Iowa Fans Find Bowl Issue a Bit Thorny

The people in charge of the Orange Bowl have made no friends in Iowa by selecting the Hawkeyes to play USC on Jan. 2, preventing an Iowa-Washington State matchup in the Rose Bowl. A quick check of “The Hawks Nest,” an Internet bulletin board devoted to the Hawkeyes, finds many irate fans, some of whom suggest the Orange Bowl committee do some things that are probably anatomically impossible. A look at the tamer comments:

From regalhawk: “Guess I won’t be looking out from inside the Rose Bowl seeing the sunset over the San Gabriel Mountains as I had hoped. $270 down the drain. Did the Orange Bowl even take into consideration all the Iowa fans who would be unable to change their travel plans? I don’t even suspect the Orange Bowl will be a sellout. The whole BCS system can stick it.”

From noblehawk: “I think 80% of us fans, myself included, are disappointed. We had our tickets ready to go. Who the heck wants to go to Miami? I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rose Bowl tells the BCS to stick it for the following years. Today the Iowa ticket office told me I could have eight tickets if I wanted them for the Orange Bowl. We were only allowed to get four for the Rose Bowl, so the school knows this is going to be a tougher sell, thousands of Iowa fans had their trips planned out. I guess I’ll save my money and watch this on TV.”

Add Hawkeyes: But the voice of reason comes from poster HawkDevil: “Why not use those tickets, fly out to LA, get a rental car and drive to Las Vegas? I had to change my plans but I am going to Vegas for New Year’s now, betting on some bowl games, hitting the craps tables and watching the Orange Bowl at the sports book at the Bellagio.”

Trivia time: Eric Karros played 1,579 games at first base for the L.A. Dodgers, second behind Steve Garvey’s 1,672. Who are Nos. 3, 4 and 5?

Colorful guy: David Beckham has the names of his two sons tattooed on his back -- and promises there’s room for more.

The English soccer star said Sunday he added the name of his second son, Romeo, to go with the tattooed name of first son, Brooklyn.

“I’ve got my other son on my back, so I had to have this one,” Beckham told BBC television.

The hard part is finding a tattoo artist who doesn’t use his hands.

Speed racer: Ralf Schumacher is having problems on the road -- and it has nothing to do with Formula One.

The German driver was caught speeding by Austrian police and could lose his driver’s license, Austrian radio reported.

Schumacher was on the way to a party given by his BMW-Williams team when he was stopped. He was going 80 in a 50-mph zone.

Schumacher lives in Austria and already lost his license for two weeks after getting caught for speeding in April 2001.

Police must have studied drafting techniques to catch him.

Trivia answer: Wes Parker (1,108), Ron Fairly (557) and Eddie Murray (458).

And finally: Some advice from Iowa fan redhawk on what regalhawk can do with his Rose Bowl seats: “You can probably find an Oklahoma fan who will swap his toothless sister for those tickets. Always look on the bright side.”

-- Houston Mitchell