First of all, way to go Cyclones! I attended the game on Saturday and had a blast. I wouldn’t miss it being a born and raised Husker-turned-ISU fan. The one thing that bugged me a little on Saturday was the sign policy at Jack Trice.

I had made a sign for the game which read, “Nebraskan for ISU! Sorry Bama, Grandpa”. When I reached the gate with it, a nice young woman politely told me that I was not allowed to take signs into the stadium and told me that it was a new law.

I nodded and understood. (Thanks though for not taking the sign.) With one bullet dodged, I found my seat and began displaying my sign (and hoping that Bama would see it on TV). I also turned to the people behind me and said that if the sign bothered them to let me know. So throughout the pre-game activities I held up my sign, even had it on the scoreboard for a while. Shortly before the game started, however, a gentleman came to me and asked me to give it up, which I did politely. At that point, it didn’t bother me too greatly to give it up.

Though today I thought about it a little more. What’s wrong with having signs at a college football game? Every time you watch a game on TV, you see people holding up signs. Good thing this policy wasn’t around a few years ago; no one in the stadium would have known Troy Davis’s yardage total. My sign was also apparently good enough for the Lincoln Journal Star. If the officials want to crack down on something, how about the “F— Iowa”, and similar, T-shirts? Try going after the offensive stuff, not the fun stuff. If someone gets nasty with a sign, or people complain, by all means take action. But otherwise, have fun and watch the game.

Andy Piester

Alumnus

West Des Moines