P90x,Football Predictions, and Hawkeye

*As I'm typing this my body is recovering from the intense workout of Plyometrics in the P90x program. If you want to get into better shape, with commitment to the workouts AND to your diet, you can change your life. If you have any doubts about P90x put them to rest. Its the real deal.
*As a Husker fan, I want to see the score be 28-0 Big Red after 15 minutes of play with the same number at quarterback starting the second quarter. No need for Martinez to go down. Speaking of which, Bo Pelini was on The Jim Rome Show today talking about Taylor. And Bo was....complimenting Martinez? Lets hope the magic is back..for good. Bo sure does seem to get along good with Rome. Hes visited "The Jungle" a few times before and him and Jim seem to have a good connection. Husker media..take notes.
*Iowa should and will win big. The Hawkeyes (like most teams) understand that with their conference being so good, that they can schedule high school teams to start off the year. The Clones will be waiting in Ames.
*UNI-Iowa State is quickly becoming a great, in-state battle. Over 50,000 expected in Ames Saturday night to see the scoreboard and ready to hear the coolest quarterback name said across the booming P.A. system. Steele Jantz. Hopefully Jamie Pollard is right and we will be able to hear it in Sioux City. It would be nice, but wont happen, if Pollard would throw UNI a bone and go up and play the Panthers in the dome. Just a thought.
*Iowa is taking all the proper steps with fallen Navy Seal Jon Tumilso. The idea has been brought up of his dog, Hawkeye, leading the team onto the field. It would be a spine-chilling sight but sounds like it wont happen until November. Go USA.

College pigskin kicks off this week

*Post number 2 and it felt good to get the monkey off the back. A little less high school football and more college chatter. Although, is there a team out there that you want to see win more than Aplington-Parkersburg. After the devastation of an F-5 tornado barreling through, it was hard to imagine that the worse was yet to come. It was a SHOCK to the state when the news of Ed Thomas's death spread. The towns that make up the Falcons show that they can make it through anything. The Falcons were preseason ranked fourth in the Des Moines Register. These towns deserve a state football title. Good luck to A-P.
*Husker, Hawks, and Clones predictions all coming Wednesday. It came out today that Taylor Martinez is going to have a lot of control over Tim Beck's offense. Smart move. At least it should be better than zone read for every play.
*Hawk fans need to take it easy with their expectations on James Vandenberg. Will he be a good quarterback? More than likely. Will he win the Heisman this year? Probably not. Hawk fans aren't talking Heisman, but before we call him the second coming of Drew Tate, lets take it easy. Yes, JVB played very well when the Most Patriot QB of all time was down at The Shoe. But didn't Garrett Gilbert play well in the National Championship for Texas when Colt McCoy was down. It was announced that he was going to start in week one for the Horns. 17 picks last year for Gilbert to 10 tds. Yikes.
*Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard was on the show today and seemed very excited about the new scoreboard. I claimed you could see it from Polk City. He claimed you could hear it in Sioux City. Good interview and a class act.
* I think playing UNI isn't a walk in the park for any program. As Iowa found out 2 seasons ago, the Panthers come to play. Going back to the Clones, can they catch a break? The schedule an "easy win" 10 years ago to a backyard battle. Lets see what Steele Jantz is all about. We know he has a sweet name and haircut, but can the kid play "Big boy ball."

School starts...and so does football

IT is truly the best time of the year. The kids are back to school and that can only mean one thing. Football. Some Iowa high school teams kicked off their season last week in week..0? Zero means nothing but don't tell that to the teams in action last week. If not THE biggest game of the regular season, certainly one of the few, took place before week one. West Des Moines Valley and West Des Moines Dowling clashed at Drake Stadium to a riled up crowd of around 10,000. On a more local scale, Sioux City East hosted Sioux City Bishop Heelan in another city rivalry that disappoint. Do fans like seeing these epic battles early in the season? Valley and Dowling almost always matchup in the playoffs but with East being 4-A and Heelan being 3-A you only get one shot at your rival. With Heelan winning 20-18, I'm sure the Crusaders are just fine with that.
The big story of the short week has been that of the Iowa-Iowa State trophy. Previously something that looked like it was made in a shop class, many fans had high expectations when they decided to change it. But to some, no, most people the new trophy just didn't satisfy. People were outraged! No this isn't going to make national sports radio but when you get the Iowa governor involved, it gets serious. Instead of taking the stance of putting their head in the sand and ignoring the bad pub, the Iowa Corn Growers handled it professionally and made the announcement that they are going to change it, with input from both fans. Smart move. I heard someone say that this was done on purpose and everything is going just the way the ICG expected. Not sure if I buy that. But look at the NFL. Several months of bad publicity, one good move, and poof..one of the biggest seasons to remember. More institutions might start taking the rout of getting some swear words thrown at them, make a monumental P.R. move, and then become the heroes. I don't advise it.
Steele Jantz was named the quarterback for head coach Paul Rhoads and the Cyclones. Jantz beat out Jerome Tiller. Too most Clone fans this really isn't a shocker. What is is that Tiller is academically ineligible. Jantz might not only have the coolest name on the Cyclone roster, but maybe even the best haircut.
More to come on the Hawks and Huskers next Monday.