'Just Try And Ruin My Day'

The picture above is going to be a blur and that is just how life is.

The tall figure is Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi jogging off the field after the Hawkeyes' 37-6 victory over Michigan State. The shorter, blonder blur is Sandy Harter.

She smartly positioned herself just before the tunnel entrance in all the big craziness of a Kinnick field rush. She had one thought, "Get Stanzi a bracelet."

Mission accomplished. Stanzi had the wristband on among his many on Tuesday. Except, Stanzi had no idea what the bracelet was about.

“She started yelling and said, ‘Can you wear this for my kid,' ” Stanzi said. “I said, Yeah, sure.”

The band says, “Just Try And Ruin My Day.”

“I don't know what it means or who it's for, but it's on my wrist,” Stanzi said. “I told her I'd wear it, so I'd feel bad if I didn't have it on.”

"Just Try And Ruin My Day" is very real. Here's the website. Sandy is the mother-in-law of Brian Pritchard.

Here's the top of the site:

"Welcome to the official support site of Brian and Stacey Pritchard's fight against cancer. Thank you for visiting. Please share this site with all friends, family and co-workers as the goal of this site is to help the Pritchards by gaining donations but it will also build cancer awareness amongst your peers."

Brian Pritchard is in a tooth-and-nail fight with lymphoma. He started round 10 of chemotherapy on Tuesday.

From his site:

"I am ready for round 10 and it starts in the morning. I am getting 2 new Chemo drugs starting tomorrow morning. I am feeling good mentally and physically and am ready to fight! We need all of your thoughts and prayers with us this week. We need to just find the right mix that can kill this cancer so that we can move on to the next steps in my treatment."

Brian and Stacey are giant Hawkeye fans. You may have high-fived at some point in the Kinnick bleachers. Hey, I know how that goes. You high five anyone you can.

Stacey wrote this in a post after a rough week for Brian:

"* I understand how IOWA felt this week after last week's heart breaker. It was inspiring to see how the team picked their heads up and dominated this week. That is how were are going to approach this new treatment plan. WE WILL WIN, WE WILL DOMINATE IT. (I still say if Clayborn and the rest of the D line comes and just stares at Brian's arm it will disappear.)"

I didn't get a chance to see Ricky Stanzi today, but I did talk to fullback Brett Morse, Stanzi's roommate. I asked him to tell Stanzi what "Just Try And Ruin My Day" was all about. Hopefully, he can connect with the Pritchards in some way.

We have our beefs, Hawkeye fans. You ran me ragged with the "why isn't Coker playing" deal. Then, I get to a story like this and I love you all over again.

Life is blur. Live it.

Godspeed to the Pritchards! Kick the bleep out of cancer, Brian!

Here are some HD shots from my friend Andy Garman, the sports director at KCCI in Des Moines. (Huge thanks to Andy. You remember him as the KGAN sports director around here.)