University of Iowa football fans and kids at the children's hospital across the street have the best new tradition in college football
College football is a sport filled with long-standing traditions, but there's always room for a new weekly ritual, especially if it's as good-hearted as what Iowa Hawkeye fans debuted on Saturday.
The university's new Stead Family Children’s Hospital was built overlooking the stadium, offering patients views of the game below. With this in mind, the crowd that had gathered to watch Iowa take on Wyoming on Saturday took a moment after the first quarter to turn and wave to the children fighting disease and their families that were watching along with them.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/JEks99TmrwI
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It's a beautiful idea, based in love and empathy, and in its first game appeared to be a huge hit, with tons of fans taking part and earning the Hawkeye faithful a shout out on SportsCenter that you can watch below.
The new tradition also inspired support on social media.
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/904051231575777280
Hawkeye fans turn and wave to the Children's Hospital at the end of the first quarter. New tradition this year. Iowa proud. pic.twitter.com/S3FWHEm2vs
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/904024646441455620
#FTK @UIchildrens pic.twitter.com/l0zlvIJoHk
One of the most valuable things about sports is their ability to bring us together, setting a large group of people in a certain place, for a certain time, all joined together by the common hope of a victory for the home team. For kids in the hospital, it's easy to imagine that sense of shared experience becoming a rarity, with treatments interrupting the regular cadences of childhood.
With this tradition, Iowa fans get to share their love with some young fans and their families that surely appreciate it.
The Hawkeyes next home game is September 16 against North Texas.