Porcine Pride

The college football season is coming to a close, and for us in the Big 10 (that apparently lamentable conference according to the snobby pundits of the sports world) that means that it's time for a few rivalries and key games- Michigan and Ohio State meet this weekend (should be fairly blah), Penn State and Michigan State meet (has potential to be both fairly blah and fairly exciting) and then there's (at least to me) the marquee rivalry of the week: Iowa vs. Minnesota. (Which should be a game to watch- is usually is!)

Honestly, having grown up in Iowa City, I was only vaguely aware that we always played Minnesota dead last- no matter what. Gradually, I learned that, like the Cy-Hawk Trophy that Iowa and Iowa State did battle for every year, Iowa and Minnesota did indeed play for a trophy- a pig. Named Floyd of Rosedale.

Yet, honestly, I never got all that geared up for the Minnesota game. Iowa State, on the other hand, was the bitter in-state battle, where we (usually) sent the Cyclones crying into the locker room. Refreshingly, as I got older, the rivalry between ISU and Iowa got a little more evenly-matched, with ISU actually winning one now and again. Which made the game that much more important, every year. I still remembering learning with open-mouthed incredulity that the ROTC Chapters at each University would run the game ball from one campus to the campus where the game was to be played- and its odd, but I recall with strange clarity, the lengthening shadows and deepening twilight one early September, driving down the Coralville Strip, when I saw a ROTC Cadet, staggering with weariness, an escort vehicle discreetly following behind, running the game ball in towards Kinnick Stadium.

Yes, the Iowa State Game was the rivalry of the year for me- and I never really got all that geared up for the Minnesota game- but then, I found this awesome column in the Star Tribune and learned just how exactly Iowa and Minnesota ended up playing for a bronzed pig named Floyd- and more to the point, why they ended up playing for it.

And, having been marked, inevitably, as an 'Iowegian', this has been a week of inevitable gentle proddings, with remarks about 'securing the Southern border' and 'building the fences a little higher!' And diehard Gopher fans recalling the sight of Iowa fans storming the Metrodome field and attempting to take the goalposts out of the revolving doors. I have to smile: those sound like Hawkeye fans to me.

So, what's going to happen in 'Kinnick North' this weekend? (Yeah, that's right, Gopher fans- I said it!) I think it's going to be one for the ages. Minnesota's at home, playing for better bowl positions- Iowa too is playing for bowl pride points and Minnesota is coming off a vicious loss to Wisconsin. All bets, therefore, are off. Minnesota's defense and special teams were porous last weekend against Wisconsin (2 safeties? Really? And you still kept it close?) and their offense has been hampered by the loss of Decker for the season, yet they still have a potent weapon in their crazy-ass, let's lower the shoulder and bust-out-20-yards of a QB, Adam Weber.

Iowa on the other hand, is intent on reducing the fingernails of every fan out there down to the bone- this being the season of nerve-racking nail-biting games, some of which we've lost (Illinois) and some of which we've won (Penn State, YEA BABY!). This is due to the fact that our offense is erratic and our defense rocks. And therein lies the key to the game, I think- if the defense kicks ass and shuts down Weber- and Shon Greene does his thing on offense- and more to the point, our QB doesn't start tossing interceptions left and right, then I think we'll (Iowa) pull it out.

If not, then Minnesota takes the Pig.

(And go read that column. Find out the lowdown on Floyd of Rosedale.)