Hawk Talk Daily: Random Thoughts

Nov. 6, 2011

• 2011 Fall Camp Central
• 2011 Football Game Day Parking Changes
• America Needs Farmers website
• 2011 UI Football Media Guide
• 2011 UI Football Fact Book
• 24 Hawkeyes to Watch
• gohawks.com
• Iowa Football Wallpaper

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Random thoughts on the day after a nail-biter at Kinnick that had a very good – and unnecessarily exciting – ending…

You can read about that exciting finish HERE

One week, you’re falling off the ledge, the next you’re planning a bowl trip. Such is the life of a fan of the 2011 University of Iowa football team. I’ll readily admit to be a paying customer on the emotional rollercoaster. When I stop being emotionally invested that’s when I know it’ll be time to do something else. But I don’t see that day coming too soon. There’s just too much to like about the game of college football and my favorite college football team. Allow me to also suggest that I’m delighted our head coach, his staff and our student-athletes are smart enough not to get caught up in that rollercoaster silliness. Steady hands on the wheel. That’s what we have and I, for one, am glad we do.

Anyone out there who really thinks they know which team will earn the right to represent the Legends Division in the first-ever Big Ten Conference Football Championship? Not me. From where I sit the race to Indy resembles a bowl of spaghetti. You can review the current standing HERE

Yes, folks, kinda lost in all the excitement of yesterday’s victory over Michigan, the third in a row, by the way, over the Wolverines for the good guys in black and gold, was the fact that Iowa got win No. 6 and is now eligible for a bowl game for the 11th consecutive season. Think about that a second…11 straight seasons. Eleven. Pretty impressive stuff.

My wife and I were trying to figure out last night during the “Super Bowl of College Football” how Marvin McNutt actually caught a couple of those passes he caught yesterday. Amazing stuff.

To this day I remember my Philosophy 101 class as a freshman at Southern Illinois University and the question the professor tossed us newbies in our first class: “If a tree falls in the forest but nobody hears it fall, did it really fall?” OK. Now it’s my turn to play professor. Turn back the clock to yesterday at Kinnick shortly before 11 a.m.: If four F-15’s fly over a college football stadium and you can hear them but can’t see them, did they really fly over? Of course they did…or maybe they didn’t…such is the mystery of Kinnick’s “Stealth Flyover.”

I’m told ticket sales for the Hawkeyes’ men’s hoops game against Creighton later this month are going well. However, I’ll be honest. We need to paint Wells Fargo Arena black and gold Hawk fans. The ‘Jays are a pretty salty group. So, if you’re a “Golden Circle Hawk,” get a taste of the fun that’s going to happen in Carver this winter. Stop by the ticket office at Wells Fargo and secure your seat.

There’s a pair of basketball teams eager to take to Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena today and get a sense of just where they are before going at for real next weekend, so, if you’re in the neighborhood, Bluder’s Bunch plays at 1 p.m., and Fran’s squad hits the court at 3:30. Go Hawks.

I had an opportunity to listen to Tom Brands at halftime on the Hawkeye Radio Network yesterday. Man, does that guy have a motor and it’s always – always – in overdrive. I’m sure glad he’s dressed in black and gold on match days.

I liked the look of the helmets worn by the Hawkeyes yesterday. It will be interesting to listen to the feedback for hither and yon as the week rolls on.

Do you think when Denard Robinson closed his eyes last night when calling it a day he saw Broderick Binns? Talk about a line on a stat sheet: Three tackles, two a total of minus-13 yards, three passes broken up, and a sack. Not a bad day’s work. And, by the way, there’s no column on the stat sheet labeled “Leadership.” If there were, our senior would have had triple digits. You can read about Binns’ and the Hawkeye “D” HERE

. You can read about what Kirk had to say about him and the game HERE

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You may or may not be aware that Fran missed a press conference this week. Now, all things being equal, he probably wishes he didn’t. Now, on the other hand — for what it’s worth — he got a free pass from me when I learned he was on the front end of a quick recruiting trip. Recruiting…it’s the life-blood of every successful college basketball program and our head coach embraces it. That’s good stuff, Hawk fans.

Marcus Coker sure is fun to watch. More fun each week. He’s not a Shonn Greene yet – of course, who am I to attempt to make that judgment and, really, there aren’t too many players that are Shonn Greene-like – but he’s really running with some mo-jo, isn’t he? You can read a little about Marcus’ performance HERE

And, lastly, happy birthday thick burger man.

Go Hawks!