HAWKS4LIFE:
Welcome to these parts. Not always friendly territory, but I’ll step out here and bid thee welcome.
I really appreciate your post and the spirit in which it was given.
I have good friends who are Iowa fans, and we have alternated hosting each other in IC and Evanston. It’s always been good fun, each side has won and lost, and the overall appreciation for the game has denominated the experience.
Sad to say, this year my Iowa friends have decided to break the tradition, saying that they “Hate NU, hate Pat Fitzgerald” and by extension hate me. I’m viewed as something of an albatross as I’ve seen more NU wins in these contests.
Nonetheless, I’ve never been mistreated at Kinnick Stadium, even when the lone wearer of the purple in a sea of black and gold. (IC is another matter, drunk students can be quite amusing in their taunts, but I separate that from the Kinnick experience.) The only other B1G stadiums that I can say this about would be Spartan Stadium in East Lansing and Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
I vividly recall Kinnick in 2009, when we derailed an Iowa team that seemed destined for the Rose Bowl. Stanzi went down in the end zone. Yet after the game, Iowa fans went out of their way to shake my hand and congratulate me on the win and by their own admission say that Ferentz was too greedy on that fateful play.
Once upon a time, in the Hayden Fry era, there was a condescending animus towards the “Mildcats”. Those days are long gone, and I think there is a healthy respect from both sides. That early string of Fitz wins seems to have righted the balance.
To wit: I can only speak personally, and no doubt smarter minds and sharper tongues than mine on this board will say otherwise, but I have a lot of respect for Ferentz and his tenure in a profession that has very high turnover. I very much get his philosphy of running the same five plays and simply out executing the opponent (how can we, as NU fans, not admire this, given the wobbly nature of our execution?) and I salute him for letting his son bring the program, ever so grudgingly, into the 21st Century with an expanded playbook.
So I am with you. While convenient to see you lose to Penn State, I hope that you win. And as you wish, that we win out. (Though the Domer game is a distraction, but a very significant one for us.) And we settle the West between us. And win or lose, we leave that field with respect.
I, for one, get how significant the Iowa experience is for a generation of Iowa students. While non-Greek at NU, I get how significant those Greek bonds are for Iowa residents. And I know how significant Iowa football, with all of its ups and downs, is to Iowa. I can only wish that NU football could be as significant to the population of the greater Chicago area and that we could fill out our stadium with rabid fans in purple like you can do with the black and gold.
So beat the Lions! And thank you for your well wishes against the Badgers. And may we meet on the field of play in IC as equals.
