By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The two guys that can’t seem to agree on anything related to Hawkeye sports were at it again recently.

Mr. Optimist and Mr. Pessimist were also kind of enough to share a copy of their latest debate, which was held somewhere in eastern Iowa.

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Mr. Optimist: Beth Goetz has shown assertiveness, vision and a willingness to make tough decisions since being hired as Iowa’s full-time athletic director in January 2024.

Mr. Pessimist: Hey, settle down. Beth Goetz will ultimately be judged on the head coaches she hires, and right now the sample size is just too small to form an opinion.

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Mr. Optimist: Nothing beats an Iowa football season opener; the anticipation, the build up and fans coming together for the first time in nine months to share in their love of Hawkeye football, and also the tail-gating experience, which is such a key part of the game-day experience.

Mr. Pessimist: Iowa plays Albany in the 2025 season opener on Aug. 30 with kickoff set for 5 p.m. at Kinnick Stadium. The Great Danes finished 4-8 last season, including a 34-20 loss to Maine where Kirk Ferentz was the head coach from 1990-92.

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Mr. Optimist: Ben McCollum has built an intriguing roster led by one of the top college point guards in the country in 6-foot-4 Bennett Stirtz, who will be surrounded by some gifted shooters, including 3-point specialist Brendan Hausen, a 6-4 guard, who transferred from Kansas State.

Mr. Pessimist: Brendan Hausen and Iowa holdover Cooper Koch, a 6-8 redshirt freshman, are the only players on Iowa’s current roster that came from Power 4 schools.

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Mr. Optimist: The Iowa wrestling team has finished in the top five at the NCAA Championships in every season since finishing eighth in the 2006-07 campaign, including winning the national title in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2021.

Mr. Pessimist: In the 28 seasons since Dan Gable retired as the Iowa wrestling coach in 1997, the Iowa wrestling team has won seven national titles, while Penn State has won 12 national titles since 2011.

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Mr. Optimist: In order to enhance the in-game experience at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa will construct a courtside seating area behind the south baseline that will have a seating capacity for over 200 fans, most of whom are expected to be students.

Mr. Pessimist: Iowa finally taking steps to move the students closer to the court on 2025 is sort of like upgrading from having a window air conditioner to central air in your house in the late 1990s.

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Mr. Optimist: Hawkeye fans obviously are fired up for the 2025 Iowa football season as two of Iowa’s home games against Indiana and Minnesota already are sold out.

Mr. Pessimist: Indiana’s outspoken head coach, Curt Cignetti, will probably take credit for their game being sold out before he says publicly that his team is going to Iowa City to kick some ass.

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Mr. Optimist: The Iowa football team’s 2025 schedule doesn’t include Michigan or Ohio State, which is always reason for encouragement.

Mr. Pessimist: The Iowa’s football team’s 2025 schedule includes home games against Penn State and Oregon and road games at Iowa State, Wisconsin, USC and Nebraska, which is reason for concern.

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Mr. Optimist:  The Iowa football once had a stretch in which its quarterback made first-team All-Big Ten in seven of nine season.

Mr. Pessimist: Please. You’re talking about a stretch from 1983 to 1991 in which Cheers, The Facts of Life and the Golden Girls were three of the top television shows.

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Mr. Optimist: Iowa has taken steps to improve the parking situation around Kinnick Stadium by constructing a new parking ramp that is located just north of the stadium.

Mr. Pessimist: Another parking ramp just means less space to tailgate outside.

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Mr. Optimist: The 2025 season marks the 40-year anniversary of the Iowa’s football team’s 1985 squad that won the Big Ten title outright.

Mr. Pessimist: The 1985 season also marks the last time Iowa won the Big Ten title outright.

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Mr. Optimist: The Iowa football team will have the Big Ten stage mostly to itself as it faces Rutgers under the lights in the conference opener on Sept. 19 in Piscataway, New Jersey.

Mr. Pessimist: Nothing says Big Ten football more than facing Rutgers at 7 p.m. on a Friday night in New Jersey.

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Mr. Optimist: The Big Ten Conference in an attempt to spread its brand will hold its annual media day event for football in Las Vegas for the first time ever, beginning next Wednesday.

Mr. Pessimist: I’m sure Kirk Ferentz is just thrilled about having to spend a night in Las Vegas in late July.

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Mr. Optimist: The Iowa football team has won at least eight games in 10 of the last 12 seasons, with one of the exceptions being the Covid-shortened 2020 season when Iowa finished 6-2 overall.

Mr. Pessimist: The Iowa football team has lost at least five games in a season 12 times since 2005.

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Mr. Optimist: The Iowa football team has had 13 players selected in the first round of the NFL draft under Kirk Ferentz.

Mr. Pessimist: Iowa hasn’t had a quarterback taken in the first round of the NFL draft since Chuck Long in 1986 or a running back since Ronnie Harmon in 1986, nor has Iowa ever had a wide receiver taken in the first round.

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Mr. Optimist: The Iowa women’s basketball team, thanks largely to Caitlin Clark’s impact, now plays before sellout crowds at home on a regular basis.

Mr. Pessimist: True, but the line for ice cream is at least 100-deep at an Iowa women’s home game an hour before tip-off, while the line during halftime to the one and only restroom in the Carver-Hawkeye Arena tunnel at is at least 50-deep with people that often look annoyed and uncomfortable.

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Mr. Optimist: Sitting courtside at Carver-Hawkeye Arena for men’s and women’s games is special.

Mr. Pessimist: Until you want an ice cream cone because then it requires climbing enough steps that leaves some people gasping for breath and seriously reconsidering about halfway up the stairs their decision to get an ice cream cone.