Dear Hawkeye Nation,
We need to talk. As a long time member I've been growing increasingly concerned about the state of your overall mental health and after last week's stomping at the hands of Penn State, things seems to be reaching a boiling point.
I'm not going to pretend that there aren't problems. Our offense needs help. Our quarterback is either a bust or in an epic slump. But our defense, while young has shown promise and despite two key injuries against Penn State the offensive line hasn't been woeful either. There's hope for the future. But as many of you have rightly pointed out, there's plenty of cause for concern as well.
We're at an interesting point in Coach Ferentz's tenure. He's been here long enough to reboot a couple of times leading the Hawkeyes to some truly magical seasons (2002, 2009) but it's also getting harder. The game is changing. The competition is adjusting. Coordinators have moved on. What's needed here isn't just your average reboot, it's reinvention. The truly great coaches (K-State's Bill Snyder would be the all-time example, I think we can all agree) can adjust, reboot and reinvent themselves all over again. And I think Coach Ferentz has the ability to do the same. I'm willing to give him a season or two to get his ducks in a row before turning the seat warmer up and so should everybody else. (There's also the tiny matter of his contract. If we join the mob with pitchforks, tar and feathers that seem to scream for his head after every loss, we'd be paying through the nose to get out of it. We're in a tough spot- but not a desperate one.)
So can we all calm the f--k down, please? We lost a lot of people last season and although Vandenburg's troubles seem to be deeper than just not having experienced receivers to throw too (we lost McNutt. That hurt.) This was always going to be a rebuilding/rebooting year. Success seems to have spoiled you, Hawkeye Nation. A taste of the big time with a couple of trips to the Orange Bowl and suddenly if we're not in contention to play for the big, crystal football and the response seems to be: 'FIRE THEM ALL!'
I grew up here. The first Iowa game I have a memory of watching was Iowa in the Rose Bowl in 1991. I remember when going to the Sun Bowl wasn't just a big deal, it was almost exciting. You think Vandenburg is a bad quarterback? I remember watching Matt Sherman play. And if you think Vandy is getting hate from fandom, Matt Sherman could probably tell him a thing or two. (I have a vivid memory of sitting in the south stands watching a game with my Dad while a drunken older fan- because they're always drunk and older bellowed obscenities as Sherman failed to be Joe Montana or Chuck Long for the umpteenth time.)
There's been a lot of great seasons and there's been a lot of not so great seasons but there's always been fans that come out, have a good time, enjoy some football and wear the Black and Gold with pride. We need to get back to more of that. It's probably the nature of sports to breed Monday morning quarterbacks but when pictures like this surface and when The Quiet Man (who went to the game last Saturday) tells me of an old, drunk fan (as per usual) booing and bellowing: "JOE PA IS ENJOYING THIS IN HELL! HOW DARE YOU HAWKEYES LET JOE PA ENJOY THIS IN HELL!" We've collectively lost our damn minds.
So for the rest of the season, I'm just going to take it one game at a time. We got Floyd of Rosedale back and if that's all I've got to hang my hat on at the end of the season then that's OK. (It'd be very nice to beat Northwestern too. Just sayin.*)
We're not entitled to success because we're not the ones actually doing the work. Our team works hard and sometimes it takes awhile to get back to your best. Sometimes it takes longer than a season. So when you drive around town and every once in awhile see those old school bumper stickers with a Tiger Hawk, a Rose and in big block letters: 'WE SHALL RETURN.' Remember that and calm the f--k down already.
This might not be our year. But we'll be back.
Black and Gold Forever!
Tom
*Correction: it WOULD have been nice to beat Northwestern. Alas, that didn't happen. Though it occurred to me: Northwestern, even when its having off years still manages to be that team that sneaks up on someone and bludgeons them in the back of the head when they're least expecting it. It'd be nice if Iowa could achieve that. Just sayin'
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