Whew! Sunday morning and I'm sitting here in a couch wishing I had slept longer. First of all, a great experience out here. Of course, winning always helps with an overall experience but I really had a great time walking around Kinnick before the game, as you can see in the pics and very strange video (if I can download it). Probably last time here since my son will be (hopefully) moving back to the Lehigh Valley as his medical career continues. But it was a great way to go out. Took the Hawkeye Express into the game. The train stops right behind the stadium; it holds somewhere around 700 people per trip. Then we started looking for Penn Staters but were continually invited into Iowans' tailgate parties, where they were gracious beyond belief. First we hit a party and were offered everything from various drinks to pulled pork sandwiches to chocolate chip cake. People asked if where we were from, what we thought of our trip, and made NO, I repeat NO mention of past transgressions. Had a photo of my son and I and an 87-year-old Iowan named John taken by the police chief of Davenport, Iowa. We left that blast, found the PS Alumni Association tailgate inside the Iowa baseball park, but couldn't enter because we hadn't pre-registered. Pfft! So we found something much better, a large party with lots of 50-year-old women decked out in Iowa gear and pretty drunk. "Hi, welcome to Iowa," each of them said and then tried to guess my first name, which is Dennis. They came up with every male name starting with a D but not the correct one, until my son says "he's a menace." Then just about in unison, they all yelled "Dennis" and then I was asked if I wanted to join the ring of fire. I didn't know what the hell was up, but I said yes and was told to sit down in a chair. Apparently I was about to go through an initiation to earn the right to drink shots of fireball whiskey from a ski. Great. So, one of the girls turned on Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," and I was immediately encircled by lots of women, who danced to the song with hand on my head, circling around me until it was over. I haven't laughed that hard in a while and I thought the song would never end. It was weird but fun. (I could not upload the video, sorry. The photo shows that guys were even encircling me. Wasn't aware of that.) Then I got to drink a shot. I could have stayed as long as I wanted but these cougars were getting drunker and I thought we better get out of there. We then continued our walk around Kinnick until we decided to get to our seats. Near our entrance, some guy who was a little inebriated came over, shook our hands, and said "You sons of bitches" and started telling us how he's mad that Iowa had lost five in a row but then told us what respect he had for the program and what an outstanding job Franklin has done getting PS back on its feet. He went on and on. He was an Iowan who was on a golf scholarship to Iowa State but in his heart he has always been a Hawkeye. So he gabbed on and on until a friend told him it was time to go. Whew. Anyway, great time outside the stadium and really we took no gruff from anyone inside, including after the game when the Iowa crowd was not happy. On the train ride back I struck up a conversation with the football coach at Mt. Vernon High School in Iowa, who coached Tristen Wirfs. Said he's going to Vegas for the pro draft next spring to watch his pupil be picked. Pretty cool. So that's it. Great experience overall and totally happy I made the trip. Hope the pics turn out. Back to PA on Monday.
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