On Iowa!

It's that time of year when sports fans come out of the woodwork even if they don't know a croquet ball from Minnie Pearl's hat. By this I mean it's NCAA basketball season and when it comes to fandom all bets are off. I have the perfect example. Her Majesty has begun asking me about the tournament. Folks, this woman, my wife of 53 years, has never met a sporting event she likes or understands. The closest she gets to sports is when she gets out her knitting needles. But, for the next two weeks she'll bring her Iowa gear out of hibernation and wear it with pride.

And by Iowa I mean all the teams from our state who are participating in this years festivities. There are four major universities in the Land of Milk and Honey. Of these four the Iowa Hawkeyes men's and women's teams, the Iowa State Cyclones men's and women's teams and the Drake University, men's and women's teams all qualified for the Big Dance. Furthermore, the Iowa women won the Big Ten tourney. The Iowa State women did the same in the Big Twelve and both the Drake men and ladies won their conference titles. That's heady stuff for schools that don't have one singe 3 star athlete on their squads as say, every other team in the country who can buy their players labelled 5 star talent.

It's good for our state especially when I wear my Cyclone and Hawkeye gear when I go a strollin'. People take notice. I am going to have to buy some Drake gear since my granddaughter will be matriculating at that institution next Fall. 

I'm under know allusions that any of these teams will win a National Championship. I'd be happy if each squad won one game. As I've often said, being an Iowan is akin to being in the witness protection program. All people east of Indiana and west of the Rocky Mountains think Iowa and Idaho are one and the same. I like it that way. It's the way God meant it to be.