Like Nick in "The Deer Hunter," Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne seems to have forgotten who he is. And now it's over. Nebraska is irreversibly gone from a rivalry with Kansas that began in 1892. Bang. It's over. But the bullet didn't hurt Nebraska. It hurt Kansas, and Kansas State and Iowa State and Mizzou.

For some reason, I always liked Nebraska the best of the Big 8 teams outside of Kansas. And when the Big 12 was founded, I felt the same way.

Maybe it was the historical connection -- the Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854 basically led to the Civil War. I always thought Nebraska and Kansas were inseparable. And Coach Osborne? No finer man around. A wonderful Christian man who values loyalty and tradition and integrity over money.

We always rooted for Nebraska in the huge Nebraska-Oklahoma rivalry when I was a boy. Nebraska won the title in 1970 and 1971 with Bob Devaney at the helm. Sure, Nebraska beat KU like a drum in football every year. But they were like the big brother who beats you up, but you still love him. We would get our revenge in basketball. But during football season, we went crazy when Johnny Rogers returned a kick for a Nebraska touchdown.

I can't remember being sadder about the outcome of an athletic contest than the Nebraska-Miami national championship game on January 2, 1984. Undefeated Nebraska scored in the Orange Bowl against Miami on the last play of the game, making the score 31-30. Nebraska was down by one point. Coach Osborne could have kicked a sure extra point and tied the game, and guaranteed Nebraska the national championship. (Back then there were no overtimes, and Nebraska came into the game undefeated, while Miami had one big loss to Florida.)

But Coach Osborne was an admirable man of integrity. He went for two points, and when the pass from Turner Gill (now KU Coach) to Wichita native Jeff Smith was incomplete, Nebraska lost. Miami became national champions. I felt sorry for Coach Osborne. Notre Dame had settled for a tie on November 19, 1966 against Michigan State, and backed into the national championship. But to Coach Osborne, it was a matter of principle.

After the loss, I wrote a letter to Coach Osborne, encouraging him. I wrote to him: "Good things happen to good people who keep trying," a quote I once heared from Rev. Robert Schuller. And Coach Osborne sent me back an autographed picture, which I treasure to this day, in my lock box at the bank.

And I was right about good things happening to Coach Osborne. Under his leadership, Nebraska won the NCAA title in 1994, 1995 and 1997.

I still think Tom Osborne is a wonderful Christian man, and I don't understand why he apparently put money ahead of loyalty and tradition and fraternity, leaving KU and K-State and Iowa State behind and going to the Big Ten. This is not the Tom Osborne that I have admired so much through the years. On integrity, he is the John Wooden of college football.

My son asked, "Dad, so Nebraska is leaving just for the money?" Sadly, I had to answer "Yes." But knowing Coach Osborne, I have to believe that there is something that is not being said, something he saw that made him do this. Maybe it has something to do with Texas. I still think he's a good man.

I don't really care about Colorado leaving the Big 12. But for some reason, I thought Nebraska and Kansas were like twins, like brothers. Both free states, admitted to the Union amid the storm of slavery. A bunch of good people up there. We ALWAYS rooted for Nebraska in bowl games.

Coach Osborne pulled the trigger, and it's irreversible. But this is not the Coach Osborne I know by reputation. I do not recognize this man known as "Athletic Director Osborne."

I don't wish Osborne and Nebraska anything but great things in the Big Ten. But I thought there was an unspoken loyalty, an indivisible secret handshake or something that bound Kansas and Nebraska together.

I was wrong. The epitaph: Kansas-Nebraska rivalry. 1892-2011. It died because of money.