Tomorrow will bring one of the most exciting, nerve racking, and intense days for Iowa State football fans everywhere. The Cyclones will take the field in Kinnick stadium in Iowa City to face their biggest and most hated rival, The University of Iowa Hawkeyes.

A lot of thoughts and emotions are beginning to stir in Iowa State fans on the eve of this rival football game. Among these are excitement, pride, nervousness, anxiety, and a burning hatred for everything black and gold.

Tomorrow will mark the 118th year that the Cyclones have been facing the Hawkeyes in football. That is 118 years of accumulated tension and rage festering in fans. There may not be a day more important to either university than the Saturday each fall when the Cyclones and Hawkeyes come head to head; and tensions certainly explode in full force.

For those diehard fans making the trek to Iowa City for the weekend, keep one thing in mind: you are representing the name, the image and the reputation of Iowa State everywhere you go.

It’s no surprise that those brave fans proudly sporting cardinal and gold in the heart of Iowa City Saturday will be sticking out like a sore thumb, and they may suffer for it. But the important thing is to stay classy, Cyclones, and leave the trashy reputation to the Hawk fans.

We love the Cyclones and hate the Hawkeyes as much as the next Iowa Stater, but we must not allow our tempers or pride to get the best of us while we are in their city. Remember we are in Hawkeye country, and by default should show some respect, no matter how much the thought repulses us, and especially no matter how much they provoke us. Hawkeye fans are known for their incivility, and will certainly be looking to get a rise out of us.

Don’t stoop to their level.

As soon as we start throwing insults, drinks, or fists, we are casting Iowa State’s reputation in a bad light to all those University of Iowa students around us. To any outside observer, we’d just be another hoodlum in the crowd. For a school that prides itself on being different, the thought of being like a Hawkeye fan ought to be repulsive.

It’s still important to support our Cyclones with all our might, though.

Cheer loud, hold your Cyclone pride high, and remember that although we may be but a speck of red in a sea of black and gold, we are still a part of a Cyclone nation who is cheering on the same team, the rest of whom are just 140 miles away. So for the sake of Iowa State football and all the students those men are representing, we must show our pride this weekend by staying classy in a city that is sure to be unbelievably trashy.