Kinnick Memories

I was at so many of those games, it makes me realize how furtunate I have been to go to so many great games. Two of my favorite memories:

In 2003 Homecoming against Michigan, Mich gets two touchdowns real easy and looks like they are going to blow us out before Ramone Ochoa becomes superman for a day, and Nathan Chandler steps up to help lead us to a great come from behind win. The end of the game was asesome.

In 2004 when Ohio State came to town and we KILLED THEM! I never thought I would see us man-handle Ohio State the way we did that day.

There are too many great memories to count, but those always stand out.
 
First game in Kinnick was in 1983 for Iowa vs. Indy. Hawks rolled the Hoosiers 49-3. Indy coach Sam Wyche (his only year with them - coached the Bengals the next year) took the team to midfield at the end of the game for a coaching lesson. He later said he wanted them to remember what it was like to get their butts kicked.

I still have a great photo of Scott Halverson making an over-the-shoulder TD catch in the South Endzone. (I remember seeing myself in the TV highlights on the news when I got home that night.) Back then, they let kids on down on the field, which was the best part for a kid at his first Hawkeye game.

Also: the 2002 ISU game and the 2003 Michigan game = probably the loudest I've ever heard Kinnick.
 
Last edited:
That 2003 Michigan game ranks right up there. That was the loudest game I've been to in Kinnick. Poor John Navarre could not hear himself think on that last Michigan possession we were so loud!
 
Meeting Nile Kinnick!!

A couple years ago I was asked to speak at our High School Basketball Banquet. It's kind of long, apologize for that, but here's the last part of my speech:
I’m kind of curious about something so I’m going to ask if anyone here tonight was at the athletic Banquet held in the basement of the old Methodist Church in 1940. Anyone?? Glenn Gregg—were you there? I was 8 years old so you must have been about 30--??
I’d like to tell you a personal story that happened to me here in Hawarden when I was 8 years
old. The year was 1940 and speaker that year at our athletic banquet was the greatest athlete in
the history of Iowa Hawkeye sports. His name was Nile Kinnick. The only Iowan to ever win the
Heisman Trophy. Captain of the 1939 college All American Football team. Iowa plays football where? Kinnick Stadium.
After his speech, my Dad (an Iowa grad) took me up front and introduced me to Nile Kinnick. He asked me if I liked sports & I said yeah, I like sports a lot. He asked me how I was doing in my school work & I said OK. He asked if I studied as hard as I played & I kind of stammered out something like
“Well, not quite as hardâ€. I couldn’t lie to Nile Kinnick!!
I’m going to read this next part, because I don’t want to leave out a single word.
He said, sports are fun, and sports can teach you to do your best, which is
great, if you just apply that to your education and your life as well as the games
you play.
I cried when my hero, Nile Kinnick died on June 3, 1943. The plane he was flying as a Navy pilot in World War 2 had an engine malfunction on takeoff from a Navy Aircraft Carrier and crashed into the sea. I’ve never forgotten the lesson Nile Kinnick was trying to teach a little 8 year old kid at a sports banquet in Hawarden, Iowa, in 1940. And now, it’s been passed on to you.
In conclusion,thanks to the basketball team from the geriatric set. You never quit, came from behind for several wins, had a winning season, and brought us lots of enjoyment and we’re proud of you. And based on your 3.4 team cumulative grade point average mentioned by your coach, I’m pretty sure Nile Kinnick somewhere up there is also proud of you.
 
1.Iowa vs Mich. with the last second field goal(my sons first game and I told him that since we were ranked #1 we had to go on the field(didn't stay long got real crazy).
2. Longs naked bootleg against Mich St(sons 2nd game)he was 11.
3.Capitol 1 Bowl Iowa vs LSU(THE CATCH)drove down with son and daughter in-law and a few others.Wasn't at Kinnick but what a game.
 
There are only 3 things I remember vividly, and they're all pretty recent.

1.) The chaos after UNI's second failed field goal this year.

2.) How quiet the crowd was right before Danny Murray's field goal against Penn State last year.

3.) How loud the crowd was after the first touchdown Albert Young ran in against Ohio State in 2006.
 
Ozhawk said:
Anyone have some kinnick memories?

Here are mine....I have been going to games since 2nd Grade (1975).

1) Mid 70's (I think 76 or may be the one game in 75 I went to) man and woman without a stitch on ran Streaking hand in hand from the NW corner all the way down the field to the SOuth endzone. I believe this was the NW game and as a third grader considered the only score of the game.

2) Anyone remember "BUD MAN" in the late 70's early 80's. It was a guy dressed up in a budweiser superhero costume sorta like captain america. He was always running around in the North endzone stands.

3) Ahhh the scottich Highlanders.

4) I was at "the Kick" game I saw about 50 boyscouts get creamed by a wave of Iowa fans. Bad idea using boyscouts to guard the goalposts and field.

Soo many memories.
Click to expand...


So many games! I, like you, started going to games with my dad in the mid 1970's...

-I remember beating wisconsin one year.in the Commings era. It was one of only a couple of victories.
-Hayden's victory over Nebraska early in his career...got the program rolling.
-The kick.
-Seeing Iowa destroy Illinois in a year that Illinois was good. Illinois threw upteen interceptions.
-Watching Bobby Olive from OSU destroy my perfect day.
-Long's bootleg vs. MSU
-Watching Randle El from Indiana engineer a 99 yard drive, by himself.
-Last year's PSU game. Absolutely fantastic.
-Beating UW in Camp Randall, in the fog (I know..different venue), after we were down 21-7 in the first half and being taunted by lousy badger fans.
-Seneca Wallace, as well as Banks' fumbles, making a very sour second half of one game. Hell of a sweet year, though.
-This year in Camp Randall! (I live in Madison now).

-Cheering the hawks as they enter Kinnick this Saturday. It will be good to be "Back in Black."

Let's give 'em a GREAT reception.
 
Last season taking my 17 year-old for the first time to Kinnick.
Doe-eyed.

2nd row. 50 yard line.
Indescribable.

Visitor's Bench.
Giddy.

Absolutely Priceless.
 
racerhawk said:
So many games! I, like you, started going to games with my dad in the mid 1970's...

-I remember beating wisconsin one year.in the Commings era. It was one of only a couple of victories.
-Hayden's victory over Nebraska early in his career...got the program rolling.
-The kick.
-Seeing Iowa destroy Illinois in a year that Illinois was good. Illinois threw upteen interceptions.
-Watching Bobby Olive from OSU destroy my perfect day.
-Long's bootleg vs. MSU
-Watching Randle El from Indiana engineer a 99 yard drive, by himself.
-Last year's PSU game. Absolutely fantastic.
-Beating UW in Camp Randall, in the fog (I know..different venue), after we were down 21-7 in the first half and being taunted by lousy badger fans.
-Seneca Wallace, as well as Banks' fumbles, making a very sour second half of one game. Hell of a sweet year, though.
-This year in Camp Randall! (I live in Madison now).

-Cheering the hawks as they enter Kinnick this Saturday. It will be good to be "Back in Black."

Let's give 'em a GREAT reception.
Click to expand...

The three I highlighted in Red are games that seem to me like yesterday. I wasn't at the NEbraska game but remember that day vividly. I also Vividly remember Olive's Catch in the south endzone as the game expired. That was a gut wrenching loss. Was that about 1990 and Iowa was undefeated. The prior time was when Iowa was 7-0 and undefeated and Ohio State beat us in columbus to ruin our chances. Hmm I don't like this pattern.
 
My first game was IA-OSU 1990....the Bobby Olive game. Crushing defeat.

Took my then 8 year old along with my brother to IA-ASU in 2003. Great game. Took my son onto the field and I told him this place is "sacred ground" and remember this for the rest of your life. He shook Nathan Chandlers hand afterward.

GHI
 
Michigan vs. Iowa - 2001

The fans boo. I still think Iowa would have won that game if Banks played the whole game. I felt bad for McCann. I still remember his words after the game, basically, 'We all want the Hawks to do well.'
 
Homecoming 2006 vs. Purdue. I had always dreamed of some day getting to go down on the field, just to know that I had been where so many Hawkeye greats had been before. My wife and I were chatting with a Per Mar security guard about 50 minutes before kickoff and my wife asked him " is there any way we could get my husband down on the field?" (I use a manual wheelchair). The guy got this big grin on his face and said "Come with me." He led us down the very steep concrete slope the marching band uses... and there we were, the northwest corner of the endzone. I thought of all my Hawkeye heroes (Chuck, Larry, Lew, Timmy, most of all Coach) and the tears came. I slid out of my chair, to my knees, looked skyward and quietly said "thank you", then I kissed the ground. My wife cried as she struggled to get a few quick pictures on her cellphone. As she was showing me the pictures, a guy with a camera came up and asked me if I'd be willing to do that again. He didn't have to ask me twice. So I repeated this humbling ritual. Then he tells me he's working on a series called Fields of Glory, profiling college football stadiums and their histories, and would like to interview me. So we chatted, and I asked him if he was really going to put me in this show. He said "Well, I'm the one who makes the final editing decisions, so yeah, you'll be in it!" He wasn't lying. I ordered a copy of the dvd as soon as they came up for sale online and made my brother make a dozen copies. One of the greatest moments in my extremely blessed life...
 
69MUNCILO said:
Snow game against Minnesota in 1991, think there were only 25,000 people. They didn't even open the south endzone because of the ice and snow.
Click to expand...
I was a freshman in the HMB, and I decided I would walk from Mayflower to the bubble, but someone picked me up on the way. We weren't allowed to be on the field because it was completely covered with snow, and they didn't want anyone to mess it up. The Gopher band came down, and they left after halftime. We were in the west stands around the 20-yard line during that year and the following year (the other two years, we were in the north end zone), and in front of the student section. We got pelted by snowballs from the students. I do also remember one of the receivers (can't recall the name) doing a snow angel in the end zone after catching a TD pass from Matt Rogers.

jkg08 said:
Best memory is when Iowa hosted Miami, even though we got blowed out it was the first game my dad took me to and the power went out. Miami literally played lights out.
Click to expand...

iapunk said:
My first game at Kinnick was the Miami game in 92. I remember that the most of any I attended as a student because it was my first, as well as the first night game in Kinnick. However, I am looking forward to this week's game more than about anything in the world right now. I don't get to make it to many games anymore since I work on Saturday's but I am coming over on Saturday and bringing my 8 year old son to his first game at Kinnick. Getting to experience a game during this magical season is great, but getting to do it with him and hopefully creating a memory for both of us to cherish the rest of our lives tops everything else.
Click to expand...
I also was at that game in the HMB. When a few of the MUSCO banks went out, we had to entertain the crowd with some songs and drum cadences until the lights returned.

Chimaera521 said:
I was in the HMB during my four years at Iowa, and hand-down best memory of Kinnick was the run-on for the '06 pregame show. I remember getting to my spot and flipping around to see the home sideline completely packed with gold and screaming so loud I couldn't hear the whistles or drumline (that was only 5 yards away!) to kickoff "On Iowa."

'04 Wiscy game also ranks up there, as does the '03 Michigan game.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately for me, I was an alternate during my freshman season in 1991, but I did get on the field for the full game during the IU game. My parents were down for parents weekend. I also did march during the Holiday Bowl, as a couple of the other trumpet players could not go to San Diego for some reason. Still, being at Kinnick without having to buy a ticket was a thrill. Some games were better than others. Too bad I never got a chance to go to the Rose Bowl, but I did go to the Holiday Bowl twice (once with my high school band the season previous to the Hawks, while the Hawks were up in Pasadena) the 1992 Kickoff Classic in Giants Stadium and the inaugral Alamo Bowl. (Of course, I got the flu in San Antonio.)
 
OldAlum said:
Yep. 38,000 people and recall #3 doing a snow angel in the end zone after he scored. You will also recall that the refs did not measure if it was close. The offense got the benefit of the doubt and they'd just signal 1st down. Weird day but fun.
Click to expand...

I was there too. they let us go back to our cars at half time and come back in.
 
My favorite game was the last game of the season that we had to win - to go to the first Rose Bowl under Hayden.

Everyone was listening to the tOSU MICH game on their radios and cheered TDs to the dismay of the Iowa players who didn't know why we were cheering.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top