Monday, May 20, 2013

Iowa Hawkeye Sports Update

I like the direction of the Iowa men's basketball team. The 2012-13 team ended the season as the runner-up in the NIT tournament and were set to return 9 of the 10 players that saw the most playing time. Recently, though, on May 14, it was announced that Patrick Ingram was going to transfer, which drops the top 10 from 90% returning to 80% returning. However, the fact that Iowa has transfer Jarrod Uthoff coming in and Kyle Meyer, who sat out as a red shirt freshman coming into the mix, makes up for the loss of senior Eric May and Ingram's transfer.

And I know a lot will be written between now and the fall about Iowa basketball and there will be a lot of hype and excitement. It will be a packed team, just like the season that just ended. My hope is that the excitement translates into sold out games, victories, and the end of my biggest pet peeves - fans leaving before the end of the game and fans not standing up and cheering throughout the game. I can't believe that other Big 10 school fans leave just to beat the traffic.

Just a side note, I don't blame anyone for transferring out of any college basketball program. It's sad and it's distressful when it's not the right match and the only resolution is to do so, but frankly, college basketball is about preparing for the next step as well as having fun doing it. If you are on the bench and you are not able to compete at the level of your teammates, then that's the way it goes. I saw a lot of promise in Ingram as a player - it's too bad he won't end his career as an Iowa Hawkeye.

As far as the football team goes, it remains to be seen. The season was disappointing and I'm not overly excited about the upcoming season.

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