hawkeye love

 j-rod was telling me about a question on hawkeyereport this evening, who is your all-time favorite hawkeye?  well this took me all of .5 seconds to answer.  i have grown up wearing black and gold my entire life and my love for the hawkeyes goes back to as long as i can remember. for years all i wanted to be for halloween was an iowa cheerleader or batgirl...both involved black and gold i guess.

here is the breakdown of my answer:


1. jess settles -- jess grew up super close to mp, so i was a fan even before he was a hawkeye. he was the keynote speaker at our D.A.R.E. graduation, a picture of him, j-rod and i ended up in our local paper. we even shared the same chiropractor for quite some time, i know...you're jealous.  but my favorite jess story involves the best gift i have ever received. one year for christmas my parents saved a gift for me to open last.  i opened it up and there was a nike shoebox, talk about a letdown. but when i opened it up inside was a teddy bear called a "jess bear."   not sure why this particular bear was named jess but i was ecstatic to have it because at the time i was obsessed with jess settles.  my parents said, you might want to look at the tag a little closer and inside it was autographed "to: stacy from: jess settles #4." i first asked "is this for real?" and after it was confirmed i started crying, then went to screaming and jumping around like a crazy person. my parents had arranged with his mom to get jess the bear to sign and get it back to me all before christmas morning. best. gift. ever.

2. b.j. armstrong -- i was super young when b.j. played for the hawks, but he is the first memory of iowa athletics i have. when i was in 4th grade we had to make a list of things we wanted to accomplish in our lifetime and one of mine was to meet b.j. armstrong. i got the opportunity to meet b.j. when coral ridge mall opened back in 1998.  scheel's hosted him as the guest of honor at the grand opening.  i stood in line for which seemed like days and when i finally met him i was shaking like a leaf and could barely get "hello" out of my mouth. i was happy to check that one off the list, phew. it was also fun following his NBA career.  i was also secretly pulling for him to get the iowa basketball coach job a couple of years ago, but i am happy with how fran is working out so far.

3. ricky stanzi -- "if you don't love it, leave it. USA #1"  does it get any better?  i actually was a huge fan of ricky before his famous orange bowl quote. he understood that as an iowa athlete he represented more than just football. remember the princess jenna and just try and ruin my day stories?  he was mature beyond his years.  i might even have to watch a few kc chiefs games this year.

4. jeff horner -- talk about a CRUSH. yes, it is true i called him at his house, just to chitchat. jeff was a good basketball player but i'm pretty sure the only reason i liked him was because he was super cute.  the day he got the job at valley hs as the basketball coach, my dad called and asked me if i was getting a season ticket?  the answer was no but i wouldn't mind running into him at the grocery store.

win or lose, i will always love the hawkeyes, even if they occasionally break my heart. go hawks!