here were really cool,” Ramos said.
Ramos said only two customers
were asked to leave for being rowdy and
that they left immediately.
A week ago, after Nebraska’s victo
ry over Texas A&M, a brawl that started
inside the bar and continued after the
combatants were thrown out attracted
police and ambulances, Ramos said.
“Nothing like that happened this
week,” Ramos said. “It was kind of
weird.” N
Police: 2 downtown bars cited
From staff reports
Lincoln police said they cited
two downtown bars last weekend,
both because people left die bars car
rying alcoholic drinks.
A city law prohibits bar cus
tomers from taking drinks with them
outside the bar. Lincoln Police Capt.
David Beggs said football fans from
outside Lincoln may not be aware of
die city’s law against carrying booze
outside bars.
“In some places, it’s OK to drink
on the sidewalk,” Beggs said. “If
they want to know if something’s
OK, they should ask the people run
ning the place.”
Police cited The Main Street
Cafe, 1352 O St, and Ruby Tuesday,
247 N. 8* St, with tavern violations.
Police cited Main Street Cafe on
Friday evening after an officer saw
three people walk out the bar’s back
door, one drinking, another vomit
ing, a third claiming falsely to work
at Main Street, Beggs said.
A customer trying to leave Ruby
Tuesday Saturday at 2 p.m. with a
drink was stopped by police and
returned to the bat; Beggs said. \
Marching band
‘pride of state’
By Marissa Jo Carstens
Staff writer
While most Nebraska fans are
sleeping at 7 on a Saturday morning,
university marching band members
have already awakened, eaten break
fast and assembled to begin game day.
The band will practice both their
pre-game and halftime shows before
eating lunch.
^ After lunch, the band warms up in
front of Kimball Recital Hall and
marches to the stadium. While under
the tunnel during pre-game, waiting
for the football team to leave the field,
the band sings, plays and dances.
While the drum line takes the f eld,
the rest of the band chants “Go Big
Red,” starting out slow and becoming
faster and louder until the pre-game
show begins.
That’s how it works on days of
home games.
But it’s just a small portion of the
work band members do.
Most people know how grueling a
football player’s schedule is, but many
may not realize how much work is
done by the people who take the field
before and after the players.
Band members Jen Erion, a fresh
man piccolo player, and John
Williams, a member of the percussion
section* said a lot of work goes into
making the UNL marching band the
“Pride of All Nebraska.”
Preparation started in the summer
with band camp, said Rose Johnson,
administrative assistant for University
of Nebraska-Lincoln bands.
Band camp lasted from 8 a.m. to
10 p.m. for a week in the summer. The
drum corps met half an hour earlier
than the band each day, Wiliams said.
Sectionals for the other groups
were held during this time as well, said
Joel Hansen, a sophomore trumpet
player.
During the sectionals, band mem
bers worked on memorizing music.
For Hansen, this was the hardest part
of marching band because the band
learns a different show for each game.
During the fall semester, band
members practiced from 7:30 to 9 a.m.
on Mondays, Wednesdays and
Fridays, and 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. on
Tuesdays and Thursdays. Band mem
bers also had sectionals.
Counting the band’s five-hour ritu
al before each game, that’s about 20
hours a week.
“It’s like a part-time job,” Erion
said.
What drives band members to
spend this much time on music?
“In high school, music was the
most important thing to me, and since
I wasn’t going to major in it, I decided
to join the marching band,” Erion said.
It’s also a way to keep in touch with
friends, members said.
Hansen joined because he partici
pated in his high school’s marching
band but also found university march
ing band was better because of the
traveling.
“Away trips are fun,” Hansen said.
“It’s a little more intense than a home
game.”
Hansen said the university band
sat in front of the fans at the University
of Missouri game earlier this season,
and NU fans chanted: “Our band kicks
ass.”
The band will also take a trip to the
Big 12 Championship and NU’s Bowl
Game.
Erion said band members must be
focused.
“People are here because they
want to be here. There is an attendance
policy, and people work hard to make
it look good,” she said.
The band changes its music and
choreography for every show. This
year alone, it has played tunes from
“Star Wars,” the Latin music scene and
jazz tunes. ? ‘ r ■
But the music is not the only thing
about the Comhusker marching band
that is changing.
The band now has a pit section,
which includes instruments such as
xylophones and other non-marching
instruments.
Located on the 50-yard line, the pit
will “add a different quality to the
sound,” Johnson said.
Students who want to be in the
band can contact the band office to set
up an audition. Students living in
Nebraska audition for the band in late
spring, Johnson said.
Out-of-state students send tapes
for their auditions, Johnson said.
Students who are accepted then attend
band camp.
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