What made you become a Hawkeye?

[ukrainehawk]

My Dad coached football at Arkansas State, South Carolina, Western Illinois, and was Head Coach at Graceland and Toledo, so my allegiances were anywhere his teams were. See, Dad was a southerner and an ex-military guy who was a university All-American, defensive MVP of the Blue-Grey Game, Homecoming King and a Baltimore Colt. He was a tall, handsome southern gentleman who could turn a phrase in a folksy way and could motivate young men to run through walls. As a Head Coach, he helped to integrate the Mid-American Conference (Though Hawkeye great Hawkeye Emlen Tunnell had been there eight years before). In 1957, his leading receiver at Toledo was a guy of tight end stature named Gene Cook, who went on to play in the NFL.

I went to my first Iowa game in 1971 (Iowa’s lone victory that year, 20-16 over Wisconsin), but I didn't become a real fan for a while. Then a tall, handsome, ex-military southern gentleman, an All-American with a silver southern tongue and the ability to motivate men, women and children, and who had integrated the Southwest Conference in Texas arrived in Iowa. How appropriate that one of his all-time stars at Iowa was a tight end named Marvin EuGENE Cook, who became an All-Pro.

I became a Hawkeye as naturally as if I were going to a family reunion (though Dad never won like the remarkable John Hayden Fry). Seventeen years after hanging up my cleats as a high school Head Coach, and twenty years after my Indiana PhD, I returned to the Iowa Playwrights Workshop to earn an MFA and in part to become an official alum; and when I retired from the Caribbean to Iowa City (and my lifetime season tickets) last year, it was a personal statement that I am and will always be, a Hawk.

 

[scotthawk1964]

My mother was a big Iowa State fan, while my father was a Hawkeye. My pre teen years I was an Iowa State fan, but that changed when I went to the Lute Olsen basketball camp, then Hayden Fry came and I was now a Hawkeye. I wanted to go to Iowa, but attended Iowa State for a year when my girlfriend (who was still a senior in high school) told me that if I went to Iowa I wouldn't come home on the weekends to see her, so.......Needless to say I went to ISU. Then off to DMACC and the US Air Force, but still always a Hawkeye.

 

[Hawkeyeinsoutherncalifornia]

Yes, agree however did you ever notice after the games they would “turn the dial down” meaning reduce the wattage and we would barely hear the “Hawkeye Huddle” post game whith Tommy from Des Moines called in ...lol- a true character that pissed a lot of Hawkye fans off but he was a good shit in my eyes.. WMT...we could always get the post game, however not during the game as it was Ron Gonder and the legend, the myth, the man of the hour ...Jim Zabel (RIP) .. who was the master of Iowa radio voices IMHO

What would be interesting is to know how many people 1040 "W.H.O." made into fans. "50,000 clear watts" I still think the radio is a great way to catch a game.

 

[RoundRock620]

I came to USA in 1988. Spent a year at Vanderbilt. Always thought football was a barbaric sport only primitive people watch... until I moved to Iowa City in 1989 and a professor dragged me to a Hawkeye game and I saw Nick Bell running over people. I was hooked. Wife also an Iowa graduate, 3 kids born in Iowa City. In Austin, TX, now. We all bleed black and gold. Hope the boy will get recruited to swim for Iowa next year, a good excuse to come to Iowa City more often for football games. On this site for over 15 years. Cheers.

 

[grayhair81]

[mQUOTE="grayhair81, post: 5491802, member: 8244"]That was my story too. I was a freshman in 81. The Nebraska game was my first college football game. Nuff said

I recall this vividly. I recall two things about this. Living outside of Omaha as a kid. My uncle took me to this game. Nebraska came into Iowa ranked 7th in the country. Iowa won 10 to 7 right? I'm going of memory here. I remember the uproar this caused in Omaha. How could Iowa lose to lowly Iowa. There were Nebraska season ticket holders that actually wanted the university to buy their season tickets back! Husker fans were much more arrogant back then. I also remember my folks and and a ton of other families taking me to a football party in Omaha at a hotel to swim (indoors as a kid) and to watch Nebraska play. Iowa got beat badly in the Rose Bowl by Washington (Gordy Bohannon) Jordan's dad was QB. Nebraska got beat in the Orange Bowl if I remember correctly by Clemson.[/QUOTE]

Yup. Bohannon and Pete Gales alternated at QB that year. The defense was really stout when they were healthy but there was little or no depth. The offense was nothing spectacular. I would like to rewatch that Rose Bowl someday to see exactly what went wrong. I just remember Washington's RB was unstoppable that day (Jaques Robinson?). Iowa has played in four Rose Bowls in my lifetime. The 86 game was the only one they actually competed in.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I'm an alum, but even before that I had a history with the Hawks. A number of family members also went to school there over several generations and my dad used to take me to Iowa games when I was a kid. Back then I was certain an hour and a half drive was like 5 hours long, but the games were magical.

When choosing a school, Iowa had my major so I never even considered any other schools.

 

[Hawkfan_08]

This is a cool thread...

I grew up in Cedar Falls and my best friend's dad was the head athletic trainer at UNI. I got to know several players, went to football and basketball games/practices and would run around the dome pretty much whenever we wanted. I liked the Hawks but I liked UNI more.

During that time, my dad still took me to Iowa games, which were always fun. Then it all hit me one day when I was in 7th or 8th grade. I was looking up at the banners in section CC at Carver on our way out of a game and told myself that this was my favorite team and that I would go to school there. I was also understaning the difference between D1 and D1-AA and didn't want to root for a "fake school" in UNI as I called it then. From that moment on I became a diehard Hawkeye fan.

 

[Rustys Dad]

My father attended the U of I in the 50s. I have three siblings and black and gold has been in our gene pool since Day 1.

 

[greenelite]

Born a Hawk, but I think best answer to this question is Tim Dwight.

 

[HemiHawk]

I was in Jr High and High School when Iowa had Hayden Fry, Lute Olson, Vivian Stringer, and of course Dan Gable. Nuff said.

 

[JupiterHawk]

Freedom Bowl

 

[NI hawk]

1969-70 basketball season. WHO radio. One commercial still sticks out. Pester Derby ad. Pester ding, ding, it's a gas.
I would listen to Hawkeye football on tractor radio. No cab back then. I would listen to replay at night if they happened to win. Didn't happen often.
I also became a fan of Drake basketball then. Drake was also WHO.
I also followed ISU. Still pull for them, but not like l used too.
Hawks were always my favorite.

 

[sashashome]

I grew up south of the Quad Cities in Illinois watching Iowa basketball on WOC. When i was in junior high a school teacher who traveled quite a bit needed a dog sitter. She also had 50 yard line season tickets. Instead of being paid I took the football tickets instead. My first season was 1985. 33 years later I still am like a little kid in a candy store near the start of every season.

 

[sashashome]

I grew up south of the Quad Cities in Illinois watching Iowa basketball on WOC. When i was in junior high a school teacher who traveled quite a bit needed a dog sitter. She also had 50 yard line season tickets. Instead of being paid I took the football tickets instead. My first season was 1985. 33 years later I still am like a little kid in a candy store near the start of every season.

 

[jpphawk]

Two of my best friends were Hawkeye fans and they got these sweet satin looking black jackets with big yellow IOWA letters on front and a big yellow Tiger Hawk on back. I thought they were awesome so I asked for one for Christmas and the rest was history. This would have been during the '82-'83ish so they were also pretty darn good.

 

[TKingpin]

I was probably a freshman or sophomore in H.S. When Ronny Lester, Waite, Krafcisin, etc made their Final 4 run. At the pep rally back in IC, they also honored the national championship wrestling team. The following fall was that great Rose Bowl team and when you lived in Eastern Iowa, it was all Iowa, all the time from then on.

 

[lowaHawkeyeBBnFB4Life]

I am Iowa fan but obsessed with making Nebraska threads

 

[87alum87]

I grew up in SW Iowa with no affiliation to any college. Not a single person in my immediate family, or extended family, had ever attended college. I had the biggest crush on a sophomore girl. Her eyes were exquisite, and her butt even better in her Jordache jeans. Tiger Hawks were relatively new, and her father had one on his bumper. So, based upon the hope she would follow me to Iowa City a couple of years later, I convinced my parents I needed to go there. They pinched their pennies, and off I went.

Of course, she never attended Iowa, but went to Pella Central, instead. But in small part, I owe my degree, my career, and my Hawkeye fandom to her. Funny what goes through the mind of a 17 year-old when choosing a college.

 

[brokenarrow73]

Born and raised in Iowa on the Mississippi River. Started listening to the Hawks on my AM radio play basketball. Many many moons ago. Fell in love with the Hawkeyes thank God it wasn't the Cyclones

 

[HemiHawk]

I am Iowa fan but obsessed with making Nebraska threads

Kudos for recognizing your own obsession. Don't stop making NE threads on my behalf though. I love watching NE fans squirm.

 

[HumbleP1e]

Basically I listed to the Hawks when I was about 5 or 6 years old on 1040 WHO and 600 AM radio... with my father as a child.. “monkey see monkey do” as my dad was always my best friend growing up.. so it was instant love and everything from there on this wild roller coaster I am still waiting for my childhood dream of undefeated national championship ... we flirted pretty heavily in 2015 but didn’t get the date I hope sometime my dream will come true before my end of days

Mine is similar to this. I am generally too prideful. But, this played in. I was naturally proud of being Iowan but felt such great negativity from national media toward Iowa in general...hickish, etc. So, it started watching Lute Olson's 1980 squad/listening with Dad on radio in a tractor as a little kid in 1981, and it was cemented with 1985 having the nation and Brent Musberger recognizing the greatness of Iowa and the people I knew around me as Iowans. ANF and all that...

It wasn't till I started traveling in college that I recognized how much more hickish other parts of the country were...

Hawk till I die.

 

[NevadaHawk]

I recall this vividly. I recall two things about this. Living outside of Omaha as a kid. My uncle took me to this game. Nebraska came into Iowa ranked 7th in the country. Iowa won 10 to 7 right? I'm going of memory here. I remember the uproar this caused in Omaha. How could Iowa lose to lowly Iowa. There were Nebraska season ticket holders that actually wanted the university to buy their season tickets back! Husker fans were much more arrogant back then. I also remember my folks and and a ton of other families taking me to a football party in Omaha at a hotel to swim (indoors as a kid) and to watch Nebraska play. Iowa got beat badly in the Rose Bowl by Washington (Gordy Bohannon) Jordan's dad was QB. Nebraska got beat in the Orange Bowl if I remember correctly by Clemson.

Yup. Bohannon and Pete Gales alternated at QB that year. The defense was really stout when they were healthy but there was little or no depth. The offense was nothing spectacular. I would like to rewatch that Rose Bowl someday to see exactly what went wrong. I just remember Washington's RB was unstoppable that day (Jaques Robinson?). Iowa has played in four Rose Bowls in my lifetime. The 86 game was the only one they actually competed in.[/QUOTE]
I think that game was played early in the 1981 season? I remember screaming my head off as I listened to it on the radio. The neighbors were annoyed with me because they were Husker fans. That made it even sweeter!

 

[NevadaHawk]

I grew up 18 miles from Iowa City. My father took me to games back in the 60s. I've been hooked ever since.

 

[Suterman]

My Dad worked for the Iowa Athletic Department and was the PA announcer for Football, Basketball, Baseball, Track, Wrestling and Swimming. We all lived and breathed Hawkeye sports from a very early age. Got to know all the coaches, radio announcers, newspaper writers etc. Love me some Hawkeyes.

 

[ctghawk]

Notre Dame hired Dan Devine. (I was also a Packer fan)

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

I was a very active child ... and got plenty of bumps and bruises. My first time I got a wound that bled .... I noticed that it bled black and gold. I've been a Hawkeye fan ever since.

 

[Gogetr]

Hawkeye bball run to the final 4 cemented it in for me.

 

[Hendy hawk]

My father would pop a big bowl of popcorn & we(family) would listen to on the radio or watch the games.
That was in the 50's-60's so when they were on tv it was a treat.
I can remember a beautiful Saturday morn walking the corn field hunting pheasants & listening to football games
on a small pocket radio. Good times even if the football team was not very good. Always a hope they would win!!!

 

[iowa surfer]

I come into this world a Hawkeye and will leave a Hawkeye!

Yes....

 

[Row55]

At one time, local Boy Scout troops could earn money by providing ushers, so that was my first Hawkeye experience. Then came Miller's Six Pack with Bob Brooks on KCRG radio (and the occasional TV game) and I was hooked.

 

[myteamcanbeatupyourteam]

I am Iowa fan but obsessed with being a Nebraska fan

FIFY

 

[trippnschmidt]

1985-1986. First year I really got into sports. We had a pretty good football team and a pretty good basketball team. It was a lot of un.

 

[LuteHawk]

Iowan by birth, Hawkeye by the grace of God

Born and raised in Davenport, Iowa and everyone
loved the Hawkeyes there.

 

[PCBHAWK]

I attended every home game in 1981 when I was 12.

 

[SoMplsHawkI]

Got hooked by listening to games on the radio with my dad in 1956. Seeing them win the 1957 Rose Bowl was the icing on the cake.

 

[TheHawkeyeDudeAbides]

IF I had to listen to Jim Zabel for more than 10 minutes, I would not been a Hawkeye. Eastern Iowa farm kid - Ron "The Big Shoe" Gonder and Mike Reilly. No - Bob Brooks either. Zabel was horrible. Watched only a couple of games each year as Saturdays were work on the farm days,even after a Friday night game in HS. Fall was harvest time (corn and soybeans/ corn silage in early September) . Catching grain on the go to haul to the grain bins in October/ early November.

I'll pass in the songbooks (Big Shoe reference).

 

[the24fan]

Grew up in rural Osage..of course as the Hawkeye State is there any other choice?
If anyone remembers the movie Country with Jessica Lange, of course remembers the farm crisis of the 1980s. Something about that movie just screams Hawkeye. Sitting around amid the problems yet still watching the Hawks on TV. Perseverance, hard work, embodies the Iowa way...That's how I see Iowa football and it stuck with me....proud to be from Iowa and bleed black and gold!!

 

[mickv]

Saw Notre Dame game in Kinnick Stadium as a child. Listened to hawkeyes every Saturday on the radio. Just part of me....a big part.

 

[LaQuintaHawkeye]

Growing up 20 miles from campus and being 12 years old during the Final Four year and with the buzz Hayden was creating pretty much sealed the deal for me.

 

[reotto]

Had two TVs in my house growing up. Basement wasn’t finished but we made it a hangout, and an old TV only came in crystal clear for Iowa BB. 86 team hooked me bad. I hate all that is UNLV to this day.

Life went on and I turned down other offers to attend my state’s flagship university as I just felt drawn to. Bought season tickets in 2003, and addicted both of my sons.

My wife still says I’m like a kid in a candy store when I’m in IC. It is home for me even 5 hours away.