I was 2, maybe 3. I vividly remember waking from a nap and going to the console/buffet stereo and the Hawkeye football game was playing.
What was your introduction to Iowa football?
- Thread starter Kinnick.At.Night
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I was 6 years old, 2011 vs Pitt. We were down like 24-7 going into halftime and my dad was getting angry and wanted to leave. I begged him to stay so we could watch till the end because it was my first time ever being there and I wanted to stay till the end. We ended coming back and winning 31-27 when Micah Hyde sealed the game with an interception with about 1:30 left in the game. Hooked me for the rest of my life.
Barely 9 years old upstairs playing when I heard my father and guests downstairs whooping it up loudly. I called down to ask what it was about and was told that Iowa was beating California. That was the 1959 Rose Bowl.
My Dad was a teacher/coach. With his school ID he could get into games for free. He would listen to the radio on Saturday mornings and if the game was announced as being a "knothole" game, he'd grab his ID and any of us who wanted to go and we'd head up old 218. I think tickets were $2. In 1973 my brother went off to Iowa City so the trips became more regular and began to include the occasional basketball game or wrestling match. He worked with the student radio station and for a season was the "voice of the rasslin' Hawkeyes, When Gable came on board my brother introduced me to him. In 1976 my sister went to Iowa City on a basketball scholarship. This led to "behind the scenes" opportunities at the old Field House like meeting Lute Olson, Ronnie Lester, and many other great Hawkeye basketball players. One of her teammates was dating Mike Boddicker so I got to spend a lot of time hanging out with him. In 1977 after a Friday night high school game at Highland a buddy and I headed straight to Iowa City for the IOWA v ISUcks game. We couldn't get tickets but watched the 1st half from inside one of the ABC production trucks parked outside of Kinnick. After halftime we went in and watched the 2nd half from the student section. In 1979 after playing a couple of years at UNI my other sister transferred to Iowa. By now I was in high school and weekends in Iowa City with my siblings were a real thing. Many events were free or easy to sneak into. (Kind of like the bars!) In 1981 it was finally my tun to enroll at IOWA. As I was moving into Hillcrest I held the door open for 2 guys who were moving a fish tank into their room. Turns out they were my next door neighbors. Also turns out they were Ricky Ceasar and his cousin Reggie Roby.
Being exposed since I can remember is what has made me a fan of the IOWA HAWKEYES. Being exposed to so many IOWA HAWKEYES since I can remember is what has made me the kind of fan I am of not just IOWA but also the other teams I follow.
Being exposed since I can remember is what has made me a fan of the IOWA HAWKEYES. Being exposed to so many IOWA HAWKEYES since I can remember is what has made me the kind of fan I am of not just IOWA but also the other teams I follow.
2001 season. My parents took me to the K-State game in Arrowhead in 2000 that was like 105 degrees (thanks Mom and Dad), but I didn't know what was going on. The first season I actually watched games was 2001.
1970’s, pre-Hayden, my Dad would take me to games in the knothole section. I remember climbing around under the erector-set bleachers in the south end zone.
First game I really remember was the UCLA @ Iowa game where Mark Harmon was the QB.
First game I really remember was the UCLA @ Iowa game where Mark Harmon was the QB.
Funny that you bring up saving tickets. I grew up listening to Iowa games with my dad in the early 80’s. I was a diehard long before my first trip to Kinnick. I wish I would have saved my ticket stubs from way back when, but started saving them many years later. With the help from my family, we painted a football field on a table then bought a piece of glass to fit over top which now houses my tickets...cleverly called my ‘ticket table.’
I couldn't tell you what year but it was somewhere in the early-mid 90s. I remember my dad parking what felt like really far away (courthouse- shorter than where I parked for years) and would maybe go to 1 game a year. I remember it usually being cold and my dad carrying me over half frozen puddles of water. My uncle and aunt were at Iowa so we would sometimes visit.
What is funny now is that my best friend's dad was the trainer at UNI so we would run around the dome and shooting on the basketball floor all the time. I thought UNI was cooler than Iowa until I got into 7th grade and realized that Iowa was a big school and UNI was not. It was at a basketball game that I was looking up at the banners (section CC- don't have any clue why) at Carver and realized I was going to be a Hawk!
It's threads like this that are interesting to me. Iowa is different than many of the states around us. Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin (Marquette and the small schools don't have football), Missouri (SLU doesn't have football)... heck even Illinois only had NW which is private. All these states around us have one big school in the state. We have 2 plus UNI and Drake. Although the choice should be obvious, it isn't always to everyone. I have taken pride in converting two Clone fans, one who went to ISU, to being Hawks.
What is funny now is that my best friend's dad was the trainer at UNI so we would run around the dome and shooting on the basketball floor all the time. I thought UNI was cooler than Iowa until I got into 7th grade and realized that Iowa was a big school and UNI was not. It was at a basketball game that I was looking up at the banners (section CC- don't have any clue why) at Carver and realized I was going to be a Hawk!
It's threads like this that are interesting to me. Iowa is different than many of the states around us. Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin (Marquette and the small schools don't have football), Missouri (SLU doesn't have football)... heck even Illinois only had NW which is private. All these states around us have one big school in the state. We have 2 plus UNI and Drake. Although the choice should be obvious, it isn't always to everyone. I have taken pride in converting two Clone fans, one who went to ISU, to being Hawks.
1982 Rose Bowl against Washington. I was very young and the game was bad for the Hawks, but all of my family members were so excited because Iowa hadn't been to Rose Bowl forever. I was hooked after that. So, since I've been following Iowa it's all been Hayden and Kirk.
1966, don't remember who the Hawks played but I know they lost. Uncle and Aunt took me. I do remember sitting in knot hole seats numerous times in late 60's and early 70's.
Hawks were not very good, I remember numerous 48-0 scores.
Hawks were not very good, I remember numerous 48-0 scores.
Dad took me to the 1981 Iowa/Michigan State game. For Iowa to go to the Rose bowl they had to beat Michigan State and Ohio State had to beat Michigan. Both happened. I remember everyone around me saying Ohio state won. when the PA announcer announced the Ohio State Michigan score and the crowd went wild. Everyone was passing out roses to each other after the game. At the time I didn't quite understand the significance of this win. Because I was only 10.
Almost missed this game because my mom initially said I couldn't go because it was so cold.
Almost missed this game because my mom initially said I couldn't go because it was so cold.
To this day that game remains my favorite Kinnick experience. No smart phones then, if you wanted a score you asked somebody nearby with a little radio or waited for Father Bob to announce scores.
First game in Kinnick was Iowa vs Michigan in 03... i was reborn that day. I had moved to iC earlier in 03 and knew little of the Hawks and the IC tailgating scene...Hawkeye football became my first love that fall.
This is still my favorite all time experience at Kinnick Stadium. What a great game, and what a great crowd supporting the Hawkeyes that day.
Late 80’s early 90’s. I was 6 or 7 and my dad still had season tickets . I looked forward all year to those home games. Waking up early and driving 3 hours to Iowa city. We would stop by a few places and he would catch up with friends at a tailgate and then we would go sit in our end zone seats.
Kudos to the OP for starting this one. It’s been really cool to read some of these memories.
My grandfather took me to my first Hawkeye football game in his ‘78 powder blue cougar in 1981 (I think). I was pretty young and if I’m not mistaken, it was the game where Iowa beat Purdue and Hayden stated that it was the day that Iowa football ‘changed’ (I think I found that out many years later). I still remember where we tailgated and try to go to that same place for most games so my kids can play pickup football with random kids just like I did.
My grandfather took me to my first Hawkeye football game in his ‘78 powder blue cougar in 1981 (I think). I was pretty young and if I’m not mistaken, it was the game where Iowa beat Purdue and Hayden stated that it was the day that Iowa football ‘changed’ (I think I found that out many years later). I still remember where we tailgated and try to go to that same place for most games so my kids can play pickup football with random kids just like I did.
Sultan of suede. Your story makes me think about how when I was young and my dad would stop randomly and play catch with someone who was just looking to throw a football. I also remember my dad wearing this old Iowa hat that he had my mom sew a her my on top of so it sat a good foot above his head. As a 8 or 9 year old I was extremely embarrassed by the hat but by the time I got into college I was wearing it to games.
If you are interested, I’d love to go to a game with you or ensure you get tickets to games you’d like to see. I’ll figure out a way to contact you. On Iowa!
That’s great! In our 40s now, we always bring a football to toss around for every game. Wouldn’t be right if we skipped that. I assume I’m embarrassing my kids with my attire pretty regularly, but they’ll get it solmeday.
I have to also give kudos to my dad who went to UI on the GI bill and graduated about the same time as my early football memory with my grand father. My dad was essentially an undergrad student that would take me to some athletic events in Iowa City (we lived close to QC) and he see events, go to Joes, and hang in the union like we were ‘students’. Special memories- he isn’t into sports like I am, but being a part of the university was really important.
1975, born across the street from Kinnick. 8 years later after watching so many games with my folks, returned to that hospital with near death pneumonia. Listened to the games for what seemed like months (but wasn’t) with my mom and dad in the hospital until I was strong enough to walk again. The day I went home they surprised me with a small tour of the stadium (unofficial). I’ll never forget how absolutely huge it seemed even though I’d seen it before. Was just different that day. I’d always been a fan, but that day I knew I’d always be one no matter what.
Earlier in this thread I mentioned that my first game in the student section was as a Freshman in 1981 against Nebraska.
For many years after college, friends would have tickets all over Kinnick Stadium but we would end up sitting together in the pre-renovation student section (Section J row 70ish). It just happpened to be that Iowa vs Michigan in 2003 was the last time I "sat" in the student section. It was a great game, what a fantastic croud.
So that , having Nebraska 1981 to start and Michigan 2003 to end, was a pretty good way to book-end the student section.
My first recollection of Iowa football was 1952 when Iowa "unpacked Ohio States Rose Bowl luggage" in Evy's first year at Iowa. My first recollection of Iowa Basketball was as a young boy falling to sleep listening to Iowa Basketball, players such as Murray Weir and Dick Ives. Experience at games were as a Boy Scout ushering, then working in the Cedar Rapids Post Office Auxiliary concession stand and watching much of the game from the grass in the south end zone think it was the south) and then as a student.
I attended every home game in 1981. I was 13 yrs old and it was Hayden’s first Rose Bowl year.
I remember lots a drinking in my section especially when it was known Iowa was going to Pasadena.
I remember lots a drinking in my section especially when it was known Iowa was going to Pasadena.
I would say that everything started because I was related to Gary Kurdelmeier, when he was assistant AD we used to get tickets to football and basketball games. Football we would sit on bleachers on the field in the end zones and basketball games we would be able to watch and then go to the locker room. Got to meet B.J. Armstrong and used to go to the hawk kids club deals in carver. Got to go in and watch wresting practice with Dan Gable.
1962, my Dad took to me a couple of games. I was around ten years of age and I had never been around that many people in one place. I just remember being in awe of all the sights and sounds. At the halftime the Highlanders performed and I thought they were really cool. I think Washington State was the opponent and they ended up winning. Despite the loss, it was a grand day.
I have faint memories of seeing Hartlieb and Rogers play. First game I attended was Iowa/UNI in 1995, I was 13. Watching Sherman, Dwight, Shaw and Banks that day... I was hooked.
I'm interested in this plane ride with Lute story.
I once sat right next to Alford on a plane from Cedar Rapids to Denver. He'd just been hired at New Mexico and was on his way there. I was flying back to LA. I was 25, been up all night drinking and reeked of booze... it wasn't a pleasant flight for either one of us.
Amazing anyone showed up at all in those days. First one I went to was in 1978 and we lost like 34 to 0 to Michigan. Was without all the exposure games have now. That is the biggest thing that has hurt attendance is ability to watch every one on tv.
I remember it well! That was the day we Hucked the Fuskers, and partied into the night with some nice Nebraska fans. (Yes, there are some!)
Lots of great stories here. I’ll share this because I have some cyclone friends who thought this was funny. I was 4 in 1980. My dad and a bunch of my family gathered at my Grandmothers house to watch the Rose Bowl. My cousins and I were in the basement not watching the game. One of them told me to go ask the adults what the score was. I went and asked, and my dad yelled “ITS 28-0!!!! WE’RE FUC KING LOSING!!!!!” That was when I realized this must be really important. Have been a fan ever since.
First game was in 1983 against Minnesota. Eddie Phillips took the first snap around the right side for a touchdown. Was amazing.
First game was in 1983 against Minnesota. Eddie Phillips took the first snap around the right side for a touchdown. Was amazing.
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My Grandfather got his PHD at Iowa, my Mother, Father and Uncle went to Iowa - so I was kind of a fan at birth. First game was Homecoming against Purdue, maybe '64, '65 with my Grandfather - so I would have been 9 or 10. Grandpa was on the faculty so we sat close to the 50 about 25 rows up - perfect seats!
Lost the game, but it was just ... cool, being at Kinnick watching the Hawks!
Wife and I both went to Iowa, as did our 3 boys. Season tix for 44 years. Add in a few road games, and I've probably been to 275 Iowa games.
Lost the game, but it was just ... cool, being at Kinnick watching the Hawks!
Wife and I both went to Iowa, as did our 3 boys. Season tix for 44 years. Add in a few road games, and I've probably been to 275 Iowa games.
My first game was the 1982 Peach Bowl in Atlanta. I was in elementary school and absolutely fell in love with the Hawkeyes!
I was almost 6 when the Hawks beat Joe Kapp and California. My much older brother and his wife were at the game so my Mom and I were glued to the TV looking for my big brother Ron. My first game in person was Nebraska in Lincoln in 1981 or 82, and my first game in Iowa City was Ohio State in 1983----Chuck Long against Mike Tomczak. I was hooked on the Hawks 3 days before my 6th birthday!
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