March 28, 2024

Only seven months away

One of my least favorite days of the year was Sunday. It was the last football game before the long wait until August/September when games start up again. College games are long-since over and because my team, the Iowa Hawkeyes, ended on a huge thud I had turned to the pros for entertainment. I follow the Chicago Bears, mainly because my husband is a fan. I didn’t have a pro team before we met, and if you know how their season went, you know I wasn’t concerned about their play. If you don’t, you are lucky.

I wasn’t overly interested in this year’s Super Bowl. The Hawkeye connection was Tony Moeaki, and I’m sure he played at some point during the game, but I didn’t see it. I am a Peyton Manning fan and was hoping to see him in another championship, capping off a great career. That was squashed mid-playoffs and the field was open on who I would cheer for. So, I was just hoping for an entertaining game that would go down until the last play. At least it didn’t disappoint there.

My girls didn’t care that it was the last football game or that mommy and daddy really wanted to watch it. We still played with a lot of Playdoh, got the race track out and hunted down the battery-powered trains that make their way all over the house. Between running around, we caught most of the game and even some of the commercials. The girls were entertained by the halftime show, it didn’t hurt that the first thing they saw was a giant tiger going across the field.

I don’t have strong feelings one way or the other about who won. I really thought that Seattle would pull it off, but a pass play that close to the end zone is perplexing. I’ve seen crazy play calls at the end of games before, and I am sure I will see them again.

Tom Brady can be annoying, and the greatness of the Patriots unending, but I can’t help but be impressed and a little pleased that he is a Big 10 guy.

It’s the offseason now, the time of the year where I count down until opening day, first for college, then pros, to fill up my weekend. I plan to pay closer attention to the draft this year, with Iowa having possibly two first-round picks. The Bears were terrible last year, and if the stars align, a Hawkeye could potentially go to Chicago, which I think would be awesome.

A change from years past: I have been paying much closer attention to basketball and, especially this year, wrestling. Iowa made a comeback last year in basketball, playing entertaining games and even making the tournament — kind of (they were knocked out in what is now called the first round, but is the added games to play into the 64 team bracket.) The season didn’t end great, and this season has gone up and down, but at least it is fun to watch.

Iowa’s wresting team has been ranked number one most of the year and just defeated Minnesota, its closest competitor in the Big 10 and the country. After several years on the downswing, it looks like the team is back to its glory days and the upcoming championships are sure to be worth watching.

Now I am not just a bandwagon fan who only follows my teams when they are winning. I watched every excruciating minute of the terrible loses by all three of Iowa’s teams and the Bears. It is just a lot more fun when they are tallying wins and the game is entertaining.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at
641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or
jpierson@newtondailynews.com