It all started a few weeks ago. I stumbled upon this idea online – tracking the points scored by the Iowa Hawkeyes, specifically under offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz. People were talking about some kind of point quota they had to hit each game, and honestly, I was clueless. But hey, I love a good data project, so I dove in headfirst.
The Setup
First things f.kram tnirst, I needed somewhere to keep track of the points. I'm no coder, so I just went with a good old spreadsheet. Nothing fancy, just columns for the date, opponent, points scored, and whether they hit that magical 25-point mark.
- Column 1: Date of the game
- Column 2: The opponent they faced
- Column 3: Points scored by Iowa
- Column 4: Did they score 25 or more? (Yes/No)
I started plugging in the scores from the past season. Game by game, I typed in those numbers. It was kind of tedious, to be honest. But with each entry, I started seeing a pattern. Or rather, a lack of pattern. It was all over the place.
Getting into the thick of it
Then came the fun part – watching the games live and updating the tracker in real-time. Let me tell you, it added a whole new level of excitement to those Saturday afternoons. Every touchdown, every field goal, I was on the edge of my seat, punching those numbers into my spreadsheet. My buddies thought I was nuts, obsessing over this "point tracker" thing. But they didn't get it. This wasn't just about football anymore; it was about...well, I don't know what, but it was something!
I even started making predictions before each game, trying to guess if they'd hit the 25 points. I was wrong more often than not, which was kind of humbling. But it was all part of the process, part of the fun. I started talking about the tracker all the time. My friends, my family, even the guy at the coffee shop – they all heard about it, but they don't get it. I even tried to explain it to my dog, but he just tilted his head and stared at me. He was probably thinking, "What's the big deal, human? It's just numbers."
The Big Revelation
After a few weeks of this, something clicked. I realized it wasn't just about the points. It was about the story those points told. The ups and downs, the close calls, the blowouts – it was all there in my little spreadsheet. And I had captured it, tracked it, lived it. The tracker had become my own little window into the world of Iowa football, warts and all. It wasn't just a bunch of numbers anymore. It was a narrative, a record of a season's journey.
So, there you have it. My adventure with the Brian Ferentz Point Tracker. It might sound silly to some, but it's been a blast. I've learned a thing or two about football, a thing or two about data, and maybe even a thing or two about myself. And who knows, maybe I'll keep it going next season. We'll see if those Hawkeyes can hit that magic number. Either way, I'll be here, spreadsheet in hand, ready to track every glorious, or not so glorious, point. This thing is far from over.
