Since John and I have been considering partaking in a little house hunting lately, we decided to do birthday celebrations on the cheap this year. I had considered getting him tickets to an Iowa Hawkeye game, seeing that he is the ultimate superfan, but that didn't fit in the potential home buyer budget. So, I thought I'd get the next best thing: tickets to an Iowa Chops game, Des Moines' minor league hockey team. The fierceness to the right of your screen is their logo. Preettty intense there, Des Moines.

Anyway, right before the game starts the lights go off, and fire starts shooting out of the jumbotron thinger in the middle of the room. Next thing you know they're flashing this fierce pig logo and people are screaming like a bunch of wild banchys. Let me tell you, it was intense. These people really go all out.

The game itself was alright. I'm not too big a fan of hockey, I sort of feel like I'm going to seizure from looking back and forth all over the place chasing this tiny object around with my eyes. It was the extra special Iowa touches that made the game awesome and created a night I hope to share with each and every individual who comes to visit me in the great Hawkeye state. Now, I've already mentioned that the team is the Iowa Chops, with their mascot being a ferocious pig. These lovely ladies are their cheerleaders, the Baby Backs. Clever. And to top it all off, their motto or slogan, if you will, is "GO MEAT!" Yes, I'm serious. A whole venue of Iowans were standing around, ringing their cowbells with great vigor, and screaming like those men in the Hillshire Farms commercial. Oh, and at intermission the Baby Backs drove around on the Pork Patrol while people participated in a game called "pitch a pig" (basically they just threw stuffed pigs into the rink; frankly, I didn't understand the concept).

All in all, John and I had a damn good time at what I figure to be one of the most "Iowa-riffic" things we've experienced since our arrival. I leave you now with a picture of an awesome Chops fan with an even more awesome Chops hat.