I came across something I'd written a couple months ago: it struck me as ironic that a former Nebraska football coach, Tom Osborne, was crowned Ak-Sar-Ben King. Not too long after that, the reining AD Dave Peterson, was sent packing by the UNL Chancellor Perleman. And the next day, Tom Osborne, who'd run for governor for 2006 election, was the odds on favorite, but current governor, Dave Heinemann, who stepped in when Mike Johanns was summoned to Washington to be Ag Secretary, was able to turn back a hugely popular Osborne who had garnered a couple national championships for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
So, bascially, Tom Osborne was filling in, helping the athletic program at Creighton University until summoned by Perleman to be interim AD--which is his current role at the university right now.
Do I want to say he looked silly, wearing the crown and the mastiff? Yes he did. Bu Osborne is dyed in the wool traditional. Even though Ak-Sar-Ben is no more, the track being closed down due to attendance, upkeep, etc., and is now the 30 acre or so property where First Data Resources currently sits, still has a King-Queen Royal ceremony. No track, but still a ceremony. Again, I thought Osborne looked silly in the the full picture of the crown and the leotards and all the rest. But no, that doesn't bother ol' Tom one bit. If he was elected Ak-Sare-Ben king of the once upon a time racetrack, so be it.
And then the sad part was a young football player who was paralyzed after a hit. He wound up with a head injury and was put in a medically enduced coma. The school, Northwest Huskies, were so moved that they made him homecoming king. A week or so later it showed him on a golf cart, being driven through the football stadium. He was seated and the crown looked more fitting, in place, instead of silly like Coach Osbornes.
So, my take was that these two were King for the Day. On the gridiron. Here is the essay below that the paper didn't use:
Dear Editors,
An athlete nearly dying young. Coronation as key.
A athletic director nearly dying old. Coronation as key.
No, both individuals, Eric Lofton, senior, Northwest High School, home of the Huskies, and Dr. Tom Osborne, former Nebraska coach, home of the Huskers, now interim AD. Both forever married to the gridiron, have their work cut out for them. Eric to get his life back to normal following a serious fooball injury where he sustained severe brain damage; Tom to stop the precipitous decline of Husker football.
They're in a fight for their lives.
Thanks for your time.
Ron Hartnett
nyu61@cox.net
1216 Peterson Drive
Omaha, NE 68130
402.932-0990
Coronation's duties and obligations
On opposite sides of the spectrum, young and old, black and white, player and coach, they were king for the day—Eric Lofton as Homecoming King, Tom Osborne as Ak-Sar-Ben King. Both bet their lives on the gridiron.
On this particular role of the dice, there's homefield advantage. A maelstrom of events can now be put in context.
Indeed, one never dreamed a coronation would predate a request: reach down to the very core of his existence, a symbolic defying of the odds and the gods to lead Husker football to victory; the other never dreamed a coronation would predate a request to reach down to the very core of his existence, a symbolic defying of the gods and the odds, to lead Huskie football to victory.
The honor of the day, the glittering crown, the smiles and cheers from the crowd, things pigskin as backdrop—such glory. Fame, however, so fleeting, is now past. Their subjects, clamoring for redress, calling for answers, are unsure and afraid. The kings must answer to the hue and cry.
As the song says: Tom, our Husker Nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
As the song says: Eric, our Huskie Nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
No simple task, for AD Osborne, to pull a season from the ashes. No simple task, for Northwest senior Lofton, to right the physical and mental ship of state.
King Lofton’s task, more private, less duly recorded, vertigo ascending, will nevertheless be Huskie tough: pull a life from out of the dark tailspin of doubt and despair—natural bridesmaids when it comes to TBI recovery—and onto one of dreams and fulfillment.
King Tom’s task, more public, duly recorded, vertigo ascending, will nevertheless be Husker tough: pull a season from out of the dark tailspin of doubt and despair—natural bridesmaids when it comes to losing records—and onto one of dreams and fulfillment.
Of course, it’s easy to say things like, “It won’t be easy”; “You'll have to work hard”; "We're with you all the way" (behind the nagging “Can they do it?”) but really it can't be helped. While Tom—oh so public—will have legions of support and tons of $$ to work with, Eric—oh so personal—will have legions of support yet $$-wise perhaps not as much to work with. Rex Tom has experience on his side; Rex Eric has youth.
One miracle arrived; why not expect another?
And, looking through the lens at three decades post-sea change, I can say, “Just hang on for the ride, guys—not real smooth but sure is fascinating!" While frustration gets way beyond the pale, you know you've been places few have ever been, seen things few will ever see. Of course it’s a new road and it’s the one Robert Frost so clearly recommended—the one less traveled.
It makes all the difference.
Road warrior advice: ride easy in harness (which Frost also said). While the analytic and “this ain’t fair” part of me found it tough to work steady post-trauma, it's also a lesson about the tough breaks in sports specifically, life generally. But like another song says, you can't always get what you want—you get what you need.
Tom, looking at a familial Memorial Field—a sea of Red, of Blackshirts, from dull to bright and back to dull again, by maddening and unpredictable turns—embraces the Future, the Unknown. Eric, no stranger to fast gridiron action, looking to step firmly from the wheelchair, also embraces the Unknown, the Future.
Tom’s is an external struggle to get a vaunted football program back on course, to restore order.
Eric’s quest, if not now before the cheering crowd, nevertheless is on a private field—a spirit regrouping, a hand regripping, a fire rekindling—all rolled into one.
For both, it's a goal line stand—a personal season, a public season. Starting out as underdogs, they see a widening point spread (naysayers wear doubt like a gown). It's an epic battle that won't be decided today or tomorrow. They're in it for the long haul. Always on the gridiron.
It’s 1st and 10 at the 20-yard line. Are you going to do it again?
It’s 4th and goal in the Red Zone. A single question as days turn to weeks, and weeks to years: go for glory or settle for a tie?
The Husker faithful, the Huskie fans already know your answer: go for gridiron two.
We know these kings are miracle workers.
So that's my first input in the blog. I think the World-Herald did have a follow up report on Eric and he's slowly getting back to "normal." But still has a long ways to go. Tom has fired the Husker coach, Bill Callahan and replaced by Bo Pelinni.
It's all about the gridiron.
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