It's Not Plagiarism If You Link To It Learns The Difference Between Extrinsic And Intrinsic Rewards

You want nominations? We got nominations. OM NOM NOMINATIONS: Step one to fame and recognition is always the same: get noticed. And Iowa football has most certainly been noticed recently. 11-win seasons and all-conference performances tend to do that. The latest two awards to announce watch lists are the Outland and Nagurski Awards. One at a time.

The Outland Award has been won three times by Iowa players (only three schools can claim more): Alex Karras, Calvin Jones, and Robert Gallery. Latest on the list, though a longshot to win, is Karl Klug. Klug is one of only 11 DTs on the list of 63 nominees, encompassing offensive linemen and defensive tackles.

Klug's mention is a bit surprising; though Norm Parker and Kirk Ferentz have both sang the Caledonia native's praises, he's generally been the fourth-most famous member of this vaunted defensive line. Granted, he'd (rightly) be garnering mountains of praise on ISU's* defensive line, but here, there's only so much ink to go around. At any rate, not only do we agree with the selection, we wish Christian Ballard had made the list too. Though if teams want to single Ballard in protection, hey, we won't try to dissuade them.

Then there's the Bronko Nagurski Award, given to the best overall defensive player. Somehow, this award has only existed since 1993, and no Hawkeyes have won it yet. This season, however, would certainly represent Iowa's best opportunity to field a winner since Bob Sanders roamed the secondary--if not longer. Both Adrian Clayborn and Tyler Sash were named to the watch list, and both players stand reasonable chances to at least make a semi-finalist list during the season. Sure, teams will try to avoid both these men and limit their involvement (and, ostensibly, statistics), but realistically... good luck, opposing offenses.

Ricky Stanzi is unambiguously awesome, Exhibit At Least A Thousand: We mentioned his "love it or leave it," "these colors don't run" video over the weekend, but there's more to that story, and we really should have mentioned this sooner. The reason Ricky was meeting with the press in the first place was because the Hawkeyes were hosting Camp Courageous, which is "a year-round recreational and respite care facility for children and adults with mental and physical disabilities, brain injuries, hearing and visual impairments, autism, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, and special needs."

To that end, one reporter asked Stanzi about the event and what it means. What ensued couldn't possibly have been a better response. 

And, okay, look. A lot of times, players will attend these things to fulfill an obligation and nothing more. It happens on every team, and an Iowa jersey doesn't make everyone immune from that. It happens.

But if leadership counts for anything, and we think it does, it's worth pointing out that this team's leader isn't one of those cynics; it's obvious that Stanzi isn't feigning interest, because that type of interaction isn't something that comes naturally to people who don't care. Interacting with people with special needs can be difficult or uncomfortable, especially if they're not family. For Stanzi to go above and beyond like that, well, it's heartwarming for even an acerbic mom's-basement-dweller like all of us at BHGP.

QUICK TWITCH MUSCLEZ:

Surprisingly, a tight end from small-town Iowa committed to the Hawkeyes. Bonus: he's related to Jess Settles. Morehouse has the rundown on necessary info, so we'll just say welcome aboard, Henry Krieger-Coble. We'll call you HKC, even though that sounds like an acronym you'd hear in some Eastern European basketball team's name. "Greg Brunner has just signed a one-year contract with Odessa HKC."

Arizona may be one wideout lighter when they face Iowa on Arizona 18. Top target Delashaun Dean (his name is French for "From the Shaun") has been suspended indefinitely for the ubiquitous violation of team rules. Arizona didn't provide any more information, but the Arizona Daily Star quickly found out that Dean was arrested for the enticing "misconduct involving weapons." We're guessing he shot up a mailbox, because wouldn't that be fun?

In case you ever imagined Van Coleman to be anything but a shill for Iowa basketball, we would like to disagree via blockquote, one in which we won't even bother adding further comment. From the P-C:

Recruiting analyst Van Coleman said he is impressed by how McCaffery has made up a lot of ground on the recruiting trail in a short time.

"Iowa was the latest big school really involved (with Uthoff) because of the simple fact we had a change in staffs," Coleman said. "And the family has had a long-term connection to Iowa State.

"But I think right now, (Iowa) being in the mix is a good situation for them to be in right now just because of the simple fact that I think they're coming a little bit from behind."

Bryan Bulaga continues to crank home runs up in Green Bay, which is apparently newsworthy. So if the NFL starts a side softball team, watch the hell out! BONUS: The entire article contains no reference to Bulaga's arm length, which is a first for Madison.com. Baby steps, guys!

And finally, if a naked woman steals your car, you steal her car right the fuck back (SFW, no pictures or anything--and that's probably for the best).

*Just a reminder that ISU didn't offer Klug. Okay, that's all.