On Iowa Daily Briefing 5.30.12 -- Live from Minnesota

It seems strange to provide a daily briefing on Iowa when working in Minnesota, but in this case, it's about the Iowa in Minnesota.

Four former Hawkeyes currently are rostered with the Minnesota Vikings, and today is an open practice at Winter Park. Thus, it's a good opportunity to catch up with the players.

One is fairly recognizable -- linebacker Chad Greenway. He went to his first Pro Bowl last year, registered 154 tackles and has started 82 of the Vikings' last 83 games.

The others are either aiming for the starting lineup (defensive lineman Christian Ballard) or vying for a roster spot (tight end Allen Reisner and linebacker Tyler Nielsen).

So for stories (and photos by Brian Ray) on the four players and other Iowa-Vikings connections, check www.thegazette.com, The Gazette and KCRG in the coming days.

ON ANOTHER NOTE, while at the Mall of America yesterday, I poked my head in Goldy's Locker Room. I asked the checkout girl if they had any merchandise with Floyd of Rosedale on it. The girl looked at me as if I asked for ice in Alaska and said, "I've never even heard of it." I guess not everyone in Minnesota appreciates the 98.3-pound bronze statue.

HLINKS

-- Tuesday was a pretty good opening day for Iowa in the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship at Los Angeles' famed Riviera Country Club.

The Hawkeyes finished Day 1 tied for sixth in the 30-team competition, just five shots out behind leader Alabama. Freshman Joe Winslow had a 2-under-par 69 to be two shots out of the lead in the individuals' competition.

-- Five current Iowa players will compete in the USA Women's National Championships of field hockey. They are Aubrey Coleman, Sarah Drake, Geena Lesiak, Kathleen McGraw and Danielle Peirson,

They are from Mickleton, N.J.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Voorhees, N.J.; Atherton, Calif.; and Conestoga, Pa.

On Iowa's 17-woman field hockey roster, none have a hometown in the Central time zone.

Two are from Canada, one from Belgium, one from Germany.

Where are all the great field hockey players from Iowa?

-- The National Football Post has always had a soft spot for Iowa's football team. Former Hawkeye player Matt Bowen is a contributing writer for the site, as is agent Jack Bechta, who has represented several former Hawkeyes.

Dave Miller of NFP recently had his Big Ten football preseason power rankings. His No. 1 was a surprise to me, Michigan State.

He had Iowa sixth, which doesn't seem like an insult or an exaggeration.

-- Michigan 2013 football commit Logan Tuley-Tillman instantly made a lot of fans of his college choice and a lot of enemies among Ohio State fans.

Tuley-Tillman received a recruiting letter from the Buckeyes. So he did what anyone in his spot would do and set the letter on fire and posted the burning letter on Twitter.

Tuley-Tillman is from Peoria, Ill. He made an official visit to Iowa in early February. Presumably, he didn't set anything on fire before he went back home.

-- Harrisburg Patriot-News columnist David Jones is one of the best in Big Ten country. Jones suggests Penn State's acting athletic director, Dave Joyner, should be measured by Michigan State AD Mark Hollis.

Last week, Sports Business Journal named Hollis its Athletic Director of the Year. Jones writes:

Hollis smacks of one of those guys who doesn't really understand or care about the soul of spectator sport. He just wants to figure out how to make money from it.

Know what? That's the kind of guy everyone needs these days. It's not pretty and it's not poetic. It's just the truth. And if I were president of a major university with a vacancy in my AD's office, I'd be looking for a guy pretty much just like Mark Hollis.

-- Yes, it's a link from The Onion. What took so long? I don't know, but there will be more to come.

In this "story," the Big 12 confirmed it has agreed to a yearly bowl loss to the SEC.

-- Compiled by Mike Hlas