 Classic SI photo by David E. Klutho |
Tom terrific
A soft-spoken minister's son who starred in three sports at Hastings (Neb.) High School and in football at Hastings College, Tom Osborne coached the Nebraska Cornhuskers to 255 victories and three national championships during his 25 seasons in Lincoln. Every one of his teams won at least nine games and Osborne's career winning percentage (83.6 percent) was tops among active Division 1-A coaches at the time of his retirement in 1998.
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GREATEST ATHLETES |
Bob Gibson, Omaha
All-state in basketball at Omaha Tech; played with Globetrotters; won 251 games, two Cy Youngs for Cardinals.
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Gale Sayers, Omaha
State long jump record holder; two-time football All-America at Kansas; led NFL in rushing in 1966 and '69 with Bears.
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Grover Cleveland Alexander, Elba
Three-time major league 30-game winner (1915, '16, '17); led National League in wins six times and ERA five times.
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FLASHBACK |
1971: As Good As It Gets
Nebraska beat Oklahoma in a '71 showdown that had all the
stuff of legend
In the land of the pickup truck and cream gravy for breakfast, down where the wind can blow through the walls of a diner and into the grieving lyrics of a country song on a jukebox -- down there in dirt-kicking Big Eight territory -- they played a football game on Thanksgiving Day that was mainly for the quarterbacks on the field and for self-styled gridiron intellectuals everywhere.
FULL STORY
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THE SI POLL |
Who do Nebraskans root for? SI asked the Cornhusker State residents to weigh in* on sports.
Favorite major league baseball team
Chicago Cubs | 15% |
Kansas City Royals | 14% |
New York Yankees | 10% |
Atlanta Braves | 7% |
Favorite NFL team
Green Bay Packers | 21% |
Kansas City Chiefs | 16% |
Denver Broncos | 12% |
Favorite NBA team
Los Angeles Lakers | 13% |
Chicago Bulls | 6% |
Favorite NHL team
Colorado Avalanche | 14% |
Chicago Blackhawks | 5% |
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Favorite pro team
Green Bay Packers | 15% |
Kansas City Chiefs | 11% |
Denver Broncos | 10% |
Favorite college
Greatest athlete who ever lived in or played for a team in your state
Johnny Rodgers | 26% |
Ahman Green | 15% |
Gale Sayers | 10% |
Tommie Frazier | 9% |
State's biggest rival
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Sports figure you would most like to dine with
Michael Jordan | 8% |
Tom Osborne | 8% |
Brett Favre | 7% |
More a fan of college or pro sports?
Favorite sport to play
Golf | 18% |
Running | 12% |
Swimming | 11% |
Favorite sports to watch on TV
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*Harris Interactive poll, conducted online, of 401 Nebraska residents who identified themselves as sports fans. Margin of error +/- 5%.
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FAST FACTS |
Admission to statehood: March 1, 1867 (37th state)
Area: 77,358 square miles
Bird: Western Meadowlark
Capital: Lincoln
Economy: Agriculture -- Cattle, corn, hogs, soybeans, wheat, sorghum. Industry -- Food processing, machinery, electric equipment, printing and publishing.
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Flower: Goldenrod
Nickname: Cornhusker State
Population: 1,711,263
Pro sports teams: None
Major college programs: Creighton Bluejays, Nebraska Cornhuskers
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Sports Illustrated's 50th Anniversary |
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STATITUDES |
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3 Former University of Nebraska soccer players named to the Women’s United Soccer Association 2003 All-Star team. Breanna Boyd (of the Carolina Courage) was named to the team as a reserve, joining fellow Husker alums Sharolta Nonen (Atlanta Beat) and Karina LeBlanc (Boston Breakers).
9 Kickoffs returned for touchdowns by Nebraska's Johnny Rodgers, an NCAA record. The greatest kick returner in college football history, he also scored on eight punt returns.
41 Years of consecutive sellouts for Nebraska home football games at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. The last time a seat went unsold for a Huskers home game was on Oct. 20, 1962.
54 Years Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium has been home to the College World Series. Since the Series moved to Nebraska from Wichita, Kan., in 1950, the stadium has hosted 784 games, and 5,414,076 fans have passed through its turnstiles.
$26.7 million Estimated amount the College World Series contributes each year to the surrounding area's economy, according to an April 2000 study conducted by Creighton University.
59 University of Nebraska First-Team Academic All-American selections, most of any Division I school. Notre Dame is second, with 42.
71 Percentage of the vote won by former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne in Nebraska's Third congressional district 2000 Republican primary.
373 Career major league victories by Elba, Neb., native Grover Cleveland Alexander. When Alexander retired in 1930, he owned the record for most wins in the National league record book. A recount later added one more win to Christy Mathewson's lifetime total to leave them tied.
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ENEMY OF THE STATE |
Steve Pederson
Pederson, the Nebraska athletic director, alienated many Big Red supporters (including Tom Osborne) last year by firing football coach Frank Solich after a 9-3 season. Nebraskans' most hated opponents: Colorado (43%), Oklahoma (35%) and Kansas State (8%).
Steve Pederson | 26% |
Barry Switzer | 18% |
Bill Snyder | 14% |
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