Monday was my 70th time at an Iowa football media day. And I must say, looking back over that long period of time, most of the quotes from the players and coaches have been well-scripted.

Even in the Hayden Fry days, when from time to time Hayden would take off on the press, there was never an opening where he looked to be out of sorts.

Kirk Ferentz was his usual polished self Monday as he went through the experience, but sitting in the conference room I did get a feeling of the great pride the Hawkeye head coach has for his family and his three sons who are now involved in day-to-day Iowa football.

I think it is a great story with Brian, James, Steven and Kirk all with the Hawkeyes this season -- Brian as a new assistant coach, James as the center of the offensive line and Steven as a want-to-be but sure-to-be player in the future. That has to make the head man proud.

With Brian and his wife expecting a daughter in October, it makes this season a pretty special time for the Ferentz family. At least in this day and age, I don't think that another head coach's family would be so deeply involved in the sport as the Ferentz clan, including the two daughters and of course the leader of the pack, Mary.

After reviewing the whole roster, I believe Iowa has the players (and the academics) and the pieces for a very competitive football team. It's a team in the Ferentz mold, and basically, you can say this is Iowa football.

A typical question for UI quarterback James Vandenberg: I asked him how many times he'll be asked this year about bagging a bear in Canada with a bow and arrow.

His answer will come at bowl time. Of that hunting party, everyone in the group -- including his sister -- bagged a bear and partook in bear steak at the cookout in Canada, apparently to show their sportsmanship. That is, you eat what you kill.

A TIP OF THE FEDORA to former Kennedy golfer Dane Worley on winning the Cedar Rapids Amateur championship at Ellis on Sunday. Dane has worked extremely hard on his game throughout his career.

He's a former winner of the Pribyl junior tournament and a scholarship golfer at Drake, and this is a great step of confidence for him as he looks toward his sophomore year with the Bulldogs. This weekend he'll be in Des Moines, competing in the Herman Sani tournament.

Worley is a Sani scholarship winner, and that includes an excellent first-year performance in the classroom. So Dane, keep it in the short grass this fall. And congratulations again.

(Bob Brooks is sports director at KMRY and has been one of the leading voices of college and prep sports in Eastern Iowa for more than 65 years. He is a 10-time winner of the Iowa Sportscaster of the Year Award, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana in 2004. His sports reports can be heard weekday afternoons at 4:30 and 5:30, and Saturdays at 6:40 for the Hawkeye football wrap-up.)