Dec. 22, 2010
IOWA CITY, Iowa – In the holiday season of giving and sharing, the UI Athletics Department invited the greatest fans in the world to share their most memorable black-and-gold experience. The wide variety of responses were full of unforgettable memories and reminiscent of why, “It’s Great to be a Hawkeye!” After having the privilege of reading each submission, a total of seven lucky winners were selected for online publication. We will post one entry per day on hawkeyesports.com from Dec. 21-27. Today’s entry comes from Karissa Schultz in California City, CA:
“On September 18, 2010 the most memorable moment happened to my family as we hung out with the Hawkeye crowd in Arizona. After a sudden car crash with my father on May 24th, 2010, we thought this day would never happen. He went in the hospital with broken bones and a punctured lung, but while he was there he caught pneumonia, A.R.D.S., and was fighting the trauma from the accident.
He was in an induced coma for a month, but the whole time I told him to fight so we could go see this game. And fight he did, he almost died twice in the hospital but I always told him to do a Clayborn tackle. On Father’s Day my father talked to us for the first time in a month. All he talked about was going to the game in Arizona. I promised him that I would light a fire under his butt to get him there.
As I drove my father to the game the Friday before, I remember driving to Arizona and seeing all the fans come together. My brother-in-law became a fan instantly. We all wore our shirts and hats proudly. We accidentally ordered tickets on the Arizona side, but we had Iowa fans all around us. We watched Stanzi, Clayborn, Sash, Ballard, and Klug warm up and we saw Herky from across the field. We felt the spirit of Iowa football.
As the first quarter started we of course saw our guys make mistakes, but to tell you the truth that was the best night of our lives! Up and down the Hawkeyes went, we were happy one moment and frustrated the next. I actually got told to `settle down,’ but I couldn’t help myself, it was the first time seeing my favorite college team play live! And all around me – even though we were losing – my family told each other jokes, cheered our team on, and met many people who of course had season passes to Kinnick Stadium.
As Californians, this was the closest game to us. But we were blessed this year, it was the first game for most of us and even though we came out with a loss, we came out with memories that we will never forget – especially all of us losing our voices! Soon, my whole family is looking forward to seeing Kinnick Stadium for the first time. We won’t be able to go to the bowl game, but we will watch the game from the great state called The Hawkeye State.”
– Karissa Schultz
Thank you, Karissa, for sharing your story and congratulations on winning six tickets to a home men’s or women’s basketball game of your choice this winter. Karissa is now one of seven finalists eligible to win 10 tickets to a 2011 non-conference home football game of their choice. The winner will also receive a souvenir football and a $50 gift certificate redeemable at the concessions stands at Kinnick Stadium.
If you submitted a story that was not selected for online publication, you’ll be placed in a pool and eligible to win six tickets to a non-conference home game of the 2011 Iowa Hawkeyes.
The randomly selected winners will be announced at halftime of the Insight Bowl on the Official Iowa Football Blog.
A Hawkeye Story – Past Entries:
December 21, 2010