Fred Barr

That means Fred Barr has four more days to make some people laugh, four more days to provide bulletin-board material for others.

The clock is ticking. I’m sitting here wondering what else Barr—the talented and outspoken linebacker—can talk about, what other outrageous thing he can say about an opponent, before he plays his final football game for Iowa.

Everyone who has followed the Hawkeyes since 1999 knows Fred. He’s a first-team all-Big Ten player who sometimes backs up on the field what he says before the game.

If he’s not saying he hates Iowa State or some other opponent, he’s saying teammate Brad Banks should have won the Heisman Trophy instead of Southern California’s Carson Palmer or that the Hawkeyes are a more physical team than USC.

Before some games, Barr seems to provide an opponent more bulletin-board material than a guy trying to sell a used car at the Dahl’s grocery store chain in Greater Des Moines.

Some Hawkeye fans seem to be worried that Barr’s latest outbursts that USC can’t measure up to Iowa when it comes to rugged play will hurt the cause in Thursday night’s Orange Bowl game at Pro Player Stadium in Miami.

Don’t worry, folks. Even if Barr’s put-downs of USC wind up on the locker room wall, it will make little difference in the game. Just because Barr says Banks is a better quarterback than Palmer doesn’t mean the USC quarterback is going to complete 100 percent of his passes.

The type of emotion generated with a few newspaper clippings on the bulletin board lasts about 30 seconds in a game.

Barr’s teammates never seem bothered by what he says, and neither does Coach Kirk Ferentz.

Ferentz’s question was simple: Why should Barr or any other Hawkeye like the opposition?

I would guess that most coaches prefer that their players say things like, "We’re honored to be playing against Carson Palmer in the Orange Bowl" or "We’re anxious to find out how we compare physically with USC" or "I have a lot of respect for Iowa State, and it’s going to be fun to see how we measure up with them."

But that’s not Fred Barr. Ol’ Fred is master of the trash-talk. Always will be.

He’d rather say, and did say, "I thought Banks was going to win the Heisman. He did more for our team than Carson Palmer did for his team."

He’d rather say, and did say, "USC is a good team with very talented people, but they’re missing the physical aspect which we’re bringing to the game. You’ve still got to play between the lines. Playing in the Big Ten every week, we pound it week in and week out. I don’t think USC plays that kind of football in the Pac-10."

As far as I’m concerned, it’s too bad Barr—who is from Fort Lauderdale and is one of a dozen players from Florida on Iowa’s roster--is a senior.

I’ll miss talking to him next year.

And I know darn well that Ferentz will miss watching him wear No. 51 for the Hawkeyes.