Introducing The Kids To The Hawkeyes

Since I have season tickets, I very rarely watch a Hawkeye football game on TV. This year, I’m only going to two games so I’m planning on making more of an effort to catch the games on the tube.

Here is my plan to get them to enjoy the games. For the record, they are 4 1/2 years old right now.

• Food - There has to be some food. Stuff like nachos is good. They know I eat hot dogs at the game so those will definitely be available. Since a lot of the Big Ten games start at 11′ish, it is easy to build food into the game time routine since lunch will naturally fall during the game time.
• T-Shirts - I’m going to be going to the first two games. At one of them, I will pick up special Hawkeye game day t-shirts that the three of us will wear for the games.
• Explain the colors - They need to know which team is the Hawkeyes so they know who to be excited about.
• Narrate the game - They don’t understand the rules at all, but they understand stuff like “Great play” “Touchdown” “Oh no!” “Go Hawks” “HERKY!” We’ll build from there.
• Bring on the toys - I’ll bring some of their favorite toys in the room, that way they have something to distract them during instant replay reviews.
• Let them leave - They will probably get bored before the game is over. I have trouble making it through the games these days with all of the TV timeouts. When they get bored, they can go wander away for a while.
• Let them come back - Unlike the crappy NCAA, if they leave the area to catch some fresh air, they will be allowed back into the game room. That policy will stay in effect until there is an actualy terrorist attack in my living room.

I’m expecting basketball season to be more popular because the general pace of the game is faster, but I’m hoping that we can find a way to make the football games enjoyable this season so that they are excited when I take them to the stadium for the first time in 2008.

Iowa playing Syracuse under the lights

I was very disappointed that the Iowa - Syracuse football game was moved to a night game this fall.

My wife is pregnant and due in the middle of October. I had to sell most of my season tickets and the only home game I am going to be able to go to is the Syracuse game.

The kids are 4 1/2 so I was thinking of taking them to the game so they could get the experience and my wife could get a weekend home alone late in her pregnancy.

We have to drive 4 hours to get to the game and my kids are pretty much incapable of staying up after 8pm. There’s no way that they could make it through the Syracuse game.

If I was going to be able to go to a normal number of games, I would actually consider taking them just to watch the first quarter and then leave. They could sleep on the way home. Plus at this age they won’t want to be at the stadium for much more than a quarter anyway.

But, it is my only game at Kinnick this year. The only other game that I’ll be going to is the season opener against Northern Illinois at Soldier Field.

It looks like the kids will have to wait until 2008. Since I’ll be home more Saturdays this fall, I’ll work on getting them hooked on watching the games on TV.

Talking nicely about the Hawkeyes

I received some fan mail recently that made me do a little thinking. The writer said:

I stumbled across your site. Normally I would simply move on, but when analysis is this ridiculous it deserves a comment. I simply can’t imagine anyone visiting this site more than once. Stunningly negative and uninformed. Please– read analysis at other sites. Good luck.

First, I’ll make a comment on the analysis being ridiculous and uninformed. I’m just a fan. I have no aspirations of ever being a beat reporter or hosting my own ESPN show. I just want to talk about the Hawkeyes now and then. This is simply a collection of thoughts and opinions that enter my head when I sit at the computer. A fan site in other words. Sometimes I am surprised at how right I am about something. Sometimes I am shocked at how amazingly ignorant I am.

The part of the email that I have been thinking about is the “Stunningly negative” part. I don’t think that is always true but it has frequently been the case recently. I have trouble being an Alford fan. I really do not like Indiana. I had a teacher that I hated who was a Hoosier nut case. I’m still mad that Indiana won the national championship when Alford was playing there. I thought Iowa had a better team that year and if not for a miraculous collapse by Iowa against another team (UNLV if I remember correctly), Iowa would have had a great chance at cutting down the nets that year.

I grew up always shocked when Iowa would lose to Duke in the tournament. I couldn’t believe it when Hawkeyes were not first round draft picks. I lived in Illinois and wore Iowa shirts constantly. And I loved every second of it.

I don’t love talking about the reasons why I don’t think Iowa will win games.

So for now on, I am going to try and go back to being the Hawkeye fan I was in years past. From now on, I will try to remember that:

• Iowa will win every game when the season starts.
• If Iowa loses a game, they will win the rest of the games that year.
• If they lose a second game, they will win the rest of the games that year.
• Etc.

This is sure to make this site much more uniformed and ridiculous. I look forward to all the emails informing me of this.

Also, there are a lot of things that I like about Alford as a coach. I love watching the defense when it is clicking. I appreciate the hustle that is normally there. I’m becoming a big Tyler Smith fan. There are enough positives that I think I can be more supportive of Alford moving forward.

Thanks, David, for reminding me of the kind of Hawkeye fan I prefer to be.

Season Tickets versus TV

As I’ve mentioned about a million times, I have had season tickets at Iowa for abotu 18 years.  I happen to live about 4 hours from the stadium, so it is a bit of a hike to get up there for the games.  An all day event in fact.  For some reason, I’ve been wondering recently about whether I want to keep my season ticket.

Here’s the discussion I’ve been having with myself:

• Season Ticket Perks
• Get to spend time with my dad, sister and uncle.
• The games are very exciting when you are sitting in the front row screaming as loudly as you can.
• It is nice to get a fun day away from all responsibility 6 or 7 times a year.
• I get the option of buying bowl game tickets.
• Season Ticket Drags
• The commute is much longer than the actual game
• The tickets cost about $100 when the “donation” to the school is factored in and that doesn’t include gas/food/hats when I forget them at home.
• Eats up a big portion of the weekend.
• Don’t get to watch the games with the kids
• TV Perks
• Get to watch the games with the kids.
• Much, much cheaper.
• Don’t have to wait as long in line for the bathroom.
• Don’t eat nearly as much junk food all day.

I was a Hawkeye fan long before we had season tickets.  I became a Hawkeye fan by listening to the games on the radio and catching them on occasion on TV.  I always watched/listened to them with my dad.  Before we got the tickets, we started going to about one game a season with a lot of those games being when Iowa went to Northwestern since Northwestern is much closer.

If I am away at so many games, my kids won’t get that bonding experience and the tradition won’t be established.  The kids (they are only 3) watched the Syracuse game on TV with me a couple weeks back.  They enjoyed watching me and my dad get excited.  They enjoyed nibbling on the chips.  They enjoyed wearing their Hawkeye t-shirts and shouting “Hawkeyes!”

I haven’t made my commitment yet, but I am definitely considering giving up my season tickets in a year or so and maybe just upgrading our cable so I can order the Iowa games that aren’t on regular TV and then taking them to a game or two every year.  Between Northwestern, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, I could let them see quite a few different stadiums.  Northwestern would probably be the best since the fans are so close to comatose.  It is the least intimidating place to watch a road game that I have ever been to.  Perfect for young kids.