Monday, June 11, 2007

Commence the BrieJay Whining: NU vs. Oregon at the Qwest Center Announcement

The Lincoln Journal-Star reports that the Nebraska vs. Oregon basketball game will be officially announced at the Qwest Center ...probably this December. Needless to say, the reaction from the bandwagonners in Creighton blue will be furious since it's "their" arena.

Nevermind the fact that the city took out bonds to pay for much of the arena.

Nevermind the fact that state tax money is being used to help pay off the bonds.

The sense of entitlement of BrieJay fans isn't difficult to understand, though. Thanks to the Creighton athletic department, BrieJay fans absconded all of the tickets to the 2008 NCAA basketball tournament. Then, when other basketball fans complained, they tried to spin the story away unsuccessfully. I'm assuming that most of these people aren't alums or students; I don't think the Jesuits wouldn't teach this behavior..

One idea I've heard to appease the whining from the Hilltop was getting a twin bill with Creighton and another major name opponent, such as Notre Dame. While this sounds good in theory, Creighton has struggled to bring in name opponents in recent years. (Let's be honest, nobody wants to go on the road and play a well-coached mid-major program in this day of college athletic economics.) If Creighton could get a program like Notre Dame to come to Omaha, they would have already done it. Besides, ticket distribution would be difficult, as Creighton's season ticketholders would be upset at having to buy tickets to a Nebraska game and vice versa. I think Nebraska will draw a nice sized crowd (read 12,000 or more) to this game, depending on when it's scheduled.

UNO hockey has games scheduled on December 6th & 7th (Lake Superior State-Friday/Saturday), December 18th (Minnesota State-Mankato- Tuesday), December 28th (Princeton-Friday), and December 30th (Yale-Sunday). Looking at the Qwest Center schedule, the rest of the month is free. There shouldn't be a problem fitting this game in.

2 comments:

TB said...

i think you're right when you say most of them aren't students or alums...my sister is an alum, and a big fan, and she thought what they did with the NCAA tickets was ridiculous.

A J said...

I side with NU on this one..which as you know is difficult for me.

Creighton fans are their own breed of ignorant. It's not their "home floor". It's a city funded arena they happen to play in. It's not like they're stepping foot on campus, using their sound guys, ushers etc.

The Qwest was built for stuff like this....not so a bunch of dentists and lawyers could munch on Creme Brulet and watch an overrated mid-major team beat Arkansas Pine-Bluff.

I hope NU does this every year. As you said..if Creighton would agree to play ANYBODY worth a crap..they would have done it.

Screw them.