Black Heart Gold Christmas Lists

Twas the night before Christmas and all through Hawkeye Nation, not a creature was stirring, not even a Gopher...

Merry Christmas Eve and happy holidays to everyone! Here at BHGP, we’re preparing to celebrate with out individual Hawkeye Christmas lists. Some of us are happy with the little things, others have lists as long as Jordan Bohannon’s range. At the end of the day, we all want the Hawkeyes to be successful and a happy new year.

Here’s what we’re each asking Santa to leave under the tree tomorrow.

JP: I’m from a long line of Clark W. Griswolds. Our family is notorious for overdoing things at Christmas. It should come as no surprise, then, that I’d like to really overdo my Hawkeye Christmas list.

Let’s start with the small stuff - the new socks or sweater from a family member. It’s nice but I’m not super excited by it either. I’m talking about sustained health for this year’s Iowa hoops team (the ones not already done for the year), a solid finish for the football seniors and juniors departing, and a breakout campaign from Bakari Evelyn. Those would all be great, but if we don’t get them I’ll probably survive.

Now, I really asked Santa for another trip to the NCAA Tournament. That would get me excited. So would that offensive innovation from Brian Ferentz I’ve had on my list for years. I want it fully loaded with minimal fullback, RPOs, read-option and throws downfield. That’s the stuff I can tel my friends at school about with pride.

But what I REALLY want - my Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle - is the step to the next level. I’m talking about everyone (Jordan Bohannon, Joe Wieskamp, Luka Garza) coming back for hoops next year with guards galore and a shortened rotation with defense and penetration and all the shots falling. I want a Final Four run and the recruiting success that breeds. I want a return trip to Indy with dynamic skill players like Tyler Goodson stealing the show and Spencer Petras becoming the future.

I know Hawkeye fans would surely shoot our eye out, but damnit I want to see that thing hiding in the corner on Christmas morning and I swear on all that is holy I’ll sleep with it every night until the day I die, even if I have to wear Aunt Clara’s bunny suit all the while.

DC: I’ve wanted the same thing for the Iowa Athletic Department since I was in Iowa City. I want the Athletic Dept to care enough to actually make Carver MAD again. I’d love to see CHA make the stadium experience a priority and a true home court advantage. Fran has built a competitive enough team that attendance has returned to pre-Lickliter averages but the atmosphere still rivals the main library instead of other B1G basketball arenas. I’d love to be able to turn on BTN one time and not be put to sleep by the lack of fan enthusiasm inside Carver Hawkeye Arena.

Jerry Scherwin: My Christmas wish is quite simple really… I wish that Iowa fans far and wide would stop paying any attention to trolls from Nebraska and Iowa State. Unless something drastically changes, engaging with them and their miserable behavior is pointless. Iowa State, beat us. BEAT US AND THEN TALK. Don’t almost beat us. Don’t come close. Beat us consistently and then I’ll let you bark at me until the cows come home. At least I respect what you’re building. You can see the glimmer of hope and that’s great. I hope it works out. I truly do. As far as Nebraska, well, just leave them to watch reruns of Home Improvement and Roseanne. Look, here’s the rub on Nebraska and this might blow your mind. Ready? Those bugeaters got a taste of greatness in the 90’s, got lost in that time period and can’t understand why the good times didn’t continue to roll. They still love Kraft Mac and Cheese (despite a superior product in Velveta cheese and shells), idolize Kirk Cameron and Alan Thicke, want to play Twister at every family function and love Husker football. It’s just in their nature. It’s in their blood. They will forever think that they are one year away from returning to greatness because that’s what the 90’s were… the decade of hope. Everything back then was on the up and up. Everything was still possible back then.

But I’ll let you in on a little secret… they’re not close. And this is coming from a diehard Bulls fan, the cousin to a Cornhusker Guy and Cowboy fanatic. We’re all lost and roaming the abyss in search of that light that left us behind in the 90s.

But I digress. Merry Christmas folks. Enjoy the supremacy. Let bugeaters be bugeaters. Kirk Ferentz forever.

Doug: I would like to see Iowa find some recruiting success in state for the volleyball program. There are some uber talented high school programs in the state including Cedar Falls, West Des Moines Valley, Ankeny, and Dowling Catholic just to name a few. Coach Brown needs to be working on some of the tall and talented players in the freshman and sophomore class and convince them to stay in state and lead Iowa into the upper division of the Big Ten. A new volleyball only facility will come on-line soon and that will certainly help. Playing volleyball in the Big Ten is an honor and it will only take a couple top recruits to get the pipeline flowing.

Adam Hensley: Stealing DC’s idea here, but it’s too important to pass up: I would love for Carver to get a facelift. I want to see seats closer to the floor, and I would love for more students to attend games (miss me with that “it’s too far from campus” crap. There are busses). Let’s create a madhouse.

Carver can get loud. We saw that last year in some of the big-time matchups. Which, I might add, happened to coincide with free student tickets. Hmmmm. Not saying every game should be free for students, but at least have some cheap tickets.

To be fair, creativity around promotion and/or theatrics have improved. I covered Iowa basketball with the Daily Iowan for the past three years, and I was able to see an incredible leap in pregame atmosphere and individual game themes. Carver could (and should be, in all reality) one of the louder venues in the conference. Let’s make it happen, Santa.

Ben: I’m a simple man, with a simple wish: I’d like to return to Indianapolis. The upcoming season marks five years since Iowa’s last trip to the city whose nickname I can’t be bothered to look up, and that’s Kirk’s state goal: get to the Big Ten Championship every five years. It’s time to put up or shut up.

How about you all, what’s on your Hawkeye Christmas list this year?