Welcome (Back) to Hawkeye State

Time is a flat circle, and so is Iowa Football.

In the Beginning

In September 2006, halfway through a twelve-pack of bargain beer drank in a two-bedroom apartment in Davenport, Iowa, a college football blog called Hawkeye State sprung to life. That blog, named with minimal forethought and creativity, went on as a one-man show for about a year. It was then folded into The Hawkeye Compulsion — a crude marijuana joke made decades before such humor was found in a neon green shop in every suburban strip mall — which then became Black Heart Gold Pants, the SB Nation Iowa Hawkeyes blog. From there, things went plaid. I assume most of you know me from my time at BHGP and SB Nation.

In 2016, BHGP’s founders and principals moved to Go Iowa Awesome, and that was great for a while. Earlier this year, Go Iowa Awesome was folded into the Rivals Network. and most of those guys publish today over there. It’s quite good content, and proud we are of their work. You should subscribe to them.

But not all of us were cut out to write news or follow recruiting or play Iowa Athletics straight. I was never meant to be a newsman. I never intended to report anything ever. Every scoop I ever got at BHGP or GIA went to someone who could actually use it. I came here 17 years ago to crack wise and chew gum, and I’ve long since run out of gum.

I retired from this game seven months ago when GIA moved, and I was fine with that for a while. But Morehouse is off to the hinterlands. Dochterman has gone national. GIA has a code of ethics. That ephemeral thing is missing from the Iowa sports media landscape, a thing for those who treat it as both the most and least serious thing in the world, all at the same time. And so here I am, back at a Hawkeye State of sorts, on my own, where it all began.

What’s this Subscription Stuff?

Let’s start here: I’m not doing this as a job or side hustle. I don’t need or want your money. I’m not an insider, and my insights into Iowa athletics are mostly amateur in nature, and they’re probably not worth a monthly fee. I’m not hiring anyone to help me out. This is, essentially, a zero-expense operation, and I can cover anything that comes up.

But I’m also busy, far busier than I was in that apartment in 2006. I have a family and a career and a house and other hobbies. I also grew up in Iowa, so I have that Midwestern thing where, if someone is going to pay me for doing something, I’m damn sure going to do it. Paid subscribers are going to keep me honest, essentially.

My plan is this:

• There will be one free post a week. If you can’t afford a subscription, or don’t want to subscribe for whatever reason, there’s still a home for you.

• There will be at least one paid subscription post a week, as well. During football season, that will likely be the pregame post on Fridays.

• In order to keep the comment sections free of spam, only paid subscribers can leave comments. To the extent there are any sort of AMAs or virtual meet-ups, those will also be for paid subscribers.

• However, all profits on subscriptions (after whatever minimal expenses I have) will be donated, in full, to the UI Children’s Hospital.

If that sounds good to you, feel free to sign up.

Let’s put the fun back into punting. Let’s get to funting.

Go Hawks,

PV

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