The Happiest Place on Earth.....

Last Saturday night, I got to go here:
















For those of you who know me, you know that this is the happiest place on earth for me. And that night was a "good, good night." (Song reference....those of you who were there know what I mean)

For those of you who know me but don't understand this black and gold obsession of mine (including my husband) let me fill you in......

Mom and Dad first got season tickets in 19..... well apparently nobody knows exactly when it was. There were four of them (tickets for each game that is), and four of us at that time. Unfortunately in the early years, they wouldn't take us :( We would instead make the trek to Lake City to stay with Grandma and Grandpa. We would listen to the game on the radio (I love it, I love it, I love it). Back then Iowa wasn't real good, and they were almost NEVER on TV. I also remember listening to away games on the radio while helping Dad clean the garage. I didn't always enjoy listening to it at that time, because I didn't know what was going on, but I was slowly being brainwashed.

In 1991, we finally got to go to a game. It was the season opener, they played Hawaii, and it was hotter than the surface of the sun. Okay, not that bad, but it was VERY warm. Iowa won, we left early because it was too hot baking in the sun, and I was hooked.

For the next 9 years I went to at LEAST one game a year. It was sometimes a family thing, somtimes a friend thing. I have some very specific memories on Kinnick Stadium.

In 1996, I was a freshman and the Iowa- Iowa State game was in Iowa City. I took the biggest Iowa State fan in my class with me: Abigail. We sat in the South end zone by ourselves. There are two things I remember about this game. During the halftime show, one of the Iowa tuba players fell.....and it was hilarious to us. The other thing I remember was that by the end of the game, even Abigail was convinced that Iowa State's quaterback sucked.

Later my freshman year, the youth group from our church went down to a game. Iowa was pretty decent at the time, but the got slaughtered by Northwestern. And it was 14 degrees. By halftime there were only 4 of us left watching the game.

One time after a Michigan game,well before we got into high school, Shelby and I made up a song. We had just gotten embarassed by Michigan, and a guy by the name of Biakabatuka had like 1000 yards rushing. At least it felt like that many. Iowa couldn't stop him. Waiting to get out of the parking lot, Shelby and I created a song about Biakabatuka to the tune of a Meskwaki Casino commercial.....dorks.

After I graduated high school, it wasn't as easy to get to games. Since 2000 I think I've only been to 4 or 5 games. I miss it a lot. I had a lot of good times tied to Hawkeye Football.

The thing I remember most is getting up early, making the 3.5 hour trip, stopping for muffins on the way, grilling in the parking lot, walking a mile to the stadium, watching the game, walking a mile back, and then making the 3.5 hour trip back home. We ALWAYS listened to the call-in show on AM 1040 on the way home. Dad and I enjoyed it....everyone else hated it. Once I turned 14, I ALWAYS drove home. That's the stuff great memories are built on.

We had a wonderful time at the game Saturday. It was a win (if even a slim one) over Michigan, which I haven't seen much of in my life. I really enjoyed getting back to Kinnick and Iowa City. These are the reasons for my Hawkeye obsession. These are also the reasons that Kaden can spot a Hawkeye a mile away, wants to wear his Hawkeye shirts whenever they are clean, yells "Go Hawks", and thinks any shirt that is black and gold is a Hawkeye shirt. I'm passing on a great family tradition.



And BTW- we say a guy wearing a Biakabatuka jersey as we were leaving the game Saturday night. "Biakabatuka, bet you never ran so many yards" Good Times!