It was an odd, wonderful day at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City on Saturday, Nov. 21. First - and most importantly - the Iowa Hawkeyes took down the Minnesota Golden Gophers by a score of 12-0.
It's always a spectacular day when I know I can return to my non-native Minnesota home at the end of the day and give basically everyone I know a hard time over football results. You know, like trash talking, "Hey, I guess those Gophers got knocked off their feet... kind of like gophers getting their feet whacked off when turned in for a township rodent bounty." (Ah, Minnesota is so unique in soooooooo many ways.)
It was a strange game. People will tell you it was a defensive battle - and part of it was that. Watching the Hawkeyes keep the Gophers out of the end zone on four successive downs was superb (it would have been more superb if it had been at our south end zone instead of the north one).
But it all seemed we kept waiting for that big, BIG offensive play that never quite materialized... a big run down the field... an exciting interception... a long pass caught for a touchdown. You have to know it's an odd day when perhaps the loudest cheers came when the game was completed.
I'd estimate around three-quarters of those in the stadium stayed around after the game to watch an Iowa season highlight reel put together to a popular rock song with a heavy, rockin' beat. Boy, did we cheer then, watching glorious moments and the big plays from places like Penn State... and the last-second win at Michigan State. It was certainly a fairy tale-come-true season for the Hawkeyes, at least until quarterback Ricky Stanzi got hurt. And still the Hawks played close, admirable games.
What fun it was to revisit Kinnick Stadium at my alma matter. I went to the game with three friends, one of them making a college visit and tour as she considers attending Iowa. Their friends, meanwhile, included a cousin with a to-die-for tailgate set-up and location. I had never really tailgated in all my years attending games either as a student or as an alumni, so this was another game day treat.
And talk about the Mercedes Benz of tailgates! This was an excellent location near the south gates of the stadium - and the statue of Nile Kinnick himself. Two canopy tents were set up sporting black-and-gold colors, of course, and Hawkeye logos.
Inside, it only got better. The back of a truck sported a 40-inch (or so) plasma, flat-screen TV hooked up to satellite TV. So you wanted to hear a pre-game show, or keep up on other games? No problem. Some attendees even stayed in the canopy tents to watch the Hawkeye game - after all, they had the game sound effects coming at them in real, live "surround sound." They also were warmed by radiant heaters hooked up to the refillable propane tanks (as well as the many beverages you'll find at a typical tailgate).
And food? Oh my!!! When I started eating tender, thinly sliced and mouth-watering steak-on-a-stick, I knew this was the tailgate to beat all tailgates. The rest of the food being grilled onsite, the well-laid-out table, the beanbag toss tournament and the fact that local TV sports guys stopped by on a regular basis served to confirm what I'd suspected. It was something special.
It takes a lot of effort to do up a tailgate right like this. The wife needed to leave her car parked in the spot during the week. Then, at 6:01 p.m. Friday night - when the lot was cleared out so the tailgaters could come in and get set up - the basic tailgating truck needed to be there and ready to be parked immediately (if I have all my facts straight). I understand the husband, who had an after-work event and couldn't get there immediately Friday, spent until 1:45 a.m. Saturday or so to get set up. I want to say right here and now, all that effort was exceptional and much appreciated - by our whole group, everyone there and, yes, the grazing TV guys.
I met a guy at this tailgate who'd graduated a year ahead of me from my high school, which was a kick. His wife also shared some fun stories. They now live close to Iowa City and in fact have helped both at games and with cleaning up Kinnick Stadium Sunday morning after games as fund-raisers for local groups.
Like most all - if not all - Big 10 stadiums, Kinnick does not allow alcohol - which is not to say that some might not make its way in, hidden in some manner. This woman explained a tipsy man came to the food window her group was running to order more beer. No matter how hard she tried to explain no beer was allowed or available, the guy just didn't get it. Finally, upon the advice of another person, she said, "We're out of beer here. Try the next window down."
She also said a lot of small, airplane-sized liquor bottles are found when performing clean-up duties Sunday morning.
Whatever the case, the crowd was pretty well-behaved. I had the guy who stands up the entire game (you know the one) directly two rows in front of me. But I forgave him and praised his resiliency when he offered high fives all around for each good Hawkeye play.
I did notice the stadium atmosphere is a lot more "show" now than back 25 to 30 years ago (yikes!). Bass music beats keep rocking the stadium, while people are encourage to take and then send cell phone photos to a certain number - to then be posted on the Jumbotron. Things have changed, but the college football of the Iowa Hawkeyes still draws the crowd - especially in a winning season.
After the game, we spent another couple hours tailgating to allow traffic to clear out, but then it was time to move the rigs out, too.
All in all, it was a spectacular time! And just one more thing - Go Hawkeyes, in whichever bowl game you may play. Rumors that day pointed to the Fiesta Bowl.
Lisa Brainard is the news editor for the Republican-Leader and Chatfield News. She writes for the Phillips Bluff Country Publishing group of newspapers, which also includes the Spring Grove Herald, Bluff Country Reader, News-Record, and Spring Valley Tribune. She can be reached at: lbrainard@bluffcountrynews.com. She also photographs many scenic landscapes in her travels near and far, in addition to taking numerous newspaper photos.
