Hawk Talk

Last Wednesday night, Iowa won their first game in the NIT. A few minutes after the game ended, Jacob said, "They'll probably get to play at home again." He looked it up and it turned out they WERE going to be playing at home AND it was scheduled for Friday night! The wheels immediately started turning in my head. I really wanted to go with my dad, so I sent him a message to see if he would go with me. I really wasn't sure if he would go since the game wasn't until 8:30. Then I started enlisting my mom to get us tickets because they were going on sale at 2:00 Thursday afternoon and I would be driving at that point. Dad agreed to go with me as long as I did the driving. I agreed. That right there should prove my love for the Hawkeyes because I do NOT do traffic. It gives me so much anxiety and I just prefer to be the passenger if I'm traveling with anyone.

Anyway, Thursday afternoon, Daniel and I made the trek to Iowa. We made great time and it didn't take Daniel long to re-warm back up to the house. Mom had called at 2:30 and said that ticket sales were postponed until 4:00. When I never heard from her, I kind of assumed they sold out and was trying not to feel bummed out. A few minutes after we got there dad says, "So, I guess we're going to the game tomorrow night!" Hooray! Lots of thanks to my mom who spent a half an hour trying to get a human on the phone to get the tickets!

Friday, Daniel and I hung out with mom for the morning and then went to visit my Grandma. We ended up taking her out for a birthday lunch at IHOP. I think she had a really good time! Daniel fell asleep on the way home so mom took a long route because we pretty much knew he wasn't going to nap again. Kendra got there late in the afternoon and Daniel sure remembered her! He's like her little shadow. It's so cute!

Around 6:30, Dad and I got ready to head to Iowa City! The drive there wasn't bad at all. It was still fairly light outside until just before we arrived. I was really nervous about finding parking. We drove to the arena and ended up finding out there were still spaces in the lot right next to it. As we were pulling in the guy taking money says, "Park in the handicap spots! You will NOT get a ticket!". Um. Yeah. Not gonna lie, I was nervous. All I need is a $200 ticket on my windshield after the game. There was no where else to park though, so I parked in one. We saw another guy in the lot right across from us who was in charge of parking, so I double checked with him and he assured me that it was okay. I was still a little nervous, but decided to chance it. Of course, because I got all caught up in that, I left the tickets in the car. Haha! Thankfully I remembered pretty quickly.

We found our seats right away. We were in one of the very top rows, but even there we had an awesome view! We had walked past a soft serve stand before we sat down and agreed that we needed to get a cone at some point. Dad wondered if we should get them first or wait until half time. Stupidly, I said half time.

Anyway, the game started and it was so much fun! This was my first real basketball game at Carver Hawkeye (or Carver Hockey as my GPS pronounced it), beside an exhibition game. The place was packed. It was a sold out crowd, although there were a few empty seats here and there. I love going to games. I love the atmosphere. I love jumping out of my seat and cheering at the top of my lungs.  I loved that at this game the entire crowd was Iowa fans.







We were looking to be tied at the half, but Iowa landed a 3 point buzzer shot to take the lead. The place went wild!

We hopped up to get our ice cream. I mean, how hard could this be since we were right near the top? The line was SO long. There had to be at least 50 people in line ahead of us. The machine does one cone at a time, so yeah...  We kept watching the half time clock tick down and by the time the 2nd half started we were only halfway through the line. I started to get antsy after we missed 2 minutes. By the 3rd minute, I couldn't stand still. I was bouncing up and down. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to watch the game! Dad spotted some Blue Bunny ice cream cart so we got our ice cream and went back to the game!

Poor Dad. He even ended up with a broken ice cream cone!







The second half got really fun. The Hawks finally really started pulling ahead! In the end, the whole place was on their feet as Iowa won!!!



The place was buzzing and even walking to the car it was fun to hear everyone so cheerful. We got back to the car and I was thankful to find no ticket on the window! Then came that part I dreaded the most. Getting out of the lot. I love that there was so much camaraderie among the fans, but as soon as everyone got in their cars all you heard we horns blasting. Haha!

It probably took 30 minutes to get out of the lot. I got brave and refused to let some line cutters in. Suckas! We finally got out, but still had a lot of major traffic to battle. Besides running up over a curb, almost getting hit (100% not my fault) and running a very yellow light with a red light cam, I got us home alive. We pulled in a few minutes before midnight! I"m pretty sure the moment I pulled into the driveway, I took my first breath since I started my car in Iowa City.

I had the best time ever though, and I'm so glad that my dad was there to share the fun with! I love making memories!