You know the rules by now... I’m going to ramble on about something in Iowa sports only to trick you into giving me questions for tomorrow’s mailbag. You can throw them in the comments section or send them directly to me on Twitter (@JerryScherwin) or use the hashtag #HelloJerry.
I know, I know, it’s Ohio State week and Iowa has cool uniforms and will be hosting a team that just came all the way back to somehow beat Penn State as giant under dogs at the Historic Kinnick Stadium... but... did you see these videos from YOUR Iowa Hawkeyes basketball team?
Hawkeyes Beat William Jewell 105 to 81. pic.twitter.com/imJ4hUzOmE
— The Iowa Hawkeyes (@TheIowaHawkeyes) October 28, 2017
I want ALL the videos of the pre-game dancing circle. I want to see every iteration blended together like a 2017-18 version of the Evolution of Dance.
Exhibition 1 is in the books #FightForIowa pic.twitter.com/IBgDNFlI7t
— Iowa Basketball (@IowaHoops) October 28, 2017
Dunks. High/Low passing from MonStars. Three’s from players not named Jordan Bohannon. Travis Scott. Baby Hook shots. Riley Till highlights. Maishe Dailey doin’ thangs.
It’s all there.
Listen, I love Iowa football very, very much. But can’t you just feel/see something special brewing at Carver Hawkeyes Arena this year? Something a lot of us haven’t experienced before (1988 baby here)? Something that we can all band together about and take it to the national media like we LOVE to do?
We project Indiana to make the NCAA tournament...barely https://t.co/UWx8iXNwmv
— Chris Johnson (@bychrisjohnson) October 31, 2017
If you don’t want to click on that link, I’ll save you the time... Iowa is NOT in their field of 68.
LIGHT THE TORCHES!
The roster that McCaffery has built (now vastly improved with the addition of Connor McCaffery) just seems to blend and mesh so well. These guys ENJOY playing together and being around one another off the court. From their conversations about real life situations in the outside world, to Tyler Cook FEEEEEEELING himself, to Maishe Dailey getting pumped up from his teammates to Nicholas Baer being the glue that holds it all together, it just feels... dare I say... special?
Yeah... it’s going to be special.
Look, I realize that the actual game against William Jewell showed some glaring holes defensively along with some “effort/energy” concerns, but that’s to be expected (at least to me) when college kids are playing their first of TWO exhibition games on a Friday night in front of a blah crowd.
I’m not reading into any of it. I’m not reading into the injuries. I’m not reading into the fouling. I’m not reading into the box score.
But the overall talent having a blast playing hoops and growing in real time together?
Yeah, I’ll buy into that.
So when Ohio State starts pulling ahead this weekend, just grit your teeth and remember... Iowa tips off f’real against Chicago State next Friday and you’re going to like what you’ll see (that is, if you have BTN Plus).
Send in your questions NOW! You can hit me up in the comments section of this post. You can leave them on the BHGP Facebook comment section of this post. You can hit me up @JerryScherwin on Twitter or use the hashtag #HelloJerry with your question.
For those without Twitter and Facebook and still have an AOL account, you can email them to at jerome.scherwinjr@gmail.com.
We’ll be running these on Thursday so get ‘em in folks.
Love you all,
#HelloJerry