COLUMN: Hawkeyes win a late, late one!

   How many of you Hawkeye football fans waited up to catch the ending of their game against Nevada? Count me as one of those hardcore fans. After three lightning delays, the Hawkeyes finally finished up at approximately 1:45 a.m., a game that started a 6:00 p.m.

   Let’s see, if my math is correct, that’s a seven plus hour game. Can you imagine if that would have been last week’s game against the Cyclones? The announcers thought maybe around 700 fans came back in to watch the conclusion of the Nevada game. I bet the numbers would have been way up had this happened last week.

   I did talk to one of my friends, former Monticello resident Jim Heims, a season ticket holder. Jim came back twice after delays. Of course, he does live in Iowa City.

   I mentioned to Jim for a brief moment, I did the math and considered scooting to Iowa City, knowing I could just walk through the gates and get a great seat to catch the ending. But I quickly talked myself out of that rather rash decision, especially when the math told me I might catch about 4-5 minutes of the ending.

   Plus, I did not want to wake Darcey up and tell her I was heading to Iowa City at 1 a.m.

   An awesome golf shot. Sunday, I golfed in the Monticello School Foundation four-man best shot. I’ve never golfed with anyone that has hit a hole-in-one (I still haven’t) but I did witness a rather unique golf shot.

   One of the golfers in my foursome, Greg Kromminga, hit his second shot on hole number five and we watched it bounce about 12 inches from the hole, pop up into the air and land into the cup. But it bounced out of the cup and rested about 6 inches from the hole.

   Technically we wanted to score it an eagle (comparing it to breaking the plane of the goal line) but we figured it was probably a birdie, which is what we marked it as on our scorecard. For the record, I think Greg also hit one or two other flags that day chipping and ran at least another one over the cup on a chip.

   A parting shot. Speaking of the Iowa football team, why are more and more fans piling on the Hawkeye football program? And more specifically, the Iowa quarterback and his offensive coordinator/quarterback coach? While it is true the offense is running in quicksand to start the season (and toward the end of last year), Hawkeye expectations might just be a bit on the unrealistic side of the ball. The Hawks have had a stable program over the years. I would use the word consistency.

   Maybe I’ve learned to “settle” in my older age. Sure, I’d love to see the Hawks become national contenders on a consistent basis but is that the reality for this program considering geography, competition and the size of our state when it comes to recruiting?

   I got tired of listening to fans complain on Saturday that the Iowa QB didn’t throw a perfect throw on his first pass into the end zone to a wide-open receiver. The receiver had to make a great play to enable the Hawks to score.

   Isn’t that what we should expect out of our Hawkeyes, teammates picking each other up? Making plays for each other? Being gracious in victory and defeat? Having each other’s backs? I would sure hope so.