Iowa Wave Tradition Will Travel To San Diego With Team

It is easily one of the greatest traditions in college football and it is only two years old.

The wave to the children on the 12th floor of the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital at the end of the 1st quarter of the each Iowa home football game was so moving  that the Executive Director of the Holiday Bowl, Mark Neville, is working on ideas to incorporate the tradition into the game.

University of Iowa alum and columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribune wrote a wonderful column about the tradition of the wave and how it got to be part of the Holiday Bowl game.

I’ve been to a lot of college football games all around the country in my nearly 30 years with the bowl game,” Neville said. “Without question, The Wave at Kinnick Stadium was the most incredible thing I’ve ever experienced at a game. It was so moving.

“For us, in the 42^nd year of the bowl game, I don’t know that we’ve ever done something this cool before. It’s going to be memorable. - Mark Neville

According to the column and Miller, the plan will involve three cities and fan bases for the first time.  The Holiday Bowl and Neville say that the early plan is to show the hospital in Iowa City on the stadium video board at the end of the first quarter.  Then an FS! camera will show the SDCCU Stadium (site of Holiday Bowl) so the kids can wave back at the TV page.  USC plans to involve Children's Hospital Los Angeles, too.

Since it will be dark, we’ll ask everyone to turn on the lights on their phones,” Neville said. “Fans are in for a treat. Nothing like this has been done in that stadium. We’re really proud to bring this to San Diego. - Mark Neville

Another great reason to be proud of the Iowa Hawkeyes, the state of Iowa, and their fans.

Here is a link to an original song written by Iowa lineman Dalles Jacobus about the Iowa wave tradition called "When We Wave"