Russell Martinez said his biggest regret is never buying season tickets to the Iowa basketball games his freshman year.
Officials announced Martinez, a UI junior majoring in informatics, as the Student Hawkeye Fan of the Year at Hawkapalooza on Sept. 3. Hundreds played the part of subjects in Martinez’s black-and-gold kingdom as they watched the crowning of a reigning fan.
To determine the winner, the Student Committee on Athletics counted every scanned ticket for both home basketball and football games, and Martinez’s count was the highest.
Besides the title, Martinez also received a plaque that he said will hang proudly in his room, fighting to find its place among a jam-packed wall of Hawkeye décor. Every morning, he raids his closet and decks himself out with Iowa gear.
“I never leave the house without wearing something Hawkeye,” he said. “Usually, 90 percent of my outfit is Iowa apparel.”
Martinez, a native of Clinton, Iowa, said he has always been an avid fan. His 28-year-old sister, Christina Martinez, a UI alum, passed the Hawk torch to her younger brother after she graduated in 2005.
But Martinez is not alone. His tightly knit, die-hard group of friends are willing to stand in line with him for hours — sometimes entire nights — to secure front-row seats. Last year, the group waited in line from midnight until kickoff at 11 a.m. for the Iowa/Iowa State game.
Martinez said he and friends lead the stadium in spirited game chants and Marching Band sing-a-longs, sometimes shouting slurs (not suitable for print) at the opposing team.
UI junior Drew Miles, one in the band of cheerleaders, said he met Martinez right before freshman year at a weeklong program they both attended.
“At the end of the program we had a banquet, and Russell went right up to the podium and led the banquet hall in a rousing rendition of the ‘Iowa Fight Song,’ ” Miles said.
Fellow buddy and UI junior Jon Nehman seems equally passionate about the Hawkeyes.
“I have been to every home football game with [Martinez] so far, and almost all home basketball games,” Nehman said.
Miles and Nehman agree that the Student Fan of the Year title will undoubtedly stay within their group.
Martinez feels strongly about two things: loving the Hawkeyes with all his black-and-gold heart, and hating the Cyclones with a fiery-cardinal passion.
“There is absolutely no way I’d ever go to ISU,” he said.
And he means it. In fact, Martinez turned down a full scholarship to attend Iowa State.
“We always say that we used to have plenty of friends in high school, and then they went to Iowa State,” Miles said. “Once they go there, we no longer claim them.”
The very thought of Martinez associating with a Cyclones fan is, well, not a laughing matter.
“If for some sick reason Russell dated a Cyclone fan, I don’t know who would kill him first, me or him,” Nehman said.
With unrivaled dedication and peppy posse to match, it seems the only thing left to do is hand Martinez a Herky costume and push him onto the field. But he seems perfectly content supporting from the sidelines.
“I don’t really have the body stature to be Herky anyways,” Martinez said.
So ladies and gentlemen — give a round of applause to the Student Fan of the Year. A fan who has saved every single ticket, who has collected signatures from the likes of Fred Russell, Albert Young and Nate Kaeding, and who wears his Hawkeye fanhood right on his sleeve. Or his shirt.
“If I die tomorrow, I would die a happy person,” Martinez said. “A broke person, but nevertheless a happy one. Not that I want to die. At least wait until I graduate so I don’t waste any of my tickets.”