Java started the event by congratulating the Huskers for last year's season and by thanking Erstad for coming to the event out of his own pocket. He went on to introduce coach Dave Van Horn, but not before he misspoke, labeling the Huskers as the two-time Big XII Tournament champs. Within 30 seconds at the podium, Van Horn corrected his mistake, much to the delight of the murmuring crowd. Van Horn started out by congratulating the fans for their support and attendence both last year and now. He commented that the 4,400 chair back seats at Haymarket were all sold out, and they'll probably be replacing the berm seating (grassey areas) down the left and right lines with chairs in the next year or two. He said he thinks they can get another 7,000 people in the stadium in addition to the chair back seating. He also commented he wanted people in the seats for the games, and as some companies bought blocks of seats for the season, they were thinking after the 1st or 2nd inning, people would be allowed to move into the empty seats in the stands. Other comments from the coach included that NU's locker room is incredible, including 36 oak (not metal, he stressed) lockers. Also, the Huskers will have a team meeting on Monday (1/14) in which the new slogan for the year will be unveiled. The only comments about particular players were that Komine and Pekarek are still experiencing lingering effects from their injuries, with Pekarek the worse off of the two.

Coach Mike Anderson then took the podium and after thanking the fans went on to talk about how important BB:K ratios are to Nebraska, and cited a box score from an OU game last year in which NU had few hits, numerous walks and numerous runs. Coach Anderson spoke of expecting fine seasons from Jed Morris and Matt Hopper as they have been working very hard in the offseason, and he's expecting good things from two freshmen on the team, and then purposely failed to identify them. Other comments from the coach were that Brandt Vliger has left to become an assistant coach at Lincoln Northeast High School.

Coach Childress then addressed the crowd, which by this time had devoured the free food, with a good opening joke about Coach Van Horn and his hunting experiences in Nebraska. The pitching coach was far more in depth in describing the coming season as he went player by player over his staff starting with the right handers and then the lefties. A few comments about the pitchers from the coach included:

--Timm, Sillman, and Burch are better, expect more from them.

--Burch will take Ott's place as closer this year.

--Shane Komine is a blessing. It forces teams to chose to start their 1 or 3 versus Nebraska.

--Hale has an awesome curve and will get work out of the pen

--Sillman is the best athlete on the staff

--Phil Shirek, freshman from North Dakota and former H.S. QB, has some good stuff

--JD Scholten is a senior transfer from Morningside, has experience in the Beatrice summer league, and should see some work.

--Jeff Blaesing had Tommy John surgery and had a good summer in Topeka.

--Brent Potter also had Tommy John surgery.

--Derrick Conte has good stuff when on.

--Jamie Rodrique is a mainstay on staff

--Waylon Byers improved his breaking ball, developed a change-up

Childress finished up by saying NU had experience, talent, and depth and he expects big things from them.

The event then continued with a silent auction that included items such as an autographed baseball and bat, one each by this year's team, and one each by Darin Erstad. A framed picture of the 9-6 Super Regional win over Rice with all three coaches' autographs was auctioned off, as was an authentic locker stool from the Husker lockerroom. A raffle was then held with team clothing articles being the main giveaways. After that, the crowd settled in to watch an hour highlight video put together by HuskerVision. Last season was played out on three big screens, and also closed-circuited to the rest of the audience who were turned away to the back party room at DJ's and sat out in the restaurant. The event concluded with autographs being given out by the players, coaches, and Erstad, with most of the seekers being 12 years old and under.