BLACK OUT WEEKEND

So we are going into probably one of the biggest Hawkeye weekends, yet. Many of you who know me, I have been very sour and cold about Hawkeye football… and to be honest I’ve been completely more obsessed with your World Champion Kansas City Royals.

SIDE NOTE: Yeah, I’m not sure I’m ever gonna come off this high.

This Saturday, there’s an outdoor wrestling meet with #1 ranked Oklahoma State at 11am. Yes, that’s right, a wrestling meet, outside in 40/50 degree weather at Kinnick Stadium. In the same style of the NHL’s Winter Classic where they play regular season hockey games in stadiums, it’s gonna get awesome real fast.

IOWA NERD ALERT SIDE NOTE: This is going to be so bad ass.

Then there’s the football game where the undefeated Hawks face Minnesota in prime time. It’s the now annual “Black Out” game… where fans are encouraged to wear black, as they have on previous Black Out games.

SNARKY SIDE NOTE: Honestly, isn't every Hawkeye game a "black out" game? More on this in a bit.

But there's a new twist to this year… probably as a result of Nike and how uniforms who some say have gotten out of control in college sports… the Hawks will be wearing all black uniforms. Blowing the minds of fans and sports graphic nerds… here’s the video of the preview from the Politburo in the Peoples Republic of Johnson County:

Sneak peek at the Blackout unis being worn in @kinnickstadium on 11.14.15 | #Hawkeyes http://t.co/jRaveOY9hS

— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) August 28, 2015

I think I can count over a dozen times when I’ve been watching a game a bar or tailgating outside Kinnick where the nerdyist of the Hawkeye nerds would say after an afternoon of multiple pops, “Dude, you know what would be awesome? Friggin all black unis man, all black. It would be killer, dude!” Well bro, your dreams come true this weekend.

Which brings me to a little satire to set you up for the weekend… So many of you know the reputation of Iowa City… they hand out these rankings every year...  Yeah, as Gary Dolphin (the voice of the Hawkeyes) would say Hawk fans like to “get a little lathered up” before Iowa games. It’s gonna be a night game and everyone wearing tigerhawks are gonna party it up. It’s gonna be great fall tailgating day for football near the House that Hayden Built on Saturday.

SIDE NOTE: Here’s a clever shirt from the UI College Republicans celebrating our yearly national rankings…

EXTRA EDITORIAL SIDE NOTE: Still the best party on campus!

Peeps here in Iowa are pumped this weekend. Iowa is ranked #5 in the College Football Playoff rankings, sparking all of national debate… but I’m not going into this shit here. But, here’s something I thought I’d never read in Rolling Stone. Because, yes I have been very critical of Curt Ferentz. But, being honest here, I dig the new Curt. Not sure what happened… but what ever change, is working. More passion, more of a gambler on 4^th downs. I dig all of this. So let’s all hope for the best on this.

Before I close up here, back to the said satire. Now, every Hawkeye fan I know is utilizing this new feature on Facebook where you can add graphics for your favorite team or cause with a “temporary profile pic”. It stays on your profile for like a week or two and saves you the time to change it back to the picture of your kids, you doing yoga in places, your dog or whatever political internet meme of the day. The Royals used it twice… one for the playoffs and one where you can put a crown on your head to celebrate the first World Title in 30 years. Speaking of, how great was this?

BOASTFUL SIDE NOTE: Sorry, not sorry. #crowned 

Not to be out done, the UI Athletic Department has special temporary Bookface profile pic celebrating the “Black Out” game. And sure enough, it’s a huge hit. Just about everyone in my news feed is rocking it. So… given the party atmosphere and a couple of infamous stories of Hawk fans getting “blacked out”… more here and here… Can’t believe I haven’t seen this come up in the news feeds from people who went to that other school in Ames…

Did I do that right? So cheers Hawkeye fans. Be careful this weekend and enjoy the glow. There’s something special happening in Iowa City, isn’t there? Here’s to more Saturdays spent as the late great former voice of all things Hawks Jim Zabel would say, “hugging and kissing your radios.”

SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION SIDENOTE: Wanna know what's up? Sharing is caring... spread the word. Also, you can follow random spontaneous rants on Twitter here, you can like the QCI Bookface page here, if you like hipster fun pictures on the Gram go here (that's Instagram for you folks in Story City) and finally if you like random acts of artsness... go here.

Go Hawks! And as always, LET'S GO ROYALS!!!