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Tom Osborne Is Square

April 10th, 2005 · 7 Comments

Nebraska

Who is Tom Osborne? That’s a very valid question. I had never heard of him. I found myself in the middle of Nebraska on Highway 34 southbound after exiting I-80 to get some gas and a rest stop when I was confronted with my lack of historical background as I was greeted to the Tom Osborne Expressway. What exactly the Tom Osborne Expressway is an expressway to, I’m not quite sure. It seems to connect Lincoln, NE and Hastings, NE however I-80 would be a much better way to go for this route.

I looked up Tom Osborne on Wikipedia and as always it provided me with the information I needed. It turns out Tom Osborne was a football coach for the dearly loved Nebraska Cornhuskers football team and later became a member of the US House of Representatives for Nebraska. I know people from Nebraska and I’ve even seen the place on game day and they really do love their football team. Osborne was an amazing football coach, winning 250 games faster than any coach in Division 1-A history! The compliment of this expressway is enhanced with the addition of a mathematically significant road sign.

Doniphan (spelled in the elegant English) and Hastings mark this homage to math. The sign reflects one of the more popular relationships found in Road Sign Math.

\sqrt 16 = 4

While it seems like a compliment to name an expressway that doesn’t go anywhere all that relevant and actually is not as good of a route as the nearby interstate after Osborne, I question the back-handed nature of it. After all, it is certainly better than naming a dead end street after you it is a far cry from a ritzy boulevard in a high-tax part of Omaha. To add insult to injury there is the thinly-veiled accusation that Mr. Osborne is a “square”. Why else would this road sign be put there?

This wonderfully ironic road sign is found on highway 34 southbound after exiting off I-80 eastbound in Nebraska. The GPS coordinates for this sign are approximately N40 49 02.6 W98 22 43.2. See sign on map!

Tags: Nebraska

7 responses so far ↓

  • 1 LME // May 12, 2005 at 8:52 am

    Wow, maybe you should do your research before you spout off your beliefs about the expressway that supposedly goes nowhere. Highway 6, which runs along the southern edge of Hastings, actually connects Hastings to Lincoln, not 281 (Tom Osborne Expressway). The section you were on connects Hastings and Grand Island. Tom Osborne is originally from Hastings. He graduated from Hastings College and his family (brother Jack and family) still live in Hastings. So yes, for Tom, I am sure it is a compliment. What good would it do to name some boulevard in Omaha after him? He lives in Lincoln and is from Hastings. Do your research.

  • 2 Road Sign Math // May 14, 2005 at 11:47 am

    Hello LME!

    You may have missed that Road Sign Math is a game, and as is the case with many games, it tries to be fun. My deepest and greatest apologies if I have offended Tom Osborne or any of his heirs, none was intended. Instead, we try to have fun with the math that surrounds us as we drive down the road.

  • 3 RICKYB // Nov 9, 2005 at 10:16 pm

    PLEASE DO FURTHER RESEARCH BEFORE YOU MAKE JOKES ABOUT DR. TOM OSBORNE. HE IS ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED MAN I HAVE EVER CAME ACROSS, NOT ONLY IN Nebraska BUT THROUGHOUT THE NATION. NOT ONLY ARE HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS OUTRAGEOUS AND GREATLY RESPECTED, BUT HIS CHARACTER AND INTEGRITY ARE WHAT TRULEY DEFINE HIM AS A PERSON. YOU BETTER DO SOME RESEARCH BEFORE YOU SPOUT OFF AND CALL OUR BELOVED DR TOM A SQUARE. DOING THIS YOU ARE SLAPPING A SUPPORTER OF HIM IN THE FACE. PLEASE REFRAIN FROM SUCH FURTHER ACTION AND PLEASE SPARE US THE EVIDENT "LACK OF INTELLIGENCE" THAT YOU ARE DISPLAYING.

    REGARDS,

    RICK B, SOUTH OMAHA, Nebraska

  • 4 E // Jan 10, 2006 at 11:59 pm

    As a resident of Nebraska, The Tree Planters State, I am sometimes embarrased by my fellow Nebraskans. Nebraska is one of those places where an internet connection has given voice to the thin skinned, hyper sensitive asshole that is a Nebraska Cornhusker fan. And now you have done it. You mocked Doctor Tom Osborne. Now, as the author so stated in his eloquent ax grinding best, Doctor Tom is an exceptional man. He is an accomplished man, if you think winning two NCAA National Football Championships and being elected Third District Congressman accomplishments. He is mild mannered, softspoken, and in the new epoch of scandal being the first step toward celebrity, Doctor Tom has never had a moment of indiscretion in his personal life. He seems to be the man he plays on TV, and I respect him for it.

    It is his fans that get me. The landslide that was his election was so disproportionate as to be nearly suspect. Since Doctor Tom won the Championships, his fans believe he can walk on water, and if Christ ran against Tom in the Third District, all he would get is 11 votes because James The Lesser is a Michigan fan!

    And again, it comes back to adoring "fans". You were overly apologetic to the "offended", and I applaud your obvious sincerity. To me, the irony of the Tom Osborne Lover is the reason they defend his character, integrity and accomplishments is because they have none to speak of themselves.

    More math. More Science. I will play math games with my kids in the car now.

    Sincerley Yours;

    Lighten Up

  • 5 Gary R, Omaha // Aug 16, 2006 at 10:19 am

    Actually, squareness is one of doctor Tom’s endearing qualities. He even refers to himself as "vanilla."

    Apparently he isn’t quite as popular as he was during his gridiron days. He lost the gubernatorial primary to a a guy who does not and will probably never have a street named after him — Dave Heineman. And the people of Western Nebraska largely turned their backs on him, I guess because he didn’t want to keep all their itty-bitty schools open.

  • 6 Somebody in the Third District // May 6, 2007 at 12:35 pm

    P.S. Even if you don’t know your BIography, you could get your GEography right!

  • 7 Somebody in the Third District // May 6, 2007 at 12:39 pm

    (The Tom Osborne Expressway runs north-south, connecting Hastings and Grand Island, not east-west, as it would have to do to connect Hastings and Lincoln. Hastings is not on I-80, but 16 miles south of I-80, as the sign illustrates.)

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