The Cy-Hawk Rivalry, College GameDay and One Cyclone Fan’s Act of Kindness

The Cy-Hawk series has heated up the last two seasons with two straight close, smash mouth games. The close games have led more intensity in the fanbases than we’ve seen in years. Iowa State is a respectable program again and Iowa still doesn’t want to lose to them.

At times, the rivalry gets heated, sometimes even downright ugly. During #hateweek, both sides take their jabs. Oftentimes that’s all done in good fun, but people across the state genuinely get upset. It can make it difficult to remember we’re all, generally, good people rooting for teams that suffer from some of the same natural hindrances.

This week, we’ve got a reminder that underneath all the mud slinging, name calling and bad blood, there are good great people on both sides and when we band together, we can really do some fantastic things.

If you’ve ever tuned in to a morning news show, or ESPN’s College GameDay, or really any show that tapes in front of a live audience which is allowed to hold signs, you’ve surely seen the nondescript sign declaring someone has run out of money and “mom, please send” money/food/beer/something. Last weekend, with GameDay in Ames for the Cy-Hawk game, the story was no different.

An Iowa State fan took the opportunity to wake up at the crack of dawn, wield his newly created sign asking for money to replace his Busch Light supply and get a front row seat behind the GameDay crew. The sign was complete with the fan’s Venmo account information so viewers on TV could send him money electronically.

Now, if you’re like me, you saw that sign like you see every other sign asking for money on TV and thought, “who the heck is actually sending these people money?” Well, apparently a decent amount of you. And thank goodness people like you and that fan are in this world.

Because Carson King, the aforementioned fan, wasn’t just asking for money for himself. The Cyclone fan, after receiving more than a thousand dollars “to replenish his Busch Light supply,” vowed to donate all his earnings to the UI Children’s Hospital.

That is a tremendous gesture. King’s act of kindness spurred another as Busch Beer saw the plan and has vowed to match all donations.

As is so often the case, that follow up spurred yet another. Venmo stepped in to announce they too would match all donations received for the Children’s Hospital.

At last check, Carson had raised more than $6,000. With matches from both Busch and Venmo, that’s more than $18,000 raised in just a few days thanks to an Iowa State fan’s ingenuity and kindness in his heart.

It’s a reminder that as much as we talk trash to each other and often times downright dislike each other, we’re all still people. We’re fans rooting for college football teams and in the grand scheme of things, that’s really small potatoes.

Go find a Cyclone fan, be kind and if you can spare a few dollars, consider donating to via Venmo to Carson-King-25. We all know it’s a great cause and you have an opportunity to triple the impact of your donation.

Great work Carson and thank you to everyone who has donated to help kids across the state! #FTK