Gym Cracks By Jim August 22, 2002 NEBRASKA "STORM" HITS COLORADO One Nebraska football team has already played in Colorado this season...more than once. By Jim (Babe) Berryman MissingNebraska.com Western Nebraska The 2002 high school and college football seasons will start during the next couple weeks. One team in western Nebraska finished their season just this past week. The Nebraska Storm, as a member of the Colorado Football Conference, finished this past season with a 4-4 record. Most of the Storm players hold jobs in western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming. The players are not paid and pay their own expenses to participate in away games. Occasionally one or more players are not able to make the away games because of work obligations. Former Mitchell High School coach Terry Gilliland is the coach. The league is composed of two divisions--the Rocky Mountain Division (Nebraska Storm, Denver Pirates, Colorado Springs Flames and Colorado Lightning), and the Foothills Division (Metropolitan Wolverines, Southeast Silverbacks, Fort Collins Starz and Denver Titans). Most of the teams are from the Denver area. This year the Storm played their home contests at the Gering High School field. The Scottsbluff Star-Herald has reported the attendance at the home games has been good. Football has rejoined the roster of sports offered at Brady High School. Television station KNOP reports that after three seasons without a team, the school will resume playing football this fall. "These kids are the cream of the crop," coach Bump Novacek said. "They've stuck it out three hard years, and they're still here." The team will play 6-man football, so the schedule is limited. With only seven six-man teams in the state, only four games have been scheduled so far this season. Maybe it should be called 6-player football. The team includes a girl, and Novacek said Amber Land has been playing hard. "Amber's going to do a good job. She's going to surprise some people," Novacek said. On another subject, State Senator Loren Kruse was in Vermont recently. In a crowd at an event, Senator Kruse saw a man wearing a red Nebraska sweatshirt. The Omaha Senator approached the man and asked him what connection he had with Nebraska. The Brattleboro, Vermont native replied, "none." It seems this Vermont man, who is 30-some years old, has followed the Cornhusker football team for years. This Cornhusker football fan has never experienced Lincoln on a game day. That is, until this weekend. Kruse, who receives two complimentary football tickets, gave his two tickets to this Vermont Cornhusker fan for this Saturday's Nebraska-Arizona State game. Kruse also will host the Vermont man and his wife this weekend in their Omaha home. What a great gesture! Feedback Previous Gym Cracks: 08-15-02: Cubs Win, Wallet Drained Gym Cracks 08-08-02: To Coors For Cubs Gym Cracks 07-25-02: Major League Madness Gym Cracks 07-18-02: Nebraskans In The Majors Gym Cracks 07-11-02: Kile Death Sheds Light Gym Cracks 07-04-02: Couch Potato Parking Gym Cracks 06-23-02: Top 10 Nebraska High School Nicknames Gym Cracks 06-06-02: Better In The 50s Gym Cracks 05-30-02: Dangerfield of Nebraska Gym Cracks 05-16-02: Baseball Sneak Aways Gym Cracks