Hawkeyes & Willy Wonka

Remember that line from the end of the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie? It was the scene where Charlie gives the “Everlasting Gobstopper” back to Mr. Wonka instead of selling it to Mr. Slugworth? Charlie places the candy on the desk and Wonka covers it with his hand and says, “And so shines a good deed in a weary world.”

I won't bore you with the gruesome details of the loss against Northwestern today, you all saw it. Our boys tried hard and came up short, that's all I'm going to say about that.... Here's what happened after the rain, sleet, rain, wind, even more rain and then just about 5 more hours of drizzling rain.....

I had a crisis of faith.

In a stadium filled with 65% Hawkeye fans (in Chicago against Northwestern on their own campus) I stood there with my crisis of faith..... Not my faith in God (I have two children, I know God, he is a friend), but my faith in the Iowa Hawkeye Football team. Granted I was cold and soaked and standing for 6 hours with a twice replaced left titanium hip, but I was just plain old frustrated with my team.

How could they do this to me, I thought? I just wanted a damn shot at the Rose Bowl.... just a shot! Heck, I (like most people) had the BIG feelings at the beginning of the year and I'd even kept them quiet for fear of jinxing it. I really, truly, honestly thought they could win it all. Alas I was there when they dropped the one to Arizona and I was watching when we dropped the close one to Wisconsin. But Northwestern, come on! I would be happy with just getting a shot! Dammit Hawkeyes! How could you? I donated the money, I traveled all over God's green earth watching you play, I bought the t-shirts, I own the grill cover, the 8 foot tall blow up Herkey the Hawk and I possess pretty much every hat with a tiger-hawk on it ever manufactured! We've been together for 25 years and this is it, I'm done with you, you broke my heart and nothing will ever be the same. Ups and downs, thick and thin..... This one hurts!

I stood there cold, wet, legs killing me, feet killing me, hands freezing, contemplating switching to (of all things) watching professional football.

About the time I was ready to give up, here they come, right at me... My 7-3 Hawkeyes started to jog off the field right at my section. About that same time I hear the father who stood behind me for the entire game say to his freezing cold 8 year old son, “If you want to go down there and try to high five the guys, go for it!”. We were in the southwest section of the stadium right next to where the Hawkeyes came on and off the field from their locker room. So I watched as he went down a few rows and over to get closer to the railing to high five the players they came off the field from a wet 21-17 loss to Northwestern.

You should have seen his excitement... He called out players names, yelled to the players and stuck his arm out so far that I thought he was going to fall over the edge.

A couple players finally made it near us and I heard his father yell, “Get em' next week guys!” Seconds later I heard the 8 year old boy repeat what his father had yelled and start to yell, “Next week go get em', go get em' next week guys!” Every single player came off the field with their heads lowered in disappointment and not one of them looked up long enough to high five the kid. Although it didn't stop him from yelling louder and more often, “Next week go get em'!”, “Go get em' next week guys!” 

It sounded something like this:

Dad, did you see Clayborn?

Get them next week!

Dad, did you see coach Ferentz?

Good luck next week!

Dad that was DJK, did you see him?

Go get em' next week guys! Go get em'.....

Did you see them Dad, did you?

Get em' next week guys, next week we'll get em'!

Then the last of the players made their way off the field and the final Hawkeye to come off was a defensive player who was pealing his gloves off pretty quickly as he made his way onto the pathway towards the locker room. The kid yelled out his name and repeated his mantra just one more time....

Get em' next week guys, next week we'll get em'!

The player got a few feet away from the kid, he'd gotten both gloves off by then and just as the kid sticks his hand out for the high five him he sticks both of his gloves into the kids hands. He slows just long enough to make sure the kid has both hands on the gloves and jogs on by without missing a stride or even looking back.

The eight year old kid spins around with the biggest smile and yells, “Dad, did you see that, he gave me his gloves!”

The eight year old boy, soaking wet from 5 hours in the rain and shivering was holding Tyler Sash's soaking wet game-day gloves like they were his greatest possession.

I stood there with my momentary crisis of faith and watched a 21 year old young man give an 8 year old kid a pair of used wet gloves as a souvenir of that game, that horrible damn game and I thought to myself.....

We are gonna get em' next week, go get em' Hawkeyes!

And so shines a good deed in a weary world....

Bring on Ohio State!