Harty: New Stage, But Debate Continues
Even on a new stage with allhawkeyes.com, the debate between Mr. Optimist and Mr. Pessimist rages on with regard to University of Iowa athletics.
The person whose glass is always half full versus the person whose glass is always half empty. You name the topic and they’ll have a different opinion.
Here is the latest example of that:
Mr. Optimist: Nick Day’s walk-off, 2-run home run, which came with two strikes and two outs against Ohio State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, will forever have a place among the greatest moments in the history of the conference tournament.
Mr. Pessimist: My lasting impressions of the 2015 Big Ten Baseball Tournament are of empty seats at Target Field, ridiculously late starting times for some of the games and having some early-round games that weren’t even televised live by the Big Ten Network.
Mr. Optimist: Baseball is on the rise in the Big Ten as evidenced by five teams making this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Mr. Pessimist: Except for in Madison, Wis., where baseball isn’t as important as what Barry Alvarez had for dinner last night.
Mr. Optimist: Fred Hoiberg coaching the Chicago Bulls would please Iowa fans in two ways; for one, he wouldn’t be coaching the Cyclones anymore, and two, he’d be coaching an NBA team that many Hawkeye fans adore.
Mr. Pessimist: I’d feel better about Iowa’s chances against the Cyclones, at least for next season, if Hoiberg would stay in Ames, while Georges Niang, Monte Morris, Naz Long and Jameel McKay all leave together.
Mr. Optimist: By the end of this week, there will be fewer than 100 days left before the Iowa football team’s season opener against Illinois State on Sept. 5 at Kinnick Stadium.
Mr. Pessimist: I’m getting chills just thinking about the new horizontal passing routes that Greg Davis has up his sleeve.
Mr. Optimist: There always is hope for an Iowa football team that doesn’t play Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State or Michigan State in the same season, as is the case with the 2015 Hawkeyes.
Mr. Pessimist: Hope worked a lot better for Andy Dufresne in “The Shawshank Redemption” than it has for the Iowa football team lately.
Mr. Optimist: The NCAA rules committee was correct in recommending that the 35-second shot clock be lowered to 30 seconds. Anything to pick up the pace.
Mr. Pessimist: I’m guessing former Iowa men’s basketball coach Todd Lickliter would feel differently.
Mr. Optimist: I read on this website that at least seven basketball recruits who attended the prestigious EYBL event this past weekend in Minneapolis have Iowa among their schools of interest.
Mr. Pessimist: I didn’t read where any of the seven are close to committing to Iowa.
Mr. Optimist: The Iowa baseball team will make its fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament when it faces Oregon on Friday in Springfield, Mo.
Mr. Pessimist: The Oregon baseball team will make its fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last six seasons.
Mr. Optimist: I like the Iowa football team’s chance of defeating Iowa State in Ames this coming season, mostly because the Cyclones were abysmal in each of the past two seasons, finishing with a combined record of 5-19, including 2-10 last season.
Mr. Pessimist: Albert Einstein must have been referring to you when he defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Mr. Optimist: It’s exciting knowing that the Iowa football team will play at least two home games this season in prime time, the first against Pittsburgh on Sept. 19 and the second against Minnesota on Nov. 14.
Mr. Pessimist: It’s depressing when you consider the odds of Iowa being mediocre and the weather being lousy against the Gophers in mid-November.
Mr. Optimist: The Iowa wrestling team finished runner-up at the 2015 NCAA Championships, proving again that it is without question the premier sports program at the University of Iowa.
Mr. Pessimist: I refuse to say anything bad about the Iowa wrestlers because they scare me and because, for once, you’re right.