Iowa Hawkeyes bay-bee!!!

me ^ | 9.26.2009 | me

[Eric in the Ozarks]

When I was a student at Iowa, the Hawkeyes played Penn State almost every year in their non conference schedule. I had a part time weekend job at KXIC radio and we were all the 'feed' station for a network of stations that broadcast the games. Gene Claussen, KXIC's owner, did play by play.
My job was to "run the board," back timing all the commercials and interviews so that at exactly 1:04.55 PM, I could introduce Gene and Gene would start talking at exactly 1:05 PM.
One Saturday as I was stacking up the prerecorded tape cartridges I discovered one of the shows was missing. I looked in every office and file and with time running out, located the previous week's show in one of the studios. When the time came, in it went, and I braced for what was to come.
Among the more memorable phone calls was a listener who said, "No damned wonder the Hawkeyes stink. You've sent Gene to Happy Valley. The game is in Columbus !"

[THX 1138]

Hey, I'm not an Iowa fan. I'm a disinterested outside observer, unlike you, an obvious homer.

State Penn (oops!) is overrated for two reasons: their QB stinks (not sure exactly what your point was bringing this up; it is what it is) and their OL stinks (overmatched against the Hawkeyes).

Please don't tell me anybody with a serious reputation was picking a team that beat Northern Iowa High School by 1 point in their opener to win.

Never judge any team by one game, my friend. And, for the record, the reason all of those guys on ESPN (the ones with no reputation) were picking Iowa is simple:

Iowa has owned JoePa's crew for a decade...

[FredZarguna]

I bring up Clark because Paterno's legendary (and idiotic) loyalty to his upperclassmen compelled him to start and stay with Clark, the QB least suited to the offense. College football is an opportunity for these kids to showcase their talents for the pros, and -- in the Big 10 at least, and especially at PSU -- for them to get a college education free or at a substantial discount. No head coach "owes" his juniors and seniors anything.

And, for the record, the reason all of those guys on ESPN

Stop right there, and say no more. ESPN: the People Magazine of Sports Networks. If you think anybody on ESPN has a clue about football, College or Pro, it's no wonder you think Iowa has a team. ESPN is a joke.

[Pharmboy]

Loved it. JoePa has given me a pain in the *ss for a looooong time (prolly because of the media adulation he receives)...and ESPN2 had videos of him from Friday night at the pep rally.

This was suh-WEET!!

[PermaRag]

You are exactly right, Fred.

Hey hey, ho ho, Joe Paterno's gotta go.

JoePa needs to find a QB, and quick. The "cupcake" portion of the schedule ended prior to the Iowa game (not that the Hawkeyes are anything great) and a real QB to go with Evan Royster, a talented line and a solid crop of receivers is absolutely necessary in order to compete with big boys.

OTOH, Ohio State is doing OK - just barely - with basically no QB at all and a 3-RB formation. I guess this is going to be Michigan's year; they have a hell of a QB, and he's just a freshman.

[THX 1138]

Well then, you probably agree with me that Paterno is totally overrated as a coach and should have quit ten years ago.

All he does now is recruit. I can see the scene: he's sitting in the living room, making googly eyes at the kid's mother while she says "Have another cannoli, Joe".

Wow, so you're smarter than anyone on ESPN, college or pro? Again, wow.

Can I get on a mailing list or something? Because with your unquestioned genius, I can really clean up this football season...

[2111USMC]

Nothing like the sound of 107,000 SILENCED fans!

GO HAWKS!

[FredZarguna]

Yeah. he's so overrated as a coach he has more wins than anybody and a career .750. Nothing quite says "bum" like winning 3/4 of your games. And before you start with the weak schedule nonsense: MORE. BOWL. WINS. THAN. ANYONE.

Can I get on your newsletter? I never met anyone who was 100% wrong before.

[Free Vulcan]

Yes, and then Ohio State stomps Iowa in the next game, and then gets beat by Penn State in the next. That’s exactly what happened last year. Go figure.