One More Chance
Give Me a Sign
The weekend was cut a bit short due to travel out east. Chasing more opportunities with compatible clients looking to do great things. After wrapping up an interview, me and my colleagues, Mike Drye, Jason Huber and Amanda Trimble were heading to the airport to drop off Amanda to catch her flight back to Dallas. Mike and I had not booked a flight to any destination or a hotel because we were anticipating a call from a potential client before making our next set of moves. I had packed for an extended trip and was prepared to pivot at a moment’s notice. So, just as we’re about to say goodbye to Amanda, my phone rang and the voice on the other end said, “If you’re up for it, we’re up for it!” I responded with an excited, “HECK YEAH, we’re up for it!!!” Hope to get more positive news on the interview from earlier that day, but this may be one of the last wins of the year unless something random falls from the sky. What a great feeling and way to start the week!
Time on my Side
Delays in flight schedule made for a longer day, but thankful to have made it to Florida safe and sound. Light drizzle and higher levels of humidity differs from previous cities I’ve been to, but I always enjoy walking around project sites to better understand existing conditions before we go through an engaging, inspiring process with clients and design team. A new client with high aspirations led to a great kickoff. It didn’t take long to shift gears and turn to other tasks while working out of my “satellite offices” — Starbucks and hotel rooms. I decided to get a head start and get to the airport early enough to take business calls. All was going well until I heard I may not make my connecting flight. We made up time in the sky and the flight attendant advised me to hustle to the gate. I’m sure some of you have seen the O.J. Simpson commercials where he was running and hurdling through airports. Well, I wasn’t doing any of that, but these knees got a high impact workout running through the Charlotte airport from Terminal C to B. I made it just in time, out of breath, and upset since they had to take my roller bag since all the overhead compartments were full. Side note: I dislike checking my bag for chance of my bag(s) getting lost. I didn’t get an upgrade, but I did get a whole row to myself.?
Midwest Adventures
A little geography: the Midwest includes the states of Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and North Dakota. Our college football adventures have allowed us to watch our boys play in eight of the twelve states. Roaming around these parts of this great country of ours is quite beautiful. The landscape in Wisconsin reminds me of the rolling valleys of Virginia. Similar to our trip to Illinois, there is a prominent Native American influence. Oconomowoc, located outside of Madison, is named from a Potawatomi word meaning “gathering of the waters.” Histories of the city and town are tied to the beautiful bodies of water that make the place a great destination. In the case of Madison, there are plenty of houses with barns and silos, large bare fields makes me wonder what they grow on the fertile land.
Urban Campus
Beautiful neighborhoods line the road as I make my way to Camp Randall Stadium on Friday morning. As I approach stop lights, I see dog walkers, people chatting at intersections, small shops with transparent storefronts, and residential homes. The trees have lost their leaves and large tree canopies hover over the four-lane road that guides me to campus. To the east I can see glimpses of Lake Wingra and sunlight breaks through the trees and glistens off the water. Prior to a campus arrival, there is a quaint and uniquely scaled stretch of street that reminds me of Cary Town in Richmond, Virginia. Unexpectedly, I come upon a Division III school campus, Edgewood College, that bounds Lake Wingra to the east. The sun skipping off the synthetic turf serves as a door mat to the academic buildings holding back the lakefront. The scale of buildings slowly begins to change to mid-rise. Students bundled up in their cold-weather gear, taking over the sidewalks to bring life to campus. It’s a cool 39° at 9:30 a.m. A 6:30 p.m. kick off tomorrow evening may be interesting.
Take State!
As I approach the southwest corner of the stadium, there is an unusual amount of activity surrounding the stadium for a Friday morning. The big game isn’t until tomorrow night. I thought there was a pep rally or some other campus pregame activity going on. Well, I quickly found out Camp Randall Stadium was hosting the State of Wisconsin high school football playoffs. There were three games played the day before and today, three additional games kicked off at 10 a.m. The 76,000-seat venue is a bit oversized for the small number of fans, but I guarantee you there are wonderful memories being created. I loved being able to play in the State of Texas playoffs against powerhouse teams in the Sun Bowl on UT El Paso’s campus. The seating bowl nestled into the Franklin Mountains with an open southern end framing views to Juarez, Mexico. Camp Randall makes its own canyon with more verticality than most stadiums.
After my meeting at the stadium, I had to take several calls, so I camped out at one of my “satellite offices.” I found some street parking a short walk from the southern edge of Lake Mendota. I couldn’t help but walk over to the water’s edge to take in the picturesque view. It was cold and a bit windy, but I pictured how active the edge of the bay would be when the weather is beautiful. I made my way southward for a couple of blocks to get some coffee. As I was crossing State Street, I glanced to the east and saw the top of the State Capital building on axis with the street centerline. Similar to how the Mall in Washington, D.C. is an assemblage of iconic structures, green lawns, and reflecting pools all lined up in a row or how a road is centered in line with the front door of a Texas courthouse. It’s one of those urban planning moves seen all over the world. There are plenty of axial conditions in Rome, Italy accentuated by a tall obelisk in a plaza, or the large elliptical piazza planned exactly centered on the main doors to St. Peter’s Cathedral. I divert, back to Madison: State Street was on axis with the State Capital to the east and, to the west, one can see more of the University of Wisconsin campus.
A Tight Race
Marco mentioned IF they were to win the next two games and Illinois was to beat Iowa, it would push Nebraska to the BIG10 championship. What? That is hard to comprehend. I guess the records are all so similar things can swing in our favor. One never knows. That’s why you play the game.?I’m focused more on winning one more game. Many of the top ranked NCAA teams are still undefeated. My three son’s high school, the Benedictine Cadets, had an undefeated season going until getting trounced by a cross town rival. Do you know how sometimes you want to be in two places at once? Well, this college game day is one of those days. I wish we could be in Richmond, Virginia to watch the Benedictine Cadets play in the VISAA State Championship to get revenge against the team they lost to during the regular season. Championships are rare at any level. During Marco and Antonio’s high school career, they got to experience three championship games and walked away with back-to-back championship rings. This Saturday, it would be great to watch the Cadets jump around in victory, and then do a 180-degree turn and automatically be in Madison, Wisconsin to watch the Cornhuskers take on the Badgers. Yeah, that’s not going to happen. Technology and virtual streaming allowed us to watch the Cadets take home the big win from our hotel room!
Breaking Bread
We enjoyed breakfast with Rod, Liz, and their daughter, Margaret, parents of Heinrich Haarberg, the starting QB for most of the season until suffering a high ankle sprain last week. Over lunch we introduced Charlie and Dawn Colón, Chick-fil-a franchisees of a Lincoln location highly patronized by our boys, to Todd and Alicia Van Poppel, parents of Riley, a promising freshman defensive tackle. We had a relaxing dinner with Brandon and Davina Sanford, parents of Phalen, a defensive back and big contributor to the Huskers success on defense. We get to share our personal stories. I love learning about them and the small towns they come from, where they went to school, their storied past during college and/or professional level experiences, the “small world” effect when our circles overlap, their kids and extended family, and, more importantly, the one thing we have in common, our beloved boys and Cornhusker football. A true meaning of TEAM that goes beyond the red we wear at every game.
Quick Pic
We jumped in a rideshare to campus and got dropped off at the north end of Camp Randall Stadium.?It was a couple hours prior to kickoff and the energy seemed a little flat at the time. We walked directly toward the stadium — music was thumping and libations were flowing. As we pass the tall brick and cast stone arches and banners to make our way around to the west side, I see a familiar face. Completely random and unexpected. It’s Wendell Davis, Jr., Marco and Antonio’s Benedictine classmate. He went on to play football at Pitt transferred to Northwestern and now is a sports photographer shooting tonight’s game. The last time I saw Wendell, he was working the XFL DC Defenders game against Antonio’s team, the Arlington Renegades. It was great seeing him working the sidelines and even more happy to know their friendship lives on!
Walking along the west side, a closed off street separates the stadium from a residential neighborhood to the west. A couple of houses projected loud music through its open doors and the party flowed outdoors. The front of the house adorned Greek letters, guys were socializing on the front lawn and playing catch in the middle of the street as fans were making their way to respective gates.?
“I Got a Feeling”
…that tonight was going to be electric, something special was going to happen, and the Huskers were going to break the cycle and do some great things. I felt a bit of anxiety as we were waiting in line for our tickets. I see parents and I visualize their respective sons playing all out and contributing to big plays. It’s the best thing I can do to kill time and distract myself as we make our way through the crowds to get to our seat. Talking about seats, I’ve grown to completely despise the low corner seats assigned to parents. I guess I can’t complain since we are in the venue on the first row, but as noted previously, I prefer to be higher up to see the game develop. Prior to moving up a few rows behind the parents’ section, we made our way to get a closer look at the Specialists warmup. Cindy became a photographer taking pics of other Nebraska fans along the first-row rail. I made contact with former Seattle Seahawk and Super Bowl champion, Michael Robinson, as he was preparing to do his live shot from the field for NBC. We go back to my days in Richmond, Virginia and assisting him with his foundation to help brighten kid’s futures.
Jump Around
In my opinion, it wasn’t what it’s made up to be. Maybe because it wasn’t as significant of a game for the Badgers as it was for the Huskers. I love the tune, so it got me bouncing a bit. More so to keep myself warm. The north end zone student sections filled up slowly and in orderly fashion. It was almost at full capacity by the beginning of the fourth quarter. My head was screaming over the thousands of Badgers fans, “Just one more quarter! Let’s do the unexpected, finish this, and get out of here bowl eligible!”
The quick start and unfortunate ending caused the energy within the stadium to fluctuate. The last second Nebraska field goal seemed to quiet things down until the decibel level spiked when the Badgers scored a touchdown in overtime. The crowd peaked when the Badgers intercepted the last pass of the game to seal the win and a bowl game appearance.
Uno Mas
Needless to say, meeting the players after the game prior to boarding buses had a sour taste. It’s always better when you win, but, at this point in the season and knowing the team’s history, this was a very tough loss. A win that could have changed the trajectory of the program.
The next morning, I made it down to the hotel front desk and a person came around the corner and said, “Ah, another disappointed, Nebraska fan.” I cringed, clenched my teeth, and did my best to ignore the person.
The feeling of, “We were so close, we should’ve done this or we should’ve done that, how come we just didn’t go for the win?” Yes, I was playing Sunday morning quarterback in my head. The loss still lingers. It stings deep knowing it’s the college experience these kids will carry the rest of their lives. Thankfully, Marco experienced three bowl games and one SEC championship game while he was at Florida. A big part of me wants the Husker seniors to experience a bowl game.
The Huskers have ONE MORE game in the 2023 regular season. ONE MORE to play at home, in front of the Red Sea, on Senior Day, ONE MORE chance to leave it all on the field, capture a victory, and become bowl eligible!
IT IS POSSIBLE…TAKE DOWN THE HAWKEYES…LET’S GO BIG RED!