A wins a win, right?

 Well the season opener for the Hawkeyes was definitely not what we had in mind, but I guess a wins a win.  The Hawks had a few shining moments (like the back-to-back FG blocks), but didn't look very sharp in my opinion.  I thought the Panthers looked great, and if the season opener is any indication of the season ahead, look out for UNI.  I like the panthers... I went to UNI before transferring to Iowa, so it's good to see them playing so well (I would just prefer it to NOT be against IOWA: )  What a game.  What a FINISH rather!  The final seconds of the game, no matter who you were rooting for, was enough to make anybody keel over.  I don't think I have ever been through so many emotions in such a short amount of time... from the disgust and sorrow of how crappy Iowa was playing... to the contentment of actually being ahead even though we weren't playing the best... to the nervousness (and FRIGHT) of being up only 1 point with 7 seconds to go and UNI getting ready to attempt a field goal... to the jubilation of the FIRST blocked field goal... to the confusion and frustration of why there was still one second remaining... to the uncertainty and anxiety of the official's ruling... to the disbelief and panic of UNI getting a second chance at the FG... to the diziness of holding my breath through the whole 2nd FG effort... to the PURE AMAZEMENT THAT WE BLOCKED 2 IN A ROW AND THE RELIEF AND EXCITEMENT THAT WE WON!  Yeah... all that in 7 seconds:o)  Hawkeyes 17... Panthers 16... too close for comfort?  I'd say so... but a wins a win, right?!
Ryan & Amanda were back from nashville for the weekend, so we were excited Ryan was able to come to the game with us.  Brad & Braley, a couple good friends of mine from college, stopped by our tailgate for a bit as well.  They were filming hi-lights for "Panther Sports Talk", and roped me in to some fan football trivia.  I should have known Brad would use all of the ones I MISSED for their tv show!  Some friend he is, huh!?  Hah!  But for the record, out of all of the questions they asked me, I only missed 3... they just so happened to be 3 that he put on air.  HAH!   
So anyway, week 1 for the Hawkeyes is in the books, now Joel and I look forward to our trip to Jack Trice Stadium tomorrow morning with our friends Michael & Rachel to show those cyclones a thing or two! 

The game was only the start of our day... from there, we swung home and picked my folks up, and the 4 of us ventured to Newton for the Nascar truck race.  The same VERY generous Nascar official that hooked us up with garage passes in Charlotte, again hooked us up in Newton!  What an awesome guy!  By the time we got to the track, most of the cars were already out on pit-road preparing to qualify, so we didn't really get in on much action in the garages.  It was still a lot of fun though!  We even watched the race from the infield.  We didn't get home until after midnight, but although it was a very long day, it was definitely a lot of fun!