Nebraska fans huddle up with own at area pub

By BROCK RADKE

VIEW STAFF WRITER

Welcome to Southern Nevada, home of Nebraska Cornhusker football.

At least, that's the way it seems Saturdays at Skinny Dugan's Pub, 4127 W. Charleston Blvd. in Las Vegas.

The bar is home to the Las Vegas Nebraskans, possibly the biggest out-of-town university booster club in the city. Every Saturday, no matter the kickoff time, Nebraskans take over the bar to root for the 'Huskers, thanks to satellite television and pub owner Bob Keck.

"It's just like being at the stadium in here during games," Keck said.

The club started about eight years ago. An alumni event for graduates of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln spurred the club's development, and soon larger numbers of relocated Midwesterners were meeting up for football games and other social events.

"We started out small," said Dennis Heatherington, one of the club's founding members. "I would say the most fun thing we do is meeting up at Skinny Dugan's for the games. It's only not fun when we lose, but we don't have much experience with that. We're really bad losers."

Gary Mauden, another founder and local broadcast industry worker, helped arrange for KALV-AM (1430) to broadcast Nebraska football games on the radio.

The club has grown to include about 250 members, but the bar has been known to accommodate more than that for the weekly games.

"We get a lot of tourists from Nebraska that want a good place to cheer for the 'Huskers, so they come," said club president Steve Kushner. "One year we had about 50 Air National Guard guys come in. They were training in town."

Kushner said a turnout of 300 hit Skinny Dugan's to watch one of those rare Nebraska losses to Oklahoma on Oct. 28.

The Nebraskans hold several alumni-geared events and make an annual bus trip to Lincoln to watch a home game, but the club isn't only about football.

The group holds raffles that fund scholarships given out each year to Las Vegas high schoolers planning to attend college anywhere in Nebraska, and it mans information booths at college fairs.

"The scholarships are the most satisfying part," said Heatherington, a University of Nebraska graduate.

You don't have to be a true Nebraskan to be a Las Vegas Nebraskan. In fact, Heatherington joked that anyone who has driven across Interstate 80 can be a member.

Kushner said the club has members from all over town, including a large contingent from both Sun City communities.

But the common connection is those football games at the bar on Saturdays.

"When you're from Nebraska, there's really nothing else but football," Kushner said.