The First Games

Wow!  What an opening weekend!

Sure, we didn't have a slew of upsets, and props to the poolers who managed to pick one of the couple of dogs to win.  But we had some great games!  Utah's thrilling win over Pitt was the appetizer.  Michigan and Notre Dame each opening their seasons well made for a decent soup and salad.  Our entree of the TCU-Oregon State slugfest was delicious.  And oh, what a dessert!   To open the season with a championship-quality match like Virginia Tech - Boise State, to go down to the wire, to have so much riding one game- the first game.  Wow.

Another first occurred last weekend- I took Sophie to her first football game.  It was a pretty special moment.  We talked about it all week, and Sophie picked out her outfit days before.  On the day prior to the game, Iowa held its annual Fryfest, a celebration honoring legendary coach Hayden Fry.  There were brats, beer, Hawkeye t-shirts, music, and black and gold everywhere.  When Fry's teams won a big upset, they had a tradition of dancing the hokey pokey in the locker room.  This year at Fryfest, the organizers planned to break the world record for number of people dancing the hokey pokey at one time.  I am happy to report that we pulled it off, with over 7200 dancers, Sophie and I among them.

On Saturday, we awoke to the wonderful aroma of game day pancakes.  We parked by the mall, then walked to the train.  Iowa City has a train that runs from a remote parking area up into the neighborhood around the stadium.  I think Sophie enjoyed the train more than the game.  Maybe next time we will might ride the train back and forth all day!

The game was . .  well. . .. it was not Boise State - Virginia Tech.  In fact, I couldn't see much of the action at all- I was too busy fetching pretzels and keeping Sophie from jumping off the bench.  But it was so worth it. 

I can't wait for next time.

Fight On,

Hans