Northwestern, back in happier times
You’d think Northwestern people might hold a grudge against the Outback Bowl selecting Iowa over their alma mater.
OK, so the Wildcats are ranked and the Hawkeyes aren’t.
OK, so Northwestern beat Iowa in Iowa City.
OK, so the Cats are 9-3 and the Hawks are just 8-4.
But NU alums aren’t bitter. Nooooooo.
One of their graduates was kind enough to share his recent letter to Outback Bowl officials. He will remain anonymous. He is not from Iowa, as you may have guessed. He wrote:
OK, we get it. You’re never going to select Northwestern for your game. Whether it’s conference co-champion vs. 4th-place OSU team trying (successfully) to get its coach fired by sleepwalking through the end of its season (2000) or head-to-head victory on the road and better overall record (2008).
Clearly the vision of 30,000 combines rolling down I-75 was too much to resist this year and the proprietors of every Hooters Restaurant within a 25-mile radius of the stadium will be forever in your debt for that decision.
Welcome, Iowa fans
One request: the next time your contract with the Big 10 is up for renewal, please insist that it has a clause specifically excluding Northwestern from your game. We’d feel better having your policy in writing, and you’d be protected against a doomsday scenario of being stuck with us.
Finally, do yourselves a favor and remove the reference to “The No. 26 Hawkeyes” from your home page. Anyone with a passing knowledge of college football recognizes “No. 26” as a euphemism for “others receiving votes” or more specifically: unranked. You embarrass yourselves by trying to suggest otherwise. It’s just a shame there wasn’t a legitimately ranked Big 10 team available to you.
The Hlog, by Cedar Rapids Gazette Sports Columnist Mike Hlas 
Waaaaaaaaaa!
Poor Northwestern: as much as they think they went to a “smart” school, they apparently were never taught that life isn’t fair.
Cry me a freaking river!
Their ability to whitewash the helmet-to-helmet on Greene is impressive. That’s skills you just can’t get at a public university.
NU can’t even sell out its own stadium, why would the Outback Bowl want that tiny contingent of purple kitties stinking up its joint? I love that the hundred or so football fans associated with Northwestern will have to cry their way to Texas to get rocked by Mizzou.
The best thing NU can do is first, sell a boatload of tickets to the Alamo Bowl and spend a boatload of money in San Antonio. Second, they can beat the tar out of Mizzou. Letters to the Outback Bowl, while making for good press, won’t help their cause.
The bowl system is about money. The Outback Bowl believes Iowa will bring more money than NU. NU needs to prove them wrong.
One value apparently lacking in the NU fanbase is humility. Obviously, every NU alum is a superior human being to anyone from Iowa. The arrogance is mind-boggling.
I would like to say more but I need to go warm up my combine so I can drive to work.
LOL!!! This just makes my laugh!! First off, sure NW beat Iowa in Kinnick…that doesn’t meant they are the better team! Even with the loss, I think Iowa STILL proved it was a better team on that day! Northworstern is just upset because no one outside of Evanston gives a crap about them, and every bowl (save the Motor City Bowl) is terrified to have them as a possible bowl candidate…they’re the kings of irrelevancy! Inviting them to a bowl would be like ordering a turd sandwich at a 5 star restaurant!
I love this stuff!
I read that their average home attenance this year was only 28,000 per game. And they wonder why the Outback said no to them?
Thanks for making my day Mike!
Wow, combines and Hooters jokes… you’d think an NU degree would lead to more clever jokes… Your arrogance and condescension toward the diverse and dispersed Iowa graduates is part of the reason NU was passed up.
Is the “combines” line tragically ignorant or tragically uninformed?
My vote is “all the above.”
I think you Hawkeye fans found another little brother.
Time for a quick intervention.
First and foremost, I appreciate all your patronage and participation very much. I’m trying to make this site entertaining and worth a couple moments of your time here and there. Your comments obviously add to that.
But there are a couple rules to follow to get posted, and they are entirely reasonable and easy to follow.
1) Nothing profane or remotely slanderous, and nothing that is flat-out untrue.
2) Don’t make your user name the name of a real person that isn’t you. I’m fine with “Mr. X” or “Cookie from Kokomo,” even if your last name isn’t X or you’ve never stepped foot in Kokomo.
The second rule is why a few of you haven’t had posts added recently. Your comments were fine. Your user names weren’t. You can easily fix that.
Thanks again for reading, and writing.
“1) Nothing profane or remotely slanderous, and nothing that is flat-out untrue.”
So, Jim Ecker is not allowed to post here?
And yes, I’ve been waiting for this opportunity.
He really seems to hate all things Iowa.
Jim Ecker can’t post but a guy named Gary Barnett you have no problems with. Huh?
For the record, I am Hawkeye to the bone but you guys got hosed. I do think it was unfair but thats life. I can appreciate your venting though.
However, don’t even you have to admit that having a fairly empty stadium on the last game of the season against an in-state team sends a loud message to any bowl committee?
I didn’t catch the Barnett post. My bad.
The real Jim Ecker can post here. Fakes? No thanks.
Thanks
Northwestern fan (and alum) here. Both schools have passionate fans, and I’m sure you understand our frustration, the same as you would be frustrated if your team was passed over by a bowl for a team you beat and finished above in our conference standings. On the other hand, you are right, Northwestern needs to do a better job of putting fans in seats. Iowa has generations of fans and traditions, while Northwestern has only about fifteen years of legitimate football tradition (and a small but very dedicated group of older fans). The way I see it, we are building our tradition now, and I am proud to be part of it. I will be at the Alamo Bowl, because I hope our team will be sought out by bowl committees even in future lean years (see: Notre Dame). I will be able to say “oh I was around even before Northwestern was a bowl contender.” Or, better in the words of Gary Barnett: “It’s one thing to jump on a moving train, it’s another thing to jump in front of the train and turn it around”
Hell, I guess Iowa should be upset they aren’t in the Rose Bowl. I mean, they beat Penn State head to head. They should be taking the tractor to Pasadena.
Get some tissue paper a wipe away your tears!!
as an illini fan this is how i see it. northwestern beat iowa in iowa city, enough said. to address the whole attendance thing, northwestern sold out its given tickets in every bowl game they have been in since the ’96 rose bowl. however, the alamo bowl might be rather interesting considering the fact both teams have been snubbed by unranked teams who they beat on the road earlier in the year (missouri/nebraska).
Joebuckeye, the only flaw in your logic is that Iowa didn’t finish higher in the conference or ranked higher than Penn St. in the national polls. Other than that, you’re spot on. Keep up the good work.