RON MALY HAS BEEN WATCHING THE PARADE GO BY FOR A LONG TIME. THIS IS ONE OF HIS WEBSITES.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

What a wonderful day yesterday was for me. I got to spend most of the morning and part of the afternoon in Iowa City, where homecoming was all over the place on the University of Iowa campus. The trees and the sumac were in their full autumn colors. The weather was warm and felt like late-summer. The sun shone brightly. It was a festive atmosphere outside and inside Kinnick Stadium. The drum line did an outstanding job in its pregame warmup. The marching band, the dancers, the golden girl and the cheerleaders performed in sparkling style in their indoor practice session in front of a huge, standing-room-only crowd in the Recreation Building. Despite worries suggested by people on the pregame radio programs that Indiana might be a problem for Iowa in the football game, that was not the case at all. The Hoosiers could have stayed home. They didn't have a chance. The Hawkeyes' offense turned in its best performance so far in this 2014 season. Jake Rudock showed those who were still wondering that he is, indeed, a quality quarterback. People should quit saying and writing that he shouldn't be the starter. They should get off Rudock's back and off coach Kirk Ferentz's back. In my book, Rudock is the clear-cut No. 1 guy. The 175-member alumni band is always one of my favorite parts of homecoming, and the group turned in a dandy show the entire day. Nothing quite like the alumni band putting on a spectacular performance in front of more than 70,000 appreciative football fans. There was more to be happy about on this Saturday in October. The Royals won and the Cardinals lost. It can't get any better than that. Like I said, it was a fantastic Saturday.


Photo of Alumni Band courtesy of University of Iowa Alumni Association