It's a long read, but basically the writers break Iowa fans down into one of 5 categories below, each with a short excerpt from the article.
1) Mentis Insanis - the Bandwagon Jumper. "Hawk fans, collectively, exude the 2 worst pathologies of fandom - front-running and a persecution complex, resulting in an unpleasant brew of arrogance and a belief that everyone else is out to get them." Have seen many, many of this type in the last week plus.
2) Tempus Viator - the Time Traveler. Values the past while often volleying accusations of excessive past-honoring at neighboring cultures. This example will use phrases like "the sky is the limit" and "he keeps improving and I think he is good enough to guide this team to a win against any team except maybe Georgia."
3) Timere Homines - the Nervous Nelly. "the older, reasonable Iowa fan who knows what the rest of Hawkeye fans only vaguely fear - this is almost certainly destined to end poorly." Noticed a few of these around BWI.
4) Magnus Fortis - the Tough Guy. As far as the Iowa-PSU game, "The booing is believed to be both a judgement on the veracity of the injury, but also an assertion of their own belief that their team would never have the temerity to be injured, thanks to STRENGTH and CONDITIONING. Because of all the positive reinforcement and honor-based motivation, Iowa players only come off the field if they're truly injured, and even then, sometimes they don't. Rumor has it, some have tried to play through maladies as serious as rhabdomyolysis." This would seem to be the most prevalent visitor recently.
5) Pueri Hawkalis - the Child. "Typical behaviors include: name-calling, "burns" that are tepid at best, and even sometimes things like homophobia or misogyny. No matter how much evidence is presented to the contrary, they will likely never accept that their mental development stalled in early adolescence." Lots of this species as well.
Again, it is a long read but I promise you you'll be glad you did.
www.offtackleempire.com
