Here's a nice story about the family that donates use of the truck and their services to haul all the football gear. Diehard fans, indeed.

The downward spiral continues for Forcier.

I am very pleased to be the first to post that the Iowa men's Track and Field team accomplished what I would have considered unfathomable a few years back. They won the Big 10 Outdoor championship for the first time in 44 years. A lot of thanks go to Asst. Coach Joey Woody who has done an excellent job developing sprinters and middle distance runners. I'm a big fan of Track/Field (having grown up in Oregon), and am very proud to see the Hawks finally get it together. For anyone living in the Des Moines area, consider going to the NCAA Championships there this year.

I don't spend much time reading NFL draft reports, but in a desperate attempt to find something more interesting than the meeting I'm sitting through, I read this one. The guy 'tells it like it is' -- doesn't like Gabbert; mentions really liking Merton Hanks when few others did, and is anti-"measurables".

Check out Timber Joey, the chainsaw wielding mascot of Portland, Oregon's MLS team. I give the Timbers praise for being a bit daring, and not adding yet another brightly colored ball of foam mascot to the menagerie that wanders most sidelines nowadays. My favorite mascot is the Mountaineer of my wife's alma mater, West Virginia. In our age of political-correctness, it's a nice change of pace to see someone raise a long-rifle and fire it after a touchdown.

Sorry if this is old news, but it's the first announcement I've seen of Payne's future home. I noted that he called it his "first perfect", as opposed to just "perfect" place. He'll certainly be a great addition to the program there. (Trivia tidbit) The program isn't particularly strong nowadays, but it accomplished something 48 years ago that has eluded Iowa -- an NCAA Championship.

Because "beer" is frequently referenced among the BHGP faithful, I thought some of you might enjoy reading about this Iowan's 'throw-back' Lenten commitment.

Writing as someone her camped outside the Iowa Fieldhouse for two full days back in 1980 to get Final Four tickets, I found myself speechless when I read this.

This is a Daily Iowan article (March 1) about two Iowa recruits (White in BB and Hamilton in FB) who had outstanding performances in pulling an upset in Ohio hoops.

With stories about our beloved game of football beginning to run thin, I thought this story regarding our cross-state neighbors would be interesting to some of you. In addition to the game being played in Tanzania, there are many good community service and learning activities as well. It speaks well of Drake, with a football program that must operate on a shoe-string budget, that they are able to pull this together.

This article is from today's (Feb 9) Daily Iowan.

Well, it's finally settled, and this makes a lot more sense (not good, mind you) than signing with Auburn.

I got curious about Drew Tate so checked on his status with the Calgary Stampeders. He is still 2nd String (to a longtime veteran. Halfway through the season he is 7 of 8 with 3 TDs. An additional note of interest is that Daryll Clark was recently signed and is 3rd String.

Kirk Speraw was let go after a record of 15-17 in his 17th season at UCF. He was the conference coach of the year as recently as 2007, but the team hadn't been in the NCAA Tourney since 2005.

Speraw played in the late '70s at Iowa.

In a matchup of ex-Big Ten coaches who both disgraced themselves in their former jobs, Steve Fisher had Alford and UNM figured out this season. SDSU knocked off New Mexico in the Semis of the MWC and then won the championship game against UNLV.

Masoli plead guilty to burglary after having lied to Coach Kelly earlier about the matter.