Band Alumni Game Day

Our Nebraska trip kicked off with Husker Game Day--and, not just any game day, but the season opener & Band Alumni Game! I've never been back to participate, but have always wanted to. Our trip wasn't planned with that in mind, but as soon as I found out that we would be back over that weekend, I contacted my best drum line girlfriends and we started planning for our own little reunion (The last time the four of us were together was at our wedding in '04 and the last time we were together at a game was in November of '02)!

We kicked off our reunion with brunch at the Green Gateau (in downtown Lincoln) at about 10am.

I'd never been before, but it was quite good! We enjoyed catching up while eating various yummy breakfasts. Then, after finding all day parking, we headed over to Westbrook Music Building (where countless hours of my college career were spent) to check-in. Since Christa and I were playing in the pit, there were no instruments for us to use during the indoor rehearsal. So, we attempted to follow along with our music and were eager to get outside. About 1:30, we headed down to the stadium for the outdoor rehearsal.

Being on the field before a game day feels like home to me. Cheesy as it sounds, the whole time we were down on the field, it just felt "right". To others, it's a hard thing to explain, but seeing the band in the stadium for the first time was what finally sold me on attending school there, and band was such a huge part of my college experience that game days without it just don't feel the same.

It was SO fun to be down there again with Christa and playing on "our babies"! We got to play auxiliary together (aka "the rack"), which was perfect as we closed out our college band career playing "Sing, Sing Sing" on the rack together at the Rose Bowl in '02. And, it was awesome to see the energy of the current pit--even more exciting was the fact that they are still doing almost all the moves that Christa and I helped to create in '99 (all of this we tend to think of as "our babies" as she & I were on the first ever pit at Nebraska and were the only 2 to start that year and continue for the rest of our college career)!

The song we got to do was Malaguena (which we did in '99) and is definitely a favorite! However, this is a tough song with multiple time, tempo, and style changes. And, we only got to rehearse it twice--yikes! :) Needless to say, there was much ad-libbing going on!

Brian's family had gone to lunch earlier and then came to the stadium to watch rehearsal.

It was fun to have them there, and especially for Andrew to see Mommy playing! After rehearsal, I brought them down onto the field, where we had to do some pictures!!!Our little future Husker ;) enjoyed running all over the field and we got what is my new favorite family picture...

After this, we had some free time, so I ventured off with the "fam" and walked around campus. We enjoyed doing little photoshoots of the boys, a quick meet up with a college friend, and ended with Runza at the Union. Mmm!

The boys then went back to Omaha with Grandma & Grandpa and we headed back to Westbrook to get ready to head down to the game. The three of us returning pit girls got to carry the banner (something we had much parade experience with) and had fun leading the way down to the stadium.

Once inside the stadium, we had a blast! Our seats were folding chairs placed right behind the team! With this access, we got some pretty great views of players, coaches, and mascots!

And, we of course had a blast playing during half-time. It felt a little weird performing without being in uniform, but was great to be out there nonetheless. Between the current band and alumni, there were over 500 performers out on the field! What a sight! Not sure how great it sounded, but I think it looked pretty cool! Brian got some great shots from the south stadium and I gave my camera to a fan standing at the fence line--between the two, we got some great photos!

The game itself was great--we won 49-10 (not hard to do though given the opponent was the worst in Division I last year!). And, afterward, Christa, Nikki, and I got to play 'post-game' with the band (it helps to know the 'right' people). We helped the pit put everything away and marched back with the band. So fun!

After all that, we met up with the husbands :) and headed out for some drinks & a late night Amigo's run.

It was a long day & a late night for us 'old folks', but such a blast!!! We're hoping to make this a more often occurrence than once every 8 years or so! :)