5 Years Ago Today

SwirlinLingerie said:
I'm 34, and while that loss bothered me, I had lost so much of the joy of watching Iowa basketball under Steve Alford that part of me took satisfaction in watching bad things happen to him.

I know that's selfish, but those were my honest, raw feelings at the time. If Iowa had won a couple games in that tournament, would he still be our coach today? Quite possibly.

Alford produced too many conflicted feelings for me. I wanted my team back, back to where it felt it was like cheering for good vs. evil when we took on the Illini or the Wolverines. I always felt we were a bit of the evil team with Alford.

I found all three tournament losses in the BJ, Ed, Roy era far, far more difficult. While the UNLV game was incredibly tough to swallow (when does Iowa ever have the most elite talent?), I though their loss to North Carolina State to end their careers was extremely sad.

And I'm not sure I've ever wanted Iowa to win a game as badly as I did when Mr. Davis squared off against UConn in what turned out to be his last game. For those of us who grew up in the '80s, it truly was the end of an era. No more Davis, no more press, no more mass substitutions, no bounce pass to the post, no fake shot pass.

That was also the last game for Settles, McCausland and Koch, who were all classic Tom Davis players.

Back in '06, while disappointed, I even recall thinking the loss could be a good thing in the long run.

In contrast, when UNLV finished the Hawks off in '87, I cried.
Click to expand...

I will never understand letting the personal dislike for a coach,overriding my support and love for the Hawkeyes. Coaches come and go,but the institution remains.
I was totally invested in that 2006 team and it is on my list along with the Jacksonville loss,and the UNLV loss.
I believe the #3 seed that team earned was one of the highest since the tourny went to 64 teams.
The 1970 team is my alltime favorite,but I was just a kid and could only listen on the radio that day,and rarely saw them play on TV,so maybe just listening to Zabel made them even greater in my mind.
I think the 1970 team was the best Iowa bb team in my lifetime,with the 1986 team as #2. The 2006 team was back in the pack,but it was mainly Iowa kids,so that made them more special than some others in my mind.

As for the coach,I never cared about him,one way or another. Just win,baby. I invest more in Hayden and KF than any of our bb coaches...not sure why,but I only cared about the team on the court and performance. To actually be glad that the Hawks lose in the NWSt game due to hatred of SA? Simply inconcievable to me.

We were in Merkles in Wrigleyville that day,and I never saw any place empty out as quick as that place the second that shot by Adam rimmed out...fans went yelling in frustration out into the street and away.
 
Section136 said:
March 17, 2006 Iowa lost to NW State. Worst day of Iowa basketball (on the court) in my life that I can remember (27 years old).
Click to expand...

I was at Alford's last game. I knew deep down that it was his last game even though nothing was official. As he walked off the court, I started tearing up and I had pretty foggy vision the whole bus ride back from the United Center to downtown. That day was way worse than being a 3 seed and losing early.

As was the UNLV game. As was the first game when Pierce was finally kicked off the team for good.
 
I agree w/ the OP. I am also 27, and this was the worst day ever (again, for Iowa bball on the court).

I was at the Boys State Tourney at Wells Fargo Arena that day and following the Iowa-NW St game on my phone. I was thinking as we were up 15-17 (whatever it was) that we had it in the bag.

Then as I kept refreshing the gamecast on my phone, the lead kept dwindling, and eventually the score popped up that NWS took the lead... I was in disbelief. I called a friend who was watching and listened to him give me the play-by-play of the last few seconds...

I never actually went back and watched the game afterwards, but I felt like I got gut-punched multiple times for the next few days. Tough to take.

Haluska, Brunner and Horner were all the same age as me, and I played against them growing up. Good guys. Tough breaks.
 
ColumbusHawk said:
The thing that drives me nuts about the Jacksonville loss is that the best free-throw shooting team in the country was only 17-34 from the line. If Iowa makes its free throws, it would have won going away.

Brown, Calabia & Vidnovic shot over 80 percent from the line. Johnson was over 75 percent from the line. Yet, Iowa only made 50 percent against Jacksonville.

Even today, that game still haunts me.
Click to expand...

You are correct!

I remember seeing an interview with Vidnovic several years ago where he was asked about Jacksonville's tip-in at the buzzer. He said that should only have cut Iowa's lead to 10 points!
 
ColumbusHawk said:
Doesn't even compare to the losses to Jacksonville in '70, Toledo in '79, & UNLV in '87.

The loss to Wichita State in '81 & the '82 home loss to Minnesota in triple overtime also were more devastating. Iowa would have clinched the Big Ten title with a win over Minnesota. Iowa lost to Wichita State because of a techical called on the bench late in the game. Lute called a time-out when Iowa was out of time outs.

The loss to last pace Michigan State at home on the last day of the '68 season also rates up there. Forced a one-game playoff against Ohio State at Purdue that Iowa also lost.

The list goes on & on.

Since Lute left, Iowa only has seriously challeged for the Big Ten title in '87 & '06. So, in your lifetime, you can only remember Iowa being a title contender in '06. I think that is sad. Iowa fans used to expect title contenders.
Click to expand...

Amen, brother! I was 15 at the time... cried like a baby after that Pembrooke Burrows III tip in for Jacksonville. By the way, late 60's early 70's great basketball for both Hawks and Drake!
 
JHHawk said:
I will never understand letting the personal dislike for a coach,overriding my support and love for the Hawkeyes. Coaches come and go,but the institution remains.
I was totally invested in that 2006 team and it is on my list along with the Jacksonville loss,and the UNLV loss.
I believe the #3 seed that team earned was one of the highest since the tourny went to 64 teams.
The 1970 team is my alltime favorite,but I was just a kid and could only listen on the radio that day,and rarely saw them play on TV,so maybe just listening to Zabel made them even greater in my mind.
I think the 1970 team was the best Iowa bb team in my lifetime,with the 1986 team as #2. The 2006 team was back in the pack,but it was mainly Iowa kids,so that made them more special than some others in my mind.

As for the coach,I never cared about him,one way or another. Just win,baby. I invest more in Hayden and KF than any of our bb coaches...not sure why,but I only cared about the team on the court and performance. To actually be glad that the Hawks lose in the NWSt game due to hatred of SA? Simply inconcievable to me.

We were in Merkles in Wrigleyville that day,and I never saw any place empty out as quick as that place the second that shot by Adam rimmed out...fans went yelling in frustration out into the street and away.
Click to expand...

I said part of me took satisfaction in seeing Alford lose. I also recognize those were selfish feelings. Part of me also hated to see Iowa lose.

Mostly, I hated all the mixed emotions he produced.
 
Watching the NW state game, I knew in my heart that we would lose with about 5 minutes to go. For me, it was a forgone conclusion that their 3 from the corner was down, and that we would not be able to score after that. It was a very strange feeling. I guess I had watched too many of Alfs teems fall apart down the stretch.
 
Let's just say that was the worst test I have ever taken... I had a test right after the game and I was so ****** off I couldn't concentrate at all. Definitely the worst day of Hawkeye basketball in my lifetime.
 
83Hawk said:
Gotta agree with you. As far as "devastating" losses for Iowa BB:

#1.....Jacksonville State.....Iowa had a legitimate chance to win the title, knocking off UCLA.

#2....UNLV....I think Iowa would have won it all that year.
Click to expand...

We have lived through a lot of disappointing NCAA games.
 
ColumbusHawk said:
The thing that drives me nuts about the Jacksonville loss is that the best free-throw shooting team in the country was only 17-34 from the line. If Iowa makes its free throws, it would have won going away.

Brown, Calabia & Vidnovic shot over 80 percent from the line. Johnson was over 75 percent from the line. Yet, Iowa only made 50 percent against Jacksonville.

Even today, that game still haunts me.
Click to expand...

I think Iowa was 19-31 from line and jville 18-29. Neither team shot ft well. JJ was 1-3 and Stick 8-11. Loss stll sucked.
 
Let's put this into perspective. The OP is 27-years old, depending on his birth date, he was born in '83 or '84. In that time Iowa has no Big Ten Titles or Final Four appearances.

In my first 27-years of life, Iowa won five Big Ten titles & had three final four appearances. Of course, I don't remember the teams of the fifties, but I heard a lot about those teams, the way younger people today hear about Ralph & Lute.
 
ColumbusHawk said:
Let's put this into perspective. The OP is 27-years old, depending on his birth date, he was born in '83 or '84. In that time Iowa has no Big Ten Titles or Final Four appearances.

In my first 27-years of life, Iowa won five Big Ten titles & had three final four appearances. Of course, I don't remember the teams of the fifties, but I heard a lot about those teams, the way younger people today hear about Ralph & Lute.
Click to expand...

You've got me by a few years. I remember the 70 champs and 79 tri-champs. After 1980 i knew the next final four would be in the next couple years. We haven't even won an NCAA game in 10 years. My son was born in 1984. He was in kindergarten when I took him out of school in 1991 and we drove to the cities to watch Hawks in tourney.
 
atxhawk said:
To me, that was the day Iowa basketball died.
Click to expand...

From what other people have said, I'd say that the day Chris Street died was the day Iowa Basketball died. Or at least that was the beginning of the end. I was only 3 years old at the time, but people say that Mr. Davis seemed to lose his edge after that night in February. Basketball just didn't seem as important after it was put in perspective. Then it got worse when NWSU beat us, and hit rock bottom under Lick.
 
I remember it was the day of my in-laws annual St Pattys Day party. That night we traveled back to Iowa. My father-in-law was video taping some of the party and comes up to me and asks me about Iowa. To this day, I don't remember what I said, but I went on like a 5 minutes ramble about Iowa - I blame the beer. I should try to find that.
 
Me and a bunch of buddies were at Fitzy's in Iowa City and were having a blast until they lost. We ended up getting blitzed and then somehow got in a limo and went to Cedar Rapids and celebrated St. Patrick's Day up there.

It was one of the worst, most odd days of my life.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top