Christian Petersen - Getty Images
*snort* (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Note: This is my last post for Black Heart Gold Pants, so I hope you read all the way through for everything I have to say. I hope you read everything on this site all the way through, actually, but especially this post.
Sure, Iowa just lost the Insight Bowl, 31-14. But what was really important about losing to Oklahoma? How much do we really know? What does it all mean, Basil? The Takeaway has the answer.
Jordan Canzeri. Jordan Canzeri. Jordan Canzeri. All that talk about "running back by committee" and "we'll use anyone who can play RB"? Yeah, forget it. Kirk Ferentz decided to hitch his wagon to Jordan Canzeri, and the result was... well, pretty much what you'd expect from a 172-pound true freshman tailback facing a fast defense: three yards a pop, several big hits taken, and an offense that doesn't move very effectively.
Obviously things would have been different with Marcus Coker out there, and the Hawkeyes should be pissed that Coker did whatever he did and took himself out of the game (though from the sound of it, this isn't likely to be a lingering problem, so take that, AIRBHG). But Coker and Mika'il McCall obviously weren't available, so why on earth did Ferentz and/or Ken O'Keefe go basically 50/50 on rushes and passes in the first half? The passes weren't even particularly ambitious or aggressive; Jamell Fleming shut down Marvin McNutt for most of the game, and one Vandenberg figured out he wasn't going to get McNutt open very often, he stuck with safe underneath passes until late, and Iowa's offense suffered. Iowa didn't run a winning gameplan until it was time to go hurry-up spread, and Vandenberg flourished there; unlike the Pitt game, however, Iowa didn't have the talent to make up the large deficit.
Kirk Ferentz, riverboat gambler. For all the jokes about Kirk Ferentz doing things like kneeling on the ball with 7 minutes left in the half and calling a draw in a Hail Mary situation, the one aspect of his game where he's actually comfortable with taking a fairly significant risk is his 4th down playcalling. Ferentz doesn't actually punt inside the 40 very often at all anymore, and he's been pretty reliable with keeping the offense on the field on 4th and 1 from basically anywhere in enemy territory.
So when Iowa faced a 4th and 1 on its first productive drive at the Oklahoma 9-yard line (indeed, the next time Iowa would get that close was with under a minute left in the 3rd quarter), Ferentz didn't hesitate to dial up a run play. Now, the fact that he went with Canzeri to carry the ball instead of, oh, anyone else is unsettling*, but the fact is that if the play were properly officiated, Iowa would have had a first down. Iowa was ready to go with its quick-snap look like usual on 4th down, but the referee stood over the snap while Oklahoma was able to get its defense set... and then didn't notice the Oklahoma cornerback running onto the field from Iowa's side of the LOS when the ball was finally snapped, which is just about the easiest offsides penalty you can call. Kirk Ferentz was pissed, and he should have been. By and large, the officiating was good in the game, but a momentary fit of incompetence screwed Iowa out of a golden opportunity for a touchdown, and that sucks.
*While we're talking about short yardage situations, did it occur to anybody else during the game that Bob Stoops was basically running a clinic on how to use a QB like A.J. Derby with his package of plays for Blake Bell? Stoops incorporates a large, gifted QB into his gameplan situationally; Kirk Ferentz shrugs and moves that large, gifted QB to linebacker.
Should we be excited about next year? It's tough to figure out what 2012 holds for the Hawkeye football team. Kirk Ferentz has to replace a coordinator for the first time ever, the team's coming off a 15-11 record for the last two seasons, and Iowa's losing another 5-ish guys to the draft -- mostly at positions where there isn't an evident future star behind them. The schedule's not getting any easier (Iowa could go 0-for-October and it wouldn't surprise me). So is there any reason for optimism here?
I think there is. I'm happy with a starting lineup of James Vandenberg, Marcus Coker, Brad Rogers, C.J. Fiedorowicz, Keenan Davis, and Kevonte Martin-Manley at the offensive skill positions, and while I'm less optimistic about the state of the offensive line (especially if Riley Reiff goes, and he ought to), I do think there's some talent and potential there. I want to see more out of Brett Van Sloten and Brandon Scherff than what they showed this year, because they were getting abused out there at times. But then again, so did Julian Vandervelde when he was a freshman and he ended up in the NFL, so there's cause for hope.
On defense, it's natural to see the dearth of production from the front four, see that Mike Daniels and Broderick Binns are leaving, and wail plaintively. But if recruiting stars are to be believed, the defensive line is probably going to be the scene of Iowa's biggest turnaround in the coming years. Carl Davis still has room to grow as a player, but he's a space-eater who'll probably be asked to start next year. Past him, Jaleel Johnson, Faith Ekakitie, and Darian Cooper are all 4-star DTs who will be freshmen next year (Cooper as a redshirt FR), so while 2012 might be too early to see much big production out of them, the door's certainly going to be open for an infusion of talent and youth there. At defensive end, I recommend prayer.
It'll be nice to have Micah Hyde back, and if B.J. Lowery's got any improvement left to do, now would be the time for it. If Nico Law can bring the aggressive style of his special teams play to the starting SS role, that would also be quite a welcome development. Kirk Ferentz has been active in recruiting linebackers lately, so if someone like Melvin Spears can step in at MLB and OLB stays manned by Christian Kirksey and Anthony Hitchens, that's a pretty decent unit. It's not great and I don't see an All-Big Ten linebacker in the bunch (at least not for the 2012 season), but I don't see any glaring problems there either.
The special teams units should be good too. Mike Meyer is legit, and perhaps it's time for the Jonny Mullings Experience to begin. Yes, the kickoff coverage has sucked over the last two years, but... there's no but. It has sucked. That needs to improve.
Bottom line, I think this is an 8-win team next year, maybe a game or two lower if injuries and academics are unusually cruel, but perhaps a game higher if the situations at OT and DE fix themselves adequately. 8-4 in the regular season isn't contending for the national championship or even the Big Ten championship, but to stay within a couple games of that mark on an annual basis is pretty damned good, and better than most college football teams can claim over the last decade. You can want more, and that's fine, but be happy that Iowa's baseline is where it is.
And finally: so long, friends. As I mentioned before, this is my last post for BHGP. Seriously. As anyone who's kept close tabs (web browsing term) on this site probably knows, I haven't been around very often recently, and I can't even remember what the last post I did was that wasn't a Takeaway or Hamsterdam. Yeah, I can look it up if I want, but I'm guessing nobody else on BHGP can't remember what the last post he did was*.
The reason for that is simple: I write for a living now. I say that not to brag -- although it's totally something to brag about -- but to just point out that BHGP is a hobby for all of us, and if a hobby is the same thing as the work you do, it's not going to feel like a hobby for very long.
Now, it's demonstrably true that I'm not writing here very often at all, and that's a pattern that I don't see changing for as long as I'm full-timing at Eye on College Football. If BHGP was my blog and mine alone, it would be dead, dead of that insidious killer of most blogs: inattention. So it's patently unfair of me to be on that highest tier of the masthead while everyone else is doing the work, regardless of what I was doing for this site 3 years ago. Everyone else is doing all the work now. I'm basically BHGP's Norm Parker.
So that's why I'm hanging 'em up here at Sterling Cooper Draper Pants. Really, that's it. There's no other shoe about to drop, no indignation, no secret behind-the-scenes drama. If someone purports to tell you otherwise, smack them for lying to you, and then tell them to reconsider their life priorities because gossiping about BHGP is a very weird thing to do. I love this website and SB Nation and I hope BHGP becomes the king of all Iowa media. ALL OF IT. I'm also more excited about this blog than I've ever been, even in those formative months when it was just a dream in the head of Jebus, Patrick, and me that we discussed over email. And if you're thinking about not reading BHGP anymore because I'm leaving, I will quietly judge you for that.
Without Jebus and Patrick, this site wouldn't have existed, which means I wouldn't be where I am today, which means... lord, I don't even want to consider that. They took a leap of faith and invested literally thousands of hours in this site for basically nothing in return, and they did it while being incredibly supportive and incredibly good writers. Pat's still here at BHGP, of course, and I don't need to tell any of you how good he is at this. Read him.
The best decision of the BHGP era** was bringing RossWB on board. He's gone from being a wrestling update writer to someone who can write really well about any sport. Ross makes me laugh basically every day and if you've been sleeping on his work -- especially in recruiting -- it's time to wake up. RossWB is our Andre Woolridge (and he looks exactly like him) (no he does not). Read him.
HFMR, Horace E. Cow, and hawk6894 are unbelievably creative, and one look at the Rec counts whenever they post anything should be testament to that fact. They do things with this blog that I never would have been able to think up myself, and Horace E. Cow's statistical analysis posts (the Fran-Graphs and Statistical In-Ferentz serieseses) are both informative and funny as hell. If Ross makes me laugh almost every day, these three guys make me say "holy crap" just about every time they post anything. They are awesome. Read them.
Last, PSD hasn't been here for long, but he's been doing a killer job bringing the link action back to BHGP and, well, rooting us back in reality. That's not an insignificant thing to do, especially as we spend so much time imagining different worlds where coaches and athletic directors spend all their time making prank calls, or where Fran McCaffrey is actually a rocketship. It is possible to overindulge in BHGP-ness. LOL I said P-ness. See what I mean? Anyway, when we first started doing the INPs in 2009 or whatever year it was, not only did readership numbers take off, but it was the first and only time people would tell us things like "I only get my Hawkeye news from BHGP" and not be saying it in a bitterly ironic way. PSD will bring those days back, because he knows this stuff inside and out and he knows how to write. Read him.
Like I said, the future of BHGP is bright, and now I'll be admiring it from the other side of the screen just like the rest of you. I'm prouder of all of these guys than I've ever been proud of anything else, and I will fight anyone who tells me there's a better community of Hawkeye fans anywhere else in the damn world than what we've got right here. I'll always be a BHGPer.
*Excepting HFMR, of course, who is higher than a kite right now.
**If we include the two months of The Hawkeye Compulsion, the best decision we ever made was to give Ron Zook a hair-smelling fetish.
6 recs | 86 comments
Good luck, Adam
Ted Glover - January 2, 2012
Thanks OPS (Adam) for all the laughs over the years.
You were literally the the first mod I followed that lead me here. The day that Alford left town I was looking for any information I could to see if it was true. That’s when I stumbled on to link entitled Steve Alford’s Hair Gel. I laughed for literally an hour straight at back dated posts.
I followed you to the Hawkeye Complusion and the explosion that was City Boyz Inc. You actually made me not upset over the whole DD thing within a week of it happening. And who could forget comparing B1G coaches to cars.
Then lastly I followed you here which I am the most grateful for. Good luck at the all seeing eye and I wish you the best. That being said I’m still going to start a completely untrue rumor about why you’re leaving.
I heard Mrs. Oops Pow and meg are afraid that him and Jebus are going to run off together. Now they both have to do couple time instead of blog time. Oh and I also heard the Zooker was hiring him to be his personal PR director because no one get him “Rolling” like Jacobi.
Argulor - January 2, 2012
We’ll miss you Oops Pow Jacobi, BHGP was the first sports blog I read, and you had the first post I read, so I’ll always be grateful for eventually leading me to be a writer on my own SBNation blog. All the best going forward.
HawkeyedFrog - January 2, 2012
Wiping the lone tear from my eye
Your voice will be missed, Mr. Surprise. Your deranged, intelligent voice will be missed.
Bama Hawkeye - January 2, 2012
"I'll always be a BHGPer"
All I needed to hear. Best of luck, sir. Look forward to following your career.
BentNotBroken - January 2, 2012
Bell/Derby comparison
Good comparison between the two. Let’s face it, A.J. isn’t likely to start at LB anytime soon. Keep him developing at linebacker, but on goal line situations, let him take the snap with Gimm and Rogers blocking for him. The Demolition Derby! I’m sure he’s also capable of doing a tebow-style jump pass as well, so why not? Oh yeah…it’ll never happen. Much like watching the Jets use Shonn Greene in the wildcat, it’s too creative.
Thanks again Adam for helping make this the best and funniest Hawkeye website on the interwebs. You made us learn during the 2007 debacle that we can still laugh even when the team on the field/court stinks. Best of luck!!
Big Game Today - January 2, 2012
I kind of came late to your blog party
But I appreciate all of the times you made me laugh, when it would have been so much easier to cry (RIP Iowa football 2007, 2010, 2011)
ninerhawk - January 2, 2012
Goodnight, sweet prince.
Adam, you’re the reason I wrote my first post for BHGP. I was always so impressed with your work and thought, “I wonder if I can be as funny as him.” The answer is, no, I can’t….but that’s been my goal for everything I write here.
Thanks for letting me be part of the team.
Hayden Fry's Moustache Ride - January 2, 2012
And these young men gave their lives . . .
and so would Adam. Adam who loved bowling.
KilometersDavis - January 2, 2012
Vaya con Dios, OPS.
“He’s not coming back!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1ud7EnrZHQ
WaterlooChazz - January 2, 2012
Kind of figured you were moving on...
You will most definitely be missed, but BHGP is in capable hands. Here’s hoping the Hawks make enough noise in the years to come to warrant your attention at CBS!
BamaGatorHawk - January 2, 2012
Most of all
Thank you for fostering an intelligent, funny Hawkeye community.
I agree wholeheartedly with the other thank-yous above, but the ever-growing commenteriat has been the most valuable aspect of this site for me. Compared to other sports sites, and other Hawkeye sites in particular, the perspective, logic, and restraint shown by the BHGP community is truly unique.
Despite the (outstanding) absurdist humor, you’ve managed to keep out the childishness and inanity that plagues other Iowa websites (cough Rivals cough).
That one site can produce a detailed statistical analysis and a story about dinosaur racecars in the same day, while appealing to the majority of its audience with each piece, is pretty incredible.
I’m confident that the remaining managers & authors will continue to produce amazing content, and I sincerely hope the rest us can keep the comments section grounded as the subscriber base increases.
KilometersDavis - January 2, 2012
This pretty much sums it up for me
Thank you for all your hard work Adam. This site is informative, intelligent, and bat-shit crazy. That is not an easy trifecta to pull off.
6 seconds of hell - January 2, 2012
What I like is that they have kept out all those stinking fish peop... oh wait, I have made a terrible mistake
Lycurgus - January 2, 2012
Fish people I can tolerate.
It’s those damn horticulture types that make me sick.
WaterlooChazz - January 2, 2012
You just have in innate distrust of that first syllable
therealCatnuts - January 2, 2012
Good thing I don't give a shit about gardens.
Lycurgus - January 2, 2012
no need to say the same thing twice
a rec to KD and bittersweet farewell to AJ.
sailorjerry - January 2, 2012
The best thing to happen to writing in the last 50 years
Is the prevalence of blogs and their ability to let excellent writers like Adam Jacobi rise to the top and find careers in writing, which would probably have taken decades of fetching Rick Reilly’s coffee in eras past. I wish you the very best of luck in your career, Mr. Jacobi. You’re an excellent writer and you deserve that career.
I wish I was a better writer and had more to say, but I’ll settle for an enormous “Thank You” and much love.
therealCatnuts - January 2, 2012
I'm surprised
There isn’t any talk of the rogue soviet satellite Stoops sent to kill McNutt
wowski - January 2, 2012
No, it was the sequel to "Batteries Not Included"
The camera was really an adorable alien robot who was trying to help a lovable cast of people at the margin of their society (Iowa Football team) to overcome an oppressive force (Oklahoma Football team) and bring them closer together in the process. It seems to have failed.
Lycurgus - January 2, 2012
Thanks, Adam
There’s not an Iowa blogger around that wouldn’t credit your work at BHGP as an inspiration in their work/hobby. There’s a lot of things we could thank you for…but I’ll just say thank you for the greatest thing I’ve ever seen on the internet.
mikjones24 - January 2, 2012
Hell, there's some Iowa State bloggers who fall into that category too
CyHawk - January 2, 2012
Thanks for all the great reads over the years
You’re a fantastic writer and a creative mind. Good luck in everything you do and stop back in from time to time. Your musings will be missed.
Twin Cities Hawk - January 2, 2012 via iPhone app
Also, let me add
That I believe BHGP will be the King of Iowa Media soon. And I want nothing more than to see Morehouse writing for this site when that day comes. I have a sneaky feeling he’d dominate the Batshit Insanity posts.
Twin Cities Hawk - January 2, 2012 via iPhone app
Thanks OPS.
Good luck in your new venture.
Norm Parker's Amputated Toes - January 2, 2012
Thank you Oops Pow.
It’s quite a feat when a blog started by passionate fans not only produces some of the funniest content on the Internet but also gets linked to and mentioned by major professional sports blogs. Good luck in all your endeavors.
iamalex13 - January 2, 2012 via iPhone app
Best of luck, Jacobi
You’re still CorrectHawk in my heart…
YouCanPutYourEddsInIt - January 2, 2012
So long and thanks for the all fish, AJ.
I wouldn’t be at BHGP without you and your writing and BHGP wouldn’t be the same without your work here.. It won’t be the same without you now, either, but different can be good.
See ya around — and don’t be a stranger.
RossWB - January 2, 2012
Best of luck, OPS
I’ve been reading you since the days of The Hair Gel, and it’s been awesome to see you have the success you’ve had and turn this from a hobby to a legitimate career. I can’t think of too many people who deserve it more. Your writing is hilarious, insightful, and routinely makes me reconsider my Iowa sports opinions. The blog is in great hands, but it definitely won’t be the same without you. Please try to stop by whenever you get the chance.
NorseHawk - January 2, 2012
Thanks Adam.
Best of luck with all that you do. Except in Words With Friends, wherein I wish you a constant slate full of nothing but vowels – the shitty vowels, like I and U.
Bucketochicken - January 2, 2012
Are you secretly a Purdue fan?
Kyle McCann't - January 2, 2012
I've been a fan
of your (Adam) work and the site in general. Not since the beginning but for at least the last three years. I’m a big believer that this stuff should be fun; after all, it is amateur athletics. You guys have done it the best, mixing the best of both worlds, and doing it brilliantly. CBS got a good one. Cheers!
PSD - January 2, 2012
Thanks Adam!
Best of luck with your future. Is it just me or is it dusty in here?
Grixxly - January 2, 2012
Sad and exciting news
kind of like when a necrophiliac has someone close to him die. Your writing, but more to the point, your perspective, will be sorely missed. You were never afraid of calling bullshit when you smelled it and it kept a lot of us from becoming part of the herd. You’re already doing top-notch work at the Murder She Wrote Network and hopefully it will be a stepping stone for bigger and better things (you essentially look just like Jesse Palmer, I’m not really sure what’s keeping you off of TV).
Good luck and thank you, sincerely, for making this a must-read site and even more so, a wonderful and welcoming community. I am not alone in saying it has enriched my life and given me many new friends. Have fun!
Oh, and my favorite Jacobi moment is still your comparing yourself to Sally Draper in one of the earlier podcasts. Precocious indeed.
Kyle McCann't - January 2, 2012
that first sentence slayed me.
therealCatnuts - January 2, 2012
The above-referenced necrophiliac
is sad this isn’t literally true.
Others have said so well those things I feel about your departure, Mr. Pow Surprise, that I don’t want to simply pile on. Thank you for all your hard work, insightful analysis and batshit insanity, as well as dedication, that went into making BHGP my favorite non-midget clown rodeo porn site on the web.
HoyaGoon - January 2, 2012 via mobile
"my favorite non-midget clown rodeo porn site"
So you’re saying we could become one-stop shopping for you with a few changes, right?
Hmm…
RossWB - January 4, 2012
It's all coming up
MillhouseHoyaGoon in 2012!HoyaGoon - January 5, 2012
So when does Jdam Aacobi start writing?
Thanks for all your good work!
Blackheartnopants - January 2, 2012 via Android app
Godspeed O P S
Best of luck in your new ventures.
CUNKNNK - January 2, 2012 via Android app
If Hunter S. Thompson and William F. Buckley had a love child ä la the movie "Junior"
It would be you. Thanks for all the work.
One_ill_KevinJ - January 2, 2012
Good luck!
The Bird Cult - January 2, 2012
Good luck with your future Jacobi
tseyb_06 - January 2, 2012
Adam's pregnant?
Blackheartnopants - January 2, 2012 via Android app
Damn.
Looks like I’m going to be looking wistfully out the window and listening to Elliott Smith all day.
Thanks for making BHGP, BHGP.
SomeJerkPoster - January 2, 2012
Thanks Adam. Pretty much just see above. I hope you continue to admire this site, one of your earlier born, up close rather than from far away.
txhawkeye - January 2, 2012
Hmm, Adam, is this REALLY your last post?
Or just your last post as ‘Adam Jacobi’? If it were me, I would sneakily sign up with another handle and post just like the rest of us shnooks. I’ll be on the lookout for anyone new and unusually clever!
Also, I would make it a point to repeatedly criticize my prior self until I was banned. That would be rather Andy Kaufman-esque, don’t you think?
Good luck with your career! Don’t be a stranger….
The Director - January 2, 2012
Can't believe nobody has added 2+2 yet.
Jacobi isn’t leaving for CBS. Obviously he’s the new Defensive Coordinator! Kirk and Barta have finally found BHGP and have decided between OPS’s keen football insight and prank phone calls to Pollard, that OPS is the new and awesome direction Iowa Football is going.
Seriously, Jacobi, we’re going to miss you but we know you’ll drop in from time to time. Even better yet, its awesome knowing a huge new audience is going to get to experience the OPS Show. Keep kicking ass!
RH's Bookie - January 2, 2012 via mobile
Adam/OPS:
thank you, I’m more grateful than I can say for what you’ve done. Good writing + committed irreverence + Iowa Hawkeyes = one of my favorite things ever.
stewartom - January 2, 2012
Adam, will you have a kind of "cameo" role here?
Or can we expect to see you maybe snooping around Hamsterdam threads?
iamalex13 - January 2, 2012
He will leave for a while, realize what he's missing, and come back.
At which point, my movie-quoting tendencies will kick in, and I will say:
“I wrote you every day for a year!”
“It wasn’t over! It’s still not over!”
I think we all know what happens after that.
bornofclay - January 2, 2012 via mobile
Gratzi Mssr. Jacobi
Thank you
May you never lose your Hawkness
Best of luck for whence you go
And thank you for making this place
The true place for Hawk fans to hang
As me sainted pappy, god rest his soul, used to say
Like a good whorehouse
A little something for everyone
As long as there is BHGP
I need no more
Fare forward voyager
GO HAWKS
OhioHawk - January 2, 2012
So long and good luck Adam
I’ve enjoyed reading your entries and we’ll miss your incite.
8 wins will be a stretch next year and JVB returning as starter inspires no confidence.
IAinCA - January 2, 2012
Like, as in, we’ll miss your ability to incite laughter, thought, or angry riots.
WaterlooChazz - January 2, 2012
you got me
spelling is not my strong suit
INSIGHT
IAinCA - January 3, 2012
What bowl did we play in the last two years?
Lukateake - January 3, 2012
ConfidenceSlayer.com Bowl
Kyle McCann't - January 3, 2012
Oh, you glorious bastard!
Lukateake - January 3, 2012
Thank you for all the work you've done here, Jacobi.
I started following early 2010, right after the Orange Bowl. It’s been an addiction ever since. You are hilarious and very inciteful and I’m glad that that will continue here when you leave.
That being said, you are a traitor and you deserve a traitors death.
Who’s with me!
bornofclay - January 2, 2012 via mobile
Oops i forgot to put that was joking.
*joking
bornofclay - January 2, 2012 via mobile
Thanks for everything Jacobi
It won’t be the same without you, but everyone knows that you’ll always be watching (along with our favorite troll pantherhawk)
hawk6894 - January 2, 2012
Thanks Adam Jacobi for the time and passion you've poured into this site.
I’m glad it’s created opportunities you deserve to have created for you, even though it sucks that you’re going away.
This site has made me a better fan and has been an incredible read almost every day for the last four years. You’ve been crucial to that. My deep thanks.
For that matter, thanks to all the creators, editors, and auditors for this mostly thankless and mostly unpaid work. I hope that you continue to get the page views you deserve (tell people about BHGP, people!). I hope that you, too, have deserved opportunities created for you.
The Final Gun - January 2, 2012
I'm a third generation Hawkeye, if you couldn't guess.
Not by enrollment or diploma, but by fanhood. My grandmother was a die-hard Hawk fan, her children are all die-hard Hawk fans, and their children are die-hard Hawk fans, myself not the least. We’ve had season tickets since the late 60’s. One of my clearest childhood memories is shaking Hayden Fry’s hand after one of his last spring games. My identity as an Iowa fan is deeply rooted.
This is all to highlight the significance of the following truth: this site has completely changed the nature of my Iowa fanhood. The foundation will forever be grandma’s scads of Hawkeye decorations, Saturday morning drives to the game with my dad, the Iowa Fight Song, Nile Kinnick, the Old Capitol, the Tiger Hawk, and bucolic Iowa City itself, but this site has given me a community of hundreds of fellow Hawkeye friends who are intelligent and hilarious. This has allowed me to bring the Calvin and Hobbes-loving, Mad Men-watching, Ween-listening, dick joke-making side of myself (a much larger part of my identity than the sports fan part) into my Iowa fanhood, and thusly to make my Iowa fanhood a more cohesive part of who I am. I will be forever grateful.
Thank you, OPS.
Third Generation Hawk - January 2, 2012
I went to Ween's New Year's Eve show
I heard it was amazing
Hayden Fry's Moustache Ride - January 2, 2012
This does not compute.
Do you not remember going?
EnergizerHawk - January 3, 2012
My first taste of BHGP was from OPS
Been a hilarious part of my daily routine ever since.
George Washington Eagleclaw - January 2, 2012
Link didn't show
http://www.blackheartgoldpants.com/2009/9/5/1017284/iowa-crushes-northern-iowa-in-17
George Washington Eagleclaw - January 2, 2012
So does this mean that Oops Pow Surprise will return?
EnergizerHawk - January 2, 2012
But seriously, Thank you for everything.
I’ve laughed, cried, and even hated the things you wrote, but in the end, it all made me quietly reflect and learn more about my beloved Hawkeyes. Thank you for being the compass needle in this storm of insanity.
EnergizerHawk - January 2, 2012
Never Forget...
Oops Pow
Patrick_the_Ruminator - January 2, 2012
Godspeed Adam
You’ll always be OPS to me. I don’t know what sort of fan I’d be without this site and all of you, but the easy answer is an even worse one than I am now. Thanks to all of you for your hard work. The info and laughs makes my day almost every day.
chitownhawkeye - January 2, 2012
Fair winds and following seas, OPS!
No, but seriously. I for one, will not miss you. You are a bastard! Your free candy (from the faded van) led me to this site so long ago, and now you leave me?! I hope you stub your little toe on the edge of a coffee table very soon! Now go! Leave already!
/firststageofloss
In related news;
I love how you incur the wrath and then bolt. Thanks a bunch.
steaming_pile_of_awcrap - January 2, 2012
/secondstageofloss
//fixed
steaming_pile_of_awcrap - January 2, 2012
Thanks for the laughs, OPS.
CyHawk - January 2, 2012
Adam, your brain..
gave me my identity on this site. I’ve had the pleasure to meet you in person. I read this site several times a day. I don’t know what else to say other than thank you for creating something that I love. Best of luck.
Cornshoe Hammaker - January 2, 2012
WELL DONE, SIR
Thanks for all the laughs and congrats on going pro.
I’m not worried about losing you as a writer here. The team is still great at BHGP, but you will still be missed.
iowabeakster - January 2, 2012
CorrectHawk, you're getting what you deserve.
A damn good writer in any era, and able to ride this 21st-century style of sportswriting to great heights. Your blend of wit, insight and absurdity is one I appreciate and enjoy.
Still sad to see you leave here, of course. So I say adios and bonne chance, for the second time.
Cattlefeeder - January 2, 2012
Thanks for everything OPS!
I’m so glad I found this site again after losing it for a while and glad I was able to provide you with the opportunity for one last banhammer the other night.
Carfino'sWay - January 2, 2012
Huge fan of yours, Mr. Jacobi.
Thanks for all the laughs, and I will continue to read any article you so happen to write outside of BHGP.
kEvanson - January 2, 2012
BHGP has become one of my most frequented sites
I tried writing a couple things, but soon realized I couldn’t just get altered, tickle a keyboard, and make women want me and men want to be like me. Godspeed, Jacobi. Godspeed BHGP.
Maizefed - January 3, 2012
He battles any sex or any race.
Us beating him is like Billy Crystal playing Scarface.
He can’t see us. Blind to the eye.
He came up in our face, Oops Pow Surprise!
Ohhhhh!!
IPeeBlackAndGold - January 3, 2012
Farewell
yadda, yadda, let’s talk about next season.
Wildly Optimistic Predictions! We have enough talent on offense to score sometimes, which is all we need with our revamped 2004 defense…wait, let me explain. Lowery is the next Hyde and Hyde is still here! If you believe some of the previous comments made during the season (by TangerinePony) then Tanner Miller should have at least 10 ints and five ball jarring hits. Nico Law’s special teams play becomes consistently special at SS, Christian “Junior Captain” Kirksey gains mass AND speed and plays like he played at Iowa State all year long, and James Morris lives up to a third of the hype surrounding him, making him the Butkus Award Winner, and the D-line does something that I can’t even dream of my god they are going to be bad, and we win 10 games!
Next year, we need to keep an eye on the O-line. The House of Kirk is built on O-lines, and our previous two seasons on the O-line have been good, but not great. If Kirk can’t plug the gaps in the O-line, Vandy gets pressured, Hawkeye Back #34 can’t run, and we go 4-8 and even Barta has to start discussing Kirk’s job security.
TangerinePony - January 3, 2012
Thanks for everything AJ
SaturdayMorningKegStanzis - January 3, 2012
Thanks for a lot of fun
The blogosphere remains largely foreign to me, probably because I’m er, um, just a little older, had plenty to do before it exploded and will hopefully continue to as it endlessly expands.. I have Mike Hlas to thank for sending me here. He made some reference to the site about a couple of years ago and I determined that for him to do it, in addition to farce value there had to be some substance. Time and again BHGP has provided both, in abundance, and the fact that some of the traditional media clearly lurk and maybe even show up on occasion is more telling than any compliment I can give.
I can’t even begin to recount the posts that made me laugh to myself or out loud a time or two, but just as important are the more serious subjects, such as CTEs , about which you have posted. The research, intelligence and reason applied to more serious matters simply added credibility to the off-the-wall stuff. These are intelligent people having fun, as opposed to the many places out there which leave me more likely to avoid the blogs completely rather than waste my time with them.
I finally started to participate, and while I’ll never be the sort to drop F-bombs the whole experience made me more receptive to what goes on in the blogosphere. It probably helped me connect on a more common ground with my teenaged son. My wife has no idea what a “meme” is and didn’t “get” most of the gifs that show up here. My son and I now sometimes exchange things we’ve seen.
For a while it has seemed the natural order of things in this environment that you would be moving on, writing where, oh, I don’t know, maybe it pays or something. Congrats on that, its the kind of thing that is really cool to see. I’ll just have to reach out a little further into the internet jungle to read your work. Anyway, from a guy who regularly reads a total of maybe 5 blogs, and not counting the Gazette this was the first, thanks for the great posts here and the fun you have had and given us along the way. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll be digging back into the archives to take another look at that “If coaches were cars” blog from years ago…
Mr. Grizz - January 3, 2012
Ahem.
Don’t forget #FollowAdam_Jacobi
RossWB - January 4, 2012
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