HAWK TALK

January 2020

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15 Y ou don't earn loyalty in a day, but you can accumulate an ample body of work over 45 years. All Rod Klemp wanted was to be a loyal University of Iowa football fan aer he attended his first game at Iowa Stadium in 1958. e Hawkeyes defeated No. 8 Northwestern that day, 26-20, in a game highlighted by a one-handed touchdown catch by Iowa All-American Curt Merz. A few days later, the Hawkeyes were ranked No. 1 in the nation by United Press International... and Klemp, a junior at Linn-Mar High School in Marion, Iowa, was hooked. "Aer I saw that first game, I knew I had to come back to see at least one more," Klemp said. "One more kept building and it has been a lot of games now." To be exact, Klemp has watched 336 games in Kinnick Stadium (the name changed from Iowa Stadium in 1972), including a streak of 289 in a row. "Iowa fans are great. ey are loyal and I wanted to be one of them," Klemp said. "All I want to be is one of the loyal fans." Klemp, 77, grew up on a farm north of Marion and was Valedictorian in the first Linn-Mar graduating class of 1960. Aer spending four years in the Air Force, he returned to Cedar Rapids, but said there was always something about Iowa City that appealed to him. He moved to Iowa City in 1967, working for the Iowa Measurement Research Foundation, which later became Pearson Education. "Living in Iowa City made it easy to go to all these football games," Klemp said. "e people I admire are the ones who drive one, two, three hours to come to the game and then turn around and go home." From 1958-73, Klemp attended 47 Iowa football games. He was absent on Nov. 24, 1973, when the Hawkeyes lost to Michigan State, 15-6, "capping" an 0-11 season under head coach Frank Lauterbur. e following fall — on Sept. 21, 1974 — Klemp was in the stands as Iowa defeated UCLA, 21- 10, in the home-opener for head coach Bob Commings. Klemp hasn't missed a home game since, poo- pooing the myth that it is just as enjoyable to watch games on television at home. "ere is nothing like actually being in the stadium, you can't replace that," Klemp said. "e feel of the whole thing, the Iowa crowd and the atmosphere. Not every game is at that high level, but when it gets going, it's a lot of fun." Another thing you won't see on television that Klemp and his wife, Sandy, enjoy are performances by the Hawkeye Marching Band. "at's a big part of what makes college football what it is, so if you just watch on TV, you're never going to see any of that," Klemp said. Klemp's Cal Ripken-like consecutive Kinnick Stadium streak will begin season No. 46 when Iowa hosts Northern Iowa on Sept. 5, 2020. As proof of his streak, he has a spreadsheet that includes date of the game, opponent, and score. He also has a binder full of ticket stubs. Aer watching Iowa games for six decades, a few stick out for Klemp. Of course, the first game in 1958 is significant, Iowa's six-point win that featured head coaches Forest Evashevski (Iowa) and Ara Parseghian (Northwestern). "I was there when Eddie Podolak had a rather good day (Nov. 9, 1968)," Klemp said. "He ran for 286 yards and we beat Northwestern by a fairly hey score (68-34). at is a game where one individual had a tremendous day. "(Head coach) Bo Schembechler and his Michigan team came in (Oct. 19, 1985) and we beat them, 12-10. I remember Bo muttering something like, 'ey didn't even score a touchdown and they still beat us.'" More recently, Klemp thoroughly enjoyed what he calls "the Woodshed game" – Iowa's 55-24 win over No. 3 Ohio State on Nov. 4, 2017, and the Hawkeyes' 23-19 win over No. 8 Minnesota on Nov. 16, 2019.

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