Big Ten?

So the news broke yesterday, the University of Nebraska will be joining the Big Ten athletic conference. It is with mixed emotions that I receive this news, for I am a graduate of the University of Illinois, also in the Big 10.

I have lived here in Nebraska for almost 10 years. I gave birth to my children here. I worked extensively in the community here. I bought a house here. I wear red every Saturday and most Fridays. I crave Runza's weekly. I can differentiate the smell of a Fairbury hotdog sizzling on the grill from a run-of-the-mill dog. I even think that Herbie Husker is pretty hot. (Sorry Lil' Red. You are a great mascot, but you don't have the muscles. Or the chin.) I know Bo. I have watched every Husker game on tv. (No, I don't listen on the radio. Sports on the radio are stupid. You have to watch. People WATCH sports and then LISTEN to people talk about it later. It's okay.) I love the Big Red.

But I bleed orange and blue. I spent the formative years of my life in Champaign, Illinois. And by formative years, I mean the years where I learned how to be me. I fell in love in Champaign. I fell out of love in Champaign. I figured out what I was feeling "wasn't really love anyway" in Champaign. I met some of my best friends in Champaign. (And thank you Facebook for bringing them back.) I learned some hard lessons in Champaign. I partied, I rocked, and I learned a heck of a lot in Champaign. But I did not watch football.

I do think I went to a couple of games. I know I didn't pay attention. I was more of a tailgater. At the radio station I worked at down there, we had one heck of a tailgating operation. Big huge tent. Killer tunes. Brats. And Leinenkugle beer. Mmmmmm....Leinies. As part of the promotions team, it was our job to set up the tent and run it for all of our listeners. And I always wound up being part of the clean-up team. The duties for that included sitting around and talking rock music, and making sure that that Leinenkugle keg was lighter for the guy taking it back to the distributor. I am such a giver.

Champaign was where I fell in love with radio. The music and the excitement and the creativity. We had a room at the back of the radio station called "Studio D." It had smelly faux leather couches and obnoxious shag green carpeting. Sometimes people would study there. Sometimes people would crash there. The best ideas in the world came out of that little room. Not that any of us can remember those fabulous ideas. You just have to trust us.

That was then. This is now. I moved to Lincoln almost 10 years ago. I am a mom now. I drive a mini-van. One of my main responsiblities to to feed, clothe and discipline three adorable monsters. I pay taxes. I go out once a month instead of 5 nights a week. I carry a purse. (Big no-no in college. If you wore a purse at U of I, you were a major prissy dork.) I don't eat ramen. I drink wine. And I watch football. Big Red football.

I wonder if there's some kind of cosmic twist to all of this. The end of my radio career coinciding with the Cornhuskers joining the Big Ten. The death of one phase of my life, but yet the spark of my past is kindling. UNL will host the Illini. I will have college friends come to visit me and relive the old days. Illinois will host the Big Red. Chris and I can roadtrip to Champaign and visit all of my old haunting grounds. (I wonder if Willie's is still there?) Death and rebirth. Or something like that. I am sure I am overthinking this whole thing, but then again, I am not in Studio D.

I do know this...I bet a Fairbury hotdog would taste fantastic with a Leinie's.