ROSE BOWL NOTES : Warmth of the Hospitality Prompts Hawkeyes to Stand Pat

Iowa’s plans to move its Rose Bowl training camp from Cal State Long Beach to UC Irvine have been canceled, and the Hawkeyes will remain in Long Beach to prepare for the game against Washington.

“(Long Beach Coach) George Allen and his people have been so nice to us, and this facility is more than adequate,” Iowa Coach Hayden Fry said. “We had planned on moving to Irvine Thursday to be closer to our hotel (the Hyatt Newporter in Newport Beach), but the traffic hasn’t been bad and it seemed foolish to load up all our equipment and move for such a short time.

“I’d never met Coach Allen before, but I couldn’t have been more impressed with the man in his dealings with us. He’s definitely from the old school, the way he checks up on details and keeps asking if there is anything we need.

“Footballwise, he keeps me on my toes with his critiques of everything we do. He wants answers as to why we do such and such, and I feel like I’d better have an answer for him.”

Southern California’s Arctic Express cold snap is looked on as “nice weather” by the Iowans.

“My guys think it’s great out there.” Fry said. “Every night after practice, most of them go swimming in the hotel pool.”

It was 7 degrees in Iowa City Thursday.