FREMONT, Neb.—Randy Veskerna has always considered himself to be somewhat of a rebel.
Maybe that explains why Veskerna always rooted for Oklahoma when the Sooners had their annual college football battle with Nebraska.
“I liked the rivalry and I’m not a follower,” Veskerna, who lives in Fontanelle, said. “I’ve always been a little more of a leader.”
And even though the Sooners and Huskers don’t play every fall anymore, Veskerna still backs Oklahoma.
In fact, he has several pieces of Sooner memorabilia. He isn’t able to display very much of it, though, because his wife Julie is a Nebraska fan.
“She has her Nebraska stuff in the house and I’ve got my Oklahoma stuff in the garage. That was one of her only rules, and I can live with that,” he said.
But Veskerna isn’t the only local person who doesn’t bleed Nebraska scarlet and cream on Saturdays.
Billy Lowther III of Fremont is a proud Texas fan.
Lowther said he was a big fan of the Cornhuskers through high school when Nebraska was winning national championships in the 1990s, but soon became frustrated with fans who had unrealistic expectations.
“Every year it was ‘Nebraska is going to win, Nebraska is going to win,'” Lowther said. “But in reality it wasn’t going to be the 1994-95 teams.”
Lowther said he gravitated to Texas because he liked then-quarterback Chris Simms, who played for the Longhorns, 1999-2002.
Lowther also liked Vince Young, who followed Simms as signal caller for the Longhorns, as well as current quarterback Colt McCoy.
“They’re just like Nebraska,” Lowther said. “They’re a great program with a lot of tradition.”
Lowther, who works at 30 Bowl, said he will wear Texas hats, shirts and jackets during games and gets his fair share of comments from Nebraska fans.
“I get my ribbing just like I give somebody else their ribbing,” Lowther said. “I see it all in fun. It’s no big deal; it’s just a college football game.”
Fremonter John Grothusen doesn’t try to hide the fact that he’s a fan of the Kansas Jayhawks.
In fact, he wears a Jayhawk lapel pin and hat pin when he travels for business.
“That gives me an identity that the name doesn’t get,” Grothusen said. “People remember my Jayhawks.”
Grothusen has lived in Nebraska since 1986 and said he has made attempts to become a fan of the Big Red.
“I’m trying to be a Husker; I’m just not pulling it off,” he said.
Grothusen also has had to adjust to being surrounded by people wearing red and displaying Nebraska flags and other items when the Huskers play.
“It’s overwhelming,” he said. “I’ve paid attention to the Fonz. Fonzie told us all to be true to your school.”
Grothusen also has an added challenge at home. His wife, Elaine, is a Kansas State fan.
“I have to tolerate that every once in a while,” John said.
Jeff Husen, an assistant manager at Nebraska Sports at Fremont Mall, said he sees more and more people like Grothusen, Lowther and Veskerna.
“Obviously Nebraska’s No. 1, but with Texas and Oklahoma for the Big XII, we have to carry a decent amount of merchandise for the sales that they generate,” Husen said.
He also said the store stocks shirts and other items of teams that are on Nebraska’s schedule.
“We have a lot of people that just root for the other team,” Husen said. “It doesn’t matter who it is.”
Husen, who has worked at the store more than 15 years, said it is a fairly recent trend.
“When Nebraska was more dominant, you saw less fans of other teams,” he said.
Husen believes much of the reason for the change is that teams other than Nebraska have dominated the airwaves in recent years.
Because of that, many younger people are attracted to those schools.
“I think it’s what they see on TV,” Husen said. “When Oklahoma and Texas are on almost every week no matter who they play, that’s who they’re seeing.”
———
Information from: Fremont Tribune,
