hawkeyecub

Iowa looked a little better than expected tonight, beating The Citadel 75-53. They'll still be playing without Henderson until at least December with a broken finger. Tyler Smith was in foul trouble all night and was really forcing things. Haluska had 29 points (6-14 from 3), 6 assists and 5 boards. Tony Freeman had 7 points, 11 assists and 6 boards. Kurt Looby had 14 boards and 3 blocks and Cyrus Tate had 13 off the bench. They start play in the Paradise Jam on Friday with Toledo who returns 5 starters from a 20 win MAC team. If they win they play #12 Alabama on Sunday.

Oh and Bob Stoops is completely crazy, but it's a refreshing change of pace. For those not aware, Stoops played at Iowa and was the heavy favorite to take over when Fry left. He was ready to take the job, but OU put on the full-court press and gave him a contract which he had 24 hours to accept. When he came in to interview he told our A.D. about it, but we had a search committee and Bowlsby said he had to interview Ferentz first. Stoops felt he couldn't pass on the OU job with no guarantee of getting the Iowa job, so he took it and we hired Ferentz. Not that I'm unhappy with how it turned out, but it's always been a major discussion topic over how things would have been different if we had given Stoops the job.

Last year's Northwestern loss was the worst/most disappointing since Kirk's arrival. We one-upped it with the Indiana game this year. We topped that today with a loss AT HOME against a bad Northwestern team. This team has some major problems and it's not just about a couple of bad losses. I mean problems. They've regressed this year. They play softer than any other team in the Ferentz era. They have no focus. They uncharacteristically played grabass in the pre-game like they had the win in the bag. There was a little scuffle on the sidelines during the game because redshirt guys were goofing around when we were down 14-0. They apparently think they are entitled to a New Year's Day bowl because the previous 4 teams have earned one and play as complacent as possible. This is stuff that goes beyond not having playmakers and getting manhandled up front against an 0-5 Northwestern team, despite returning starters who inexplicably played well last year and have regressed. Despite keeping it a little more low-key in the press conference (said we haven't played "Iowa football" and played like a bunch of "fat cats") Ferentz and the coaching staff were challenging manhood's after the game today.

That's why I said it doesn't mean as much to go to a bowl game or win one as it used to. But who cares about that unless it's your team going to a bad bowl? Otherwise it just means you get to watch tons of college football for two weeks if you so choose. There's nothing bad about that.

I never understood the complaining about having too many bowl games or bad teams being bowl eligible. Does it mean as much to get to a bowl game or win a bowl game now as it used to? No. But don't you like having them on? Is there anything else you would rather have on the ESPN channels between Christmas and New Year's? You get decent to very good college football every night from about Dec. 20th-Jan. 3rd and multiple games on most of those nights. It's wonderful. By the way Mizzou fans, it looks like there's a decent chance that we get an Iowa/Mizzou matchup after all, in the Alamo Bowl.

Since about 3:00 on September 25, 2004 it's been all downhill. We were about to go up 3.5 games on the Astros with a week to go and a favorable schedule remaining. Instead we blew that game in the 9th went on a tailspin and have gone 147-186 ever since. We were 183-146 prior to that. Things were so promising...

bump. Does anyone know when the Big Ten Media Day is? Illinois suspended Roger McBride for 4 games. I guess based on what Illinois fans said, this being his second offense and the fact that he blew a .18 I thought it would have been higher. No news on Tyler Smith and Mike Henderson's suspensions yet. I think they'll probably miss the exhibitions and the first two regular season games.

Like someone else pointed out it definitely was not the same player. E.J. Henderson is a 26 year old black outside linebacker for the Vikings. Kimo von Oelhoffen is a 35 year old Samon defensive tackle. It also clearly wasn't a dirty play. Watch the reply and you'll see Mack Strong blocked E.J. into Hasselbeck. He pushed him in the back as he was going down and he landed right into his knee.

Polssibly, but tough to say. The Vikes were up 17-10 when Seneca first took the field. We were able to run the ball fairly well and our defense was handling Hasselbeck pretty well. He scorched us on that blown coverage, but after that was 6/16 for 55 yards. Yeah I don't see the Vikings winning at Soldier Field. But at least we have a coach who can get his teams to play well on the road and win in some tough environments. Under Tice we had no shot at road games besides places like Detroit. We at least have a better chance than in the past.

Of course, you could also say that had Grossman not thrown those interceptions, those games wouldn't have even been in question and the better team just managed to win despite themselves in both cases. I'm just sayin. You're "just sayin" what? So basically throw out every mistake the Bears make while accepting the mistakes the opponents make? That's insane. For crying out loud, have the slightest bit of objectivity and give credit to the other teams while acknowledging that the Bears aren't invincible. Why would you just take out Grossman's interceptions? Where's the logic in that? That's practically like saying "take away the interceptions that Bret Favre threw last year and they're in the playoffs." It's not like he threw balls that should have been caught but were tipped in the air and intercepted. The Vikings and Cardinals forced those turnovers and they were forced because Grossman hurries things and makes bad decisions and throws when he's getting pressured. The Vikings/Bears game was tight throughout and was an evenly played game, even without the interceptions. You also seem to forget that the Vikings dropped two interceptions that hit them in the hands, one of which would have been a touchdown. The Cardinals dominated that game Monday Night and had a collapse of monumental proportions. I give the Bears credit for finding a way to win both games. The discussion was about the division and I said it wasn't a race right now. The reason I mentioned those situations is because one was a very rare play and the other was an incredible collapse. That's not the same as playing the "what-if" game with 8 turnovers in two games. The Vikings have caught some breaks and won close games that they could have easily lost. It's okay to admit.

Anyone worried about the division? If they can beat NE next week in the dome, they can breeze to a 13-3 or 12-4 record As the resident Vikings fan on this board (are there any others?) don't be worried about the division. We're looking good and our schedule looks nice after next week, but we have a 2 game hole and that Bears schedule is just too nice. Like someone else said we're between a 9-11 win team and the Bears won't fall back to that. Now had we simply not fumbled a handoff in the last minutes of the Bears game and if the Cardinals don't completely melt down Monday night, you would have reason for worry.

It's stupid. Hypothetically even if we go 11-1 and win the Big Ten in either of the next two years, people will say it's just because we didn't play UM or OSU. You're really in a no-win situation as far as major achievements. Plus the Michigan and Ohio State games are the ones you look forward to and get excited about.

#88 is Dominique Douglas a true freshman from Detroit who wasn't recruited by Michigan (or MSU). His best offers besides Iowa were Cincy, Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan. It's strange because he came out of Detroit with tons of honors, but none of the big boys thought he was fast enough or big enough to get by without 4.5 speed. He's a tremendous route runner, great hands and just knows how to play. Unfortunately he's our only legit WR right now. Our defense looked tough today and return 9/11 starters next year. Unfortunately we don't get to play UM or OSU because of the stupid Big Ten schedule.

By the way, I can't remember the last time I saw a Michigan defense like the one they have this year. At least not since '97. Iowa came to play today and the defense played very well all day. We just couldn't flip the field position and evenutally that's what lost it for us. That UM defense is just so big up front and so quick and fast everywhere, man. Hart really got running hard in the second half and Breaston's big kick return when it was tied midway through the 3rd was huge. Henne doesn't look as good without a Braylon or Manningham to throw the ball up to. Man it would be nice to have some recievers this year for Tate. Stupid Arrington.

1. SEC 2. Big 10 3. Big East 4. Pac-10 5. Big 12/ACC tie

What is going on in Evanston? MSU was down 38-3 halfway through the 3rd quarter and looked like they had completely thrown in the towel. With 8 minutes to go they're down 38-31. Yikes.

True but the injuries are what keep that optimism in check. We've protected Tate well all year, but we could be starting a guy at RT today who really has no experience. Missing two starters from each line is bad news with the way UM has been up front this year. It doesn't help when our only WR who can catch the ball and is an actual threat (true freshman from Detroit, not recruited by UM) might be out also. The good news is that our defensive leader (FS Marcus Paschal) should finally be back and he sets the tone for our defense. Thankfully we won't be facing the spread and a mobile quarterback again.

I looked at some things this morning and find no mention of Arrington being out. I read a few places that he comes from 30 miles from Iowa City and went to Michigan because of the Fab Five. I wondered if it was the money or the clothing style Yeah he's from Cedar Rapids where I live. Grew up a Michigan fan and picked them over us in his final two. A lot of fans thought he was crazy and could get lost in the shuffle with all of the great WR's UM always has, whereas he could have been the #1 guy at Iowa. It worked out for him up there though and Mario's injury really showcased him. If he's out today it would help our chances. The injury bug for Iowa continues. Kenny Iwebema (DE, preseason All-Big Ten and AA in some mags) isn't making the trip due to injury, neither is Shonn Greene. Albert Young (#1 RB), Dominique Douglas (#1 WR), Mitch King (#1 DT), Dace Richardson (starting LT) and Rafael Eubanks (starting C) are all uncertain. Injuries definitely aren't an excuse for the horrible loss at Indiana, but they certainly aren't helping. I woke up feeling a little optimistic this morning. Ferentz teams always bounce back from bad losses with great showings. Then again Ferentz teams never lose to teams like Indiana in October.

Poor sportswriting isn't just a Chicago thing. I think he was referring to the similar reputation that Aramis had among some fans and media members while in Pittsburgh, but I could be wrong. Yeah, and I'm saying it's a very real possibility they are as wrong as the Chicago media is. I don't disagree.

Poor sportswriting isn't just a Chicago thing. I think he was referring to the similar reputation that Aramis had among some fans and media members while in Pittsburgh, but I could be wrong.

I'd also like to know this. Do they count the people that tune in for only a part of the game? For example, I know I usually couldn't make it past the 3rd inning this year. I think they're measured by having some households a device that tracks their TV viewing habits. This is then extrapolated to the entire region. I don't know how you could do that though. You just don't take 1 or 5% of the city, take the percentage of those who switch on the game, and then extrapolate from that, to 100%. It's just not going to be accurate. I always thought it worked like radio in that they could simply detect the signals coming in and when they switched off. It's not going to be perfectly accurate, but it's going to be close. And, according to goony's link, they also do phone calls on top of the sampling I've never known anyone who has known anyone who was a Nielson household.

Outside of liking to "force the issue" and the NL style of play, he said all of the right things.

His first bad comment of the day in my opinion: "I like the National League, I like to force the issue." Fortunately like Bruce has said, he apparently really adjusts to the talent he has and let his hitters mash a little more in the Kingdome. At least he followed it up by talking about the most important thing for him to tell pitchers is the importance of throwing strikes and that he likes young pitchers and young players.

I don't think so. He said last year they didn't walk and they'll work on that but the big thing is being aggressive in the strike zone in hitter's counts. He's right. There's a big difference between saying "be aggressive" and "be aggressive with good pitches in good counts."

The Bears need to give a major assist to Denny Green and the Cardinals coaching staff. I don't think there's a word for how conservative they got with the lead offensively. You saw in the Vikings game and tonight what happens to Grossman when he gets pressured. He starts backpeddling, staring down recievers and makes terrible decisions.