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Sites and sights around the sports world, part II
As part of our many journeys covering sports, we encounter interesting and impromptu moments, whether it's in Iowa City or elsewhere. This week I'm throwing out a few random pictures from the most recent college sports season. Here are six from the past season:
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One of my favorite pre-game moments came before tipoff at the Kohl Center between rivals Iowa and Wisconsin. Each team stood at attention when the colors were presented. The crowd held stunt cards that had a patriotic theme on Jan. 20, 2015. Those tend to work better at a place like Wisconsin, which already employs two of the three colors of the American flag.
Few basketball arenas nationally match the ambiance of Indiana's Assembly Hall. On March 3, 2015, the arena surprisingly had open pockets and fans booed the host Hoosiers, who were blasted by Iowa. But at its worst, Assembly Hall is better than nearly every environment at its best.
With a new arena, Nebraska's basketball atmosphere quickly has become one of the best. The crowd was at a fever pitch on Feb. 22, 2015 with border foe Iowa in town. All fun for the home fans quickly dissipated as Iowa rolled to a 74-46 victory.
Nobody could have guessed in warm-ups that Iowa would pull off a 60-55 stunner at North Carolina's Dean Dome on Dec. 3, 2014. But that upset win established Iowa as a dogged, hard-nosed team and propelled the Hawkeyes to their first NCAA tournament win since 2001.
In an endearing moment, Northern Iowa center Seth Tuttle clutched on to his 4-year-old niece, Charlee, after Tuttle played in a college all-star game on April 3, 2015 at Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium. Tuttle was a second-team All-American for the record-setting Panthers.
For all the joy that sports often brings, sometimes there's complete heartbreak. Wisconsin forward Sam Dekker was beyond words with despair after losing the NCAA national title to Duke on April 6, 2015 at Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium. ESPN reporter Jeff Goodman sat beside Dekker moments after several reporters left the Badger forward's locker area.
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