Go Team Go!

It's mid-October and we are well into college football season. I am not a big time sports fan by any means but to me, college football is a phenomenon unto itself. It's such a cliche but the total experience is just so darn fun, I can't help but love it. Of course it doesn't hurt that mine is a Big Ten team. I don't know what I mean by that because every fan loves watching their team, tailgating before their team's game, cheering for their team. Who ever says, "Yeah I love MY team but there are so many others that are so much better. Other conferences are much better as well. We're really number 47 at best among schools of our size and frankly our conference is maybe the 14th best"? No, it's WE'RE NUMBER ONE! and that's okay. You gotta love what you love.


Really when I think about it, the idea of 70,000+ people crowding into a stadium to watch a bunch of kids (who are the same age as my kids) play a sport is a little absurd. The guys who sit near us who know SO much more than the coaches would probably pummel anyone who spoke about their kid the way they scream about the kids on the field. But that's all part of it. I get that.


The beauty of it all is that there are so many things that occur in every stadium, sometimes in every section of every stadium. Like the guy who wears the same thing, down to the face paint, every single game. That guy has probably worn the same underwear to every game since 1985.

There's the shrill-voiced woman who knows every word to every school song ever and wants everyone to know it.
There's the guy who wants them to "Run it again!" Every play. Every single play.
There is the couple who brings stinky sandwiches and eats their way through the game.
There's the guy who doesn't think the section is properly fired up and instructs us en masse how to be better fans.
There's the cute chick who knows NOTHING about football and thinks that right now is the time to learn.
The gorilla in a referee shirt.
The blue or green dudes.
The college guys (and girls) with their chests painted in an encouraging manner.
The rich alumni who are too rich to stand up for anything but the national anthem.
The person who should have stopped drinking one and a half beers ago, and...
The unfortunate person sitting in front of them.
And then there are the 48 people (in a row of 40) who have to pee and/or visit the concession stand within minutes of kickoff.
Did I miss anyone? I'm sure I did...sorry! But we love you too and the game just wouldn't be the same without you. Even if you are annoying.
RUN IT AGAIN!
So, yeah, football season is a good time. Hanging out with friends and family and maybe running into old college pals. Good times. So when events unfold as they did at last weekend's game, good times become spectacular. Check this out:

This is the second year in a row that we've striped the stadium...it was so cool last year and this year was even better.

Then came the card tricks:

It's even better here
And finally, because it was our only home night game of the year, I guess they had to cram all the awesome they could into one night. Every time we scored:


I know, I know...of all the several people who read this, some of you are not going to be Iowa fans! I get that and it's okay. But if you have any affection in your heart for college football, you have to admit that this stuff is pretty flippin' fantastic and we'll probably be seeing more of it. Just remember who you have to thank for it! Go Hawks!