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By MARILYN BROWN

mbrown@tampatrib.com

Published: January 2, 2009

TAMPA - The early morning chill delighted University of Iowa fans Thursday as they rallied at Raymond James Stadium shortly after sunrise to celebrate football, sunshine and their team.

"Good party. Beautiful day. Glad to be here," was how Dave Krejchi summed up the morning, a few hours before his Hawkeyes took on the University of South Carolina in the Outback Bowl.

Krejchi was one of three drivers on the 28-hour trip that started Saturday afternoon in Cedar Falls, Iowa. His Navigator pulled a 4-by-6-foot trailer packed with a yellow and black tent, tables, grills and speakers through an ice storm on a journey that usually takes 21 hours, he said.

Many fans from Iowa wore shorts while locals bundled up in fleece for pregame breakfast, brunch or lunch often washed down with beer, screwdrivers and mimosas. The temperature was in the low 60s and a bit windy.

Krejchi barbecued blue-cheese burgers, kebobs and hot dogs he bought at a local Publix while a combined group of Florida drive-ins and Iowa fly-ins boasted they used "real Iowa corn-fed" beef for their grilled bulgogi.
South Carolina fans sprinkled among the rows of Hawkeyes were surprised at the early-morning turnout for Iowa, some speculating maybe there were parking lots somewhere else for fans of their team.

"I'm shocked," said Martha Ginn, a South Carolina alumna who drove from North Augusta, S.C., and was enjoying scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes and fruit before the game.

Ginn blamed the economy and a late-season loss to Clemson for "lack of follow-through" in getting Gamecocks fans to the game.

Another South Carolina fan, Thomas Hagan, who flew in from Atlanta, said, "We really do feel like we landed in Ames. The theme of the week is we're surrounded by buzzard eyes."

Among the faithful was Jim Hockenberry, who flew down from Rhode Island to support the Gamecocks. Puzzled at the lack of garnet and black shirts, he said, "It doesn't matter if the fans show up; the team needs to show up."

It was a prediction of sorts. The Gamecocks lost, 31-10.

Among Iowa fans was a group of six guys who said they were all "around 35" in a 20-year-old van they bought a week before and named "Brownie." Various groups of college students who said they drove from Iowa with up to seven people in a car said they needed some sleep.

"This is the only game I haven't woken up at 5 a.m.," said Nate Love, 23, a senior at Iowa who rented a van with friends to do "an ironman" drive-through to Tampa that took 21 hours.

Wearing a yellow dress jacket, white sunglasses and a black tie, Love said Thursday was another game day.

"Everyone in Iowa gets up at 5:30 or 6 a.m. on the day of a game," he said. "We don't have any pro sports teams. This is the New York Yankees for Iowa people."

The New Year's Day crowd was tame, security staff said.

"The scalpers are doing pretty good," said Bill Law, a security worker outside the stadium.

"Iowa is pretty docile," said Chuck Konya, another member of the security staff. "They're just happy at the good weather. The two groups aren't getting into tussles. ... Sometimes, with USF, it's a brawl."

Rick Lucas, a Gamecocks fan from Columbia, S.C., backed that up.

"They got a good turnout," Lucas said of the Iowa fans as he carried his 4-year-old daughter, Laura, on his shoulders so she could kiss the South Carolina mascot. "That's good for them. It is."

Reporter Marilyn Brown can be reached at (813) 259-8069.

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