FanNation - The Republic of Sport

This past week I was in Lincoln, Nebraska for the USC-Nebraska game. I had never been to Nebraska, so naturally I expected to see nothing but cornfields amd Bright Eyes fans as far as the eye could see. I saw minimal cornfields, probably zero Bright Eyes fans, an insane Lincoln for game day (and GameDay), and an Omaha Airport that was about as exiting as the game was for Husker fans. I decided to take some pictures with my three-year-old digital camera. Here's what I saw, in stunning 4.1 megpixels:

Either the coolest or most disconcerting thing one can see after entering an airport. And yes, I was immediately made fun of for being from LA and being surprised at seeing this and taking a picture of it in Omaha. Whatever. 

Omaha Steaks in the Omaha Airport! I was secretly hoping to see an Omaha Steaks store in Omaha and was greeted by one immediately after seeing my new local Tornado Shelter. If anything were to go down tornado-wise, I had the option of grabbing a couple filets before heading down to the shelter to cry in the fetal position while the storm passed above. 

A clean-looking strip club conviently located across the street from our Omaha Airport hotel (located in Iowa). Convenient, of course, for lesser professionals. I was far too busy mentally preparing for Saturday's game to partake in such tomfoolery. 

(I got to use "tomfoolery" in the blog, and it's only week three!)

The drive from Omaha to Lincoln. Luckily, we came acorss nine different radio stations playing nine different types of country music. Wait, that's not lucky at all, nevermind. We settled on a station that had Sugar Ray on the playlist. It was that kind of drive. 

The giant statue in front of the Natural History building on the Nebraska campus. Naturally, I danced poorly near this statue. 

Me jumping and showing off my elite 10 inch vertical. Jay Bilas has still yet to get back to me on my highlight reel.

(Notice the sign that says, "Sam Keller? More like HELEN." Call me crazy, but this seemed like a bad omen for the game.)

You may think I'm trying to make some sort of funny face here, but I'm still pretty shocked that these girls talked to me. The one on the far right is Jordan, this week's Playboy Playmate to be featured in the segment. Note to future potential featured playmates: the email is cftourguy@gmail.com, we'll figure out a schedule... 

A steak sandwich grilled and prepared by the owner of a local meat-packing plant. The guy to my left wasn't a part of that tailgate and was trying desperately to get some of my sandwich. No dice. I'm a pretty generous guy until it comes to locally raised beef. 

And then I taunted him, it's just my nature.

Madness under an overpass. I didn't ask any questions.

The day's first giant OJ sign. There were probably more, but these guys organized an admirable march with their creation, so they get the mention. 

My cameraman, Josh, and I were offered anything and everything by the unbelievably generous Nebraska tailgaters. At one point he suggested we ask for something random, like a 9-Volt battery, just to see how long it would take for somebody to produce one for us. Sadly, we didn't test this theory out.

Josh settled for cocoa. Not pictured: so did I.

This woman was well-cozied, although poorly-sunglassed.

(I'm working on a new picture face. It's called "anything but that weird shocked thing I do.") 

At the very least, you've gotta admire the creativity behind this. I approve.

Goodbye Nebraska. You'll be tough to beat, what with your impossibly generous fans, locally-raised beef, and well-organized dorm windows.

See you next week. 

One note: If you're having trouble watching the episodes on a Mac, you need to download Windows Media Player and probably a free program called Flip4Mac. I know it's a pain, but it'll make watching all the videos on SI.com a lot less stressful.