Soil Compilation

Sports
A Team of Dreamers

By

For nine days, an unlikely cast of Hawkeyes made the world believe. They made themselves believe. The team of dreamers, and an unforgettable run in March.

Sports
Sports Feature

Chicago Fans Fail To Catch Break

By

Take aside the two Stanley Cup victories in the past four seasons and it becomes very difficult to find many positives city’s sports teams. The Bulls are still feeling the impact of the Derrick Rose’s torn ACL in the 2012 playoffs. The Cubs and White Sox combined for 195 losses this past season and the Cubs are looking for a new manager once again. It seemed like the Bears, with the hiring of offensive minded head coach Marc Trestman would reverse the team’s fortunes. After starting the season 4-2, the Bears headed to the nation’s capitol and looked to improve … Continued

Keep reading...

Upon Further Review…The Standard

By

You don’t have to take college level classes on the topic to understand the big key that drives sports media: There is always a standard.  Every player that is dissected on national television is eventually discussed as a legacy, comparing his play to a relic of the past. Just like every team that has success is associated with another’s lasting triumph. Nobody can just be, there always has to be a standard to be examined against. Yet, how interesting that so few of these standards have withstood the test of time. It’s the 1972 Dolphins, Joe Montana or Joe DiMaggio. … Continued

Keep reading...

Iowa burned again by fake punt, lose home Big Ten opener to Michigan State 26-14

By

Iowa’s fate seemed to be sealed after a 25 yard rush from punter Mike Sadler on a fake punt to open the fourth quarter. At that point the Hawkeyes were down 20-14 and any momentum was sucked out of Kinnick Stadium. The play was reminiscent of the fake punt run by Northern Illinois earlier in the season that ended in another loss for the Hawkeyes. According to @hawkeyegamefilm, that fake punt continues now a streak of six straight fake punts succeeding against the Hawkeyes. “I just wanted our players to know that they’re aggressive on the football field and sometimes … Continued

Keep reading...

Breaking down the Damon Powell Tunnel Screen

By

Damond Powell had a 74-yd burst for a touchdown Saturday on a beautiful play where just about everything went right for the Hawkeyes. It started with the coverage that the Gophers gave the Hawkeyes. It looks here like Man across the board to me.  According to Ferentz after the game, it was a tunnel screen as Iowa is going to line up with two receivers on both sides and a tight end in a stand up position.  The top side set of wideouts are just going to run the two corners out of coverage and draw the safety that you … Continued

Keep reading...

Iowa Hawkeyes slow it down against Minnesota, and for good reason too

By

MINNEAPOLIS—Iowa brought in Greg Davis to bring an exciting, up-tempo pace to the Iowa offense, but today in a 23-7 victory, the Kirk Ferentz style of play crept in and took center stage. “We couldn’t move Iowa…They handled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball better than we did.” Minnesota Head Coach Jerry Kill said. Ferentz ball isn’t as exciting as what we saw against Northern Illinois and Missouri State, it doesn’t score as many points, but it wins games. Iowa dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball by outpacing Minnesota 246 to … Continued

Keep reading...

Bragging Rights

By

In the same way a four-year starter for the Iowa football team wishes to end their career with a fulfilling sense of victory and accomplishment, I too want to leave the University of Iowa with something more than the intangible Hawkeye pride I’ve already possessed for years… I want bragging rights. In the context of football season, (holy porkchop, we’re almost a month into the schedule) bragging rights are represented through traveling trophies designated for each respective rivalry game. (Yes, I realize the ultimate prize for FBS football teams is the coveted glass ball awarded to the BCS national champions, followed by … Continued

Keep reading...