Published: September 11, 2009 09:27 am      

Rekindling faded memories from past big games

Life started out great in 2003.

I had just entered my junior year in high school and things were going my way. Only two years remained before I graduated and I just started to date someone that I thought could have potential (that potential later turned into marriage).

Football had also just started and after a year of taking my lumps as a sophomore pitted against kids that could grow beards my dad would be proud of, I felt a little less overmatched during practice.

My luck only got better when my friend Ryan scored two tickets to the upcoming Iowa vs. Iowa State game. He asked if I wanted to take the trek to Ames after practice Saturday morning, so I took full advantage of the opportunity and got my trash-talking face together during the week.

After practice we jetted to the car and made our way up to Ames. Since we were only 16, tailgating didn’t present the same allure that it does now, so we didn’t mind that we would miss the pregame festivities.

We were excited the whole way to the game. We reminisced about the last few years and how the Cyclones changed the tone of the series from 60-point drubbings to Iowa State victories.

The game took new meaning this year since the Cyclones handed the Hawks their only loss of the season during the previous year. During the ride, we remembered how Ryan, two other friends and I sat at his house, depressed after Iowa stormed to a big halftime lead.

Before the third quarter started, I successfully predicted Iowa State would come back and beat the Hawks. I obviously didn’t know how bad the Cyclones were other than Seneca Wallace and how good the Iowa offensive line would become. But for that day, I was right and during our drive up to Ames, I felt another Iowa State prediction coming on.

We rumbled through Des Moines and made our exit to Jack Trice Stadium. We were close and could feel the atmosphere that only college football can convey.

When we approached the stadium, however, we experienced a road block even stingier than the Hawkeye defense that day – traffic.

Since we left early enough in the morning we still thought we would easily make kickoff, so we turned on the radio to listen to the Cyclone pregame.

Time elapsed at alarming pace and it didn’t seem we moved very far. In about an hour’s time, we were stationed in almost the exact location that we started. We started to worry, but Ryan had a plan.

Ryan knew Ames much better than I did, so when he said he could find a better way to the stadium than the thousands of people lined on the highway, I trusted him. When we found an opening, we took off.

Weaving through side streets and finding nothing but dead ends to the stadium, we soon realized we were farther away than when we started. Rain started to splatter on the windshield as we looked for another option, just when the game kicked off.

You would think traffic would subside when the game started, but you would be wrong. We continued to look for places to park as the rain dampened our day and the news on the radio eventually wrecked our weekend and upcoming week.

By the time we entered the stadium, the score was 20-7 and the game was about to get even uglier. The Clones had no magic and no prediction could get them out this mess.

Ryan and I left dejected that day, and I haven’t been back to Ames for an Iowa vs. Iowa State contest since — until this weekend. My wife and I are leaving tonight so we don’t have to worry about making the game on time. For Ryan, I hope he knows his way to the stadium better since he works for the Cyclone football team.

The game should be another exciting contest. I just hope my presence doesn’t have something to do with rainy (I also attended last year’s game in Iowa City and the weather outlook says chance of rain), Cyclone losses.

I’m sure it doesn’t. Go Clones.



Scott Levine is the Associate Editor at the Clinton Herald. He can be reached at scottlevine@clintonherald.com.