Forever Red: Confessions of a Cornhusker Football Fan | 
 enlarge | Author: Steve Smith
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Category: Book
List Price: $23.95
Buy New: $14.92
You Save: $9.03 (38%)
New (15) Used (11) from $13.42
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 482326
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 192
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.6 x 0.8
ISBN: 0803243103
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.3326309782293
EAN: 9780803243101
Publication Date: September 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
On any given workday, any little thing might send Steve Smith’s thoughts spinning back to Saturday—last Saturday, Saturday two weeks ago, Saturday two years ago, back into the thrilling minutiae of game day—until reality reminds him: this is not how well-adjusted adults act. Steve Smith is not a well-adjusted adult. He’s a Nebraska football fan, and this is his rollicking account of what it’s like to be one of those legendary enthusiasts whose passion for the Cornhuskers is at once alarming and hilarious. A journey into an obsessed Nebraska fan’s soul, Forever Red immerses readers in the mad, mad world of Cornhusker football fandom—where wearing the scarlet-and-cream Huskers gear has its own peculiar rules; where displaced followers act as the program’s ambassadors, finding Cornhusker subculture beyond the pale; and where the team’s performance can barely keep pace with its followers’ expectations but sometimes exceeds their wildest dreams. Blending wit and insight, Smith’s story of twenty-plus years following the team takes readers back to memorable game moments from 1980 to the new era under coach Bill Callahan, offering the uninitiated and the fellow fanatic alike a window on the world where fantasy and football meet, where dreams of glory and gritty gridiron realities forever join.
|
| Customer Reviews:
I know he was writing about me. March 25, 2008
I read this book early in the mornings before the newspaper arrived. I found myself getting up earlier and earlier each day so I could read more. I saw myself many times. I thought I was unique; however, after reading this book, I realized that I was just like other Husker fans. I started following the Huskers in the mid 50's. I have had season tickets since the 70's sometime. Thank you for such an entertaining book.
The key to understanding the madness that is Husker Football December 29, 2007
This book is great key to understanding the mind of a true Husker fan. If you grew up in Nebraska, you share an unspoken bond with the football program. One sport, and one sport only, dominates the airwaves, broadcasts, and conversation all across the state. Steve does a phenomenal job in describing his feelings, thoughts and emotions of growing up in Nebraska with football evrywhere you look.
When reading this book, you get an understanding of what it is like to be a Nebraskan, and why we have such a passion for football. The book helps make you understand why it much more than just a game, it is a way of life. Nowhere in the nation, does one team serve as the lifeforce for an entire people. Growing up in Nebraska, I have experienced and shared the same feelings and emotions. Husker football has been an emotional rollercoaster from the disappointing close calls of missed 2 point conversions and field goals that cost national championships, to the nail biter games with Oklahoma on Thansgiving, to a 60-3 record over 5 years with 3 national titles. Nebraska football means so much more than can be imagined to its fans and the residents of the great state of Nebraska. Steve lets you into the life of a Nebraskan growing up and becoming a Husker fan more and more along the way.
Great stuff-this book will last forever December 11, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
If you ever wondered what draws Husker fans to Lincoln on Saturdays in the fall, author Steve Smith lays it all out in this book. It is a humorous but honest look from one fan's perspective about the passion surrounding the draw of Husker football. Husker fans will immediately relate to this book. College football fans reading it will say to themselves "Aha! That's why they're so crazy!".
I wouldn't call this a 'fan' book as much as I'd call it a personal search by author Steve Smith trying to understand his love, passion, and fanaticism for Husker football. That search leads through his life starting with his first Husker game - a Nebraska 50-0 win over Iowa on September 20th, 1980 - to the firing of Frank Solich and the initial season of Bill Callahan. It's a journey that many of us have taken, coming from small town Nebraska to attend the University in Lincoln, where we would have expected, as Smith states "like countless hicks from the sticks, I assumed everyone in Lincoln wore Husker gear all the time".
Smith's writing is always entertaining, even when he's being brutally honest about Nebraska, saying things that we all know to be true but would never say out loud. You establish a personal relationship with him as he shares his life centered around Husker football. I thoroughly enjoyed this book as many of the memories related by Smith are similar to my own. Steve Smith has lived a mirror of my life due to our shared obsession with Husker football and coming from small-town Nebraska.
Forever Red is an excellent Husker fan book and would make a great present for any college football fan.
A Must Read for alll Husker Fans!! January 8, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I highly reccommend this book to all Cornhusker fans! Mr. Smith knows his Big Red football and understands the devotion they inspire because he is such a faithful fan himself. He accurately and humorously portrays what it means to be a Nebraska fan through the good, bad, and the ugly.
Required Reading for Everyone Who Considers Themselves to be a Sports Fan July 25, 2005
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Steve Smith is a gifted writer and he has captured his love of the Huskers in this witty narrative. I simply could not put this book down. Mr. Smith's true gift is his ability to translate the emotions of a die-hard fan-the very definition of fanatical-into a character set that leaves the reader both relating to, and endeared by his love and devotion for Nebraska Football. This book isn't just for Huskers; every sports fan will enjoy its insight and humor.
|
|
|
|
