Buffs miss Big Red rivalry

It might not be the worst mistake in the history of Colorado football. But this much we know is true: The Buffaloes have never been the same since ending their beef with Nebraska to eat sushi in the Pac12 Conference, where CU often looks as out of place as cowboy boots on the beach.

“I’ d rather be dead than red ,” legendary CU coach Bill McCartney reminded us this week, as the Buffs prepared to play the Cornhuskers for the first time in eight years.

Is it too late to rev ive the rivalry? Please. Will it help if I beg?

During the same sad and regret table week in the summer of 2010, Colorado declared it was leaving the Big 12 Conference, while Nebraska decided to bolt for the Big Ten. Since November of that same year, when the Huskers routed the Buffs 4517 at Memorial Stadium in beautiful downtown Lincoln, CU’s record on the football field has been 2959.

An unhappy coincidence? I think not. Something’s missing. “The Buffs need a rival,” said Broncos rookie running back Phillip Lindsay, a Colorado kid that grew up to tote the rock in Boulder. But he never had the pleasure of playing Nebraska, and says the closest thing CU has to a rival now is Utah.

Do you miss the annual anticipation of playing Nebraska? I do. I miss it all. I miss the salty barking about 6236, and spicy bite of a Bloody Mary at Barry’s Bar & Grill in Lincoln. I miss watching Tommie Frazier run wild, and McCartney chewing me out for the sin of wearing a red Tshirt underablackVnecksweaterto a CU football practice.

OK, don’t get your red knickers in a knot, Bugeaters. I know