Strike 3 St. Louis!

Ok, here is the deal. Albert Pujols said he wanted a deal done by 12pm Wednesday, and somehow St. Louis has whiffed big time. He wants 10 years, $300 million. Yes that is a lot of money. But, he is also the best player in the game as we speak. As a Cub fan, its hard for me to even watch when he is up to bat vs. the Cubs. The guy can hit it to Northwestern's campus from Wrigley. He has been loyal to St. Louis, has even said he wants to play there forever, then pay the guy. Don't play games with him. I heard they offered $20 million a year instead of the asking $30. The guy said $30, give him $30. Can you imagine your team and city without him? That is the funny part, the Cardinals would be average at best. I hope he walks at the end of the year, cause the Cubs are going to be sitting pretty money wise after this year, and you better believe they will have the money. So Pujols, sign with the Cubs, make the Cardinals pay for disrespecting you like that. I heard today that a business man said that the deal is actually a good deal, because the first couple of years he will be playing like he is worth more than what you are paying him. In reality, even if he is 42 years old at the end making $30 million a year, its all worth it when the banners are waving in Wrigley Field that says World Series Champions. Those don't change, and they don't come down, so go ahead St. Louis, play Russian Roulette and you may end up like your buddies to the west of you in Kansas City.

Los Angeles Vikings?

As a Vikings fan I hate hearing radio personalities talking about the NFL returning to the 2nd largest market in the US. The reason why I hate hearing about it is because my team, the Vikings are running out of time on their lease and getting a stadium approved by the Minnesota government. Make things worse, who knows what the 2011 NFL season looks like right at this moment with the players and owners battling over labor disputes. It has been obvious the past 5 years that the Vikings need a new stadium, and they just kept getting the cold shoulder while the Twins and Gophers got theres. Then the dome roof collapsed, and the season went with it. Its easier to go to the Minnesota legislators if coming off a Super Bowl title or at least another NFC title. Right now the Packers are on top, and the Bears are right there too. With the Vikes having nobody at the QB position and the Lions getting better, how well does the Vikes future look in the North and in Minnesota. Here is the reality, the very successful Los Angeles Lakers started in Minneapolis. Then the biggest kick where it hurts was the North Stars leaving for Dallas and keeping the name as well. Minnesota is to hockey as Canada is to Hockey. Nobody thought Minnesota would lose their hockey team, let alone to Texas. But it happened, and it could happen to Minnesota again. LA is getting a stadium, and they are getting a team. The Vikes need a stadium, and it would be an easy move, which is the scary part. In this world, its all about the now, and as a business man you look at trying to be successful. Well when you see that the NFC West was won by a 7-9 team, you think we can win, and win right away. Competition in the West is not even close to the North at this point. And yes, Minnesota to the West would be so simple, because St. Louis would then take Minnesota's spot in the North. St. Louis and Chicago are rivals in most sports, and used to be in football many years ago. Its scary how perfect it would work, cause the reality is it may just happen.


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Hawkeye Football Player's Perspective on Entrance to Kinnick

Julian Vandervelde talking about the first time he came out of the tunnel in Kinnick.

Iowa State 2006. It was my second time coming out of the tunnel, but it may as well have been my first. Coming down that hall and out of that tunnel is better than any roller coaster I've ever been on, and in 2008 I got to ride the newest one at Busch Gardens Florida 7 times in a row as part of the Outback Bowl. The darkness of the hall begins building the anticipation the moment you step in it. Surrounded by 100 huge men in full uniform starts to agitate your claustrophobia almost immediately even if you aren't claustrophobic. Huddled together, moving as one, surging forward you become one entity. Hearts racing, breathing picks up, you see the light at the end of the tunnel and begin to hear the spastic voices of the student section. As you get towards the opening and the fans see the team the dull hum quickly escalates to an earth-shaking roar. I will never again be able to listen to AC/DC's Back in Black without getting an adrenaline rush. The rush of The Swarm, the thousands of fans rising up on every side, there's really nothing quite like it. I remember that year, just before kickoff, a hush fell over the whole stadium as the two teams lined up. A sound that I can only describe as a shimmer started in the student section. Slowly the buzz of 70,000 sets of keys filled the stadium. Then the voices started. Again, starting in the student section and spreading to the rest of the stadium the voice of the Hawkeye faithful rose like a freight train approaching until it was almost deafening. At the kickoff I was worried about the sounds waking up patients in the hospital next door. Intense doesn't begin to describe it. And we won!

Where are We? What's going On?

I love sports, and keeping updated on the now and giving my opinion when something happens is fun. Much easier to say when talking to my friends and family than to sit down and blog about it. In the last 2 1/2 months, I have been busy with my family as baby #3 is coming soon, #2 is crawling everywhere like the Jamaican speedster Bolt. A lot has happened since I blogged last. My Hawkeyes finished poorly by getting whooped at TCF Bank Stadium in late November, and not too soon after that, the Bears slammed Favre's melon on that same turf a month later to end his career. The Vikes roof literally collapsed on there season, and the Seahawks made the playoffs and took out the returning Super Bowl Champions. My Hawks beat Mizzou in there Bowl game, the Ducks and Tigers went at it in the National Title game, and the Packers won the Superbowl.

So now what? The NHL has made it through the All-Star break, NBA is approaching the All-Star Break, pitchers and catchers are reporting to spring training, recruiting classes are in the books for college football, and the NFL has some major negotiations to get figured out.
     Oh ya, I forgot that NCAA basketball is going on. See when you live in Iowa, you have to rely on the Missouri Valley for a home state team to make it to the NCAA Tournament. Lets just say Morale in the State of Iowa has been low when it comes to NCAA hoops unless you are a UNI Panther fan. Its nice story when UNI plays well in the tourney, and the whole state supports them because they are a Missouri Valley team and I would guess most Iowa and Iowa State fans don't have any hatred towards them because they are the little guys in the state. But with that said, this state is starved for Iowa or ISU to be back into the tournament. They are the big dogs of the state, they just haven't been anywhere close to being big in the last 5 years. ISU started off strong, but have struggled in the conference, and what do you expect when your starters are playing 38 minutes a night. They will be scary good next year when 3 players who are out are in. Royce White is one of them who is a very talented player that transferred from Minnesota. White has NBA talent, and will make them much better.
Now, the Iowa Hawkeye basketball program was a good one to watch if you like going to bed at 7pm on Wednesday nights and needed a nap on Saturday or Sunday. Under coach Lickliter it was like watching paint dry and watching your grass grow. Coach McCaffery has brought some excitement back to Iowa City. No they are not doing much in the very tough Big Ten, but there is evidence of something growing. They are starting to play better, and they have beaten Indiana twice this year, beat Michigan State, and ran with the #1 team in the country Ohio State. Indiana and Michigan State are down, but Indiana was playing good basketball and beating teams prior to the Hawks coming to town. Do I expect Iowa to beat Wisconsin, no I do not, and its going to be tough the rest of the way, but the future looks bright. Besides, when was the last time you could talk about Iowa Basketball in a positive way in February?

P.S  Can somebody, anybody get Carmelo Anthony traded? Lebron called and said hey Melo, thanks for taking all the attention away from me and the Heat as you try to get to New York.

Minnesota Vikings

The team that almost went to the Super Bowl a year ago, is 3-6. Let's repeat that shall we, the team that almost went to the Super Bowl, marching down the field to go to the Super Bowl, hasn't been the same since that interception was thrown by Favre is 3-6 and not going anywhere. That's right, Stick a Fork in the Minnesota Vikings, cause they are Done! The Vikes have had a lot of injuries this year, Griffin is out, Rice has been out all year, Berrian makes makes more money than my family and extended family will make in lifetime in just 6 years. I wish he would have stayed a Bear, because he has been worthless in the last 2 seasons. Then there was Randy Moss that returned to help the Vikes and Childress dumped him in like 4 weeks. He would have helped today, you know why, because the Vikings had a bunch of backup WR's running around with Percy Harvin until he got hurt. THANK YOU BRAD CHILDRESS FOR ALL THE MEMORIES. Not just this season, lets go back before Favre shall we. Your buddy ol' pal T-Jack. Boy he was great draft pick. T-Jack would look awesome one week and look like Rex Grossman the next. Childress hasn't done a thing since he took over the Vikes. Favre did that last season, that wasn't Childress, that was a hall of fame QB leading a team. I think its time for Childress to be let go of his duties. the Vikes have had some injuries, but it shouldn't be this bad. This season hasn't helped the Viking Organization either on trying to get a new stadium, pretty sure a Super Bowl Contending team would have been good idea.
Then there is Favre. The guy can play, he has had some great comebacks and great games with the Vikes. His highest career passing game is with the Vikes, not the Packers. But in the end, Favre will either be in my nightmares throwing TD's in a Packer uniform or turning the ball over in a Vikes uniform. He will always be a Packer, but I will always get the satisfaction of him a year ago lighting the Packers up in a Vikings uniform, gotta love it, I hope I see it again next weekend.

State of Iowa Hawkeye Football on Nov. 14, 2010

So on November 14, 2010 the Iowa Hawkeye Football team is 7-3 with a one loss Ohio State Buckeye team coming to Iowa City this Saturday. The Iowa Hawkeyes came into the 2010 season as a favorite to with the Big Ten title along with Ohio State. This game was glowing on the schedule back in August, but a lot has happened since August to the Black and Gold. Back in August we didn't know how all the running backs were going to get enough touches with Robinson and Wegher returning after stellar performances last year and Jewell Hampton returning as well off of a injury. Wegher decided to do other things, Hampton got hurt versus Arizona and Robinson has been carrying the load all year with some help from Marcus Coker. The Iowa Hawkeyes laid an egg in the first half versus Arizona and almost fought back and won, but came up short. The Hawkeyes then lost to Wisconsin after Wisconsin knocked off then #1 Ohio State, but the Badgers were to tough and down-right physical for Iowa. The offensive line of Wisconsin owned the so called top rated defensive line of the Hawkeyes. Iowa then some how absolutely destroyed Michigan State the next week, but barely survived in Bloomington, Indiana. The Hawkeyes then went on to Northwestern, a team that has beaten Iowa quite a bit of late, and yet the Iowa Hawkeyes continued to struggle against the same spread that Northwestern has been running for the past 10 years.
This Iowa Hawkeye football team has so much talent, and lost some very good football players from last years team that are now playing on Sundays. The defensive line was suppose to be the strength for the Hawkeyes this year lead by Adrian Clayborn. The defensive line has been average at best. Not sure if they read too many preseason magazines about how great they are or what, but I haven't seen all the sacks and pure domination that I witnessed a year ago. I started to believe that it was the linebackers we had a year ago, by them being gone, and was making the defensive line not look as good. But this past saturday, I saw Persa getting 9 seconds at times to make a throw, and of course their was always a wide open WR at the sideline and with a defender 10 yards away. The Iowa defense was known for 6 seconds of hell, right now its 6 seconds of do what ever you want. Its not brain surgery of what Northwestern wants to do, I have been seeing them do the same thing over and over for years, yet Iowa doesn't do anything to fix it. The bend but don't break defense works in most situations, but when you are giving WR's with 10 yard cushions, they are going to catch the ball every time. When WR's are running crossing routes, LB's are not going to be able to run with them, they are LB's, not CB's.
The thing that has disappointed me a lot this year as well, is we have never had the talent we have at the WR position, yet we don't use them enough or have any strategic game plan to expose the opponents secondary. Iowa could have passed all day on Wisconsin secondary, but they didn't. Keenan Davis was a big-time WR recruit out of Cedar Rapids, and is in his second year, and hasn't made the impact that I thought he would have. The last stud WR to come out of Cedar Rapids chose Michigan over Iowa at the time, and now I know why, because he was used and progressed quickly there. What I don't get, is its the same WR coach that Arrington had at Michigan that Davis has at Iowa. The Iowa offense should be more explosive, but maybe we are so conservative, that it is what it is.
I believe for the Iowa Hawkeyes to not have a dissappointing season or underachieving season, they need to beat Ohio State this Saturday in Kinnick. Kinnick stadium was a nightmare for teams back in 2002-2005 runs. Wisconsin came in and won in Kinnick this year, but Iowa has been playing much better at home. Iowa has nothing to lose at this point, the Big Ten title is out of reach this year, might as well mess it up and take the giant of the Big Ten with you. Ohio State is very beatable, and frankly I'm just sick and tired of hearing about how good they are. Its time for this Hawkeye team, to step it up a notch, be the team we all thought they would be, and take THE Ohio State Buckeyes out!

IOWA VS. WISCONSIN

HUGE game to take place in Legendary Kinnick Stadium Saturday at 2:30pm on ABC. Shonn Greene will be the honorary Captain for the Iowa Hawkeyes this week. Shonn Greene has a highlight video on Youtube of what he did to the Badgers last time they were in Kinnick.
Wisconsin is a lot like Iowa, they want to run first, then pass. Its going to be a good old fashion Big Ten smash mouth football, and may even include some raindrops. The battle is going to be in the trenches between the Wisconsin big-o-offensive line and Iowa's defensive line. Iowa did very well last year in Camp Randall, and Iowa has done well versus Wisconsin in the last decade, especially in big games. 2004 Iowa beat Wisconsin at home to win a share of the Big Ten title. Iowa beat Wisconsin at Camp Randall in Barry Alvarez's last game as head coach of the Badgers. Tomorrow will be a big spot too, and its in Kinnick Stadium. This will be the game were Rick Stanzi is going to have to play very well as Wisconsin will load the box to stop the run, and Stanzi's WR's could be too much for an average Wisconsin secondary. Iowa's offensive line will need to protect Stanzi and open some holes for Adam Robinson. Wisconsin has a good defensive line as well, so that will be key for the Hawks to establish a run game.
I think the biggest factory is coaching. Ferentz teams make great adjustments, and as long as Iowa doesn't give up a Special Teams touchdown or spot Wisconsin 14 points right away, they should be fine. Iowa was down to Wisconsin last year and fought back at Camp Randall.
I fully expect the 12th man of Kinnick Stadium to be very loud tomorrow and looking foward to it.

Lets keep the BULL (Heartland Trophy) in its rightful place in Iowa City, and lets take down the Roadkill Sewer Rats of Madison.

GO HAWKS!!!!!!