Proposal in Iowa seeks apology for Stanford band's performance

Remember how the Stanford band seemed to be making fun of Iowans during its halftime performance at the Rose Bowl? That was over a month ago, and lots of people probably have forgotten.

But not at least one member of the Iowa Senate.

Sen. Mark Chelgren, a Republican from Ottumwa, Iowa, has introduced a bill that would prohibit the state's three public universities -- the University of Iowa (which lost to Stanford in the Rose Bowl), Iowa State and the University of Northern Iowa -- from entering into any cooperation with Stanford until the university apologizes for the band's performance.

"I think it's unfortunate because here in Iowa we try to teach sportsmanship," Chelgren said, via HawkCentral.com. "We try to teach courtesy, and when someone behaves in a way that is contrary to that, we need to point it out."

And "we" also might need to point it out when "we" are seeking our party's nomination to run for a congressional seat in a district that contains the University of Iowa. (It's also mandatory to point out that Chelgren's town of Ottumwa is the hometown of "M*A*S*H" character Radar O'Reilly.)

Chelgren's bill wouldn't mean the Hawkeyes, Cyclones and Panthers sports teams couldn't schedule the Cardinal. Just no new academic business with Stanford.

However, HawkCentral.com also reports the bill appears unlikely to get too far.

"Stanford University is one of the premier research universities in the world and for us to cut off contact with Stanford over something that happened on a football field I think sinks to a level that would be unworthy of our fine research institutions," said Sen. Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames, Iowa, and an economics professor at Iowa State.

H/T: HawkCentral.com