FanPost

Not happy with calling Iowa your "Rival?" No problem!

I generally try to stay out of any Iowa vs. Nebraska squabbles, as I have lived for many years in both states and am sympathetic to the Hawkeyes and the Cornhuskers (those who have known me online for a while can vouch for this). I typed all of this up at the bottom of a Corn Flakes, but it was an old one and I figured that no one would see it, and I felt compelled to put my 2 cents in:

Iowa is not trying to be Nebraska’s special rival buddy, like OU was. The "Heroes Trophy" rivalry BS was manufactured by the conference and Hy-Vee – we all know that and have to learn to live with it.
Iowa fans are just tired of hearing Nebraska fans tell them how Iowa is not worthy of being a rival. Do you see the difference here?
We’re not used to this kind of disrespect. OSU, PSU, and Michigan (the other "traditional powers" in the B1G) don’t act this way towards Iowa (of course, it helps that Ferentz has winning records against 2 of the 3). Wisconsin and MSU generally view us as equals, and the others wish they could have the kind of consistently tough teams that Iowa regularly produces. Even in 2012 – Iowa’s worst season in 15 years – the majority of the losses were by an average of 3 points. Can the Huskers say that about their worst season in the last 15 years? (hint: no) We know our place in the conference pecking order (2nd tier), but we also know that, more often than not, we can go toe-to-toe with anyone. This has earned us at least a modicum of respect from the rest of the conference (except for Minnesota, they really hate us, and I don’t know why – but it probably has something to do with goalposts). And, aside from some ribbing about things like the school in Evanston, IL being justNorthwestern, we return this respect. However, sometimes somebody will set themselves up as a target ripe for mockery, and we can’t help ourselves (we’re human) – especially when we feel that we’re being disrespected.
If there wasn’t the article here on Monday lamenting about not having a "real rival" then there wouldn’t have been a response on BHGP openly mocking it (BHGP mocks everyone – so don’t think that Nebraska is getting any special treatment there). Life for the Huskers is different now, and Nebraska will never again have a rivalry like they did with OU. So please – move on, adapt to your surroundings, and stop bitching about it.
The 2011 season introduced a lesson to Nebraska fans about their new conference (especially the WI and NW games), and the last two seasons should have driven the point home:
In the Big Ten, EVERYONE is your rival!

This FanPost created by a registered user of Corn Nation.