Governor Culver Explains Hawkeye Comments

Governor Chet Culver "is a huge Clones' fan". That's what he told reporters after the Golden Dome Awards, which honors top-performing state employees (They hope, I'm sure, they won't be among those state workers losing their jobs following the governor's 10% across-the-board cut).

Late Saturday night, Culver's office put out a statement praising the Hawkeyes' historic win in East Lansing. Before the Hawks had even begun their game, the Cyclones pulled off quite a win of their own. They beat Nebraska in Lincoln for the first time since Jimmy Carter was president. My brother, Tom, was also born that year, 1977, in case my family is reading this tonight.

But Culver made no mention of the Cyclones victory. That brought snickers from some Cyclones' fans, wondering where their love from the gov was. Today, the former football coach had to play some defense of his own to explain himself. I'll put the video below. You'll hear him talk about how he put out statements praising the Cyclones earlier in the year. I checked with his office. He never said anything about the Cyclones' football team in any of those statements. His office did send out releases about the Cyclones' women's basketball team last spring.

http://www.governor.iowa.gov/pr-archive/releases/2009/03/30_4.php
http://www.governor.iowa.gov/pr-archive/releases/2009/03/28_2.php
http://www.governor.iowa.gov/pr-archive/releases/2009/03/24_4.php
http://www.governor.iowa.gov/pr-archive/releases/2009/03/22_2.php
http://www.governor.iowa.gov/pr-archive/releases/2009/03/22_1.php

His spokesman said the gov was talking today about Iowa State Cyclones', not just the football team.

For your viewing pleasure, here's the video from today:

Culver Praises Hawkeyes; Doesn't Mention Cyclones

Iowa Governor Chet Culver gave out some late-night love for the Iowa Hawkeyes, but not a mention for the Iowa State Cylcones. The Hawks had beaten Michigan State for their eighth straight win to start the college football season. They had never done that in their history. The Cylcones made some history themselves. They beat Nebraska in Lincoln for the first time since 1977.

The gov's statement is included below. I also checked around to see if any of the Republican gubernatorial candidates mentioned either team after the games last night. I found only two.

GOVERNOR CULVER CONGRATULATES #6 HAWKEYES ON HISTORIC 8-0 START TO SEASON

DES MOINES –Governor Chet Culver issued the following statement of congratulations to the University of Iowa football team on their best start to a season in 120 years, after defeating the Michigan State University Spartans 15-13 tonight in East Lansing, MI:

“I want to congratulate the Hawkeyes on not only a great win tonight, but by making history with their 8-0 record, the best start in 120 years of football at the University of Iowa. Tonight’s game was an exciting way to continue Iowa's undefeated start. Coach Ferentz and his staff, Ricky Stanzi, Marvin McNutt and the entire team showed great leadership, and that success comes from never giving up. I wish the team the best of luck for the remainder of this exciting season.”

Here are the messages from the 2 Republicans:

Christopher Rants ISU and UI - what a day for football fans in Iowa

RepRodRoberts Congratulations to the Iowa and Iowa State football teams on their big wins yesterday. Great day for the state. Hope they keep it going!