Nebraska Cornhusker football fans have a reputation for being loyal, true, and slightly obsessive. When you have a team with a history like the cornhuskers though, why wouldn’t someone love to show their support? A team that has five national titles and is usually ranked in the top twenty every year deserves to have a strong fan base. There is no reason to believe though that other sports fans do not behave in the same way. Nebraska fans may just carry the burden of their dedication being confused with obsession.

The sea of red fills Memorial Stadium every game for when the team performs their infamous tunnel walk. You have those true fans that wake up on game day pumped and ready to go. They turn on their radio for the 6:30am broadcasts that are already on air about the game. Every seat is sold in the stadium for a cold four-hour game in the middle of October. When you’re a Nebraska fan though the weather is not an issue. When you see that big red “N” something switches and a sense of pride washes over you.

The ethos that surrounds the “N” icon for the Cornhuskers is a main source for the commitment of the fans. When the icon for the team is shown fans feel fulfillment because they know they are part of a legend for Nebraska. People all over don’t have toothbrushes, toilet seat covers, rugs, t-shirts, flags and dishes decorated with N’s for no reason. The character of the logo brings about the character of the team, which the fans associate with respect, courage and discipline. The ethos brings up goodwill and credibility, which the fans also see from this icon. They count on this team to always be around and to be successful, season in and out.

Paul Fell, a local cartoonist, seems to agree about the importance of that logo. He drew an editorial cartoon that features a man on top of his house. With his red Husker shirt on and an ecstatic grin on his face, he is carefully painting a red Nebraska “N” on his chimney. As you look down, you notice the man standing on his roof that has that same icon stretched all the way across it. This time though, the word Huskers is written in script on top of that “N”. All seven windows on this man’s house have the Nebraska logo painted on them. Lastly, this whole husker tribute is shown on a matching red painted house. He uses the Nebraska logo as a focal point of his cartoon. He knows the importance that is has with the fan base so he uses that to help his argument. Just incase his readers don’t get his message from the drawing, underneath his cartoon outside of the picture Fell leaves you with the words, “Having just one room in the house dedicated to the Huskers is not enough for some of us.”

Fell moved to Nebraska when he was young to play college football and be an art major. He then became a high school art teacher and football coach. After graduating, he turned to be the editorial cartoonist and newsroom artist at the former Lincoln (NE) Journal newspaper. That position was soon eliminated so he started his own freelance business about the Cornhusker state that has grown so much on him.

Because of his background, Fell is able to use a great deal of Ethos in all of his Husker and Nebraska based cartoons. He is a credible source because he has lived in the Nebraska for many years, has attended the University, has played football and is a Cornhusker fan himself. Ethos is an appeal of your character and relies on that for the argument. This helps him too because with his sense of humor from being a cartoonist, people trust him and his judgment. He makes them laugh so they are drawn to him. This makes what he says easier to believe. His cartoons make fun of or play off of certain Husker topics that are important to the team. This one for example was based on the Husker fans and making fun of their obsession for the team.

Fell uses a sense of pathos through humor in this cartoon as well. His freelance business is based in Lincoln so the audiences that he is directing his cartoons to are mainly Husker fans. He uses very exaggerated humor to connect with the love of the sport for most of his readers. Husker fans read his editorials and can relate to the analogies, metaphors and points that he is making in his cartoons. With this cartoon for example, he is making the point that some Husker fans are a little obsessed and then furthers that to use the analogy that one room dedicated to them is not enough so therefore we decorate the whole house. This is very embellished but still witty enough for his readers to relate to and catch his humor.

To help so the readers really understand the argument he is trying to get across, Fell uses four main rhetorical strategies; narration, illustration, cause and effect, and classification. He puts narration at the bottom of the page, which makes the cartoon a little clearer. The words, “ Having just one room in the house dedicated to the Huskers is not enough for some of us,” leaves no confusion or room for the mind to wander. Without it we would just see a house with a bunch of Husker logos. Most people would just think that this person likes the Huskers a lot so they decided to paint their house this way. With his narration though we understand that the inside of his house also looks this same way with Husker décor everywhere, therefore showing his obsession for the team.

He could also just tell you that he thinks Husker fans are very dedicated to the team but instead he provides a his illustration along with the words of how some are over dedicated. This makes his point stronger and puts a visual of the cartoon in people’s minds to go along with what he is saying. Because of his illustration they see exactly what a Husker fan is and how dedicated they truly are- like painting their entire house.

The cause and effect strategy is shown with the cause of being a Husker fan linked with the effect of being very dedicated and having a Nebraska dominant house. Even though that may be a stretched effect of being a Husker fan, he is exaggerating what fans really are like. Because someone is a Husker fan they have Husker memorabilia and have a least one room in the house, if not more, dedicated to the team.

The last rhetorical argument that he is making is classification or division. He is using this to classify the degree to which Nebraska fans are passionate about their team. This fits into the large picture because on a Saturday in Nebraska all shops and restaurants are empty because everyone is watching the game. Even those shops and restaurants pay their respects to the Huskers with memorabilia and signs. Basically he is making the point that this football team takes over most Nebraska citizens and fans because of how dedicated they are. Whether it’s revolving your whole day around the game or decorating your whole house, Husker fans are on their own level.

There is nothing wrong to being dedicated and committed to something. To be focused and to love one thing gives you something to look forward to and call your own. This might not be the case for Nebraska Husker football fans. They may take their love for the team a little too far. These fans may not have full houses covered in Nebraska N’s, but there is not limit to how far they will go to show their dedication.

Works Cited:
1. Paul Fell Cartoons by Paul Fell
Silversmith Productions
Copy right 2007
http://www.paulfellcartoons.com/bio.html
accessed on 11/11/07