I don’t get it. Human nature never ceases to baffle me.

The NIU Huskies have finally made a major breakthrough, winning against a Big Ten school for the first time in this university’s history, and some people have already been complaining that the victory story, rather than “hard news,” appeared on the front page of the Star.”

I guess it just proves the old axiom that you can’t please everyone.

As for the rest of us, I think it’s safe to say that we all had something to smile about for the first time in a long while where NIU is concerned.

You see, I missed the California Bowl days. Believe it or not, that was before my time. I used to sit and listen to stories of how students would rush the field in great exuberance after Huskie games and tear down the goal posts.

Needless to say, I had to take these story-tellers at their word. But now I can honestly say that NIU football victories can and do have a profound affect on the spirit of this student body.

Afterall, there’s really not all that much here for everyone to be proud of. Sure, NIU has a great business school, history department and visual arts program—so I’m told—but what about the rest of us?

We’re talking about a university that is often better known for its radical interest groups then anything unanimously neutral and positive.

Remember, this is the place that was once mentioned in Time magazine (although I don’t believe accurately) as one of the most racist universities in the nation.

This is the place where Tracy Chapman got booed practically off the stage!!! The most unity I’ve seen so far on this campus has been a tie between weekend drink specials at the bars and the latest Day of Action.

Oh wait, I forgot about the winter riot outside Stevenson Towers some years ago when students united to tip over an NIU van and bludgeon police with snowballs.

Last year, the football games were steadily declining in attendance. Students lost faith in the team, everyone donned their typical NIU pessimistic attitudes and decided to invent their own variety of athletic confrontation in the form of a great, bloody corncob toss.

That, of course, was the highly intelligent display of behavior that led NIU officials to reconsider the alcohol policy at NIU tailgates. One less reason to attend the games.

But now we have a reason. At the last home game, as I drove the old wonder-wagon toward the tailgate area, it took me a while to decide if some sly character had painted little vans and trailers on my glasses or if the visitor section was really that packed.

Alas, it was packed and there were actually people in the stands. This, is a good sign, NIU.

The Huskies have finally slid over the brinks of self-doubt into the realm of optimism, and they’ve taken a great majority of us with them. I have great hopes for this year’s homecoming game. Being that it is also Halloween weekend, maybe we’ll all stick around and have … gasp … fun at NIU.

The team has finally given us something we can be proud of, and the least we can do is show up and display our appreciation. Hopefully, with their spirits a little higher and the coaching efforts presumably coming together, the Huskies will have a winning season.

It’s possible that they will lose a few—afterall, if Greg Louganis can still hit his head on the diving board, anyone can have a rotten day. But at least the Huskies deserve a great deal of notariety for the fabulous effort they’ve put forth so early in the season.

And for those of you who fail to see the newsworthiness in the Huskies’ victory and would prefer to see such things buried on the back page … all I can say is…hey, lighten up.

We all take our share of jabs at NIU on a regular basis. We owe it to ourselves to allow each other to be proud about something together before we leave here.