Seasons that end well are remembered well

NCHawker

NCHawker

Well-Known Member
I've come to believe this is true. And what I mean is we remember the last game. The bowl game. The way we felt when it was all over.

I just saw a clip on x.com of the 2015 BTCCG. It ended painfully and the rosebowl was horrible. So I remember that season as undefeated but without beating really good teams.

I remember 2008, 2009 and 2019 fondly because of the way it ended and the so many great players.
 


NCHawker said:
I've come to believe this is true. And what I mean is we remember the last game. The bowl game. The way we felt when it was all over.

I just saw a clip on x.com of the 2015 BTCCG. It ended painfully and the rosebowl was horrible. So I remember that season as undefeated but without beating really good teams.

I remember 2008, 2009 and 2019 fondly because of the way it ended and the so many great players.
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Being 100% honest here, bowl games are the ones I remember the least. Other than the Rose Bowl in 2015 I can't name off the bowls we played in since then or the W/L without looking. I remember we played in the Pinstripe bowl but that's only because I was on an ice fishing trip with my son and didn't watch it which was the only game I never watched a single minute of. And I remember that we've played in the Hall of Fame bowl like 30 times since '04. That's it.

I remember Georgia Tech and Rick's Orange Bowl I guess, but Music City or Cheezits or Bad Boy Mowers or whatever? Nope.
 


Fry's disdain for bowl games rears its ugly head again. I am with NCHawker. Winning a bowl game against a quality opponent frames my memory of the season and gets me excited for the next season. I understand that bowls have become watered down by volume and the opt out trend. But, the games are by no means the pro bowl. The vast majority of kids stay with the program through the bowl game and both teams play to win. It is a competitive environment against opponents we do not normally see. A win is always better than a loss.

Couple that with the fact that we almost always beat Nebbie, and I say the last two games of the season go a long way to framing my view of the season. 9-4 sounds a hell of a lot better than 8-5 for some reason. :)
 


NorthKCHawk said:
Fry's disdain for bowl games rears its ugly head again. I am with NCHawker. Winning a bowl game against a quality opponent frames my memory of the season and gets me excited for the next season. I understand that bowls have become watered down by volume and the opt out trend. But, the games are by no means the pro bowl. The vast majority of kids stay with the program through the bowl game and both teams play to win. It is a competitive environment against opponents we do not normally see. A win is always better than a loss.

Couple that with the fact that we almost always beat Nebbie, and I say the last two games of the season go a long way to framing my view of the season. 9-4 sounds a hell of a lot better than 8-5 for some reason. :)
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The nebraska game is how I remember seasons.
 






NorthKCHawk said:
Fry's disdain for bowl games rears its ugly head again. I am with NCHawker. Winning a bowl game against a quality opponent frames my memory of the season and gets me excited for the next season. I understand that bowls have become watered down by volume and the opt out trend. But, the games are by no means the pro bowl. The vast majority of kids stay with the program through the bowl game and both teams play to win. It is a competitive environment against opponents we do not normally see. A win is always better than a loss.

Couple that with the fact that we almost always beat Nebbie, and I say the last two games of the season go a long way to framing my view of the season. 9-4 sounds a hell of a lot better than 8-5 for some reason. :)
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For sure. I think bowl games have imprinted in the minds of most Hawkeye fans over the years.

Any Iowa fan who grew up in the 80s still has nightmares about the Rose Bowl. That was like making kids watch someone kill their family pet. There is some shit too brutal to expose kids to. 2016 triggered some PTSD for most of us.

But there were also some great memories. Chuck Long throwing for a kajillion yards in an ass whupping of Texas, a legendary program our dads seemed to talk about differently.

Staying up crazy late to watch back to back one point Holiday Bowl wins against fun teams San Diego State and Wyoming (these are two of the most underrated Iowa bowls games of all time from an entertainment standpoint.)

Everyone remembers the big bowl games. But even in some recent years that felt unfulfilled, the bowls were some of the best games of those seasons and where Iowa peaked. Putting an ass kicking on Florida in the Outback to cap a top ten finish, drilling Spurrier and South Carolina in Shonn Greene's finale, watching little old Nick Easley get past the best defense Kirk's maybe ever faced and running like hell for the end zone, seeing Bri Guy finally put it all together and unleash his NFL weapons in creative ways in a total ass kicking of USC (seriously thought he/we were on our way at that point)....good god, those were a fun few hours each holiday season.
 


SwirlinLingerie said:
For sure. I think bowl games have imprinted in the minds of most Hawkeye fans over the years.

Any Iowa fan who grew up in the 80s still has nightmares about the Rose Bowl. That was like making kids watch someone kill their family pet. There is some shit too brutal to expose kids to. 2016 triggered some PTSD for most of us.

But there were also some great memories. Chuck Long throwing for a kajillion yards in an ass whupping of Texas, a legendary program our dads seemed to talk about differently.

Staying up crazy late to watch back to back one point Holiday Bowl wins against fun teams San Diego State and Wyoming (these are two of the most underrated Iowa bowls games of all time from an entertainment standpoint.)

Everyone remembers the big bowl games. But even in some recent years that felt unfulfilled, the bowls were some of the best games of those seasons and where Iowa peaked. Putting an ass kicking on Florida in the Outback to cap a top ten finish, drilling Spurrier and South Carolina in Shonn Greene's finale, watching little old Nick Easley get past the best defense Kirk's maybe ever faced and running like hell for the end zone, seeing Bri Guy finally put it all together and unleash his NFL weapons in creative ways in a total ass kicking of USC (seriously thought he/we were on our way at that point)....good god, those were a fun few hours each holiday season.
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That 1986 Rose Bowl did leave a bad taste in our mouths, we got cheated.

I do have fond memories of the Holiday Bowls. Back then it was the 2nd place Big Ten team versus the WAC champion, and the WAC was a decent conference in those days.

I know I'm the old man screaming at the clouds but I miss college football in that format. It was unique and going to a bowl game was a fun experience for everyone. It got ruined when they came out with a million different bowl games where anyone with a .500 record would get "rewarded".
 


ssckelley said:
I know I'm the old man screaming at the clouds but I miss college football in that format. It was unique and going to a bowl game was a fun experience for everyone. It got ruined when they came out with a million different bowl games where anyone with a .500 record would get "rewarded".
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+1,000,000
 


I’m old so all this shit blurs together in my head without Google to jog my memory. Without signature wins, I am not going to remember too much about this season in 10 years, without the assistance of Google and/or AI. I will be able to answer Gronowski trivia questions, but that will be about it. “The last Iowa quarterback to run, receive and throw a touchdown in the same game?” sorta question.
 


SwirlinLingerie said:
For sure. I think bowl games have imprinted in the minds of most Hawkeye fans over the years.

Any Iowa fan who grew up in the 80s still has nightmares about the Rose Bowl. That was like making kids watch someone kill their family pet. There is some shit too brutal to expose kids to. 2016 triggered some PTSD for most of us.

But there were also some great memories. Chuck Long throwing for a kajillion yards in an ass whupping of Texas, a legendary program our dads seemed to talk about differently.

Staying up crazy late to watch back to back one point Holiday Bowl wins against fun teams San Diego State and Wyoming (these are two of the most underrated Iowa bowls games of all time from an entertainment standpoint.)

Everyone remembers the big bowl games. But even in some recent years that felt unfulfilled, the bowls were some of the best games of those seasons and where Iowa peaked. Putting an ass kicking on Florida in the Outback to cap a top ten finish, drilling Spurrier and South Carolina in Shonn Greene's finale, watching little old Nick Easley get past the best defense Kirk's maybe ever faced and running like hell for the end zone, seeing Bri Guy finally put it all together and unleash his NFL weapons in creative ways in a total ass kicking of USC (seriously thought he/we were on our way at that point)....good god, those were a fun few hours each holiday season.
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I cannot believe you left off Warren Holloway!!!!!!!
 


Also, I really didn’t get into the Music City Bowl last year until kickoff, then I became totally invested. I was rooting for Iowa to win it. The reality of it being an “exhibition game” didn’t really kick in until after Iowa had lost the game.:)
 




I mean, the biggest potential games ever in my era of fandom (Rose Bowls, BCS appearances) tended to be losses...I don't remember the outcome of it all, but a drubbing of USC in 03 would have been the greatest finish of my fandom). Heck, even the Holiday Bowl year ended in a tie.

I tend to go with moments, not seasons. Granted, some of these moments bunch together in seasons and create a general feeling about those seasons.
From the years I went to all the home games as a student...89-92.
Beating OSU (any time). 1991 was very satisfying and a fair bit emotional given the circumstances. I can only equate it to the feeling of a concerted effort to use baseball as a signal of strength and finding normalcy after 9/11.

That 1990 win against Michigan. Very satisfying. Doesn't hurt that I was visiting my girlfriend at a different college for that game, so extra memorable, and Michigan in that era felt very much closer to OSU than they are now.
Those seasons are special because I went to them.
I even cherish a Daily Iowan headline from that era. It was a Friday and it simply read "Purdoomed".

But dang....
Marvin McNutt in East Lansing.
"They wound the clock and Drew Tate doesn't know that. The game's going to end on this play....he fires downfield...."
Kaeding, Duncan, Stevens, even a few from Schlicher.....walkoffs.
Goal line stands against Northwestern (digging to China in Wrigley) and 4 downs against Syracuse.
The double blocked field goals against UNI.
Gus Johnson going full Gus Johnson. "Ragaini...out of bounds.................TOUCHDOWN IOWA."
2017 OSU.
That win in Happy Valley where Ed Hinkle went Stretch Armstrong laying out for a TD from Banks.
Tyler Sash pick 6 against PSU.
Tyler Sash pick, lateral to Michah Hyde for 6.
Stanzi's postgame at the Orange Bowl

Good lord, I know people hate "settling". But what do you talk about if you went to Purdue? Do people even bother being a fan if they didn't go there? I mean, sure, you go back a decade and they have a few pretty good finishes. But do they talk about miraculous wins against who? Rutgers? (knowing full well I listed some embarrassing-ish close calls against Syracuse, UNI, and Northwestern). What the hell did Indiana talk about prior to the last 5 years? Dramatic 38-35 wins over Western Kentucky?

#feelingprettyblessed
 
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I remember '03 Orange Bowl most because I was there. It was 85 and humid all game and we had to listen to USC band play the same song after every first down. The got a lot of first downs and points that game
 


NorthKCHawk said:
Fry's disdain for bowl games rears its ugly head again. I am with NCHawker. Winning a bowl game against a quality opponent frames my memory of the season and gets me excited for the next season. I understand that bowls have become watered down by volume and the opt out trend. But, the games are by no means the pro bowl. The vast majority of kids stay with the program through the bowl game and both teams play to win. It is a competitive environment against opponents we do not normally see. A win is always better than a loss.

Couple that with the fact that we almost always beat Nebbie, and I say the last two games of the season go a long way to framing my view of the season. 9-4 sounds a hell of a lot better than 8-5 for some reason. :)
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Yup. Damn right.
 




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