The Divine Comedy

Ok, so even after taking the weekend to sit with it, I still don't have anything meaningful to say about Zack Bowman. I will give you my initial stream of consciousness ramblings that hit me Wednesday night, however.

I really, really hoped I would be writing Thursday about a bruise or a sprain, or anything, but a major ligament or tendon. I think back to the late 90s and mentioning to friends that Dan Alexander was “God’s cruel joke”. An absolute physical specimen. Big. Fast. Strong. Unfortunately, he couldn’t stay on his feet and he couldn’t catch a pitch, two important traits in an option running back. Alexander finished with a solid career, but with his speed and body, his field of dreams shouldn’t be 85 feet wide by 50 yards long.

Then we found Bowman. A franchise cornerback from Alaska? He too, is big and fast and strong. A Mel Kiper wet dream making a pit stop in Lincoln. When the talent-gap struck Husker fans square in the face in 2005, Bowman was our lone bright spot. A radiant flash blanketing the Wolverines’ best. “Wait until next year,” we said.

But next year never came. Bowman’s ACL gave him up the first week of August. USC torched his replacement and we quickly realized what we now had. As the season trudged on, we questioned the scheme, we longed for sacks, and we blamed Grixby. God, did we blame Grixby.

After the New Year Bowman considered his options. We prayed. The NFL could wait, but Husker fans could not. Finally, Zack would be back. In the spring. Wearing green. “Wait until August,” we said.

Then in a bizarre week of falling TVs, Zack Bowman also went down. God’s cruel joke seems less funny this time. I’m tired of waiting.