1. Boy, we've all had to become experts on valid and invalid fair catch signals, haven't we? Saw another couple outlets spent some time with the Big Ten today. I'll just tell y'all now: there's nothing coming out of the conference that's going to be satisfying for Iowa fans, so there's only so much more attention I'm going to give it from here on out. I've said it several times — in the game thread, in my Saturday gamer, on our postgame podcast and on social media — that was a crap call, and it swung a game. Awful for the sport, awful for Iowa and awful especially for Cooper DeJean, having a borderline generational highlight-reel play taken away on an after-the-fact technicality.
I'm all for video review correcting obvious mistakes, but that many reviews ground things to a complete halt for 15-20 minutes over the course of the game, and only the Diante Vines sideline catch felt both 1) necessary to review and 2) properly adjudicated. That's dismal, considering much of an effect video review has on both the entertainment value of the games and on their outcomes.
I did enjoy Gary Koerner's comment after the Big Ten said DeJean's wave was more visible from the overhead angle.
1a. Joe Evans told me after the game that the "24 Hour Rule" (the team gets 24 hours to react to a game, then onto the next week) will be harder to manage during a bye week, especially with how the Minnesota game ended and with him being a 6th-year senior. I appreciated his candor on that one. Sometimes leadership means acknowledging when things are tough. So maybe a bye week is exactly what the team needs, instead of potentially letting this loss affect game prep for Northwestern. Hate to say it, but Iowa's offense is not nearly good enough for this team to take any wins for granted the rest of the way.
2. The game at Wrigley in a couple weeks will be on Peacock — kickoff at 2:30 CT. Does Iowa get put on streaming-only if it's still ranked and sitting at 7-1? Hard to say.
Regardless, Chicago is my favorite big city, and it'll be especially nice to not have to deal with Northwestern's dump of a stadium this year. Expecting the crowd to be +50% Hawkeyes. If you're "tailgating" in Wrigleyville before the game, do yourself a favor and check out the Nisei Lounge. Pretty old-school, but excellent vibes and a lot better than Merkle's charging $65 just to get in the door, as one Chicago-based friend sent me the ad for.
3. As mentioned in another thread, we are indeed not getting any coaches to interview this week; only interviews on Wednesday with the players who have Tuesdays class conflicts. Protocol in years past had been to make the coordinators available in small groups (similar to media day) during bye weeks, so this is new. And let's just say it: it's not a commendable example to set for the players, especially guys like Deacon Hill, who is not in position to succeed when he steps onto the field and yet still stands in front of us reporters afterwards.
I will still be in Iowa City on Tuesday though — speaking with the facilities team who helped make the Crossover at Kinnick a success. If even Lisa Bluder and Caitlin Clark are publicly thanking them afterwards, there's definitely a story in how that event came together and how Iowa managed the logistics and weather. Excited to turn that one into a reality.
4. There are so many teams in women's basketball who would kill for a bench like Iowa's this year. That wasn't the case last year, and there's a pretty easy argument to be made that it hampered Iowa against LSU. Molly Davis is playing with incredible savvy and confidence, Kylie Feuerbach is healthy and doesn't look at all like she just missed a season for an ACL tear. Sydney Affolter is turning into a genuine threat in transition. Sharon Goodman might struggle defensively against faster bigs in the B1G, but I think she's also the most likely of the bench players to press for starts — got substantially more minutes (and postgame praise) on Sunday than Addi O'Grady, who still has too many moments where it looks like the game isn't slowing down for her yet.
Of course, Iowa could also just stick with its lineups where Stuelke's at the 5 and run 90% of their opponents' lineups off the floor. You get a fast break of Caitlin Clark, Gabbie Marshall, Molly Davis, Kate Martin (or Sydney Affolter) and Hannah Stuelke going, and the only question is if Iowa ends up with 2 or 3.
5. Media announcement from Iowa this morning that Lisa Bluder's recording the first episode of the Iowa Women Rise Podcast tomorrow:
The choice to have Sasha Schmid host the podcast is an interesting one, in a positive way. Gary Dolphin is perfectly fine on the Fight For Iowa podcast, but in an AM radio way. Giving this one a fresher voice and attitude — namely a coach instead of a radio lifer — helps keep the two podcasts distinct and makes the university's own presence in the sports podcast world a little less, well, stodgy.
6. Cheers to everyone who recommended YouTube TV a couple weeks back. Finally got Google Fiber installed and the TV setup squared away, and this is just plain better than Hulu. My one gripe: if I'm watching YTTV on my laptop, it won't let me take screenshots; all that pops up is just a black window. What's the keyboard shortcut for "Copy Screen But Covered Under Fair Use Doctrine"?
And speaking of recommendations, I've got a lot more I-80 hours in front of me between now and March. What podcasts are you all listening to? Never been much of a podcast guy (short commutes forever) but I've enjoyed some episodes of Smartless and Pablo Torre on some recent drives. Doesn't have to be funny; I enjoy good storytelling and uncommon perspectives -- as far away from politics as possible.
Thanks in advance for your recommendations, and thanks on behalf of the team here for all your support!
I'm all for video review correcting obvious mistakes, but that many reviews ground things to a complete halt for 15-20 minutes over the course of the game, and only the Diante Vines sideline catch felt both 1) necessary to review and 2) properly adjudicated. That's dismal, considering much of an effect video review has on both the entertainment value of the games and on their outcomes.
I did enjoy Gary Koerner's comment after the Big Ten said DeJean's wave was more visible from the overhead angle.
1a. Joe Evans told me after the game that the "24 Hour Rule" (the team gets 24 hours to react to a game, then onto the next week) will be harder to manage during a bye week, especially with how the Minnesota game ended and with him being a 6th-year senior. I appreciated his candor on that one. Sometimes leadership means acknowledging when things are tough. So maybe a bye week is exactly what the team needs, instead of potentially letting this loss affect game prep for Northwestern. Hate to say it, but Iowa's offense is not nearly good enough for this team to take any wins for granted the rest of the way.
2. The game at Wrigley in a couple weeks will be on Peacock — kickoff at 2:30 CT. Does Iowa get put on streaming-only if it's still ranked and sitting at 7-1? Hard to say.
Regardless, Chicago is my favorite big city, and it'll be especially nice to not have to deal with Northwestern's dump of a stadium this year. Expecting the crowd to be +50% Hawkeyes. If you're "tailgating" in Wrigleyville before the game, do yourself a favor and check out the Nisei Lounge. Pretty old-school, but excellent vibes and a lot better than Merkle's charging $65 just to get in the door, as one Chicago-based friend sent me the ad for.
3. As mentioned in another thread, we are indeed not getting any coaches to interview this week; only interviews on Wednesday with the players who have Tuesdays class conflicts. Protocol in years past had been to make the coordinators available in small groups (similar to media day) during bye weeks, so this is new. And let's just say it: it's not a commendable example to set for the players, especially guys like Deacon Hill, who is not in position to succeed when he steps onto the field and yet still stands in front of us reporters afterwards.
I will still be in Iowa City on Tuesday though — speaking with the facilities team who helped make the Crossover at Kinnick a success. If even Lisa Bluder and Caitlin Clark are publicly thanking them afterwards, there's definitely a story in how that event came together and how Iowa managed the logistics and weather. Excited to turn that one into a reality.
4. There are so many teams in women's basketball who would kill for a bench like Iowa's this year. That wasn't the case last year, and there's a pretty easy argument to be made that it hampered Iowa against LSU. Molly Davis is playing with incredible savvy and confidence, Kylie Feuerbach is healthy and doesn't look at all like she just missed a season for an ACL tear. Sydney Affolter is turning into a genuine threat in transition. Sharon Goodman might struggle defensively against faster bigs in the B1G, but I think she's also the most likely of the bench players to press for starts — got substantially more minutes (and postgame praise) on Sunday than Addi O'Grady, who still has too many moments where it looks like the game isn't slowing down for her yet.
Of course, Iowa could also just stick with its lineups where Stuelke's at the 5 and run 90% of their opponents' lineups off the floor. You get a fast break of Caitlin Clark, Gabbie Marshall, Molly Davis, Kate Martin (or Sydney Affolter) and Hannah Stuelke going, and the only question is if Iowa ends up with 2 or 3.
5. Media announcement from Iowa this morning that Lisa Bluder's recording the first episode of the Iowa Women Rise Podcast tomorrow:
The choice to have Sasha Schmid host the podcast is an interesting one, in a positive way. Gary Dolphin is perfectly fine on the Fight For Iowa podcast, but in an AM radio way. Giving this one a fresher voice and attitude — namely a coach instead of a radio lifer — helps keep the two podcasts distinct and makes the university's own presence in the sports podcast world a little less, well, stodgy.
6. Cheers to everyone who recommended YouTube TV a couple weeks back. Finally got Google Fiber installed and the TV setup squared away, and this is just plain better than Hulu. My one gripe: if I'm watching YTTV on my laptop, it won't let me take screenshots; all that pops up is just a black window. What's the keyboard shortcut for "Copy Screen But Covered Under Fair Use Doctrine"?
And speaking of recommendations, I've got a lot more I-80 hours in front of me between now and March. What podcasts are you all listening to? Never been much of a podcast guy (short commutes forever) but I've enjoyed some episodes of Smartless and Pablo Torre on some recent drives. Doesn't have to be funny; I enjoy good storytelling and uncommon perspectives -- as far away from politics as possible.
Thanks in advance for your recommendations, and thanks on behalf of the team here for all your support!
