From a Scrub's Standpoint

It’s been a week, so let’s get up to date.

For instance, I am absolutely certain you want to know about how my night at the Holland Center went last Monday. Thanks for asking.

To review, Huskerland Penni and I attended last Monday’s Leonid and Friends concert, and it made for a smashing evening, baby. (gee thanks, Austin Powers!) First off, my wife and I found a place to park directly in front on an Old Market restaurant of our choice, and were seated and served almost immediately. Not much of a for early Monday supper in the Old Market.

We had further good fortune with our parking, in the garage directly north of the Holland Center, and on the ground floor, to boot. Walk in, walk out, pretty simple. We arrived early enough to take in the scene for a bit, people watching for a half-hour or so before the door opened. (Couldn’t help but sense their disappointment when looking back at me, but that’s another story.)

Leonid and Friends became a Youtube and Facebook sensation during the COVID year – that’s when I found them – and they made their initial mark by playing hits by Chicago, the band, not the city. To confirm my now long-held suspicion, in the elevator going up I asked those with us, “anybody else find these guys on Youtube?” It was a unanimous yes, except for one guy who found them on Facebook.  Either way, it was clear we all enjoyed their music.

Another factor I was fascinated by was the makeup of the audience in attendance. No, not that makeup (wrong concert), but rather how old a crowd did ol’ Leonid attract that night. Turns out, pretty old. Me and the little lady seemed about the mean average age, with very few very young in attendance, and a handful of folks on hand who might have discovered the band by letter press if you know what I mean. (ahem)

Needless to say the performance was pretty sensational. Almost all of the songs were covers, but the group also did a very stirring, an a cappella version of a song Leonid had written about Russia, the band’s home country. It was a very touching moment when, as they say, you could have heard a приколоть drop. (go ahead, look it up)

As we advanced on our seats – center cut, on the aisle, as I wasn’t foolin’ around about these tickets – I told Penn this was a two-song ticket; if they sang both Beginnings (the first song I ever heard them play) and Questions 67 and 68 (my personal favorite from their Youtube performances) I would feel like I’d gotten my money’s worth.

I got my money’s worth.

It was a glorious evening, so worth the wait. Just like this coming weekend.

Um, what, @HuskerlandBob?

* Spoiler alert, this coming weekend I will do something I have never done in my 44 years of sports journalism. (Not county those glory days in high school when I was at – even in, sometimes! – the games I wrote about for the dear old Arnold Sentinel.)

I won’t be at any Football Friday night games. Not unless we check one out in Vegas.

See, my best friend from high school, the great Tam Romans, and his wife Sue (you remember, I played Cupid) asked Penn and I to accompany them to a Raiders game. In Las Vegas. During the Nebraska high school football season. Sacrilege, say it ain’t so, Shoeless Huskerland Bob!

I’m afraid it is, little Johnny.

Romans is a lifetime Raiders fan, dating back to the Kent McCloughan days in the 1960s. McCloughan was from Broken Bow, so he was a hero to many in Custer County, starting cornerback for the Raiders in Super Bowl II.

Anyway, we’d talked about going to a game for several years but never made it happen. When Romans shot me two dates, one last month and this coming Sunday, we chose the latter, figuring it would be a week before the end of the eight-man football season, and all the fun on the Saturday that follows Week 8, playoff pairings and all.

So we are going. The website will be populated like usual on Friday (our plan leaves at 2:30 p.m.) but there will be no Saturday Morning Quarterback (I promise you, that makes my swallow hard) and no ratings on Sunday. Monday I will repost some of my favorite old stuff, then we will get back on the horse next Tuesday.

I have only been to Las Vegas three times in my life, twice for Rivals conference, so this will be fun. Even more fun is the fact I have never been in Allegiant Stadium, which looks awful nice. The Huskers play Maryland on Saturday, so Romans and I plan to watch the game in the sports book, but no way I am betting a Huskers game – not quite sure what we have there, except the boys are a glorious 4-1 with the chance to win many more.

Maybe even covering an 11.5 point spread this time.

We will be back to football later today, and have some fun stuff on tap the rest of the week. Thanks for tagging along…