- Sep 13, 2002
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Tuesdays with Torbee
by: Tory Brecht
The divot at Wrigley Field filled in a bit after the game.
“We know only that in some strange and melancholy way we have become a waste land. All the same, we are not often sad.”
― Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front
As the turf against the outfield end zone at Wrigley Field rent asunder, torn by the combined mass of grunting young men, striving for mere inches of purchase in order to move a pigskin over an arbitrary white line last Saturday, images of trench warfare filled my head.
Northwestern and Iowa engaged in a slogging, sloppy, almost medieval battle of attrition across a lovely autumn afternoon, ironically a few days prior to the 11th day of November, which marks the end of another slogging, sloppy, almost medieval battle of attrition.
Typically, I shy away from the “football as a metaphor for war” game. War is far more brutal, causes untold human suffering and is definitely not a game. That said, on a trivial level, Iowa football has remarkable parallels to World War I warfare.
Offensive success is measured not in tens or hundreds of yards, but feet gained at great cost and effort. Waves of fresh young-faced true believers are thrown into the fray, only to be battered and beaten and injured, with the “next man in” then ordered over the top to his fate. Behind the lines, the aged generals knowingly nod at tried and true tactics they have deployed for decades; stoically ignoring the blindly obvious fact they are outdated and useless.
And still, somehow some joy can be squeezed from the struggle, at least for the winning side. Sure the fray itself was brutal and ugly, but there stand the Iowa Hawkeyes – bloodied but on top of the Big 10 West, perhaps setting themselves up for an even more brutal campaign to come. (I will spare you my Michigan as Germany and Harbaugh as Hitler metaphor, but I think it’s obvious.)
My publisher Tom Kakert wrote this week that it’s time for Iowa football fans to “embrace the suck.” Embracing is likely too much to ask for frustrated fans who know the margin for error for their favorite team is less than razor thin and relies on the improbable becoming commonplace. I’d swap out the verb “embrace” with “endure.”
Yes, Iowa currently remains the butt of jokes from national football writers and a source of free money for gamblers willing to take the Hawkeye game under week after week after week. Any notion of a “breakout” game by this offense, with this un-benchable starting quarterback, has long been abandoned. The Hawkeyes can only win by posting near shutouts on defense and making spectacular special teams plays like blocked punts, touchdowns in the return game and clutch field goals. The good news for long-suffering fans is Iowa has been able to make those improbable plays common, including in a “lost” game in which a legitimate punt return touchdown was ridiculously disallowed.
Weirdly, Iowa is often able to impose its will on opponents with this unorthodox style. It is very clear that with nearly all its top offensive playmakers out and being led by a quarterback with accuracy and pocket presence problems, Kirk and Brian Ferentz have adopted a “first, do no harm” approach to play calling. As long as Iowa is tied or has the slimmest of leads, the offense will remain in a straitjacket and the coaches will be content to punt and play field position, leaning on a killer defense to bring home a victory. As ugly and frustrating as it is to watch, it is also likely the smartest strategy at this point.
I follow English Premier League soccer a fair amount, and Iowa is employing what fans of the beautiful game derisively call the “park the bus” strategy. Like Iowa’s approach, it is frequently mocked and derided as an affront to fun play – but it works, often. If you aren’t a soccer fan, think of it as a defensive boxer who will dodge, duck and dive – throwing only an occasional counterpunch to try and suddenly stun an opponent. That, too, often works.
Iowa endured an ugly, somewhat Pyrrhic victory in Chicago last weekend.
If those are the only types of wins they can get, I’m ready to endure more.
Follow me on Twitter @ToryBrecht and the 12 Saturdays Podcast @12Saturdays.
