See you in the stands

I’ve been pretty fortunate over the years to have had a reserved front row seat to some really exciting high school and college sporting events, camera in hand.
Regular season games and matches; state tournament contests and state championships, both on the field and on the court; quite a few Husker football games and even two Nebraska volleyball matches.
I got to witness a lot of thrilling finishes. I saw tears of joy and tears of sorrow.
But there’s a time when everything must come to an end, so that’s why as of today, I’ll be a permanent member of the home team crowd.
I remember the first football game in Lincoln when I got a field pass, covering Husker defensive end Adam Carriker, who lived in Giltner until he moved to Washington state as a young boy. I met Adam in church when he would come out to visit his grandma and grandpa.
At the time he wasn’t a starter, but eventually developed into an All-Big 12 Blackshirt who towered over almost everyone. I remember he was kind of shy and soft-spoken back then. Now, not so much, if you’ve seen his podcasts.
I also remember taking photos at the Rose Bowl when Andrew Rodriquez and Nebraska traveled out to face Jim Mora and UCLA in 2012. It was a warm afternoon and evening but NU eventually was upset by the score of 36-30.
It was a fun experience to see the game in Pasadena, and breathtaking to see all the Big Red faithful in the stands, one entire end zone of the bowl filled with red, the San Gabriel Mountains in the background looking gorgeous at sunset.
I remember getting a quick interview with Andrew walking off the field, and the feeling that it was going to be a long plane trip home.
Bo Pelini’s post-game press conference took place just outside Nebraska’s locker room in a cramped little room with no air conditioning, 40 to 50 media members standing shoulder to shoulder. And surprise, the coach wasn’t in a good mood.
I enjoyed covering former Aurora player Ashley Groothuis, when her Pacific team played Nebraska that featured Jordan Larson, Sarah Pavan and Dani Busboom at the Devaney Center when the Huskers were still playing most of their home matches at the Coliseum. Pacific got beat that day but it was fun taking photos of Ashley and doing a feature story about her return to Lincoln.
Besides Andrew, Husker football players I’ve covered include Joe and Tyson Broekemeier, Jordan Bart, Garrett Johns, Todd Honas, Austin Allen, Ian Boerkircher and Nate Boerkircher.
It’s been a blast.
I also covered the Husker volleyball team in the spring of 2015 in Grand Island when they played and beat Kansas State at the Heartland Events Center a few years ago.
I Interviewed John Cook and also Kelsey Fein following the match. If you remember, Fein is the one who got the winning kill against Texas that next season to win the national championship in Omaha.
I interviewed John Cook on the phone one time quite a long time ago. I remember he was entertaining a potential recruit that day from Indiana, and he asked me if I wanted to talk to her, I assume just trying to be funny. I said no thanks, but looking back, I should have said yes to see what would have happened.
I took pictures at the Sports Complex one night when Danny Nee brought his Husker men’s basketball team for a pre-season scrimmage, a team that featured Dave Hoppen from Omaha and Bill Jackman from Grant, who started at Duke but transferred back to NU.
I covered Aurora volleyball, boys basketball and girls basketball for over 30 years, so there were lots of nights away from home, away from the kids when they were babies, so thanks to Cindy for stepping up and also for all your support. I couldn’t have done any of this without you.
Life now will certainly be different without the 8-5, and I’m going to miss the time each day with my co-workers more than ever. I’ll  miss their support, companionship, and also their humor when they put me in my place, which is always well-deserved.
And a special thanks to Butch and Nancy and Kurt and Paula for their support, leadership and guidance. I’ve truly learned from the best!
And finally, thanks to you, the reader, for your support and kind words. It’s been so much fun.
So now that I’m out of words, I’m also out of space.
See you in the stands.
DAVE BRADLEY can be reached at advertising@hamilton.net.