Memorable.

The simple definition is something that is easily remembered or notable. It’s a pretty small word but through the centuries, it has had illicit associations with a complex series of debates when it comes to things personal, especially when that something is sports.

After nearly 10 years at Nebraska, I’ve seen more than a few memorable things, even a handful of moments that by any measure would be considered historic. And that led my curiosity down memory lane while driving back and forth to Chicago over the weekend.

It was a tough task. What makes one thing more memorable than another? Does type of event count or can a baseball game be as memorable as a football game? Can one play carry the day in terms of the lines of memory or does it need to be a whole game that makes an event stand out?

I wasn’t sure, but I was confident that I had a fair amount of background to work with. And after a late-week Tweet, I even got a couple possible contenders from co-workers who know a thing or three about Husker history. It was appreciated, but they were already in the mix anyway.

So with that said, where’d it all lead? Are these moments really worthy for every fan or do I just make them seem grander in my head? Keep reading and see if you agree or disagree.

First off, I really only started out by memory here. I worked out a list that had 26 entrants on initial inspection. These were what I thought of easily, things that stood at the top. Amazingly, it was a varied list. It wasn’t just football or only basketball, but a solid mix.

There were a few events that I wasn’t in attendance or it wasn’t a game I was working, so I immediately retracted them and kept them off the list. The most noticeable would be Mo Purify and Todd Peterson’s catches against Texas A&M in 2006 to clinch the Big 12 North title. Awesome plays. They will stand out in my mind for years, but the fact I was on a couch drinking beer watching it disqualified them this from this list. Fair enough.

After that, I had to take out the stuff that wasn’t related to a game. There are more than you’d expect, especially at a place where things change about as quickly as North Korea opens its borders.

During my near-decade working the athletic department, I’ve been around for some of the biggest events in the history of the program. Less than two years after I got here, the AD left. Then a new one came, and so did a ton of new employees after he cleaned house and then others left because they had the common sense. Then another AD came and a new football coach. Actually, it was the third football coach in my tenure. And each was a crazy time with the media going hog wild, even while they were working amicably with us. Just over the top, all the coverage was. I also thought personal moments that weren’t easily seen by the public – talking with coaches in the locker room or office, private conversations with administrators and the like – should be kept to myself. And lastly, the big mouths need to not be talked about, such as Michael Beasley’s 50-point comment and even Andre Jones’ comments before the USC game, which led to an interesting conversation I had with him right afterward on the elevator down.

The closest I came to putting a non-athletic event on this list was the announcement of Nebraska moving to the Big Ten. It falls under a couple categories, like private conversations and behind-the-scenes moments as well as not being anything related to what’s going on on the field or court. But as time goes on, I think it may prove me wrong for not listing it No. 1 as the most memorable point in my time at Nebraska.

So what’s that leave us with? It’s a list of purely sporting events, just games or individual plays and only the ones that stand out. Unfortunately, it’d be a waste if I required each one to be just a single event or play, so most of them are groupings for a type of moment, which is then split up by contest as I remember it.

Here we go:

10 ) Buzzer-beaters: The first one to come to mind was a miss. Corey Simms at Kansas, Huskers down two with seconds to go, rim, backboard, 0:00, game over. Great game, but no cigar. Same for Jake Muhleisen’s just-miss of a buzzer-beater at Texas with a strong half-court heave, just inches long. However, there were a few winners too, like Jamel White knocking off Oklahoma State on the road with a putback of a Wes Wilkinson ‘pass’. And the big one came with Joe McCray’s 3-pointer that won the game against top 15-ranked Oklahoma in a Big 12 opener.

9 ) Just Call Them Gamers: I had trouble splitting these guys up because they both did the same thing, hitting big shots at important times. You’d have to give Ade Dagunduro the nod first since his two biggest shots led to two wins, first with a putback in the final three seconds against Creighton, and then the 3-pointer in the last minute to knock off a ranked Texas squad later in the year. But on his heels, Nate Johnson’s biggest basket came against Creighton as well, and in a tense, win-or-go-home situation in the NIT first round. His other shot that stands out is the up-and-under, across-the-lane acrobatic scoop shot at Oklahoma State when the Cowboys were ranked in the top 10. That shot brought legend Eddie Sutton out past midcourt, within a few feet of my spot on press row. Wild scene. Sidenote: That was the loudest game I’ve ever been a part of. Kansas, Iowa State, nowhere compares to that game at Gallager-Iba in terms of pure noise level. Un-real.

8 ) Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass: I think that’s the name, just going by memory. It was my first football season at Nebraska and it was No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the BCS standings. Nebraska-Oklahoma. Not much gets bigger and this play defined the game. I still remember watching the play and then how I had to help our computer inputter put in the right play since he missed the first handoff.

7 ) KD at the BDSC: This should be listed as Nebraska vs. Texas basketball, but it’s not true. Durant, that one season, the one time he was in the Devaney. That was the most talented, incredible and hands down best college basketball player I’ve ever seen in person. Flatout no question. Over Beasley, Kareem Rush, Wayne Simien, Nick Collison, TJ Ford, Jamal Tinsley, Kirk Hinrich, Andre Emmett, Bernard King, Brandon Rush, and on and on and on. You name it, they can’t hold Durant’s warm-ups in this debate. He was mortal, going for like (I’m just guessing) 25 and 8 against Nebraska, but still the pregame workout was enough for the price of admission and the game was icing on the cake.

6 ) Big Al, the Purple People Eater: Aleks Maric against Kansas State was possibly the most dominant performance I’ve witnessed in person. His 41 points included a conference record 25 free throw attempts and 13-of-19 shooting from the floor. And it came in just 29 minutes played. There was nothing that could stop him other than himself. It was the kind of performance you can work 20 years in athletics and only see a couple more times.

5 ) Sack masters:  Jared Crick has the school record with his five sacks at Baylor. And Demorrio Williams, playing in that hybrid linebacker/end spot in 2003 under then-defensive coordinator Bo Pelini, had his position-record three sacks, I believe against Utah State (again going by memory on this one). But it was Ndamukong Suh’s incredible performance, including 4.5 sacks and seven TFLs in the Big 12 Championship that was the most memorable defensive performance I’ve been associated with.

4 ) The Run: I about broke my foot because I didn’t move it. Eric Crouch, starting with the ball on the 5-yard line, drops back into the end zone to pass, doesn’t see anything and then gets pressure. So he takes off, zigs here, zags there, jukes one then outruns the rest. End result: The longest run in school history in my first-ever road game with the Huskers at Missouri. The 95-yard run came with my co-worker stomping on the floor under the press row table top, crushing my foot in the process. Coolest injury I’ve ever had.

3 ) Jammal moves the chains: Not sure why this stands out so much but Jammal Lord’s 234 yards rushing against No. 7 Texas was exactly what I expected to see when I came to work here. He went left. He went right. He went up the middle, and around guard. Didn’t matter, he couldn’t be stopped. And it wasn’t like they weren’t trying. But they were.

2 ) Bootin’ it: I touched on this on a post last week, but it definitely deserves it’s place here. Place-kicker Alex Henery possibly has colder blood flowing through his veins than any person who has ever stepped foot in this state, including Wild Bill himself. His school-record 57-yard boot against Colorado was amazing, but it doesn’t stop there. He had at least four field goals in an NCAA-record six games… so far… with a year of eligibility left. And his 52-yard boot in the Big 12 Championship Game was pretty clutch too. But watching that Colorado kick from the press box, at night, with so much on the line. Wow.

1 ) Everything but a win: It sucks, but probably the most memorable play in my 10 seasons doing basketball came in my first year, and it was made by a Jayhawk. Keith Langford drilled the jumper in the last minute to beat the Huskers 88-87, when Kansas was No. 1 in the country. Nebraska lost by 39 points to KU earlier in the year on the road, and led this game by double figures in the second half behind a school-record 18 3-pointers. Everyone was drilling them from downtown but the Husker play that stands out most to me was John Turek’s backward, two-handed put-back dunk, which was amazing. It was late in the second half and gave the Huskers some momentum, as Nebraska had every chance to win. But Langford hit the shot with about 45 seconds remaining and the Huskers fumbled away any chance for the program’s fourth win over a No. 1 squad ever. I hate to admit it, but if my career at NU was a book, that’d be called foreshadowing folks.

So there you have it, the most memorable game moments in my career at Nebraska. Agree? Well, let’s just say, it’s your prerogative to feel differently. But I’ll stick with this.

Others that stand out and that just missed the list: Brian Conklin’s amazing game at Hawaii in the NIT to bring NU back from 15 down at halftime to within one point at the first media timeout of the second half; beating Kansas at home in basketball; Dejuan Groce’s punt return touchdowns; Charles Richardson Jr.’s 15 assists at Rutgers; Cary Cochran’s school-record eight 3-pointers in his final home game; a goal-line hit in a spring scrimmage by no-name redshirt-freshman linebacker (named Stewart Bradley); Matt Herrian’s grotesque and career-defining injury; Jake Muhleisen’s equally disgusting hip injury; and the ending of the Alamo Bowl against Michigan.

Actually, that play in the Alamo probably should have made the list since I was one of only like 10 people still in the press box at the end of the game, and the stat crew didn’t get the play input right. I had to rebuild the whole thing for them so they could finish stats. But who remembers stuff like that anyway?