UTSA 62, Iowa 50

Unlike for Hawkeye football, it may be hard finding photos of Iowa men’s basketball games this season. The 2009-10 Hawks probably won’t be making the right kind of headlines. Take for example this one from the Big Ten Network: “Hawkeyes stunned by Texas-San Antonio, 62-50.”

Tonight’s loss to UTSA was Iowa’s first home opening loss since 1962-63. This is the first time the team has started 0-1 since losing to Iowa State in the opening game of the 1977-78 campaign.

Although the Hawks are a very young team, and UTSA returned three starters from last season, tonight’s game is an ominous start. This is a season Hawkeye fans will likely forget.

These are dark days for the Iowa men’s basketball program. Four impact players transferred in the off-season, and all that’s left are two upperclassmen, a whole slew of sophomores and freshmen, and the coach’s son, who at some point needs to justify his scholarship on the court. I’m not expecting much, but the silver lining is that the young talent will surely grow, and it will be interesting, and probably a tad painful, to see them do that this year.

The naysayers on the DMR, P-C, and Gazette comment boards can talk all the shit they want. Let them post this and post that, and call for Todd Lickliter’s ouster, because I won’t be reading any of their shit this year. I read the first comment on the DMR story tonight, and decided that that’s it. Every time I read an article about the Hawkeyes in one of the Iowa papers, I’ll collapse the comment section so I don’t have to even see it. (The Gazette doesn’t have that feature, so I’ll just have to avoid the bottom of the page.)

For the record, Lickliter’s style of basketball is not my favorite, but I want to see what he can do. He’s in the process of rebuilding the program and making it his, so he deserves time and patience. Back when he was hired, I lauded Lickliter and called him a savoir. His first two years were tough, and he’s yet to resurrect the program, but I still support him and the effort he’s making in Iowa City. I think he’s a great guy and hope it works out. If it doesn’t, we all know what will happen. In the meantime, it’s worth it to keep this in mind: he’s not Alford. Hallelujah.

Needless to say, I’m a Hawkeye men’s basketball fan to the marrow and will be cheering them all season. (The Iowa women are cool, too, by the way.) For the holiday’s I’ll be back in IC for over three weeks, and plan to attend all four home games the men play.

Go Hawks!