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Last News from Around the Hawkeye State of 2008

Outback Bowl a special gift for 95-year-old fan - The Gazette has a great story about a 95 year old Hawkeye fan. "Although she's never been to a football game at Kinnick Stadium, Hazel Driscoll has been a Hawkeye fan as long as she can remember. And at 95, she will get to see her beloved Hawks play live for the first time. Her sons are taking her to Tampa's Outback Bowl Thursday for her birthday present. Driscoll turned 95 on Dec. 24."

Economic chill on Outback Bowl is balanced by Iowa wind chill - "But bowl officials say the game will still approach what they contend is a typical $40-million tourism impact. Hotels are packed and hordes of Iowa and South Carolina fans converged on Clearwater Beach on Tuesday."

Kroul and King prepare for final game together - We are REALLY going to miss these two next year. I hope someone picks up the torch on D.

Hawkeye fans invade Tampa

I don't know who this guy is in the picture but, I would love to trade places with him:

Iowa hottie

Is the IC City Council on Drugs or just Bored?

I decided to check my hotmail the other day to see if anyone emailed me anything interesting. Like usual, it was just spam. Some might label the life I live as boring or uneventful, lonely and sad even. They wouldn't be wrong, trust me, but most of it is by my choice. I opted to focus on other things in life, this site being one of them. But if I still lived in Iowa City, being boring and uneventful could get me elected to the Iowa City City Council.

After I got done deleting my spam, I logged out to find a pleasant story being suggested to me MSNBC. Iowa City Considers Ban On Happy Hour. It was a heading that nearly caused the demise of my mouse, due to the speed and force at which I tried to click on the link to read the story. It was an instant WTF moment.

The IC City Council is considering a happy-hour ban at their next scheduled meeting on January 5th (6:30PM at Emma J. Harvat Hall). The ban would require any bar or restaurant with a liquor license or permits to have a written schedule of prices, filed with the city clerk, at least a week in advance. That means drink prices couldn't change by the day or hour. City officials want the state to restrict alcoholic specials to help the college town's efforts to curb excessive drinking.

This isn't the first time the city has attempted such things. The council has declared full out war on drinkers in Iowa City, and this is the lastest tactic in their underhanded war. Iowa City and the University have tried for years to address a binge-drinking problem in town. While some legislation like banning all-you-can-drink specials, was probably wise, banning or even restricting any happy hour at a 21 and up bar or restaurants is ridiculousness of the highest degree.

Tuesday means more Hawkeye News

Most readers will be quick to notice that this news post is ALL HAWKEYES. In an attempt to ramp up the hype for the bowl game, the news for today and tomorrow will be ALL HAWKEYES. We better win on Thursday...or it may drive me to start drinking again.

Hawkeye Fans Leave for Florida - Nearly 500 Hawkeye football fans fill the Eastern Iowa airport and boarded planes on Monday, heading to Florida and Thursday's Outback Bowl. Most fans are just excited about the warm weather. If you aren't excited about the bowl game yet...it's time!

Greene focused on game, not future - "Shonn Greene could make a decision on whether he will return for his senior season by mid-January. But right now, the Iowa running back is just focused on helping the Hawkeyes beat South Carolina in Thursday's Outback Bowl."

Tampa Bay Online trying to stir up some shit - Kirk was being interviewed about the Outback Bowl. "With the Big Ten ties to bowls down here, that's part of the reason we recruit an awful lot of good players in this state," he said. "They don't all go to the three schools - the three major schools." Now the Tamp Bay Online is trying to spin it as if he was talking smack about University of South Florida. Come on already, no way Ferentz was talking smack about anyone. So not his style. Glad to see the Tampe Bay Online values truth.

Trojans' defense doesn't rest, but is it the best? - Kirk Ferentz was quoted in an Ivan Maisel article on EPSN.com, so this article is getting included in the daily news dump. Ferentz is always a class act, no matter how you slice it.

More News from Around the Hawkeye State

Teen stabbed near Harding Middle School - A Des Moines teen was stabbed in the armpit Saturday night while walking with a friend near Harding Middle School. Stabbed in the armpit? How the hell does someone get stabbed in the armpit? If only someone would have gotten this one on tape. Is it bad that I was glad this was the DM Harding and not the CR Harding?

Man "allegedly" kicks Des Moines officer in face - Police arrested Christopher Allan Wahlert for public intox. On the way to the jail, the police had to pull over to place ankle restraints on Wahlert. That's when he decided to kick Officer Darin Miller in the face. The arrest report said, "The marks on Officer Miller's chin were consistent with the bottom of the suspect's shoes." Again, why aren't we getting these things on tape, people? Ida O'neal can videotape her dog hiccuping, but no one get capture a drunk dude kicking a cop in the face???

Man’s body recovered from SUV in Mississippi - Police discovered a man's body...in a van down by the river. Sorry, couldn't resist. The body was discovered after Iowa City police asked police agencies to be on the lookout for a man and a vehicle in connection with a domestic situation This story seems to be picking up steam, so hopefully we can report more.

Who is the Most Famous Iowan?

Believe it or not, a fair amount of famous people stem from Iowa. For a state that only recently crossed over the 3 million mark in terms of population, it has produced a fair amount of talent across the board. From world famous athletes, to cult legend actors, to politicians, to artists, Iowa was home for many talented individuals. Who is the most famous of the bunch is up to you guys to decide.

John Wayne - Winterset, Iowa [Born May 26, 1907]
John Wayne was born Marion Robert Morrison in Winterset, Iowa and went on to become an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award-winning actor who epitomized masculinity in film. He was American icon and war hero that many still love and adore. Wayne stared in almost about 3 million movies in his career, 75% of which were westerns. Ok, he only starred in 190 movies but seriously that's a lot of movies. He still remains one of the most widely known Iowans in the world.

Johnny Carson - Corning, Iowa [Born October 23, 1925]
Johnny Carson was a proud Iowan born in Corning and grew up in southwest Iowa until the age of 8, when the family moved to Nebraska. Carson was the well-known host of The Tonight Show who headlined for 30 years. Carson received six Emmy Awards in his career.

Tom Arnold - Ottumwa, Iowa [Born March 6, 1959]
Say what you will about Tom Arnold, he is still arguably one of the most outspoken Iowa Hawkeye advocates in the history of the state. This ADD-on-steriods Iowan lives, eats and breaths Hawkeye. Tom attended Ottumwa High School and began doing stand-up comedy shortly after high school at the age of 23. He is a comedian, actor, producer, recovering cokehead, author, sports caster and as loyal as they come.

Merry Christmas Iowa Hawkeye Nation

Have some eggnog and open some presents. More updates coming in a few days. Thanks for making us a regular read, Iowa.

It's time for...More News From Around Iowa

The initial thought was to make this post a weekly occurence. But, it quickly became clear that this News From Around Iowa post could easily be daily. Currently, the news is collect and the post is made as time allows. But, as the site becomes more popular, it makes sense to try to do this every morning so that Iowans can get their morning headlines from around the state along side some sarcasm. This post will always feature different links and blurbs from the state's newspaper publications, websites and blogs. If you stumble across something that you think we should be writing about, let us know at contact@iowahawkeyes.net. So, without further babbling, here are the headlines from around Iowa:

Marion Couple about to become our new BFF - The Gazette has what we assume will be an onslaught of articles and stories about a Marion couple that won $1 mil ($700,000 after federal and state taxes) from Powerball. Clyde and Susan Hendricks, an older couple in their 60s, "marveled that she and a friend had played Powerball for 20 years and she had never won one dollar." They played for 20 years...without winning a dollar??? That's determination folks! We can only hope that they are maybe Hawkeye fans and want to contribute to the site! [CR Gazette]

Again with the News from around Iowa

And I will have you notice, I am not making mention of any article discussing the ass beating we took at the hands of Drake over the weekend.

Iowa bowl bid a bright spot for local retailers - "University of Iowa fans are hitting stores — and the Web — to scoop up Outback Bowl souvenirs at a strong pace, local merchants report. The reason is no puzzle." Anything Hawkeye related is always a good Christmas present.

Red Crow football: Rhoads completes Ames-Auburn swap - Gene Chizik bolted for Auburn, so Red Crow AD Jamie Pollard opted to hire away Paul Rhoads, who spent last season as the Tigers' defensive coordinator. I am kind of glad that they didn't hire a big name away like Stoops from Arizona. It will make it that much easier for Iowa to pull recruits from that side of the state.

Documentary of Iowa native to be released this fall - Jean Seberg was an Iowa-born movie actress who co-starred with the likes of Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery and Warren Beatty. Her political activism caught the attention of the FBI, though, and she was forced to move to Europe, where she died a mysterious death in Paris at the age of 40.