Senior Week

The last home week of every Iowa Football season is a sentimental one. It is the last time the senior class will play in front of their adoring fans at Kinnick Stadium and there are many events that lead up to that final day. Today the Senior class sat down in front of the camera to record a video that will be shown to the team the night before this week's Ohio State game. The video has every senior answer, "What Does It Mean to be an Iowa Hawkeye?"

This is a tradition that started in the second year for Head Coach, Kirk Ferentz. On Monday each senior takes a few minutes to answer the question, it is edited during the week and then shown at the team meeting Friday night. The video is also shown at the annual Iowa Football Awards Banquet in December. This year's highlights the 26 seniors which will also be honored Saturday before the game.

Night Out on the Town

No trip to Evanston is complete without a stop in Mustards Last Stand. Mustards is across the street from Ryan Field and has become a must-stop for football fans.

A small little shop, it produces great hot dogs big on taste. It will create the hot dog Chicago Style or just with ketchup or mustard. It doesn't matter either way, each gives full flavor, and one doesn't seem to be enough.

In a day when Northwestern ranked among the worst in Division I football, visiting team personnel would find a way to get in a hot dog or two before travelling out of town following another convincing win.

Photos from Ryan Field

Saturday's Iowa road game wasn't one of the more memorable trips to the Windy City. It was a rainy, windy, dreary day on Chicago's North Side which found the Hawkeye on the losing side. But it was the first time since 1985 Ryan Field was a sell out for a team other than Michigan or Ohio State, and the Hawkeye fans showed up in full support of their favorite team. Below are some of the sights from the day.

Early in the day the Chicago skyline was bearly visible over the top of Ryan Field in Evanston.

I called them the One Tree Hill gang, but (R-L) it was Chad, Michael, Derek who accompianied me on Saturday from the video staff. I'm off to the left.

It was the Chicago Skyline to the south, but Lake Michigan was only a few blocks to the east of Ryan Field. Just beyond the field past the Northwestern locker rooms is Welsh - Ryan Arena, the home to the university's basketball teams as well as the annual Midlands Wrestling Tournament. On top of the Northwestern football locker rooms is a scaffolding that lets ESPN and each visiting team shoot an end zone shot. Before the locker room was built, that shot was taken from the top of Welsh - Ryan Arena, and in 1995 it was a cold spot to shoot from as the game time temperature was 2F.

At halftime Rob Brooks of Learfield Radio Network interviews Iowa Football Coach, Kirk Ferentz.

A closer look at the scaffolding. On the lower level is the Northwestern replay board camera with ESPN on top in the middle. Northwestern takes the far top position as Michael is on the near side.

Aside from the bowl game, the Iowa Marching Band and Dance Team makes one road trip a year. Saturday the Iowa Dance Team had to deal with the rain and wind.

Northwestern students stormed the field following the upset of #12 Iowa. It was the last game of the 2010 season at Ryan Field. This Saturday Northwestern hosts Illinois at Wrigley Field

Cats over Hawkeyes

Northwestern students storm Ryan Field following the 21-17 upset of the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Hawkeyes dropped a ten point second half lead evaporating conference title hopes.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Sights of Bloomington

From my first trip to Bloomington in 1992 until 2008 the Iowa Football team would stay at a resort just to the south of town near Lake Monroe. In 2008 the team moved closer to the stadium, only a block away. But this last trip the Hawkeyes stayed just off the downtown square at a Hilton Garden Hotel.

It was definitely an eye opening experience to see what the downtown square had to offer. And it is a sqaure much similar to one found in many Iowa small towns. Walking around I wouldn't know if I was in this college town or Oskaloosa, Iowa. At the center of the square is the county court house, reminiscent to the courthouse seen in Back to the Future.

Many college towns are known for their lively art scene. The Indiana Theatre is just off the square but home to many smaller productions and muscial acts. Surrounding the theatre are many coffee shops, speicalty food shops and book stores. 

On the square are different clothing store options for all ages, sexes and  attire. Many different restaurant options are available. Italian, sandwich, and family restaurants are also shared by the many small bars and pubs.

But the college atmosphere isn't far away. Only a few blocks away is Nick's English Hut, one of our destinations in 2008. It is the oldest bar in Bloomington and the center of the student crowd.

End of an Era

Monday ESPN announced the Sunday Night Broadcasting Team of twenty years will not return for 2011. Jon Miller and Joe Morgan have been the voice of the weekly game of the week since NBC lost its rights after the 1989 season. Back then many of us became accustomed to the sounds of Vin Scully and Joe Garigola (or Tom Seave in '89) as one broadcasting team or Bob Costas and Tony Kubek as the other. Following that year, ESPN was the only network that promised a game of the week with a broadcasting crew that remained consistent.

Whether or not you liked the controversial Joe Morgan, Jon Miller became the voice of baseball. The Saturday game of the week on Fox brings us Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, but Miller is the voice of ESPN as well as the San Francisco Giants. Buck and McCarver have no other local team responsibilities which makes Miller special. He takes us back to someone like Scully who also worked the Dodger games with his NBC responsibilities.

Morgan will not be missed and can be replaced, but Miller is a baseball voice that will hard to be replaced.

Night Out on the Town

There is nothing like a small town bar. And the smaller the town, the more important the bar becomes to the members of the community. It takes on more of an identity than just a place for the adults to relax at the end of the day, but it can be a place of all ages to congregate. The Melsha Tap in Swisher is a place much like that.

Melsha is the ideal place to watch the Hawkeyes with friends, play cards, or to escape from the annual Swisher Days in August. My experiences have always been welcoming; relaxing with common Iowans.