If you have ever been to an Iowa Hawkeyes at Minnesota Gophers football game, you definitely have heard the chant, "WHO HATES IOWA? WE HATE IOWA!"  Same goes for if you have been to any Iowa at Minnesota sporting event.  Heck, if you go to a Colorado Buffalos at Minnesota Gophers basketball game, you will hear this chant.

The cheer/chant is annoying.  It is loud.  And it does not make any sense.

I asked Minnesota native and former Hawkeye Headquarters host/writer, Adam Rossow, about when the chant started.

"I don't know," Adam said, "I remember going to the Metrodome, as a kid, in the late 90's during the last years of Hayden Fry and there wasn't any type of cheer like that."

If you ask any Minnesota Gopher fan why they chant, "WHO HATES IOWA? WE HATE IOWA!", they will more than likely give you a shoulder shrug of -  I DUNNO KNOW or they will say, "Because we hate Iowa."  Not very helpful.

We, at Don't Hassle Us We're Local, have looked into this rivalry and have come up with a few reasons why maybe Minnesota should hate Iowa and maybe a few better reasons why Iowa should hate Minnesota.

WHY MINNESOTA SHOULD HATE IOWA

1. In 2002, the Iowa Hawkeyes clinched the Big Ten title for the time since 1990 in the Metrodome in Minneapolis with a 45-21 victory over the Gophers.  32,000 plus Iowa Hawkeye fans flooded the stadium and dubbed the dome "Kinnick North" and the total attendance of 65,018 broke a record of attendance to watch a Gopher football game at the Metrodome .  After the victory, thousands of Iowa fans stormed the field and then tore down the goal post.  the Hawkeye fans tried to continue the celebration to the streets, along with the goal post.  The only problem was the doors were revolving doors and the goal posts would not be following the celebration.  The University of Iowa had to pay a bill of $5,000 for the damage to the goal post.  This is probably the reason for the chant.  But there still could be more...
2. In February of 2018, the U.S. News and World Report named Iowa the best state.  The "first in the nation" state is not only a leader in agriculture and internet, it is highly ranked in education, quality of life, health care and opportunity.  Who is second? You guessed it.  Minnesota.  If you ain't first, you're last.
3. According to recent research by AUTO INSURANCE based on traffic fatality rates, failure to obey, drunk driving fatalities, fatalities caused by speeding incidents, and careless driving, Iowa was ranked #1 as the country's best drivers.  Minnesota drivers and passengers can feel at ease while traveling by knowing that such aware and cautious drivers will be coming up I-35 this weekend to help keep them from harm's way.  With all those #2 in the nation drivers up there, we know they need the help with safe streets and highways.
4. Minnesota is the stupid hat of MIMAL.  Seriously, who wants to be the hat? Of course Minnesota hates Iowa.  Iowa is the head of MIMAL.  The brain is in the head of MIMAL.  No wondering Iowans are so good in education.  If you don't know what MIMAL is, you are probably from Minnesota and don't know what an acronym is.
5. Iowa has beaten the Gophers 5 straight years.

WHY IOWA SHOULD HATE MINNESOTA

1. The traveling trophy, known as "Floyd of Rosedale", between the winner of these two teams began because of some really racists activity by Minnesotans.  In 1934, a game between Iowa and Minnesota was marred with controversy.  There was great concern over the treatment of Iowa running back, Ozzie Simmons, who was one of the few black football players of that era.  The concern was the multiple number of late hits and cheap shots that the Gopher football players applied to Simmons and that the referees refused to acknowledge with verbal warnings or with flags.  The following year, Minnesota was 5-0 and Iowa was 4-0-1.  Before the Gophers came down to Iowa City, Iowa Governor Clyde Herring insinuated that if the Minnesota players conducted themselves on the field as they did the previous year and the referees allowed this to happen, that the Iowa fans would have no part of it and surely they would come out of the stands.  Taking a lighthearted approach to the situation, Minnesota Governor Floyd Olson assured that the Gophers would play fair and hard and that he would like to put up a Minnesota prized hog versus an Iowa prized hog to the victor.  Minnesota won the game 13-6 and went on the win their second consecutive national title.  Allen Loomis, the owner of Rosedale Farms near Fort Dodge, IA, donated an award-winning prized pig and Gov. Herring personally delivered "Floyd of Rosedale" to Gov. Olson.  Since then, the trophy has become a 98lb bronze pig trophy.
2. In 2013, the University of Minnesota published a fan guide of "How To Be A Minnesota Football Fan: A Short Lesson".  Lesson #8 was "HATE IOWA".  It read: "Hate is such a strong word.  That's why we used it.  So when we're playing the Hawkeyes and a group of fans chants, "Who hates Iowa?" the proper response is "We Hate Iowa!".  The athletic director ordered the guide to be taken off of the internet and since asked fans to ease off the chant.  Iowans don't forget, though.
3. Winning.  Minnesota owns a 62-49-2 (.568) all time series lead over the Minnesota Gophers.  Minnesota has a 42-39-2 (.518) advantage in the trophy series.  Minnesota has a largest margin of victory, 75-0 in 1903, over Iowa's largest margin of victory off 55-0 in 2008.  Minnesota holds the longest win streak in the series with 12 (1891-1916).  Iowa's longest winning streak is from 1918-1922 with 5.
4. NCAA football history.
   

   	IOWA	MINNESOTA
   ALL TIME RECORD	.539 (645-555-39)	.569 (691-517-44)
   NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS	1	8
   CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS	13	18
   ALL TIME WINS	645	691
   BOWL GAMES	31	19
   BOWL RECORDS	15-15-1	7-12
   WEEKS IN AP POLL	314	160
   WEEKS AT AP NO.1	11	18
   HEISMAN WINNERS	1	1
   CONSENSUS ALL AMERICANS	27	33
   NFL DRAFT PICKS	253	265
   1ST ROUND NFL PICKS	20	17

Have a great weekend, be safe, and GO HAWKS!

Game Notes:

• P Tory Taylor ranks second the B1G and 13th in the country averaging 46.0 yards per punt. Taylor has downed 10 of his 17 inside the 20. He has seven punts of 50-plus yards, with a career-high 61 yard punt Week 3 vs. MSU. Iowa leads the country in punt defense. Only one of Taylor’s 10 punts has been returned, and it went for minus-eight yards and a lost fumble.
• RB Tyler Goodson has started the last seven games at running back and has seven rushing touchdowns during that stretch. Goodson leads Iowa in rushing aempts (43) and rushing yards (233). In Iowa’s 23-19 win against #7 Minnesota in 2019, Goodson became the first true freshman to start at running back under Ferentz since 2012 (Greg Garmon).
• DT Daviyon Nixon leads the Big Ten with 6.0 tackles for loss. He averages 2.0 tackles for loss per game, ed for seventh in the country. Nixon leads an Iowa defense that ranks No. 1 in the conference in rush defense (102.0) and No. 3 in scoring defense (17.3). He has 21 tackles, more than any other Big Ten defensive linemen and No. 3 on the team.
• QB Spencer Petras has 116 pass aempts through three weeks, the second most by any Big Ten quarterback. He entered the season with 11 career pass aempts. The Hawkeyes are averaging 29.7 points per game, their highest total since 2002 (36.5).
• Iowa has two of the country’s best punt returner and kickoff returner. Junior Charlie Jones leads the country averaging 50.0 punt return yards per game. His 15.0 punt return average leads the B1G. He has one punt return for a touchdown (54 yards vs. Michigan State). Senior WR Ihmir Smith-Marsee averages 24.5 yards per kickoff return in 2020, No. 1 in the B1G.