Go to Nebraska or stay close to home? Go pro or stay in school? With a strong family behind him and a shot at history in front of him the usual questions rarely apply to Nebraska’s Ameer Abdullah. — It’s early May in Hoover, Ala., and there are Southeastern Conference banners hanging from the streetlights. If towns talk via what they choose to promote, it could seem like a strange thing to say to an outsider. Unless you know that the SEC holds its annual media days here in…

Nebraska kicker Patrick Smith has the night of his life. — Scott Bruhn Story and photos originally published by Hail Varsity magazine. UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A transfer kicker walked into the only warm place in Beaver Stadium on Saturday night and wondered what to do. It was nothing more than a cinderblock room stuffed with chairs and cameras and journalists…

On sports, life, and why we do either. — John S. Peterson Story and photos originally published by Hail Varsity magazine. “Did you cry?” I was one of 10 or 12 people still in the Memorial Stadium press box a few hours after Nebraska’s spring game last Saturday. I was working on a post-game notes column when my wife…

ESPN elevated the conversation with its “Film Room” broadcast of the BCS National Championship Game. — Brandon Vogel There’s nothing subtle about football. It’s a big, dumb, loud, obnoxious game and America loves it more than almost anything else. …

On getting older and how to cover your head — Blame my father. He was a ball cap guy. He had, and still has, an entire filing cabinet and three storage bins full of hats. The mesh feedlot and seed supplier caps that a farmer can’t help but accumulate. He kept them all. And when he bought me my first…

Restoring my faith in music criticism — YeezyGraffiti.com Early 1990s, northwest corner of Nebraska. That’s when and where I grew up, when and where I started selecting my own music. The first part was unavoidable, the second part surprisingly difficult. Unless you’re from an equally empty part of the country, you might not understand just how hard…