Lonely Gopher in a Hawkeye World?

I married an Iowa Hawkeye fan.  Let me repeat that for emphasis: I married an Iowa Hawkeye fan. This means that sometimes I need to know when to quiet my Minnesota Golden Gopher allegiances and just go with the black and gold. (Always with one caveat – as long as the Hawkeyes aren’t playing my Minnesota Golden Gophers.)

Take this past weekend, for instance. Teacher Man and I trekked down to Iowa City to visit his sister and brother-in-law, attend the Iowa-Penn State football game, and truly experience what tailgating at an Iowa Hawkeyes game really means. Turns out, it’s a pretty big deal.

I’ve never in my entire life actually worn Hawkeye gear past my own driveway (when I borrow my husband’s starter jacket to shovel snow). But I sucked it up big-time and wore a Hawkeyes football t-shirt, a Hawkeyes jacket and even Hawkeye earrings.  “When in Rome …” as they say.

My husband gleefully texted this picture of me to my father, who promptly texted back “Traitor.” (All in good fun, I can promise you.)

I posted the picture on Facebook, to which my college friend, Patrick, commented, “Did you lose a bet????”

And my in-laws in Iowa City were happy not to see any maroon and gold in my vicinity, I think.

The weather in Iowa City was beautiful and Hawkeye fans were everywhere. These are serious tailgaters – they arrive early (or the night before) to claim their spots and they bring huge speakers to blast music, gigantic coolers, tons of food and in some cases, even actual Hawkeye-themed bar stools and bars. One tailgating party brought a hearse and served beer out of a coffin. I think I heard LMFAO songs at least 25 times over the course of the afternoon and everyone was in a party mood.

Something unexpected that was really cool was the “America Needs Farmers” campaign (or ANF for short). We saw ANF t-shirts everywhere and folks from the Iowa Farm Bureau passed out window clings, can coolies, bracelets and more near the stadium. Even inside Kinnick Stadium there was a plaza area devoted to ANF, which showed huge pictures of University of Iowa football players who now play pro football with quotes from them talking about the importance of Iowa’s farming roots. I was impressed – and more than a little jealous that Minnesota doesn’t have a similar campaign. Turns out, ANF was created by legendary Iowa Coach Hayden Frye in the mid-1980s during the farm crisis – well before many of us who work for agriculture even had an inkling that being an “ag agvocate” would be so important. The campaign was reintroduced in 2011 and embraced by current Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferenz. (You can learn more here and here.)

So, not only did I learn that I can wear Hawkeye gear all day and survive, but I also was pleased to see that many Iowans of all ages embrace their agriculture roots. Probably not surprising but still really nice to see. Just don’t say anything about the actual game, which was brutal for the Hawkeyes. Apparently I brought a little of my own Gopher karma to the game, after all.