Hayden Fry kicks up a heel after the Hawkeyes scored a TD at Ohio State in 1991. (Gazette file)
Fry Fest is coming. It’s a website now, so you know it’s official and everything.
The world’s largest Hawkeye trade show, check. The “Hayden Fry Way” unveiling, check. The Charlie Daniels Band, check and check.
All that and — oh yeah — there’s a football game, too. The Hawkeyes open the season Sept. 5 when they host Northern Iowa.
Come for the Fry Fest, stay for the 2009 season opener.
(We have a million archived Hayden photos. Any chance I get to run one, I’m taking it.)
On Iowa 
Whatever happened to Pony shoes?
By: MF on May 4, 2009
at 10:42 AM
Great question!
They were my 7th grade hoops shoes.
By: marcmwm on May 4, 2009
at 11:21 AM
There will be t-shirts, official t-shirts, and they will be awful. The CMA Nominated Perfomer TBD is a nice touch. This will be a great event and a lot of fun but there’s a lot of itching to be scratched. As for Pony — I think they jumped the shark when they signed Jenna Jameson as an ‘endorser.’
By: e on May 4, 2009
at 12:40 PM
Looking at that picture more closely, I’m confused by the helmets. I vaguely remember them going logo-less for a game but can’t for the life of me remember why.
By: MF on May 4, 2009
at 1:20 PM
The game followed the shooting(s) at Van Allen Hall. The helmets were stripped in honor of the victims. I believe 3 died that day (and the surviving victim recently passed away.) It might also be remembered as the Chuck Hartlieb to Marv Cook “Ed Podolak just kissed me” game.
By: e on May 4, 2009
at 1:32 PM
I thought the “Podolak just kissed me” was the ’87 game where Marv Cook scored on the final play of the game. It’s great to see Hayden in his prime, being his often entertaining self. I appreciate all that coach Ferentz has done, in some respects more than Fry, but I don’t think anybody at Iowa was more entertaining (not always happy, but entertaining) than Fry. A large photo gallery in advance of the event (the sooner the better) would be great, and a fun reminder of how Iowa football came to life again.
By: Scott in Arizona on May 4, 2009
at 1:51 PM
You’re right e. The Gang Lu shootings were a day before that Ohio State game, which Iowa won. But, I think Scott is correct. The Marv Cook touchdown was in ’87. Cook graduated in ’89.
By: MF on May 4, 2009
at 2:04 PM
And the black helmets really show off how much of the Steelers uniform Hayden “borrowed”.
By: MF on May 4, 2009
at 2:05 PM
This is from ’91 Ohio State. It was the shooting game and the long TD pass to . . . TE Alan Cross, I believe?
Great point, Scott. This is all Hayden Fry. He made all of this happen. I’ll keep the gallery in mind. That’s a great idea. I’m sure I’m only hitting the tip of the iceberg as far as archive goes. I posted a few old ones of Ed Podolak when he had his press conference. They bring back memories and are, in my mind, just plain cool.
e, oh boy. The FCC is calling! 🙂
Make no mistake. MF is right. Those uniforms were the Steelers.
By: marcmwm on May 4, 2009
at 3:08 PM
It’s not like Fry ever denied stealing the uniform design though. That was the point, he wanted to create a culture of winning and the Steel Curtain was near its peak when he took over.
By: Adam on May 4, 2009
at 9:42 PM
Yep, I remember his thoughts on the unis. Made sense.
I remember Tom Kopatich brought Notre Dame unis to my alma mater, Wahlert. Then, he went to Ottumwa and made the Bulldogs Nebraska except “O” for the “N.”
I like the idea. CR Wash this year looked a lot like Alabama.
By: marcmwm on May 5, 2009
at 12:11 PM
And now universities sue high schools for trademark infringement if they don’t get prior permission to use logos and styles.
By: MF on May 5, 2009
at 1:37 PM
I did a story on that almost 10 years ago now.
Iowa is very aggressive when it comes to the use of the Tiger Hawk. I believe the only school authorized to use it is City High. I believe others can use it, but it costs money. Or maybe they can’t.
I don’t know the story with Wisconsin’s motion W. I think Waukee and Wisconsin had talks about it. I’m pretty sure Wisconsin is the same way.
The one school that I thought was especially enlightened was Kansas State. For a nominal fee (pretty much nothing), schools can use the Power Cat. If they sell gear with the logo, the cost goes up, but for the most part it’s free. A healthy approach, IMO.
Each school has its reasons for doing things. If I were Iowa, I’d probably be the same way. I’d want the Tiger Hawk to mean “Iowa,” not East Something Senior High.
By: marcmwm on May 5, 2009
at 1:57 PM
The story I recall is that the Steelers agreed to send up a jersey, which Hayden supposedly copied down to the width of the stripes. Bet the NFL would allow that now? One of the best moves Kirk has made was to bring it back.
I think K-State’s willingness to give away the Power Cat is a reflection of the depths from which they came. I lived in Kansas in the early-mid ’70s and however low you thought Iowa was then, I can assure you K-State was lower. They were probably thrilled to be thought of by anybody outside the state or the conference. A local high school here has a big purple Power Cat on the outside of the gym.
I’m conflicted as to spreading the use of the Tiger Hawk. It’s a good thing to be emulated but part of me wants it kept in gold on a black helmet in Iowa City.
By: Scott in Arizona on May 5, 2009
at 6:18 PM
Sorry to go on, but I have to add this–I have come back three times now just to see the photo again. I was a student in the last of the bad years (we lost 6-5, or maybe it was 5-4, to Arizona–Roby to win from 60–wide right) and the first of the good years. You had to be there in ’81 to understand how fun and exciting it was.
By: Scott in Arizona on May 5, 2009
at 6:24 PM
I’m pretty sure the agreement was that Waukee has to phase out their use of the motion W within the next couple years, but I’m not totally sure.
ISU threatened to sue the crap out of my old high school (Perry) back when we were using a logo that was almost exactly like their old one with the bird in a tornado. I don’t know why a team called the Bluejays had a tornado in their logo, but I guess don’t know why a team called the Cyclones has a bird in theirs either, so, whatever. Anyway, we immediately responded by changing the logo to an exact replica of the Purdue P, which I always thought was pretty funny. Clearly we didn’t exactly learn the lesson there.
By: Adam on May 5, 2009
at 6:28 PM
Scott, I can’t imagine how exciting it would’ve been in ’81. What a rush!
I didn’t know that about Perry, Adam. Iowa State used to be the Cardinals. I believe their nickname changed when a radio guy, don’t know who, said ISU descended on somewhere like a “cyclone.”
Thus, the spinning bird.
By: marcmwm on May 5, 2009
at 8:03 PM
That game was played the day after the shooting on the University of Iowa campus. Six people were shot and killed that day. Four physics faculty members, a physics graduate student and the assistant vice president for academic affairs. A student employee was a quadriplegic after the shooting and died recently of breast cancer.
By: Nicole on March 6, 2010
at 7:02 PM