The Cornhusker Vortex

"The Cornhusker Vortex" is the sixth episode of the third season of The Big Bang Theory. This episode first aired on November 2, 2009.

Summary
Leonard feels left out when Penny has her friends over to watch the University of Nebraska football game. Penny tells him to come the next week and Sheldon teaches him the basics of the game.

Extended Plot
Sheldon, who grew up in where it was popular, teaches Leonard how to understand  so that he can try to fit in with Penny's friends. During the game Leonard attempts to demonstrate what he has learned, but his explanations are too clinical, and he fails to fit in. By halftime, Leonard leaves to fly kites with Sheldon. Meanwhile, Raj loses his kite to Sheldon in a  contest because Howard abandons him at a critical moment to chase a girl. Raj became angry at Howard, until Howard makes it up to him by spending a Saturday afternoon with Raj at the in.

Critics
"This is certainly not the only show that is misunderstanding, fundamentally, what makes a sit com work. But in some ways it is the most frustrating because they are the closest to being a traditional sit com." - The TV Critic's Review

Quotes

 * Sheldon: 'Alright, Poindexter, sit down, shut up, and listen!'
 * Leonard: I'm sorry?
 * Sheldon: Oh, that's how my father always began our football conversations - and, if you'd like, after the game, I'll take you outside and teach you to shoot close enough to a raccoon that it craps itself.


 * Howard: Sheldon knows football ...?
 * Leonard: Apparently.
 * Howard: I mean, quidditch, sure, but football ...?

Trivia

 * Sheldon says, "Cats, however, refuse to wear sporting apparel. My sister found that out the hard way." In "The Griffin Equivalency", he said of his cat, "Anyway, when I was eight, a delivery van ran over our cat, Lucky."
 * This episode featured Sheldon making "cylon" toast, using a  themed toaster.
 * Sheldon instructs Penny, "You shouldn’t keep your bread in the refrigerator. Staleness is caused by crystallization of the starch molecules, which occurs faster at cool temperatures." In "The Luminous Fish Effect", he similarly states, "Uh, yes, but anyone who knows anything about the dynamics of bacterial growth knows to pick up their refrigerated foods on the way out of the supermarket."