Forever Red: More Confessions of a Cornhusker Fan

by Steve Smith

On any given workday, any little thing might send Steve Smith’s thoughts spinning back to Saturday—last Saturday, Saturday two weeks ago, Saturday two years ago, back into the thrilling minutiae of game day—until reality reminds this is not how well-adjusted adults act. Steve Smith is not a well-adjusted adult. He’s a Nebraska football fan, and this is his rollicking account of what it’s like to be one of those legendary enthusiasts whose passion for the Cornhuskers is at once irresistible and hilarious. A journey into an obsessed Nebraska fan’s soul, Forever Red immerses readers in the mad, mad world of Husker football fandom—where wearing the scarlet-and-cream Huskers gear has its own peculiar rules; where displaced followers act as the program’s ambassadors, finding Husker subculture beyond the pale; and where the team’s performance can barely keep pace with its followers’ expectations but sometimes exceeds their wildest dreams. Revised, updated, and expanded from the 2005 edition, Smith’s story of thirty-plus years following the team takes readers back to memorable game moments from 1980 up through the roller-coaster ride of recent years. Blending wit and insight, Smith offers a window on the world to the uninitiated and the fellow fanatic alike where fantasy and football meet, where dreams of glory and gritty gridiron realities forever join.

238 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2015

About the author

Steve [5^] Smith

Reviews

[William]

This was a fun ride. Back in the day I was friends and roommates with two brothers from Omaha that went by the name McCune. Like me, they were obsessed with college football. At that point, the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers were struggling, still are really. But the brothers McCune never wavered in their faithfulness to Big Red, even if they did complain plenty about the hiring of Bill Callahan.

Forever Red is one Nebraska fan's coming of age narrative, reminiscent of Nick Hornby soccer ("football") memoir, Fever Pitch. It is at is best when he is able to weave personal events or figures in his life with big moments in the history of the Huskers, like when he uses the retirement of Coach Tom Osborne to reflect on his relationship with his father. It is great for the insight it provides into the particularities of Nebraska fandom, but it also gives a great picture of what it meant to be a college football fan in the '80s and '90s prior to all the changes brought on by super-conferences, playoff fervor, and ESPN.

I'd recommend this book not just to Nebraskan-lovers, but college football fans in general, and to anyone interested in being reflective about sports fandom

[Paulrus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just about the best book ever, even if it hits a little close to home sometimes.