Tuesday, September 30, 2008

And the Winner Is.......Ken O'Keefe


We don't want to make a point on this blog to personally attack anyone. We are not looking at this post as an attack, but more of a scientific survey analysis based on the results of our extremely accurate reader poll.

Our readers have spoken and tbe blame (at least 67% of it) goes to Offensive Coordinator Ken O'Keefe. First and goal on the 8, a decent running back, an ok quarterback, at home, for homecoming, against Northwestern. You don't need to be James Van Allen to understand that, at worst, you have to have a 25% success rate in this situation. We came up with a big fat goose egg. Note to opposing defenses: We have 2 plays, 1) Run with Greene (or whoever it may be this weekend) and 2) Pass to DJK-Trey Stross and Andy Brodell as wildcards.

What happened to the days of having 30 receivers and 20 running backs to choose from (and yes some may respond by saying-in jail)? Speaking of, how about that Jail Break Screen that worked so well with Banks? Should we start with the trickeration? How about a flip to Greene who throws a bomb downfield? Something has to give here. MSU and the rest of the Big 10 will be ready for us. Our 2 (or 3) plays will not cut it. It seemed like in years past, we saw 2-3 of the same plays each game. The rest was tailor made to our competition. If Ferentz and O'Keefe weren't such close friends, he may be a little more worried about his job. Until Ferentz leaves, I think we are stuck Hawkeye Nation. You know whose job is relatively safe right now? Norm Parker. Until someone runs 40 up on us, the defense looks great. If an opponent scores under 25, USUALLY we can top that. With as much overtime as the defense has been working, allowing 21-22 points a game is pretty good given the circumstances. Someone find a legal way to get the defense some mini-golf coupons at Colonial Lanes (God Bless the Colonial Lanes) in lieu of overtime work.

Tomorrow we will turn our attention to the enemy-Sparty in particular. In the mean time, we welcome the banter with regards to Ken O'Keefe.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Time to Move Forward

This is true in far more ways than one. It's time to start looking ahead to Michigan State. Check back each day for updates. You can also set an RSS Feed for those that are into that. Here is the tentative list of articles that GHN contributors will put out this week:

Tuesday-Response to Blog Poll "Root of Offensive Troubles"
Wednesday-Sparty: Behind the Dress

Thursday-Anti-Michigan University Day
(since we don't play Michigan this year, we have to do all the Michigan bashing during MSU week). By the way, we do appreciate all of the Michiganders and Michiganians that check in. We know that for some reason God played a mean trick on you all and stuck you up there in Canada South. That being said, there are some gorgeous places of scenery in Michigan. I had the pleasure of golfing at TreeTops in Gaylord (insert Michigan joke here-yes this is the name of the town) one October day....BEAUTIFUL!
Friday-MSU Preview
Saturday-Wrap Up After Game


In the future, we would like to try a live blog chat during a game for those that can not watch it. If you are interested, let us know. If enough people are interested (we don't need actual names or anything, just a count), we'll try to get one on here in the upcoming weeks.

The following article was taken from www.HawkCentral.com . It gives the preliminary details of the Hawkeye Huddle this weekend:

Hawkeye fans attending the Iowa-Michigan State football game on Saturday, Oct. 4, are invited to attend the “Hawkeye Huddle” prior to kickoff. The event will be held from 9-11 a.m. Eastern time at the East Lansing Marriott at University Place, 300 M.A.C. Ave., East Lansing, Mich. Admission to the Huddle is free and includes cash refreshments, snacks and Hawk Shop door prizes. University of Iowa cheerleaders and Herky will also be in attendance.Kickoff is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. Eastern time at Spartan Stadium.


Enjoy the week Hawk Fans!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Salue to Our Hawkeye Fans in Uniform


This site is not that old. We are amazed at the amount of people who have visited so far. Until yesterday, we were not aware of some of the special people that frequent our site.

I read on some message boards and in emails that some of our service men and women have checked our site out from overseas. These men and women, with the little free time they have, get online to listen to the Iowa game and check out sites like ours. Let me say what an honor it is to have those folks on our site.

I don't care if you are for or against the war--America needs to respect our troops. They signed up to put their collective arses on the line so that you and I can have the freedom, to say, gripe about our football team. Not only is it cool to have soldiers in Iraq and other areas on our site, but it is great that they are proud of the Hawks just like all of us.

We salute the brave men and women who are overseas doing what most of us could never have the guts to do. We pray for your safe return and we hope that this site, in some small way, helps keep you connected to the Hawks (during this frustrating season), and more importantly, the U.S.A.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Northwestern Wrap Up



Mora's speech pretty much sums up today. Just switch the 4 INT's and 1 Fumble with 4 Fumbles and 1 INT, playoffs with bowl game, and of course the Colts with the Hawks.


I had a decent list of good things to talk about after the first half. When Andy Brodell fumbled right before the half, I thought........uh oh. I got that feeling in my gut that reminded me of many previous Hawkeye games: big lead, dumb mistakes, lose lead, lose game. Well my negative side is coming out. I think they entire Hawkeye nation is left scratching their collective heads and asking, How? Why?

On a lighter note, I had the WHO radio feed on and listed to some great lines by our beloved Hawkeye broadcaster Gary Dolphin:

Dolphin- "Man, Stanzi looked like he was dancing out there. You know, like that show on NBC, what is it called?"
Podolak-"Dancing With the Stars on ABC"
Dolphin-"Yah, Dancing With the Stars on.....TV"

Dolphin-"Man, Shonn Greene looks as fluid.....as a tube of toothpaste".

I can't find the right adjective to sum up my feelings on this game. All in all Stanzi wasn't that bad. Greene had a pretty good game too-up until he got his bell rung at the goal line. The defense was outstanding (except for the first drive of the second half). Actually the defense was great give that they had to spend so much time out there--due to FIVE TURNOVERS. Bacher and Sutton for NU looked good, but still, 5 turnovers did it.

We head to Michigan State next weekend and definitely no Florida International's on the upcoming schedule. We have to win 4 Big Ten games to become bowl eligible. Ferentz and O'Keefe better figure something out and fast. If they don't, we'll see them on the sidelines at Coe or Simpson next season (no offense to those fine institutions). Is there anyone interested or thinking of starting a blog/message board calling for Ferentz's job yet? If so, let me know because I may jump on that wagon if we lose another 3-4 in a row.

If there are any Iowa fans around the East Lansing area (there should be), can you all deliver some glue or sticky hand material to the Hawkeye hotel next Friday night? 5 turnovers on the road will be worse than at home...to Northwestern.

The GazetteOnline live blog readers are predicting the line to be over 14 for MSU-ouch!

Hawkeye Radio Stations

For those who are do not get ESPN Classic, here is a website listing Iowa radio stations that carry the game. Personally-I choose 1040 WHO. You get the classic Iowa voices of radio and the reception is good.

http://radiotime.com/affiliate/a_37654/station/Iowa_Hawkeyes_Radio_Stations.aspx

Friday, September 26, 2008

Great Place to Watch the Game

I had the privilidge of going to The Other Place in Kansas City over the summer. That got me thinking, besides Kinnick Stadium, where is the best place to watch a Hawkeye football game? I welcome the thoughts.

Northwestern Outlook

I remember a long time ago, the thought of the Northwestern Wildcats would cause me to chuckle a bit. It was a guaranteed "W". The question wasn't if we we would win? but how bad would we beat them? Unfortunately for us, no win is guaranteed anymore. We have seen "lesser" teams such as Indiana and Northwestern come into Kinnick and ruin a perfectly good Autumn day. Tomorrow is shaping up to be one of these gut-wrenchers.

I am excited to see Stanzi get a start versus a Big 10 opponent. Deep down I still think we need to go with one quarterback and sink or swim with whoever it is. It would be nice to see Stanzi make it at least a half. Whatever helps us win, I'm all for. I think Brodell is due for a big game. It's Homecoming and it's time for the Hawks to show the rest of the league that they are not worthy of a 9th place prediction. I vaguely remember a few years ago when we went into the Big 10 season 3-1 and not given a prayer of finishing above .500 in the league. That year: 2002-end result: Orange Bowl (forget what happened in Miami-at least we went).

I think the most head scratching moment of the weekend is the fact that our game is on ESPN Classic. I have read a lot of blogs, posts, and message boards about this. When the announcement came of the game being on Classic, the channel lineup looked a little intimidating. Well now I see trick shot, UWF, Gladiators, 3 Auto Trader Shows, and boxing. Classic better be thanking God that they will have a lot of Hawkeye fans tuning in during that time slot. They may not get anyone before or after that.

Eat a Turkey leg on Melrose for all of us who can not make it on Saturday. When the Hawks win, know that we'll be singing the Victory Polka with you!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Global Hawkeye Nation

This is a blog experiment to see just how far the Hawkeye Nation spreads. Feel free to add yourself to the map. We have put a Clustr Map on the side in case our big map ever disappears for some reason. More updates will be coming soon.