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Hawkeye fan makes it to Rose Bowl from Air Force base in London
Dec. 31, 2015 9:08 pm
PASADENA, Calif. - Sitting in the dark at 1:30 a.m. London time, Iowa native and University of Iowa graduate Matt Lynch did his best to watch his Hawkeyes battle Michigan State in the Big 10 Championship in early December without waking up his wife.
'I was trying to not yell as much as normal,” said Lynch, 32, an Air Force captain and lawyer deployed to the Royal Air Force Station Lakenheath, northeast of London.
A week earlier, Lynch was in Istanbul, Turkey - alone, again, in the dark at 1:30 a.m. - watching online from his hotel room as the Hawkeyes notched the team's first undefeated season in history with a win against Nebraska.
'I had headphones so I wouldn't wake the people I was with,” Lynch said, conceding he did a lot of silent screaming. 'I absolutely was. It was the big fist pump and open mouth.”
Silence was especially difficult when Hawkeye running back Jordan Canzeri scored a paramount touchdown.
'My emotions started running wild,” Lynch said.
Growing up in Lawler and graduating from the UI College of Law in 2009, Lynch said he long ago vowed to be in the stadium if Iowa ever made it back to the Rose Bowl. And when the invitation came this season, Lynch got lucky.
After spending seven years with season tickets, he had been to just five Hawkeye games in the past six years, thanks to his obligations with the Air Force. But this year, Lynch and his wife were scheduled to make a trip to the United States for a Jan. 2 wedding in Tennessee.
'And I said, ‘There is no way I'm missing this thing,'” he said.
The same day Iowa got the Rose Bowl invitation, Lynch landed game tickets with his brother and his nephews and changed his travel plans to head west for New Year's Day. Like many others, Lynch hit weather snags after arriving in the United States and saw his flight get canceled.
Determined to make the bowl game, Lynch and his wife drove eight hours from Chicago to Nashville to catch a 9 a.m. Wednesday flight to Los Angeles.
On Thursday, Lynch said, he spent the day playing football by the ocean and preparing for what he expects will be a electrifying start to 2016.
'With the heart of this Iowa team - and I'm not just being optimistic - I'm calling a close Hawkeye victory,” he said.
Matt Lynch 32, third from left in sunglasses, is shown with his brother Greg, 47, and Greg's two kids, Kai, 8, left, and Kirk, 11, right, on Venice Beach near Los Angeles. (Photo suppled by Matt Lynch)
Matt Lynch 32, an Air Force captain stationed in London, poses with a rose he found stuck in the sand at Venice Beach. (Photo suppled by Matt Lynch)
Matt Lynch, 32, an Air Force captain stationed in London, shows some Iowa pride on New Year's Eve while nephew Kai shivers from boogie boarding. (Photo suppled by Matt Lynch)
This photo shows where Matt Lynch, 32, a captain in the Air Force stationed in London, spent his first night back in the U.S. in over a year on Monday night — a cot in a hallway outside the USO at O'Hare Airport in Chicago. (Picture contributed by Matt Lynch)
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