Brian Neben Lexington Clipper-Herald
LEXINGTON — The author of “Spirit of Nebraska: A History of Husker Game Day Traditions – the Tunnel Walk, Mascots, Cheer, and More,” will visit the Lexington Public Library on Sunday, Sept. 18 at 2 p.m.
Deb White is originally from Nebraska. As a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and former member of the Yell Squad (1977-1980), her upbringing and college experiences led her down a path of gratitude and a desire to give back to society. ‘university.
Debra White
“The Spirit of Nebraska” provides an in-depth look at where the Cornhusker fan spirit began and how it evolved into today’s game day experience.
Readers can discover the story behind what makes Memorial Stadium magical: Husker Nation, the mascots, the football team, the Sea of Red, the Yell Squad, the Scarlets, the band, the tunnel walk, the black shirts, tailgating, dropping balloons and more.
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The front of the book is written by former Husker football coach Tom Osborne. When he retired, he had 13 conference titles, three national championships, coached 53 All-Americans, including 1983 Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier. Osborne’s 1995 national championship team is considered by much like the best in college football history.
“The Spirit of Nebraska will provide valuable insight into this segment of athletics and open the reader’s eyes to the demands of cheerleading and the role it plays in the pageantry of college athletics,” Osborne wrote in the foreword.
White said she was inspired to write the book when she saw a photo of the Nebraska cheer squad from the 1930s and marveled that it was made up of all male members. Curious, White began to look into the history of the team she had been on.
She also worked to catalog every person who had been on the team and continually updated it for college.
After looking into this tradition, White began looking into other Husker traditions and the book “Spirit of Nebraska” was born out of this research and interest. The book is 224 pages.
An interesting anecdote White found is that the UNL had the first women’s cheerleading team in the country in 1917.
White will make his presentation the day after the Husker football team takes on former Big 8 and Big 12 rivals, the Oklahoma Sooners, at Memorial Stadium.
