I don't know what all the fussin' was about on New Year's night.
Nebraska swamped Alabama just like we all knew. And in the great Devaney tradition, we saw a lot of new numbers on the field in the fourth quarter.
Thanks to Bill Berger for the telephone call New Year's morning. Bill said he read in The Buck about the hunting license gift and was checking to see if the hunter was going hunting.
Why, of course! No. 1-son and dear ole' dad rolled out of the sack New Year's morning and returned to the house about 4 p.m.
We got to see the final minutes of the Rose Bowl game, probably the best by far of the bowl games and of course, all of the Orange Bowl.
I politely asked a member of the family during the exciting moments of the game if the TV volume was too loud.
"What?" was the answer.
Rich Glover really let me down. He's done about everything else so outstanding that I was sure he'd score six points against Alabama.
The biggest excitement of the game — Johnny Rodgers' 77-yard touchdown run.
The biggest disappointment of the game — Lyell Bremser was not giving the play-by-play.
In 1962, Nebraska needed a coach . . .
Tippy Dye, athletic director for the University of Nebraska, said his choice for the coaching job at Nebraska was a "personable" man from Wyoming.
However, the trustees at Wyoming were not so sure they wanted to release their coach — he had a five-year contract at Wyoming with four years and nine months to go.
Also, Wyoming had won four football championships in the five years since they had their coach.
A poll of the trustees showed that five of the dozen were ready to force him to honor his five years contract.
However, despite that disagreement, Bob Devaney was released February 1, 1962.
Coach Devaney wooed businessmen to help him with recruiting football players. "I don't want you to do all my work for me," he said, but he asked for help.
He said he wanted boys who could pursue, hit and block, downfield, "These qualities will prove whether a boy really wants to play football."
Harold Halm shows his special Nebraska Cornhusker No. 1 wall plaque on display at Joe's Cafe in Nebraska City.
Nebraska is No. 1 and there's a special wall plaque in Joe's Cafe in Nebraska City to testify to that championship.
Harold Halm purchased the plaque which depicts a Husker Big Red football helmet on a velvet background with a dark oak frame.
Special gold or brass plaques will be attached to the wall decoration listing each of the scores of the two championship seasons.
Charley Pfeiffer, manager of the American Legion club, said there are two of the plaques on display at the club.
One will remain with the club and the other will go to some lucky ticket holder.
Harold has taken a good deal of ribbing from his friends since the outcome of the Nebraska-Alabama game.
(We understand the "Husker Phantoms" struck at Clyde Stoll a little more "illustrated" after the Thanksgiving game with Oklahoma which Nebraska won, of course).
Prior to the Orange Bowl there was considerable discussion around the tables at Joe's Cafe on the bowl games.
In fact, one observer suggested that Harold apply to Assessor Howard Zimmers for tax exemption for his cafe just like that held by churches.
"Harold oughta qualify," the observer said, "there's a whale of a lot of preaching going on around here."
Well, the bowl games are history so enuf is enuf.
Let me add just this one note from the Carl Peters family which is faithful to the Huskers and attended the Orange Bowl game.
"Guess what we got for Christmas?" they said in a card from Miami.
"A Big Red toilet seat."
Little Bucks
A Nebraska City man says he will file a lawsuit asking for a quarter million dollars in damages as a result of his unvoluntary unemployment . . . The biggest problem confronting Nebraska City, according to Arbor Day committee members, will be the lack of toilet facilities IF President or Mrs. Nixon and their large following attend the Centennial celebration in April at Arbor Lodge State Park.