Besides the outcome of the game, the other rough part of the weekend in Iowa was moving in and out of their football stadium. Four years ago, they added new locker rooms and endzone seating in their stadium. Of course, they kept their tradition of the visitors locker room being pink, but trust me, they took it to a whole new level. When I say everything was pink, I mean everything! The carpet, the lockers, and even the urinals.
We had a plan of how we could take some of the "cut" out of all the pink, but we should have brought paint if we really wanted to take it away. We did bring white butcher paper and covered most of all the pink walls, plus brought banners too. Unfortunately, it didn't make much of a difference. Oh well, at least we tried!
The real problem with the new locker room was the difficulty of moving in and out of the locker room. It is one level below ground level, and one level above the playing field. There are ramps for easy access to and from the field for the locker room, BUT, there is one elevator to move trunks and other items up and down from where the truck is and where the locker rooms are. If that is bad enough, the elevator is WAY out of the way. Even though the truck is parked right about your locker room, the elevator is over a 100 yards away through a concourse (full of people after the game) so you spend a lot of time pushing trunks one at a time. Then of course, you have to make that same walk when you get down or up the elevator. Exhausting and takes a long time to accomplish the job. Thank goodness Coach Stoops is a very understanding man. It took us awhile to get out of the locker room!!!
Otherwise, it is a very accommodating set up. Plus, the Iowa Equipment staff was very helpful with directions, especially Kevin Foor.
Our truck gets back into town this evening (Sunday) and then we have to get everything done so it can turn around and leave for Oregon Wednesday evening after practice.
The Iowa Hawkeye fans know how to tailgate, that is for sure. They have GREAT fans, just like we do!
There was quite a buzz around the stadium before kickoff:
Here are some GREAT Wildcat fans, tailgating with some Iowa fans:
This is one of two coaches trunks that we pack for each trip (including home games). NOTE: both trunks have a checklist for me to make sure I don't forget anything, including two extra hangers in each locker so the coaches can hang up the clothes they wore to the stadium.
This side of the trunk is where the shoes and socks are stored, among other things:
This side of the trunk is where the slacks, belts and shirts hang:
This is how each coaches locker looked when they got to the stadium:
A few little things we bring with us for the coaches locker room:
Really! They take this pink to a whole new level. Even the coaches locker room, EVERYTHING was pink!!!!!
This is how the coaches locker room looked when they arrived to the stadium for the game:
Jeff Gallego working hard to get the game shoes cleaned up and looking good:
Jordan Bates, making his first ever regular road game trip, did a GREAT job. Here he is getting ready to tape a jersey onto the shoulder pads:
This is a look at how we set up each locker for the players.
Another look at how we set up the lockers:
We brought some banners with us to try and cover up some of the pink and give the room more of a Wildcat theme:
A view of the locker room and what the players saw when they arrived for the game. Can't believe they couldn't find pink trash cans!
Another attempt to cover up all of the pink and give the locker room more of a home feeling:
Team leaving the locker room for kickoff:
Team going down the ramp towards the field for kickoff:
Great college football atmosphere! I took this shot as we ran out on to the field, right before the National Anthem:
Robert Lloyd (front) and Ben Hulka get the last few items out of the locker room after the game and take to the truck:
Our two truck drivers, working extremely hard as usual, are getting everything properly packed away for the long drive home immediately following the game. Thanks Bob and Bob!!!
Here are some GREAT Wildcat fans, tailgating with some Iowa fans:
This is one of two coaches trunks that we pack for each trip (including home games). NOTE: both trunks have a checklist for me to make sure I don't forget anything, including two extra hangers in each locker so the coaches can hang up the clothes they wore to the stadium.
This side of the trunk is where the shoes and socks are stored, among other things:
This side of the trunk is where the slacks, belts and shirts hang:
This is how each coaches locker looked when they got to the stadium:
A few little things we bring with us for the coaches locker room:
Really! They take this pink to a whole new level. Even the coaches locker room, EVERYTHING was pink!!!!!
This is how the coaches locker room looked when they arrived to the stadium for the game:
Jeff Gallego working hard to get the game shoes cleaned up and looking good:
Jordan Bates, making his first ever regular road game trip, did a GREAT job. Here he is getting ready to tape a jersey onto the shoulder pads:
This is a look at how we set up each locker for the players.
Another look at how we set up the lockers:
We brought some banners with us to try and cover up some of the pink and give the room more of a Wildcat theme:
A view of the locker room and what the players saw when they arrived for the game. Can't believe they couldn't find pink trash cans!
Another attempt to cover up all of the pink and give the locker room more of a home feeling:
Team leaving the locker room for kickoff:
Team going down the ramp towards the field for kickoff:
Great college football atmosphere! I took this shot as we ran out on to the field, right before the National Anthem:
Robert Lloyd (front) and Ben Hulka get the last few items out of the locker room after the game and take to the truck:
Our two truck drivers, working extremely hard as usual, are getting everything properly packed away for the long drive home immediately following the game. Thanks Bob and Bob!!!
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