ESPN sent a reporter to Nebraska this week. How could they not? News is in the air, breathe it, and you have a story.

Let’s see how she does describing our local color:

Cattle trucks rumble down Highway 30 on another dreary day in mediocrity. The sun has been trying its darnedest to poke its head out, a DJ crackles between hog reports and outdated songs. But the rain keeps coming, and the banks of the Loup Power Canal are about to give.

They do not ask for much in these parts. Water for the crops, good health for the family, a 10-win season for the football team. And like most towns in Nebraska, the football team is everywhere in Columbus. The grocery store on the corner sells Husker Chops. The garbage-truck driver who runs Big Red Sanitation has a bumper sticker that says he’s a Cornhusker. He’s the proud pops of Cory Schlesinger, one of the last great Nebraska fullbacks.