After a fun and tasty Thanksgiving in Melrose, Flav and I wrapped up our holiday weekend with a day at "The Bank" to watch the Minnesota Gopher's take on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Like most outdoor activities in Minnesota, the game was quite the frigid little event.
By way of background, there is a little bit of history in my family when it comes to the Gopher/Hawkeye game.
See, my dad, a native Iowan, is a rabid Iowa Hawkeye fan - as in the basketball court at my parent's house has a Hawkeye on it and my family members and I receive Hawkeye swag every year for Christmas kind of fan. And he's not alone. Hawkeye fans are insane - like Red Sox Nation insane. And like the Red Sox Fans prior to 2004, Hawkeye fans are a long suffering bunch. This season, after a promising start in Big 10 play, Iowa was in a virtual free fall leading up to the Minnesota game, with losses against Wisconsin, Ohio State, and most embarrassing of all, Northwestern.
On the other hand, as many of you know, both of my brothers and I are alumni of the University of Minnesota. That said, the three of us are not exactly rabid Gopher fans - my youngest brother is actually an Iowa fan, my middle brother doesn't like sports and could care less about the Gophers and while I do cheer for the Gophers if they're on TV, their football program has been so sorry the past couple of years, loyal fandom isn't exactly worth the effort. So, for this game, I was a bit neutral, with slight leaning toward Iowa for the sake of my dad.
Since it was the last home game of the season, it began with a lot of pomp and circumstance, including one of the largest American flags I've ever seen and an actual bald eagle perched upon his trainer's arm.
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| Largest Flag West of the Mississippi |
As the game started, wonder of wonders, the Gophers actually looked pretty good. Apparently, after Tim "waste of carbon" Brewster was fired in Mid-October, the Gophers managed to learn these crazy trick plays like this thing called, "play action fake." Yada, yada, yada...Gophers went ahead by 10 points in the first quarter, my dad was feeling depressed. However, after the initial offensive blitz by the Gophers, things evened out and the Gophers lead 20-17 at the half. As the teams headed to the locker room, the fans were able to enjoy a hopping halftime show - Marching Band Crop Circles set to the music of West Side Story!!!
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| I want to freeze in America!! Playing trombone in America!!! |
So, one other non-football related thing about the game - it was FREEZING!!!! Knowing that it was likely to be cold, Flav and I made sure to dress appropriately and did our best to keep warm with multiple hot chocolate runs.
Flav took it a step further than me, and went Kenny McCormick style with his hood
On the other end of the bundled spectrum was my dad, who was dressed like it was mid September. When we asked if he was cold, he said, quote "I'm fine. I've got a t-shirt on underneath my other shirt." To which we asked: what is this t-shirt and where can I buy one?
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| Note the lack of hat and gloves and open jacket. Seriously, how is this man not dying of hypothermia??? |
Unfortunately for my papa, Iowa continued its downward spiral and lost the lead in the 4th quarter after fumbling the ball and giving up a touchdown to the Gophers. Out of mercy to my dad, we left the stadium before the Gopher team went to collect Floyd of Rosedale a pig shaped trophy exchanged as part of the annual game between the two schools.
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| Mass Exodus of Bumble Bee Dressed Iowa Fans |
Hopefully, for my mom's sake, Iowa will fare better at its random bowl game come December...
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