The 24 HOUR RULE: After Time in the Mountains, Reporting For Duty

When late summer or early fall rolls around, the urge to drop everything, grab the backpack and the daypack and head for the mountains of southwestern Colorado while headquartering in Durango grips me as tightly as I wish our defenders had gripped Wolverines on 3rd and long two Saturdays ago.

Yep, that hard.

I’ve dipped out in August to beat the season’s opening kickoff, chosen a September date around a weaker mid-major (Buffalo), a Week Zero opener (Minnesota), and the last two years around a late September bye week. There have been multi-night, one-night and day hikes galore.

While watching an early struggle against Buffalo, I met the younger brother of a former Husker starting offensive lineman and discovered a table full of Husker fans in another part of the bar when cheers erupted as Gabe Ervin finally powered in to break a 2nd quarter scoreless tie, then erupted louder when Adrian Martinez drilled Samori Toure for a 68-yard TD. Good times were had by all and I recalled that as I read a tweet the other day by a Michigan twit who stated that the Huskers were a sad small regional fan base.

Talk about things which will never age well.

The next year I met a married couple who were die-hard aTm fans and asked if they could change over to the Aggie game on the TV I had reserved for Georgia Southern. No problemo. A kinship was quickly formed and we suffered together back-to-back as Appalachian State first took down Texas A&M despite our pleas. They stuck around to return the favor as newly minted Huskers, and we all know what happened next.

It was agreed it was too early for the suffering to end and we adjourned to a smaller punkish bar not far away which offered cheap drinks (good to have locals who know!) and a pool table with three big screens around it. I decided it was getting late when several games of pool with a dad and son biker pair took a turn when the kid (mid-major defensive end-sized) accused me of cheating after I sunk a lucky shot. It should be added there were no wagers or anything else involving money at play. Dad calmed his son, I paid my tab and thanked everyone for a delightful evening.

One of the most depressing and entertaining evenings was the 2023 13-10 Minnestoa game which kicked off the Matt Rhule Era almost exactly like the Scott Frost Era wound down – with a late one-score loss which the Huskers piddled away. However, after a search of several bars to find one televising the game (DirectTV and Fox were in some sort of money-grab dispute), my son Drew and I found a smaller Main St. joint which had Spectrum – who were themselves in a money tussle with ESPN, so just a blue screen on that set rolling with a screed blaming the Worldwide Leader for their greed.

But Fox was a green light. The bartender said he’d be happy to put the game on, but warned us that at about 7pm or so, the sound would be down because it was Drag Queen Trivia Night – Jurassic Park version. Would that be a problem? My son, Drew, and I looked at each other breaking out into huge grins and laughing. We assured him that would be no problem whatsoever.

And it wasn’t.

The game stunk as we discovered hopes for Jeff Sims were to be fraught with roadblocks, but a fine evening with the front windows open was had by all. An upcoming Labor Day Weekend biker rally meant the occasional roaring of engines going by, but that just seemed to add to the evening’s vibe. Also, cowboy guy in the pic above? His jeans were not ass-less and I’ll leave it to everyone individually to decide if that fact provokes relief or disappointment for him or her.

This year, football Saturday found me bar-stooled up the local downtown large sports bar/restaurant, this time hanging with fellow CFB fans Dakota and Jiri (not Yuri) as we enjoyed a back-to-back two-pack of LSU-Ole Miss and Georgia-Alabama. Georgia is #2 in my personal rankings next to my #1 Huskers (no close #3) and interest has spiked since step-cuz Gunner Stockton took over the signal-calling duties for the Dawgs. The young Bulldogs lost another close one as Kirby Smart fell to 1-7 against the Tide recalling Tom Osborne’s start against Oklahoma, although Kirby’s lone win resulted in the first Dawgs national title since Herschel Walker was a frosh in 1980.

Jiri, an older fellow, however, regaled Dakota and I with tales about both college football and his younger girlfriend, whom he proudly shared a picture or two with us where she was showing off some shorter skirts. When it came time to leave, he apologized for taking over so much of the conversation and picked up both bar tabs for Dakota and I and thanked us for a fun afternoon.

I’ll leave it to the people who know me well to read this and laugh their collective asses off at the prospect of someone apologizing to ME for monopolizing the conversation. Piss off, every one of you. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s 100% deserved, but it actually happened. Cheers to you, Jiri. 🥃

I threw this trip together last minute when time got away from me a bit. And I didn’t realize until just under two weeks prior that the bye week had snuck up on me. So no multi-night hike, but I did get on the trail and in the wilderness every day but one. I won’t throw a story about each or a photo gallery in, but I’ll just pick my personal favorite – an 8-mile round tripper starting at the Colorado Trail’s southwest trailhead just a few miles outside Durango, the eastern trailhead being just south of Denver.

The destination? A wooden bench at the approximate 4-mile turnaround point atop a red rock cliff called Gudy’s Rest. It is named for Gudy Gaskill who was the driving force behind the construction of the 486-mile Colorado Trail which took place from 1973-1987. The last couple of miles are all up the mountainside, but the switchbacks are pretty gentle and the view was worth it.

But the Huskers were never far from my mind. I snuck In two podcasts from hotel rooms both this last Tuesday and the Tuesday previous. I was pretty exhausted and a little loopy both nights, but, hell, that might’ve made it more enjoyable to the viewers , more than a few of whom take the Huskers Happy Hour title to heart, bless their souls and can I get a hallelujah and a refill?

But as much fun as it is to get away and be blown away by the views – and the people – I encounter, I still find myself getting excited as that highway east flattens out, because I realize come Saturday, I’ll be in Memorial Stadium enjoying Husker football when the hair on my arms starts rising as Sirius begins flashing from the scoreboards and the speakers.

Can the Huskers clean up the run defense, pass protection and run-blocking issues which Michigan exposed last week? I don’t know, but I have a good feeling.

Can Dylan Raiola keep piecing opposing secondaries? Can Emmett Johnson bust a couple of those “almost” runs which seem one step or avoided slip from turning into something big? Can the secondary remain lethal and keep Aiden Chiles at or below the 100-yard passing mark? How about rushing?

I don’t any of the above for sure, but I know this – there’s nowhere else I’d rather be on Saturday, even if memories of Durango and the mountains linger.