Stray Hawkeye

Iowa Hawkeye Football 2008 – The Year in Photos from HFM Ride on Vimeo.

Via Black Heart, Gold Pants

In other news, it’s a sad, sad day in Iowa football… they’re putting astroturf in Kinnick.  You can’t have 3 yards and a cloud of dust if there is no dust.  Next thing you know, we’ll be running a damn spread offense.

I wonder if they’ll sell the turf like they did the bricks when they redid the South end zone and press box.  How cool would it be to have a little square of Kinnick grass growing in a pot.  That would be the best house plant ever.  I’m serious.  Do you think they’ll sell the turf?

So it’s official.  The Game Which Must Not Be Named* will be played between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals.  I’m quite happy about this.  What’s that you say?

“But Kearn, you don’t care about pro football, only college football.  And aside from Mike Humpal (Steelers) and Kenny Iwebema (Cardinals), there’s not even a strong tie to Iowa football here.”

And that’s where you’re wrong.

In case you haven’t noticed, the Steelers’ uniforms bear a striking resemblance to those worn by Iowa.  Though both teams have always worn black and gold, when Hayden Fry started at Iowa, he had the Iowa uniforms redone to more closely mimic those of the Steelers.  At the time, the Steelers were winning The Game Which Must Not Be Named left and right, and the Hawkeyes were, well, not.  Hayden thought it would help psychologically to look like a great team, and it did.  This is also when the Pink Locker Room came into existence.  Hayden was big on psychology.

Fast forward to the present day, Iowa has been in January bowl games 5 of the last 7 seasons, most recently winning the Outback Bowl (against a red bird themed team no less).  And the Steelers are in The Game Which Must Not Be Named against the Cardinals.  Coincidence?  I think not.  Iowa is just returning the favor to the Steelers after all these years.

Better yet is the opponent, the Cardinals.  Who wear red and white.  And have a cardinal for a mascot.  Can we think of any teams Iowa plays that look like this?  Perhaps an intrastate rival?  Perhaps a team that has a Cardinal for a mascot?

That’s right, it’s Iowa vs Iowa State in The Game Which Must Not Be Named.

What more can a Hawkeye fan ask for?  Except perhaps Iowa beating USC mercilessly in the National Championship game, at the Rose Bowl, ending with all USC fans collectively hanging themselves upon realizing what total assholes they are.  Have I mentioned I don’t much care for USC or their fans?  In case I haven’t, I don’t much care for USC or their fans.

*Because the NFL is super-douchebagy when it comes to references made to the superlative soup container.

Every year, the Iowa and Minnesota football teams play for a bronze statue of a pig called Floyd of Rosedale.  However, most people don’t know the back story of Floyd, or if they do, just something to the effect of “the governors bet a pig”.  I came across this article on Minnesota Public Radio’s website after last year’s game, and have been waiting to share it since.  It has to be one of the most interesting stories of a college football trophy out there.

As a preview, it dates back to the 1930′s and centers around Ozzie Simmons.  Ozzie was a great Iowa running back, and a black man in a time of rampant discrimination.  The story also features Ronald Reagan, a real pure-bred Hampshire hog, an amputated finger, and threats of mob violence.

As a side note of interest, the trophy weights 98.3 pounds.

For any of the Hawkeye fans out there looking for good blog dedicated to irreverent coverage of Iowa athletics (and by athletics, I basically mean football and basketball), try out Black Heart, Gold Pants (occasionally, or somewhat frequently, NSFW).

A relevant post for the upcoming Minnesota game this weekend.

For a general flavor of the site, Celebrity Jeopardy with Sarah Palin, Burt Reynolds, and Joe Paterno.  (Visually fine, but definately not for reading aloud at work.)

Black Heart, Gold Pants actually used to be The Hawkeye Compulsion.  I mention the fact only so it makes sense to link to this post on The Hawkeye Compulsion from August 2007, on the topic of if each Big Ten team was a car, what car would they be.  It’s outdated, and shows just how much the Big Ten can change in that amount of time.  But, if you remember the traditional position of each team in the conference, and specifically where they were at the start of that season, it may be the best blog post ever.

This weekend, my Hawkeyes knocked off the number 3 team in the country.  In the pregame, the announcers were not even discussing if Penn State would win, but if they would do so with sufficient “style points” to make a case for being in the national championship game.  Lets see how that worked out for them…

The ending still comes up short of the all time best ending of a football game ever in the history of ever (which of course goes to Iowa vs LSU at the Capital One Bowl 2005), but one of the better overall games I’ve seen in a long time.

Go Hawks!!