Pick your reaction or reactions, Hawkeye basketball fans. They all fit. When your best player is transferring out — and you could argue this is the third-straight year it’s happening if you were a Tony Freeman fan — you have a program that’s running on ice.

For the rest of this post, go to the Hlog’s new home at the URL listed above. (It’s http://hlog.iowa.com) Thanks for bookmarking it and using it in the future.

Hey Coach Brewster, the Hlog just gave you a free plug

First and foremost, the Hlog got wind of Minnesota football coach Tim Brewster’s Twitter feed and Web site from our friends at http://www.blackheartgoldpants.com

Now, those gentlemen occasionally work a bit blue and once in a great while step over the line with a toe or two. OK, they do so every day, with all 10 toes in a synchronized stomp on what some prudes commonly call “good taste.”

But, great television programs like “Deadwood,” “The Sopranos,” and roasts of show biz superstars like Bob Saget and Larry the Cable Guy on Comedy Central were a bit off-color, too. That doesn’t mean they aren’t precious.

Let’s cut to the chase. The boys at blackheartgoldpants noted the three most-recent Twitter tweets (as of 12:01 a.m., Wednesday) from Coach Brew at, appropriately enough, http://twitter.com/play4brew

WINNING ON AND OFF THE FIELD EACH AND EVERY DAY IS WHAT CREATES A CHAMPION!

EACH GUY CONTROLS WHAT HE BRINGS TO THE TABLE EACH DAY ATTITUDE, EFFORT, TOUGHNESS AND PASSION NOT TAUGHT BUT BROUGHT!

JUST OFF THE FIELD FROM PRACTICE #1….GUYS SHOWED GREAT ATTITUDE AND EFFORT TODAY!

Coach Brew has obviously put aside the disappointment of his Gophers’ 42-21 loss to Kasnas in last December’s Insight Bowl, let alone the 55-0 loss his men suffered to Iowa in Minneapolis the month before.

One of several points the Blackhearts make bout Brewster’s posts:

He clearly doesn’t read the financial page: Coach Brew is referring to the Gophers’ new stadium as “The Bank” (a reference to stadium name sponsor TCF Bank).  This, of couse, is in the face of a $700B federal bank bailout package.  Let’s just say that when Minnesota blows another fourth quarter lead against Northwestern, we won’t have to go to far to find the “collapse” joke.

"The Horseshoe," "The Big House," and now "The Bank"

But the Hlog doesn’t want to get everyone in the Big Ten mad at it five months before football season starts. Two months ought to be more like it. But I digress.

What I’m trying to say is, Coach Brew has me fired up. So besides leading you to becoming one of Coach Brew’s Twitter followers, check him out at www.play4brew.com

I assume that page is for prospective recruits and not 30- or 40- or 60-year-olds who want to strap on the helmets and pads and help the Gophers win their first Big Ten championship since 1967. But, maybe it’s also for the world.

Oh, now I see Michigan Coach Rich Rodriguez is using Twitter, too. He’s at http://twitter.com/UM_CoachRod.

Ten Tweets in, it looks kind of dull. Step it up, Coach Rod. At least hit the “shift lock” key more often.

Ames - No ghost (down)town for business

If you’re like me, you run from news stories that use the word “unemployment.” How many times can you hear or see the wordit, even if you’re one of the lucky ones to still be employed?

Well, here’s some good news:

Two of the 10 U.S. metropolitan areas with the lowest unemployment rates in January were Ames and Iowa City, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

Thanks to www.thewizofodds.com, via http://grg51.typepad.com/steroid_nation, we got led to this Wall Street Journal story telling us Ames was behind only Houma, La., in the lowest unemployment rate in the U.S. in January, with a paltry 3.8 percent.

Iowa City was a lofty seventh, at 4.1 percent. Iowa’s overall rate was 4.8 percent. It grew to 4.9 percent in February. But the national rate was 8.1 percent.

Yay, us!

Downtown Iowa City - business is still good

As you can see in the WSJ story, most of the Top Ten are college towns. For an explanation, check out the story.

Living in Cedar Rapids, visiting Iowa City has always seemed like a bit of an escape from reality. It’s more so than ever now, and in a good way.

Waterloo, by the way, is 10th on the list. That shocked me. But we’re talking metro areas, and that covers another college town, Cedar Falls.

Cedar Rapids’ unemployment rate in January, by the way, was 5.5 percent. And we here all know it’s higher than that now.

Larry Eustachy, trying to earn his salary

It hasn’t been an altogether-successful ride for Larry Eustachy as the men’s basketball coach at Southern Mississippi, but the folks in Hattiesburg can’t say Eustachy is tone-deaf.

While Connecticut’s Jim Calhoun defiantly said “Not a dime back” when asked if he’d peel off any of the king’s ransom of a salary he makes to give it back to his cash-strapped state, Eustachy is refusing a $25,000 bonus owed to him because of an attendance incentive in his contract.

Eustachy’s USM team went 15-17 this season.

“I really compare it to AIG,” the former Iowa State coach said in an Associated Press story. “Why would I take a bonus when we went backwards?

“I just felt particularly during this recession that we are in and the situation our school is in, it just didn’t go right with me to accept anything above and beyond my normal contract. I’m not trying to make a statement. I’m just being myself.”

Eustachy’s salary package is for $380,000  a year, so he isn’t depriving himself of food or shelter. But $25,000 isn’t chicken feed.

Plus, the coach knows he can’t rest on winning 39 games over the previous two seasons when that 15-17 of this season comes at a time when he needs to build fan-interest, not lose it.

Eustachy is recruiting like the recruiting madman he can be, and promised “It will be the best talent that’s been here in 10 years, however it shakes out.”

(AP photo)

This is 1/35th of what I think is an amazing collection of recession-related photos from around the world.

Photo No. 30 hurts me, a newspaper guy since I was three months old, as much as any. I’m guessing you can find a couple (or 35) that get to you.

Share your thoughts about any or all of the photos in the comments box. In fact, share your thoughts about anything.

Kurt Looby didn't lack for hustle at Iowa (AP photo)

Frankly, I never pictured Kurt Looby as an NBA prospect when he played at Iowa. I didn’t even picture him as an NBA D-League prospect.

Well, Looby is playing his way toward a roster spot on somebody’s NBA summer league team, and he’s doing it in the D-League.

The 6-foot-10 Antiguan is making the most of the minutes he’s getting with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (yes, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers) of the D-League.

He had 14 points, 16 rebounds and 5 blocked shots Sunday in the Vipers’ win over the Austin Toros.  It wasn’t an unusual performance from him.

After spending much of the season in a reserve’s role, playing time opened up for Looby the last dozen games or so. In his last eight outings, he has averaged 9.6 points, 13.7 rebounds and 4.1 blocks.

This from a guy who averaged 3.6 points and 4.6 rebounds last year as a senior for the Hawkeyes.

Now, the D-League isn’t the NBA. But it’s a cut above the Big Ten, that’s for sure. Looby is playing against men. One of them, former Michigan center Courtney Sims, got a call-up to the New York Knicks Monday from the Iowa Energy.

I always liked Looby’s energy and personality. It’s good to see he’s found a “system” that works for him.

http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfile/index.jsp?player=kurt_looby

Look, I got this from YouTube. If Disney or whoever owns ESPN these days says it can’t be used, strike it from YouTube. Do not sue the Hlog, Corporate Monolith.

That said, this is from the end of the NCAA Wrestling Championships’ 149-pound final, won by North Carolina State’s Darrion Caldwell over Iowa’s Brent Metcalf, a 2008 national-titlist who had owned a 69-match winning streak.

Cheap shot? Metcalf and his coach, Tom Brands, insisted afterward that time still remained on the clock and Metcalf was still wrestling. Caldwell did appear to start his victory celebration a bit early with a couple seconds before :00.

Metcalf caught up with him and knocked him from mid-air two or three seconds after the clock struck :00, but his pursuit began when a second or two remained on the clock?

Metcalf said had he been going for a postmatch shot at Caldwell, he’d have knocked him off the platform.

Click here to see and hear Metcalf’s post-match interview. Many athletes wouldn’t have faced the music afterward.

None of it ultimately matters. Caldwell, thankfully, wasn’t hurt. And he was the NCAA champ after clearly outwrestling the Hawkeye in a stunning development.

You don’t get this stuff in the NCAA basketball tourney, folks. At least not the men’s tourney.

Here’s the long-form YouTube video. The controversial moment comes at around the 4-minute mark.

Clinton Solomon in a happy Hawkeye moment

Clinton Solomon had three touchdown catches Friday night, and seven receptions overall for 146 yards.

Alas, the ex-Iowa Hawkeye wide receiver’s Wichita Wild lost 41-36 to the Omaha Beef in Omaha in the season-opener for both.

The league? Indoor Football League. Seems like a sensible enough name.

Wild, man

Solomon played three years for the Hawkeyes, the most recent being 2005. He had 1,864 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. Good player.

He was a late training camp cut of the Chicago Bears in 2007, hooked on with Arena Football’s Chicago Rush later that year, and was on the Rush’s practice squad in 2008.

Now he’s in a lower rung of pro football. However, it’s the same rung former Coe College running back Fred Jackson clung to before he got signed by the Buffalo Bills, where he has carved out a nice niche for himself. Jackson played for the Sioux City Bandits in UIF.

Here’s a story from the Wichita Eagle on Solomon finding his way to Wichita.

The box score from the Wild/Beef battle:

Wichita (0-1)……………………. 6 24 0 6 – 36
At Omaha (1-0)…………………….14 20 0 7 – 41
• W: Clinton Solomon 39 pass from Derek Rasmussen (kick failed).
• O: Allen Burrell 2 pass from James McNear (Ricky Lebeda kick).
• O: Mike Jones 10 pass from McNear (Lebeda kick).
• W: Darius Fudge 1 run (Dylan Pohlman kick).
• O: Jones 6 pass from McNear (kick failed).
• W: Solomon 45 pass from Rasmussen (Pohlman run).
• O: R.J. Rollins 1 run (Lebeda kick).
• W: Fudge 2 run (kick blocked).
• O: Burrell 19 pass from McNear (Lebeda kick).
• W: Pohlman 28 FG.
• O: McNear 5 run (Lebeda kick).
• W: Solomon 32 pass from Rasmussen (kick blocked).
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
• RUSHING: Wichita: Fudge 13-36; Rasmussen 4-1; Riley 1-0. Omaha: Rollins 9-23; McNear 9-20; Horne 3-2; Jones 1-minus 2.
• PASSING: Wichita: Rasmussen 16-29-1-232; team 0-0-0-minus 7. Omaha: McNear 20-27-1-167; Lebeda 1-1-0-8; team 0-0-0-minus 17.
• RECEIVING: Wichita: Solomon 7-146; Cavanaugh 5-40; Riley 4-46. Omaha: Jones 8-78; Burrell 6-65; Bell 3-16; Rollins 3-8; Richardson 1-8