Black Heart Gold Pants: FanPosts

Call to Arms

three and out the kok story — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:58:42 -0000

As eluded to in "Chance for Redemption" this is the time. This is an absolute, necessary, non-exaggeration, no hyperbole, must win game. Win this week and the season may be salvageable. Win and you kind-of make up for the loss to NW and get back on pace to where many saw the season going. More importantly, you get on the path to respect.

Lose, well that's it. Period. End of sentence. End of season. (of course I will still watch and support, but the optimism will be gone)

I could give two shits that is a road game. Indiana is not a good team and they are reeling. They non-longer have Shada-dominatrix, Hardy. If the coaching staff and team staff can't devise and execute a plan to contain, not stop, but contain, Lewis (including for christ's sake finally stopping the dump off to Thigpen), it's horseshit. Indiana's defense has been torched by MSU and Ball State. Ringer put up almost two c-notes on these guys and Ball State passed all over the field. So Green and company have no excuses.

Bleep

the turnovers!
Bleep
the missed opportunities.
Bleep
the "we have improved over last year. (Author's note: this has been my kool-aid of choice the past three weeks.)

Just get it done.

That is all, you may continue about your day.

Psychoanalysis

Duez I say — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:14:47 -0000

[Disclaimer: I respect Kirk Ferentz and think he is a great coach and an even better human being. Just not that great of a Wild Hog.]

When we win football games, I read every single Iowa football article that I can during the week. Well, except for Hawkeye Nation and Hawkeye Report because they're not free and I can't stand the people in those forums; and no Pat Harty articles either.

So, anyway, during early September when we were winning and I was reading a lot, I noticed a few quotes from Ferentz that stuck out to me. He seemed unusually humble. He's always been modest but I was sensing something different.

Take this for instance:

On being handed the game ball (9/16/2008)

"It's happened a couple of times and it's very much appreciated," Ferentz said Tuesday. "I don't know who was behind it. I had to make sure it wasn't ticking and there was something in there for me."

Gazette

Sound odd? He said that after the ISU win, before we even had a loss yet. Now, look at this one:

On his Pittsburgh Homecoming (9/16/2008)

"(I) might be able to say hello to a couple people Friday evening when we're done with our meetings," he said. "But pretty much, we're just going to play a game. Hopefully, all three of my friends and my family members understand that."

Gazette

That was before the folding at Pitt. Now maybe I'm looking too much into things but what about this:

On where the offense would be without Greene (9/25/08)

"No, I didn't think about that. I didn't think about our plane crashing the other day, either. That could have happened. I try to avoid topics like that. I have enough things that are bringing me down." Interview with Eric Page

Anyway, since those quotes in mid September, we have not won a game. Coincidentally, I haven't seen any unusual quotes any more. Were these meant to motivate the team in some indirect way and he has since given up? I never noticed them in seasons past, so what could explain this?

I think Coach was having a mid life crisis...

Courtesy of Microsoft Paint. God forbid I have photoshop at work.

images via dl-client.getdropbox.com, news.metropolisadvertising.com, and usatoday.com

A chance for redemption?

HoyaGoon — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:51:21 -0000

[bumped, although HoyaGoon has been sent to the gulags for making us remember that fucking game.--OPS]

It was almost exactly 2 years ago to the day that Iowa lost to Indiana 28-31. Entering the game at 5-1, Iowa still seemed poised to finish a strong 2nd or 3rd in the Big Ten, rebounding from the OSU loss by crushing Purdue the prior week. There was just enough reason to believe the hype about Iowa that the OSU loss diminshed. But the inexplicable loss to a truly below-average Indiana is the point that it all went to shit. To my mind, this was the point where Iowa football lost its way, if we're ever going to rise again, it starts this weekend with Indiana.

I remember watching the first half of the game and seeing Iowa absolutely dominate. But the signs of the impending collapse were already there. Missed opportunities to score, Austin Signor shanking field goals, Adam Shada's inability to cover a corpse let alone James Hardy, and a score at half (21-17) that was far closer than it ought to have been. I was convinced, however, that Iowa was still a dominant team and would roll in the 2nd half. I was wrong. The second half was a seemingly never-ending series of miscues, turnovers and bad execution that unfortunately has come to define our program over the past two years.

Obviously, this trend has continued to today (see e.g., Pitt, NU, MSU). But I believe this weekend's game offers us the chance to right the ship, to atone for our prior sins and point the program back in the right direction. All the pieces are there. We are a much better team this year than last, but execution remains our Achilles heel. The death spiral began with Indiana, our opportunity to rise like a Phoenix begins in Bloomington.

And if we lose, I may kill myself with cheap hooch.

[Sir, if you're drinking to die, don't cheat yourself. Expensive hooch.--OPS]

Taking denial to whole new level

Hayden Fry's Moustache Ride — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:44:53 -0000

Last Saturday I had to miss the game (inexcusable) due to my participation in the 2008 Annual Beer Olympics (forgiven.) I DVR'd the game so I could watch it later and left my phone at home so as not to receive text updates on the game every 10 minutes from drunken butthole friends.

I made it through the whole day without anyone talking football and got a ride home late evening (with gold medals - see thumbnail). Of course as my luck would have it, the first thing my ride said to me as I got in the goddam car was "so the Hawkeyes lost, huh."

FUCK!!!!

So after thanking them for the ride and telling them politely to eat a small bowl of dicks for ruining the game for me, I crashed on the couch and mentally prepared myself for 2 hours of frustration and butthurt. As you know, the first half went precisely as I had expected.

Then in the second half, a perculiar thing happened. I waited and waited for MSU to break the game open. I waited for a 60 yard Ringer touchdown. I waited for a Stanzi pick-six. I waited for a blocked punt. It never came.

What did come was Shonn Greene busting through the line like a motherfucking dumptruck. And a whole bunch of Michigan State three and outs. And Andy Brodell catching a nicely placed 31 yard touchdown pass.

Sometime during the 4th quarter, probably near the 8 - 10 minute mark. Something happened in my head. My brain temporarily shut down and I went into some weird auto-pilot mode. The Hawkeye fanatic inside of me took over the controls.

Like I said before, I had already been told the Hawkeyes lost. But all of sudden this 'prior knowledge' that I possessed came into question. Could I trust the source? Were they saying it just to torture me? Did I owe this person money? Had they simply mis-read the score as it scrolled across the bottom of the screen? Maybe Iona lost to McNeese State. Were they telling me the Hawks lost just so that when I saw they actually won I would maybe shit my pants in excitement?

With all of these thoughts (which slowly became facts) running through my head I came to what I felt was a logical and quite obvious conclusion:

THE HAWKEYES ARE GOING TO FUCKING WIN!!!

I honestly believed that all the way up to that 4th down play. Amazingly enough it didn't even cross my mind that the game was going to end on that play. My blinders where on so tight that all I could see was Greene rumbling through the defense and into the endzone for the game winner.

In hindsight, there is nothing in the Hawkeye's recent history that should have led me to believe they were going to pull it out.....which, of course, is a gentle way of saying I'm a goddam idiot.

Well, that was unique.

Bellanca — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:12:52 -0000

Who amongst us has seen an Iowa team so punish an opponent (what, six defensive Spartans leave with a limp) -- and lose?

Who amongst us has seen an Iowa team so dominate the LOS while shutting down the #2 runner in the country -- and lose?

Gee whiz, is this another game without a new play we didn't run in 2001?

Gee whiz, who amongst us has seen us open a drive with a play action bootleg? (Well, all of us, as has the MSU DC.)

Iowa has some real stud ballplayers like I have never seen and I'm really sorry they have now had to carry their nimrod coaches to three losses in three games.

But please, no more postings about how "We're better than they are" -- like last week, and that includes the spanking storming man. Yeah, we dominated them physically and we are better at every position except wide-out. But we *lost* another one. Because football requires design, and design is handled by the coaches. And if your ballplayers are dropping the ball for no reason it's because they are seriously twisted in the head -- and that's on the coaches.

After we lost to Pitt I wrote that Shonn was a 2nd round pick. Wrong. He's a 1st round pick. Olsen and Bulaga are locks in the top three rounds, Edds needs to get with a program that doesn't put 250 lb men in man coverage on slots 40 yards downfield (like, the Bears?), and Sash is the real deal. This guy Leppard? Where the fuck did he come from? Wow. We tackled really well this day. Everything went right, except the sideline decisionmaking, didn't it? Didn't it?

Sweet Lady H

Hayden Fry's Moustache Ride — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 03:53:51 -0000

Hi. My name is Hayden Fry's Moustache Ride and I'm a Hawkeye fan.

As you may or may not be aware, the term 'fan' is short for 'fanatic,' which is defined as "a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm." Synonyms include: supporter, enthusiast, partisan, booster and addict. Addict! I'm addicted to Hawkeye football. It's a particularly cruel addiction, might I add. One that can take you over the moon, but can also leave you lying on your face in a shit-filled gutter.

Being an Iowa football fan is similar in many ways to being addicted to blacktar heroin (so I'm told). Whenever there's an upcoming game, I obsess about it. I tell people how much I love the Hawks (smack) and how awesome they are and try to get them to experience Iowa football as well. But of course when it finally comes down to it, it's never as good as I remembered.....and I generally end up feeling like shit the next day.

Clearly Hawkeye football is a chaser drug. I remember how I felt in 2002 and I've been chasing that feeling ever since. But I can never quite get that feeling back. Sometimes I blame the quality (Adam Shada). Sometimes I think it's my dealers who are the problem (Ferentz, O'Keefe). Maybe it's the people who glorify it (Herky, G. Dolphin) that keeps me coming back.

Whatever it is, here I am. Blogging (aka chasing the dragon) with all of the other addicts. Not all of us are straight up fiends (BHGP staff), but still we are all eagerly waiting for the upcoming Saturday when we can once again embrace the 'Sweet Lady H' that we had sworn off only days before........

"Say what you will on Sunday.......you'll be back"

Hitler Weighs In

Hawkeye State — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:24:01 -0000

Massive T/F/J: Duez I Say

IS PSYCHO SPARTY DEAD?

NCHawk — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:54:59 -0000

PSYCHO SPARTY LIVES OR DIES = WHAT SAY YOU? AND HOW DO YOU FIND HOW TO POST !!!

Is the MSU Spartan football team going to curl up and croak unexpectedly after looling like world beaters this year? Not so fast... they have not hung that signature win on the window yet for the casual drive-by fan to see. It will come.. then.... without warning... a miserable game where it leaves people on the street, downtown looking up past the tallest building asking WTF? There are others you know.. In recent years.. Kanas State, Clemson, Cal, NC State, UCLA have all worn the pointed cap. This years' MSU team seems different, they seem grounded (after all they are one of the Big Ten three hold outs from the spread offense). Spartan fans carry themsleves in public - shirtless - as if they were Sparty as if to say..."this year, we beat Michigan godamit" and we'll smoke Iowa and Indiana too ! You tell me?

The Family Tree is a Stick

chitownhawkeye — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:09:31 -0000

[bumped. also, his second tag would be a better title.--OPS]

I had a thought the other day. Maybe it's nothing.

I assume that most coaches careers follow a curve. Certainly not a standard distribution one, but for the most part, I would imagine that that they are not as successful in the beginning, more successful in the middle, and again less successful at the end, resulting in being fired or retiring.

Following this through, it makes sense to me that a lot of early failures, either within a single program, or across more than one job, are due to coaching mistakes and not having the personnel, players and assistants that you want. Both of these are correctable (in theory) over time, so that by the time the coach gets to the middle of their career (or single job), their success can be seen coming. The effort that it has taken to get the proper people in the proper scheme making the proper calls pays off in victories that are built upon the lessons learned in the past. But then at the end, what happens? You can't tell me that the coach doesn't get the people he wants; he knows who works based on the past. In older coaches, the game is sometimes said to "pass them by", but parts of the game haven't changed in a century. It’s just the application of those parts that’s passing.

Football, like all sports, evolves. It's been said that the NFL is a copy-cat league, but it really isn't any more so than at the college level. One team finds something that works, and suddenly everyone is doing it...which leads to the next leap frog advance, and obviously in some cases, leads back to schemes that have worked in the past. So it struck me, what if the issue with coaches as their time passes isn't the coach or the assistants? What if it’s simply the schemes being used. What if the success of a coach in the middle of their career with a particular scheme leads to assistants getting their own coaching positions, which leads to new blood being brought into a program, which leads to innovation within the program. What if stagnation is the demon that drags programs down. If this is the case, it seems to me that great coaches with great programs will frequently have significant coaching trees as a result, as opposed to smaller trees based on coaching staffs staying together over time. Obviously, this is something that can't be seen until well after the fact, but you still should see the evidence in staff turnover. Staff turnover isn't the key, however, the key is change. Staff turnover is just any easy way to get there. You can change from the inside, for example, Penn State has been talking about JoePa's retirement for years...but no one is talking about it now. With the "Spread HD" system that they're using, defenses are struggling to adapt to stop it. So it's successful. So he's successful.

Look, I don't know what the turnover rate here has been. I don't know what it's been at Penn State Or Ohio State, for that matter, but isn't it beginning to look like people know what Tressel is doing? That he's still going to win a lot of games based on the talent level there, but in equal talent situations, he's gotten beaten because his opponents know how to beat his team. Isn't that what happened to Carr at Michigan? And that's what's happening to us. It's not that the talent isn't there, but there is no innovation.

There's nothing earth shattering here, just the ramblings coming out of my brain. As fans here, we've been complaining about lack of innovation on offense for several years, and frankly, the same can be said on the defensive side, only the defensive players either have had more talent or better coaching to offset the fact that our opponents know our schemes. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm suddenly looking at this in a slightly different way, not blaming the coaches for week to week or quarter to quarter adjustments, but year to year scheme shifts. That our problems now started back in 2004 when we were having success. Those years didn't translate into new coaching personnel, (with the exception of our line coach, obviously not all change is good) which has lead us to where we are now.

I don't know. Maybe I'm missing something that someone with a better knowledge of our program or football in general can tell me. Maybe it really is all about execution and motivation, and that winning schemes will always be winning schemes. It just seems to me like the important thing is to never stand still. And that's what we've been doing.

Quo Vadimus?

HoyaGoon — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:45:06 -0000

It's taken a few days, but the numb and shock of losing to the Wildcats is finally beginning to dissipate. And though Iowa's play should have taught me never to look farther ahead than the next game (hell, the next play), I can't help but wonder "Where do we go from here?"

To say these past two games have been a little disheartening would be a bigger understatment than saying that Mark Mangino is "a little heavy." These were two games we absolutely, positively, should have won. I'm not saying that we necessarily outplayed NU or Pitt, or that we "deserved" to win, only that these past two games were ours (by hook or crook) and we lost them both. Before the season, I would have been ecstatic to be 4-1 after 5 games and could probably find a way to be ok with 3-2. But after the way we played early (admittedly against weak competition), and the way the last two games played out, I can't help but think that anything less than 5-0 is a disaster.

The most troubling aspect is that, despite it all, Iowa could still salvage the season but I don't see any evidence to give me hope that this will happen. I'm not looking for any kind of 2004 miracles where back-to-back ass-whooppings sparked a fire underneath the team - and there's no indication that this has happened to this team yet - I just want some reason for hope. I look at the remaining games and see possibility. Iowa "should" be able to beat Indiana, Purdue and Minnesota and if they could steal a victory from one of the other games, then we're 7-5. Unfortunately, the way we've played, NO GAME can be taken as a given in the W column and we could just as easily end up 4-8 (despite what I said above, I just can't imagine Iowa losing in the final game at Kinnick North).

So, in the end, we're back to my original question "Where do we go now?" Unfortunately, I just don't have an answer at all.

I'm tired.

chitownhawkeye — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:10:19 -0000

I'm not mad. I'm not depressed. Either of these things would imply that something completely unexpected happened Saturday.

So I'm just tired. I'm tired of losing games to teams when we supposedly have more talented players. I'm tired of an offensive coordinator who doesn't seem to understand the difference between stage right and audience right, and so has the QB roll to the side opposite their strength. I'm tired of a secondary that is scared enough of weak receivers that they start out 5 yrs off the line on 3rd and 3. I'm tired of underperforming against weak teams and not stepping up against stronger teams. I'm tired of penalties, turnovers, and injuries.

I'm tired.

It wasn't that long ago that teams didn't want to come into Kinnick. It wasn't that long ago that we carried a swagger and a belief that we could win on the road. The talent level isn't less right now, we should be in the middle of our strongest recruiting class in years. The coaches have won before, and seem to be believe that they can win again. I don't know what the problem is. I can guess, but I don't know. I can complain about vanilla offenses. I can complain about lack of intensity from the players. I can complain about unrealistic expectations from us, the fans. None of it helps solve the issues.

I went into this season cautiously optimistic, but that optimism is quickly going south. Not because we're a bad team, but because I no longer believe. We find ways to lose, not to win, and when I look at the last 2 wasted games, while I see improvement in the team as a whole, I still see critical mistakes. And looking forward, I'm having trouble seeing us getting to 7 wins. Can we beat Sparty or Zook away? I don't see it right now. Indiana and Minn I still think we win, but I thought we would beat NW. So what happens if we don't get to a bowl game again this year? It's not that I don't care, I still care deeply what happens to this team. I just can't allow myself to dwell on it. I just can't do it. I'm not blaming anybody.

I'm just tired.

WOW

AJHawk — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:22:15 -0000

Northwestern ran 79 plays. We ran 61. Time of possession basically a wash (30:07-29:53 in OUR favor). Coaches need to get the plays called and get players on the field. Why do need to huddle every time? Does every play call require a different skill package on the field? Judging by the vanilla offense we run I highly doubt that to be the case. In the words of the great John L. Smith: "The kids are playing their tails off, and the coaches are screwing it up." FUCK!

Disclaimer: Gratuitous F-bomb for post aesthetics.

Come to Jesus

StoopsMyAss — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 05:38:39 -0000

Kirk Ferentz appears to have finally come to the all-too-real conclusion that his Iowa career is at a dreadful crossroad. He wasn't convinced before the Pitt game but he is now. This explains why Stanzi is the starter next week. Northwestern has become the pebble in the hand for Ferentz. It didn’t start this way though…Ferentz began the season coaching as though it were his son’s little league baseball team, and he had volunteered to help the youngsters. "We’ll just hide the clumsy kid in right field,” he thought. But this is not that world. Naked and undisguised is the college quarterback. Thus he is, and must be, an extension if not the pure embodiment of his coach, his system, and his psyche, indeed his football worldview. The college quarterback and head coach need each other to survive. And they must become one for the team to move forward. That Ricky Stanzi was the man for this job from the outset was too plain to see; so obvious was that fact it was undetectable to Ferentz. Marshall Mcluhan once said we don't know who discovered water, but we know it wasn't the fish. But, lift that fish out of water and suddenly…well, you know the cliché. But it is apt.

So the divorce is final now. The family can begin the healing process by beating the living snot out of NU. And Iowa has its savior now because Ferentz finally found his inner Hayden Fry. Fry understood the stakes, always. He knew when to hold them, when to fold them and when to walk away from the guy who couldn’t lead his team down the field against inferior competition. By doing so, Ferentz might have just staved off a cruel ending for this team and even his career at Iowa by going with Stanzi. Iowa will likely win 8 or maybe even 9 games now but not due to any Stanzi brillance, merely because of his ability to get the job done. But Stanzi is a diamond in the rough and he will improve markedly next year when Iowa might even challenge for the conference. JC will move on after this season to have better days. And Ferentz, meanwhile, has reawakened to that which was always there: Stanzi, the Manzi.

ESPN's E:60 Goes to Parkersburg

Hawkeye State — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 03:32:16 -0000

We, like every other self-respecting blog, take an occasional shot at ESPN. That being said, we have to give credit where credit is due. If you don't have chills down your back and a lump in your throat while watching this E:60 segment on Aplington-Parkersburg football in the aftermath of this spring's tornado, you probably don't have a soul.

Gee, that was easy.

Bellanca — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:22:39 -0000

Mason burns two subordinates two days before her own evaluation at the Board.

"What? You expect me to take responsibility for what my staff does at my direction?"

I guess you have to be in the private sector to find this most obvious move (it was obvious when she said her GC was not attending the Board meeting) puerile.

Is the Board of Regents truly this lacking? Will they really allow her to sacrifice arbitrarily two staff in hopes of keeping her job?

I particularly enjoy the GC pro tem's resume: she's been on every committee including the Cedar County Garbage Truck Multi-Cultural Self-Improvement Redecoration Planning Commission.

Anyone who is doing three paragraphs of committee work is a lawyer I won't be hiring to solve a problem. Though I'm sure the garbage trucks are now painted a soft and friendly color, and the minor issue of institutional indifference to the plight of a scholarship student accusing another (two) or rape, is rapidly headed out of town, to the landfill.

Will someone out there call her on this?

Man, I hope the Regents are not so go-along-get-along to tolerate this kind of Amateur Hour gambit. Will they? Got leadership?

Got weird? 6.4 v. 5.2.

Bellanca — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:40:27 -0000

That was one strange football game. No I am not going to pile on Jake, because it's not his depth chart and he sure ain't scripting plays.

And I don't have any sympathy for Dezman Death-Wish, because if, at this point, you don't know that it's time to have your algebra tutor secretly buy you a case of Keystone Light (if you absolutely, positively must binge) and hang out at one of your friends' off-campus hovels, where you pass out, I guess, in your binge-puke, then you are a fool. Face it, this team now must offer the comportment of high school military academy students. Or it's back home to the evil step-mother.

And no, I am not going to say anything today about the mysterious nooks and crannies of Ken "George Patton" O'Keefe's brain. They'll be burning him in effigy soon, if he doesn't in fact get his own corrupt skit on SNL. And that too is misguided, because he didn't hire himself.

But here's how weird that game was:

When was the last time your RB averaged 20% more per touch than your QB averaged per pass? (6.4 ypc v 5.2 ypa.)

And yet, this wasn't some anomalous thing in which we run the single wing and throw it 7 times, badly. We threw more than Shonn ran. (24 attempts, 23 Shonn-runs.) This is cognitive dissonance, folks; this is statistical never-never land. This is not seeing what is happening on the field. We have an RB who is knocking the helmets off defenders (literally and repeatedly), an O-Line that was ready to destroy them in Q4. Our D-Line destroyed their will with 7 straight 3-and-outs, and their eyes were turning ghostly and their mouths were opening with "oh shit we are so getting pounded by those hayseeds".

So we went back to the pass. Our QB averages less per attempt than our RB. It should have been all Shonn, all the time, in the last 20 minutes of that game, just like Riggins or any other power back with a group of hogs up front rooting and driving.

For the season this strange statistic endures: JC YPA: 6.5; SG YPC: 6.4. I'm sure this has happened before but I don't know when I have seen it in DI with a pro-set offense.

BTW, this was game 4 with busted and late communications between the OC and the QB. I'm keeping track of this, because this little feature of Iowa football is beyond weird. It's just sloppy, stupid, and unprofessional. If I am on that sideline, wearing a helmet, I'm laughing cynically at this. And cynicism is not a good thing on a ballclub.

Hey Ricky, you so fine...

LawrenceStation — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 07:46:37 -0000

you are so fine you hath blown my mind....Hey Ricky....Hey Rickey??

Great song, even better name for only the most confident of leaders. While our ongoing "Teen Beat" mancrush bulges further through our collective pants for Stanzi, you-are-our-Manzi, I am reminded of another great Rickey. This Rickey was a leader, not only in the batting order and ultimately in All-time stolen bases, but also in one-block cab rides and teammates name's forgotten.

Move over Schroeder (Sp?...Silver spoons kid) and feast your eyes on stories of the original Rickey, the one we call hendo. Do yourself a favor and read them all, I think Rickey has a lesson to teach all of us in this troubled market.....wait til them money markets is high, then cash out.

How to Punish Your Cyclone-Loving Cousin....

Hayden Fry's Moustache Ride — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 03:05:17 -0000

[Bumped, because I know our readers are evil.--OPS]

Listen, I know its over and I don't really want to dedicate any more time to talking about Iowa State, but I need some help deciding on a punishment for my Cyclone-fan cousin.

We made a bet this year that the loser had to wear the t-shirt of the winner's choice to our family's big Thanksgiving extravaganza. Riveting, I know, but it's the best we could come up with due to time constraints and budget restrictions. Anyway, I'm currently taking suggestions on what t-shirt to make him wear. I browsed through the BHGP store and thought that although he would look fantastic in "The Leman," our family get togethers tend to be more of a casual affair.

Wear it or hate freedom.--OPS

We (like any good old-fashioned Iowa family) get real drunk on Thanksgiving and everyone is pretty laid back, so anything short of "Herky fucked my mom" will probably fly. (I don't think my aunt actively roots for the Cyclones so I feel like that particular shirt would be unfair to her.)

So, let's hear your suggestions. Thanks in advance.

Hmmm, No, You Take It From Him.....

Hayden Fry's Moustache Ride — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:47:07 -0000

[Bumped, because that picture is so insanely awesome. I like to think it happened with four minutes gone in the second quarter.--OPS]

I heard that Mitch King ran over to the Iowa State sideline with 10 seconds still on the clock to retrieve what was rightfully his and was made to put it down and go back to the other sideline to wait for the clock to run out.

I wonder how they decided who had to tell him he couldn't have it.

Sort of like telling a waitress to take a plate of buffalo wings away from Charlie Weis.

Get Your Damn Houses in Order

Bama Hawkeye — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:22:02 -0000

I won the prediction challenge for Week 2, thus allowing me access for one column over at RivalryEsq.com (another sbnation blog). Here's how I used my space (while staying on the theme of their blog).

http://www.rivalryesq.com/2008/9/15/615229/get-your-damn-houses-in-or

It’s hard being a fan of one of the "other nine" teams in the Big Ten (and don’t get me started about doing it in SEC country). No matter how good our team (and make no mistake, mine is Iowa) may be, their success will be seen as an aberration. If one of the "other nine" wins the crown, it is seen as a down year for the conference. This is the paradox with which we are faced. We may not want to see success in Ann Arbor and Columbus, but we need it. It is the only chance of our own success being validated. The 2002 Hawkeyes weren’t really respected until they went into the Big House and pummeled the Blue out of Michigan. The 2004 squad wasn’t seen as top notch until they drubbed the stickers off the OSU helmets.

If you draw the line at 1970, it’s been your world. Sure, Iowa had a better run than OSU in the ‘80s (from say ’81-’91). And you can make a case that Wisconsin had a better ‘90s than Michigan. And I think that the 1994 Penn State team was the best that the conference has produced in my lifetime. But there again, that success is in comparison to one of you two. And in this decade, Iowa and Penn State blips aside, it’s been your world again.

That’s why your utter and complete failure this weekend was so disheartening for the fans of the other nine. Look at what the Big Ten teams did – travel to the west coast and beat a Top 25 team for the first time in forever (Wisky) – yes. Demonstrated to the national media that there is a force in the east to reckon with (PSU) – yes. Came thisclose to beating a Top 20 team in a game in which no one gave them a chance (Purdue) – yes. Handled an in state rival that gives its big brother fits (Iowa) – yes. And yet, the Big Ten will be seen as weak because of your failures. Your horrible, horrible failures.

So get your damn big and horseshoed houses in order. Much as we all hate it, we need you to.