Don’t be afraid to stand out in the sea of red

In 1991, my parents moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, for my mom’s job. They were both born and raised in Nebraska but made the move anyway.
In January 1995, I was born in Colorado Springs. In March 1997, my parents and I moved to Nebraska and ended up in St. Paul, a small town of about 2,000. That’s where I grew up, what I consider my hometown, and where my parents still live. It’s where my only brother was born, where I went to school, and where most of my friends are from.
Most of my family lives in Nebraska, I go to school in Nebraska, and I could easily be considered a Nebraska-native who loves most of the same things as other Nebraskans. But there is one huge difference between most Nebraskans and me.
I am a Colorado Buffaloes fan. My dad is a Colorado Buffaloes fan. My brother is a Colorado Buffaloes fan. And my mom, well, she is a fan of whatever the rest of us are fans of; therefore, my mom is a Colorado Buffaloes fan.
The rest of my mom’s family and my dad’s family are Husker fans and it makes them angry that we aren’t.
In elementary school, I was teased about the Buffaloes and how awful they were (I can admit it, they went through a rough patch…for quite a few years). And it was always the worst around Thanksgiving when Nebraska and Colorado played on Black Friday.
In junior high, my best friend and her family forked my family’s yard, hung up Nebraska posters, and tied red balloons all over our deck.
That was the same year I made a bet with my history teacher about the Black Friday game, when I lost and had to wear a Husker sweatshirt all day, which was humiliating.
My cousins, aunts, and uncles constantly joked about how awful the Buffs were and how we were “on the dark side.”
One year, my parents took my brother and I to the Colorado-Nebraska game at Nebraska, and it was fun and exciting to be able to watch my team play, but the people sitting around us would mock us and make fun of my brother and I when we cheered for our team.
For 21 years of my life, people around me have been trying to convince me to be a Husker fan.
“Huskers are better,” “Huskers actually win games,” “Husker fans are actually the nicest fans in the world,” “Huskers sell out more games than most teams,” on and on and on, for 21 years.
But, even now, I can proudly say, I am not a Husker fan. Sure, it would be easier to be a Husker fan because everyone I’m surrounded by, is. It would be easier because the Huskers do typically have a more successful team than the Buffaloes. But, being a Colorado Buffaloes fan in the sea of red has taught me some valuable lessons I wouldn’t ever want to give up.
1.) Football actually is just a game.
No matter who your team is, no matter who you cheer for, no matter what kind of bet you have on a game, football will always be just a game. In Nebraska, football seems to make the world go round, but in all actuality, it’s just 22 guys out on the field tossing a ball around while hitting each other.
2.) You can defeat peer pressure.
Friends, family members, enemies, people who don’t even know me, even my boyfriend, have all tried to convince me to be a Husker fan at some point in my life, but here I am, still not one. They have tried everything from buying me Husker things, using fear tactics, teasing, ignoring, and trickery to get me to switch to the red team, but it hasn’t happened. If I can withstand all that, I will be able to withstand any kind of peer pressure.
3.) Being a fan during the rough times, make the good times even better.
It has been years since Colorado has had a decent football team. The last time Colorado made it to a bowl game was in 2007 where they lost the Independence Bowl. The last time they won a bowl game was in 2004. The last time Colorado had a winning record was in 2005, 7-6, which was also the last time the team was ranked. The last time they won at least 10 games was in 2001. Now, this year the Buffs are 10-2, are currently ranked No. 8 and they have won the South Division of the Pac-12. The team literally went from last place to first place in a year.
This year is a little more special to be a Colorado Buffaloes fan because I stuck through the tough years, and now we finally get rewarded.
Being a Colorado Buffaloes fan in Nebraska is not common; you get dirty looks while wearing your CU shirts, you get made fun of, and you rarely have anyone to turn to for support. But growing up a Colorado fan in the middle of the sea of red has resulted in my tough, I-don’t-care-what-others-think attitude; and it has shaped me into a person who truly bleeds black and gold.
Colorado plays Washington at 7 p.m. Friday for the Pac-12 Championships. To that I say, “Run, Ralphie, run.”