What I Did This Weekend

This weekend, DH and I drove to Cedar Falls, Iowa, about two hours away to attend a retirement party for a friend who worked at John Deere Waterloo Works for 33 years. The next day we cheered the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) Panther football team to their 30-0 shut-out win against St. Francis (Pennsylvania). In the 1AA division, the Panthers are ranked #3 in the nation.

UNI is DH's alma mater. From 1972-74 we lived in married student housing while he went to school and I worked full time. To be completely honest, I probably wouldn't follow this team if it wasn't for the fact that they play all their home games in the UNI-dome.
In the dome, the temperature is a constant and comfortable 72 degrees (22 C), even when Iowa's nastiest howling winds and frigid temperatures - as low as -10 (-23 C) - cause us to make a mind-numbing run from the parking lot to the dome.

Panther fans wear purple and gold. And the marching band is pretty good, once you get past trying to sort out all the sounds reverberating from the top of the dome.

This year the UNI cheerleaders have taken to doing flips when the score reaches a certain number. I haven't quite figured out when it is they make the switch from push-ups to flips, but it's pretty impressive. Watch this video.

The rest of us are just happy to take it easy and enjoy tailgating with great friends.

Go Panthers!