Iowa Basketball – Alive or Dead?

The Bad News:

I had the good fortune of attending the Iowa vs. Bryant University game last night.  It had been at least 15 years since I had set foot in Carver Hawkeye Arena.  I watched from afar as the Tom Davis era died a slow death and grew excited as the Steve Alford era began what we all felt would be a golden era of Iowa Basketball. 

We were all wrong on that one.  I am still trying to get the rash of that snake oil off me.  I knew things had gotten bad but wow, I had not realized that Stevie had burnt the thing to the ground.  On a Friday night in Iowa City, Iowa (wind chill 5 degrees) with a local hero, Matt Gatens as the leading scorer, the arena was half full at best. 

I realize that Bryant University is not Illinois, hell they are not even the Citadel but other than high school sports, there is not much else that the residents of “the corridor” should be doing.  The economy is not an excuse, tickets are $26. 

There was no energy in Carver Hawkeye Arena.  The place needs a dose of Kinnick.  If you are considering going, don’t worry, there is not a security guard that is not part of the AARP crowd.  Bring your flasks and have a good time.  Don’t let the blue haired season ticket holders scare you away.  I don’t condone drinking and driving, Iowa City has an abundance of cheap cabs.

The Good News:

Hawkeye Basketball is rising.   We have a young and very talented team.  I saw an Iowa team that ran a disciplined offense.  They are very unselfish, the ball touches everyone’s hands and rarely does a shot go up that is not wide open.  Gatens is a beast, I think he only missed 3 shots and that includes pre game warm ups.  Peterson is silky smooth and seems to be able to get to the hole with ease.  Tucker has the fastest release on a 3 point shot that I have ever seen, rebounds well for a guard and is a dead eye from three point land.   Tate works hard in the middle as he did last year. 

The best thing about this team, they do not whine about calls that don’t go their way.  That is what I hated about Alford, I always felt it infected his teams and contributed to a losing attitude.  This team may be a year away from the NCAA tournament but coach Todd Lickliter is putting a team on the floor we should be proud of and support in the stands.  

Fornicating Hawkeyes Consummate Win in Metrodome Restroom (An IowaHawkBlog.com Commentary)

Tonight is no time to focus on the Iowa Hawkeye basketball team dropping two of their last three games.  We will instead spend our time investigating a more pressing issue… Hawkeye sex in a Metrodome restroom.  Although the story of Lois Feldman and Ross Walsh’s Metrodome tryst may be “yesterday’s news,” the aftermath has proven to be priceless. 

Most of us have heard the story by now.  Lois Feldman, 38, and Ross Walsh, 26, were cited for indecent conduct for having sex in a men’s restroom during Iowa’s 55-0 trouncing of Minnesota.  A security guard tipped off University of Minnesota police as a crowd of intoxicated fans gathered in the restroom to heckle Mr. Walsh’s haphazard performance.  When will the cell phone video of this be posted to YouTube?  Inquiring Hawkeye fans want to know. 

Feldman, a married mother of three, initially gave police a fake name and had to be identified by her husband before being released.  The Carroll, Iowa woman said she’d had so much wine before kickoff that she doesn’t remember walking into a men’s restroom, the man she had sex with in a stall or the police opening the door.  “I don’t know who this man is,” she said Wednesday. “I just found out his name in the paper last night.”  We can’t make this stuff up!

Feldman said she was fired Wednesday morning from an assisted living center where she had been an administrator. She said her husband, Kelly, has been supportive. According to Lois he faults himself for not going with her when she left her seat to use the restroom before halftime. 

Editor’s Tip:  Fellas never let your woman use the restroom alone… you never know when she’ll end up getting a rear admiral against a cinder block restroom wall.  It is not her fault- it’s a compulsion.  Lesson learned.

In a related story, Viagra sales at the Carroll assisted living facility’s pharmacy have dropped by 84%.  Male residents are protesting the firing calling Feldman’s termination “without cause”.

Details about Ross Walsh have been slower to emerge.  It can be said many of us were very disappointed when Ross’ name was released.  At least 80% of male Hawkeye fans whole-heartedly believed they would hear the name of one of their buddies when the police report came out.  It is safe to say most (if not all) were disappointed.

We now know that Ross is a resident of Linden, Iowa.  He was attending the game with his girlfriend.  After viewing his outdated MySpace page, we were as surprised as you are to hear he had a girlfriend (excluding Feldman.)  Player.

In our constant quest for the truth, we have done our research and come up with our own theory as to the real story surrounding the incident.  The following is our account of what may have transpired leading up to the bathroom debauchery. 

Sometime in early 2007 Mr. Walsh was not exactly “scoring” with the females at his local Linden watering hole.  Something about his affinity for boxed wines and incessant quoting of the movie “Sideways” had turned the Linden ladies against him.  He decided to put up a MySpace page to increase his odds of landing his first date.  Ross thinks his best bet is to post primarily inebriated photos of himself in his finest Hawkeye apparel.  Residing in Cyclone country his attempt failed miserably.

By February he realized that MySpace was not getting him the response he expected (or any response for that matter).  He then created an account with BuckFuddiez.com to find himself local ladies looking to party.  Enter Lois Feldman.

Mrs. Feldman was growing weary from the daily diaper changing drudgery of her job at the nursing home.  She would constantly question whether she got married “too young,” and sometimes felt younger than the three kids she was raising.  She knew she could run wild on soft husband Kelly with little or no consequence.  In a random act of defiance she jumped on the work computer and created a BuckFuddiez account.  The stage was set.

In an attempt to look more “Metropolitan,” both Feldman and Walsh listed their city of residence as “DesMoines.” Upon chatting they realized they lived a mere 63 miles from one another.  Lois was swept off her feet by Ross perfect timing and delivery of “You Might Be a Redneck” jokes.  She laid awake nights thinking “Where did he learn to stamp homemade soap so perfectly?”  They decided to meet at the Coon Rapids Super 8 to express their growing passions.

Upon arrival, Lois was sorely disappointed to realize Mr. Walsh looked nothing like Brad Pitt’s Fight Club photo he submitted to BuckFuddiez.  She had been scammed worse than the time she thought she won the Nigerian lottery. 

The realization hit Mrs. Feldman hard that she had spent $48 to fill up the minivan for the trip.  Lois wanted to get her money worth and decided to overlook the deceit.  She reluctantly kicked off her yellow Crocs and climbed onto the chaw-stained polyester bedspread.  Ross broke out the Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill and nature took its course. 

Although sorely disappointed with his performance, Lois begrudgingly agreed to take Ross’ number.  They continued to meet whenever Feldman got to the point she could not administer one more “Viagra efficiency” test at the home.  “Those guys will promise anything just to get a peek,” she would tell herself, “I still have not gotten that ’88 Impala I was promised by Mr. Parker.”  Both Lois and Ross giggle with anticipation upon learning they will both be taking their annual vacation in The Land of 10,000 Lakes.

 Simulated game day text conversation:

Ross (11:08AM): Did you get the box of Franzia I sent to your work?

Lois (12:32PM): Just cracked it open and its gr8.

Ross (1:16PM): That stuff is pricey but its one of my favorites.  Save me some.

Ross (2:12PM):  The faintest soupcon of asparagus and just a flutter of nutty Edam cheese.

Lois (4:16PM):  I polishd off the box at the tailgte prty. Kelly thout it was from a pateint. LOL

Ross (5:43PM): I wish Linden girls knew good wine.

Lois (6:48PM): Im in secton 56G. Whre r u? Going 2 puke. Meet me at sectin 56 shitter- brng hot dog im hngry.

The couple subsequently met up in the restroom and the rest is (well-publicized) history.  Although completely based on Kettle-One-inspired-speculation, that is the Iowa Hawk Blog account of what happened leading up to Ross’ lackluster restroom performance.  Feel free to comment with your own theories!

**Although the accounts of the arrest of Hawkeye Fans Lois Feldman and Ross Walsh for having sex in a Metrodome restroom are based on published facts, all accounts of events surrounding the arrest were completely fabricated for comedic purposes.  They are purely the opinions of the editors of the Iowa Hawk Blog, and have no real basis in reality. **

 

Hawkeyes heading for Tampa?

Another week of college football is behind us.  Boy did it suck.  I like college football and all but I like it a lot better when the Hawks are on the field.  I wish the Big 10 would add another conference game and extend the season, instead of these stupid byes.  So I got to watch some SEC and Big 12 matchups. The Big 12 has some nice athletes but they have turned into the Pac 10, playing no defense what so ever.  The defensive mindset in the Big 12 appears to be the same one that our beloved Hawks ran at the end of the Illinois game, except in the Big 12 you just give up and let the receiver score.

It sure is nice that Iowa is going to a decent bowl this year.  I think that this team is going to destroy whatever team that they face.  They play hungry and they hit hard.  PSU and OSU appear to be BCS locks unless Boise State could sneak in over OSU.  That would be a very unlikely scenario.  So then you have MSU probably going to the Capital One Bowl with Iowa going to the Outback Bowl against South Carolina, LSU or Ole Miss.  Any of those teams would be a sweet matchup on New Year’s Day.  Who’s Northwestern?  Did we play them?

It also does not look like Shonn Greene is going to get any Heisman love, not even an invite.  Well, I guess he will just have to take it out on one of those speedy teams from the SEC.  Does anyone remember what Fred Russell did to Florida?  How bout Sam Brownlee against LSU?  Well at least the pass protection by Sam was excellent.