Kinnick Stadium - Iowa City

We went to see the Iowa Hawkeyes play the Purdue Boilermakers last Saturday at the "new" Kinnick Stadium.  Actually, it's the same stadium that has been around since 1929, but it's been updated with a new press box/suites, new bathrooms and concession stands, and larger seats for people's bigger butts. 

Kinnick Stadium is named for Iowa's only Heisman Trophy winner, Nile Kinnick.  A statue of Kinnick on the concourse outside the south end of the stadium is shown at right.  Kinnick was truly a student athlete and went on to enter law school at Iowa.  When World War II broke out, Kinnick left law school at Iowa and entered the Navy.  He was training to be a fighter pilot when his plane went down off the Venezuelan coast in 1943.  His body was never recovered. 

From 1929 thru 1971, the stadium was known as Iowa Stadium.  In 1972, University of Iowa officials officially renamed the stadium in honor of Nile Kinnick.  Through the years, it's steadily grown in capacity and it now seats 70,585 and is sold out this season.

Actually, we'd been getting season tickets through my buddy, Jim Kellogg for the past six or seven seasons.  This year, they were asking for increased contributions from the fans to help pay for the $77 million dollar face lift of the stadium.  If we were to keep the same seats that we had all those years, we would have had to pony up about $800 to $1000 dollars above and beyond the approximate $400 per ticket season ticket price.  We didn't quite have that kind of money lying around, so we passed this season.  Besides, most of the games are on TV around here, so we can watch 'em at home. 

My cousin, Jim Balmer, had two tickets that he wasn't going to use for the Purdue game, so he offered them to Cindy and me.  We took 'em and went to the game.

Jim's tickets aren't bad - about halfway up and on the 45 yard line.  Here's a few pictures from the game:

It was Homecoming at Iowa this weekend and they were honoring two of the Iowa Rose Bowl teams - the 1956 Hawkeye Team and the 1981 Hawkeye Team.  The 1981 team came out first and was led by former head coach Hayden Fry (in tan suit).  Here's a picture of Fry with one of his top assistants during the 1981 season, Bill Snyder (in dark suit).  Snyder went on to coach at Kansas State and led the Wildcats to an improbable turnaround from an annual doormat to a national power in a few seasons. 

The honorary captain for the game that day was former Iowa All-American quarterback, Kenny Ploen.  Ploen was a standout Canadian Football League player who led the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to four Grey Cup titles in his 11 year career. 

Here are the Hawkeyes entering the stadium with their ritual of huddling together as they run on to the field, also known as The Swarm.

Kickoff at Kinnick Stadium on a beautiful fall morning in Iowa City.  Temperature at game time was around 65 and it got into the mid-70's later in the game.  Perfect weather.  Here's a good shot of the west grandstand crowd and the new press box and luxury boxes with club seating. 

Here's a shot of the great Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz on the sidelines.  Although roundly criticized when he first took over, Ferentz may end up being the best coach in Iowa football history.  Not only is Ferentz a great coach, but he's a great guy, too.  He's classy and down-to-earth.  He's a true credit to the University of Iowa. 

Once again, satisfying my scoreboard fetish, here's the main scoreboard at Kinnick Stadium.

Here's the Hawkeyes running the ball in the first quarter of the game.  Iowa made pretty easy work of the Boilermakers beating them 47-17.  It was the worst beating at the hands of Iowa for Purdue.  Usually, Purdue and Iowa play some pretty close and entertaining games.  Iowa just beat them in all facets of the game today.

Halftime and that means entertainment by the worst marching band in the Big Ten - and possibly in the country for Division I-A football schools - the Hawkeye Marching Band.  We've seen a number of other school's marching bands and they absolutely blow the Iowa band out of the water.  I know these kids try their best, but the band directors have got to be the most unimaginative musical directors I've ever encountered. 

However, the one highlight of the band is their Golden Girl - Diana Reed.  The Iowa Golden Girl has been a tradition with the band for a number of years and they usually are pretty damn good baton twirlers.  Reed has been the Golden Girl for five seasons - that has to be some sort of a record.

And here's a great picture of the Golden Girl being held up by Drum Major Jason Hillenbrand.  To get shots like this sometimes you just have to be more lucky than good.

All in all, the "new" Kinnick Stadium isn't much different from the "old" Kinnick.  It's still a good place to see a football game and it holds a lot of history.  Yeah, I miss not seeing all the games, but I don't miss the empty hole in my pocket after a "Football Saturday" in Iowa City.    

Comments

[David Ray]

that is a great picture of the golden girl. a good shot, indeed.