Tuesday Is All-Hawkeyes Day ON ESPNU
Some DVR's may soon be running overtime, especially for fans of the Iowa Hawkeyes.
ESPNU has announced a programming schedule that includes a continuous 24-hour block of Iowa games, beginning late Monday night and continuing on Tuesday (See Schedule Below). Oddly enough, a Wisconsin man is responsible for the broadcast gift.
A year ago, during what is known as ESPY Day Auction, Brian Dahlin bid on a package that allowed the winner to schedule a day’s worth of content on ESPNU featuring a college of his or her choice. An Iowa fan, Dahlin won the auction and his financial contribution went to the Jimmy V Foundation for cancer research. As the winning bidder, he selected 10 events featuring the Hawkeyes for the 24-hour programming slot on the world-wide network.
Dahlin is a life-long Wisconsin resident, who was born and raised in Green Bay, graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and works as an paper company executive of town of Nichols. So why would someone who lives in a state that favors the cardinal and white colors of the Wisconsin Badgers and the green and gold of the Green Bay Packers be so invested in Hawkeye black and gold?
Here's the answer.
“In my era, the Badgers weren’t real good to say the least,” Dahlin said. “I always liked (former head football coach) Hayden Fry and admired the Hawkeye teams from the early 1980s.”
Dahlin’s first full-time job was working for the now defunct television station KDUB in Dubuque. One of his assignments was providing coverage of the Hawkeyes.
“I got roped in as a fan as well as being able to cover them and it hasn’t left me,” Dahlin said. “I still follow them on a regular basis. I was a season ticket holder before our kids started to grow up and I didn’t have as much time to hit all the games. I still support the I-Club and Holden Cancer Center."
Dahlin continued: “I have nothing against Wisconsin, I was just drawn more toward Iowa and once I started working (in Dubuque) and getting to know the lay of the land, I liked Iowa better, especially wrestling. I wasn’t a wrestler, but I have always admired (former head coach and Waterloo native) Dan Gable and what he was able to do, not just for the Hawkeye program, but for the sport of wrestling itself. That was amazing to me.”
In reality, Dahlin's 24-hour programming choices will air on Tuesday. However, since all times are Eastern, the first game will technically air on Monday, April 15 at 11 PM (CT) with the Hawkeyes’ 55-24 football victory over sixth-ranked Ohio State on Nov. 4, 2017. Other Iowa football games scheduled to be shown are the 14-13 win over Michigan on Nov. 12, 2016; the 42-35 overtime victory against Penn State on Sept. 28, 2002; the 21-20 win over Penn State on Oct. 19, 1996; and the 2005 Capital One Bowl.
Dahlin included two Iowa victories over his home-state Badgers in men's basketball: one on Feb. 23, 2012, when Matt Gatens scored 33 points, and another on March 7, 2017, when Jordan Bohannon sank a game-winning three-point field goal. Other men's basketball games to be featured include the Hawkeyes' 101-95 overtime victory against Connecticut in the Great Alaska Shootout on Nov. 11, 1995, and their 96-90 overtime win against Michigan State on Jan. 28, 1993.
The 1997 NCAA Wrestling Championships, which took place at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, will also be shown. Iowa won the tournament that year, scoring a record 170 points and crowning five individual champions.
Not all of Dahlin’s programming choices were accepted. He wanted to re-run the 1993 NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four, but ESPN would only offer events it had rights to or permission to use.
Iowa Day on ESPNU | ||
11 PM - 2 AM | Nov. 4, 2017 | Football: Ohio State at Iowa |
2 AM - 4 AM | Feb. 23, 2012 | Men's Basketball: Wisconsin at Iowa |
4 AM - 7 AM | Nov. 12, 2016 | Football: Michigan at Iowa |
7 AM - 9 AM | Nov. 11, 1995 | Men's Basketball: Iowa vs. Connecticut |
9 AM - 11 AM | Sept. 28, 2002 | Football: Iowa at Penn State |
11 AM - 1 PM | March 7, 2017 | Men's Basketball: Iowa at Wisconsin |
1 PM - 3 PM | March 22, 1997 | NCAA Wrestling Championships |
3 PM - 6 PM | Oct. 19, 1996 | Football: Iowa at Penn State |
6 PM - 8 PM | Jan. 28, 1993 | Men's Basketball: Iowa at Michigan State |
8 PM - 11 PM | Jan. 1, 2005 | Football: Capital One Bowl |
Dahlin's monetary donation for cancer research strikes a personal chord with him. More than five years ago, the now 49-year-old was diagnosed with Stage 4 testicular cancer (he is now cancer-free). While going through a 12-week treatment program, he befriended Dr. David Groteluschen, who grew up in Marshalltown, Iowa, and graduated from the University of Iowa.