Apathy

tm3308

tm3308

Well-Known Member
I won't suggest that apathy is setting in for the whole fanbase, but I feel like it is for me. Maybe it's partly because I have to curb my emotions for the sake of my job, but I just don't feel anything when it comes to Iowa football anymore.

When the Hawks went through the rough stretch of 05-07, I never lost optimism and would often be the kid figuring out just how Iowa could get to a BCS bowl until there was no hope for that. And in 2008-2009, I still had that kind of enthusiasm.

But ever since the Wisconsin game in 2010, it's just been downhill. I'd get ****** during/after losses, but not as excited after wins. Now I just don't feel anything. I really didn't even get mad last night. I left at halftime because I knew exactly how things would play out: JVB would remain under center, continue to struggle mightily, and Rudock would keep holding a clipboard. Things aren't going to change, so I'm done getting ****** off about it.
 
This program needs a big win at home vs a ranked team. Its hard to be as passionate when we suck, but it will come back.
 
I hadn't felt much the last couple of years. Last week, everything changed in East Lansing. I moved to Boston in June 2011, and watching games on TV has not been the same as being there. I made the trip last week, and in spite of having negative 'style points,' it was one of the greatest Hawkeye experience of my life.

Last night, though, I was just waiting, pining for just any good sequence of plays to cheer for. And the apathy has returned a bit. Too many games the last few years, the team just doesn't even threaten or show a pulse (mostly on offense). Last year, Nebraska, Penn State (went to that game as well), and Oklahoma we just didn't even threaten or have reason to cheer. Those are good teams, but a respectable middle-of-the-pack BCS conference team (Iowa) should be able to at least threaten to score when these games are on the line.
 
Cover3 said:
I hadn't felt much the last couple of years. Last week, everything changed in East Lansing. I moved to Boston in June 2011, and watching games on TV has not been the same as being there. I made the trip last week, and in spite of having negative 'style points,' it was one of the greatest Hawkeye experience of my life.

Last night, though, I was just waiting, pining for just any good sequence of plays to cheer for. And the apathy has returned a bit. Too many games the last few years, the team just doesn't even threaten or show a pulse (mostly on offense). Last year, Nebraska, Penn State (went to that game as well), and Oklahoma we just didn't even threaten or have reason to cheer. Those are good teams, but a respectable middle-of-the-pack BCS conference team (Iowa) should be able to at least threaten to score when these games are on the line.
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Honestly, I've always cheered for ISU outside of 4 days a year. But anymore, I enjoy and get more emotionally from watching the Cyclones play. They have QB issues, too (I truly think they're a good QB away from being a damn good team this year). But they're still fun to watch.
 
tm3308 said:
Honestly, I've always cheered for ISU outside of 4 days a year. But anymore, I enjoy and get more emotionally from watching the Cyclones play. They have QB issues, too (I truly think they're a good QB away from being a damn good team this year). But they're still fun to watch.
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Okay, you just lost me :cool:

Seriously, though, it is more than JVB. Even going back to '06 and '07, there are just a good handful of Iowa games each year where they don't even have many applause-worthy plays. Rather than comparing to the Cyclones, I will say that I enjoyed watching the 1999 team improve week-to-week and almost knock off a pretty good Minnesota team at the end of that year. Same as the basketball team in 2010-11 (and of course last year's BIG improvement). Iowa football lately, and I think I'm realizing as I write where some of my apathy comes from, is so hit-or-miss that each game seems to mean little in any bigger picture of the season. Michigan was a great win last year, but imagine how pumped everyone would have been about it if we hadn't pooped the bed against Minnesota the week before.
 
RoseBowlBound said:
This program needs a big win at home vs a ranked team. Its hard to be as passionate when we suck, but it will come back.
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IMO, the program needs more than just a big win vs a ranked team. Nobody seems to care that in 2010, Iowa beat the snot out of a highly-ranked MSU team. It's the bad losses to NW, Minnesota, etc. that people remember. I would say it needs a big SEASON.

If Iowa were to beat a ranked team, my next thought would be to wonder if they would just turn around and lay an egg against a team they should beat.

After the win against MSU last week, I was thinking maybe they're starting to gel a little bit and still have a chance to have a nice season, so I tuned in hoping to see them build on a good road win. Needless to say, that's not what we got.

I'd be lying if I said it isn't starting to feel to me a lot like the Alford years in basketball: Pre-season hype followed by disappointment, under-achievementand playing to the level of the competition. The last couple years, just an average/mediocre product. Last night felt more like the Lickliter days. Ouch.
 
I think some of this apathy is caused by knowing KF's trends. Basically until he gets kicked in the balls hard enough he is going to stay with JV at QB. I don't know what the backup QB's have to offer but even if they are terrible it would at least give the fans something more to cheer about. These backups have got to learn sometime. Any half wit knows that if Rudock finished out the rest of this season that it would only help in making him more successful next year.

For the sake of argument let's assume he is God awful and that's why he is not playing, what's that say about next season??? We've seen this same movie before with Jake Christenson(?) as we all suffered through it as we threw things at our TV's and then finally blood finally got to brain of our coach and he made the change. Is it stubbornness, pride, blind loyalty that makes KF this way? I think fans are just getting tired of it and are developing a spirit of indifference about it and saying it is what it is and there's nothing I can do about it so there is no reason to get upset or excited about the football program at this point.

I called a life long die hard hawkeye fan last night and asked him if this is the best we have at QB what does the future hold for next season........he just laughed and said the basketball team should be damn good next season.
 
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It just seems like there is a bunch of 7-5/6-6 seasons on the horizon, not to sound like a Obama motto, but I need a little hope that there is an occasional Big Ten title mixed in there. I do not quite have the emotional investment I did as a kid, so if you do not want apathy to kick in with me I need to know that these last 3 years were growing pains and not the status quo.
 
BigD said:
I think some of this apathy is caused by knowing KF's trends. Basically until he gets kicked in the balls hard enough he is going to stay with JV at QB. I don't know what the backup QB's have to offer but even if they are terrible it would at least give the fans something more to cheer about. These backups have got to learn sometime. Any half wit knows that if Rudock finished out the rest of this season that it would only help in making him more successful next year.

For the sake of argument let's assume he is God awful and that's why he is not playing, what's that say about next season??? We've seen this same movie before with Jake Christenson(?) as we all suffered through it as we threw things at our TV's and then finally blood finally got to brain of our coach and he made the change. Is it stubbornness, pride, blind loyalty that makes KF this way? I think fans are just getting tired of it and are developing a spirit of indifference about and saying it is what it is and there's nothing I can do about so there is no reason to get upset or excited about the football program at this point.

I called a life long die hard hawkeye fan last night and asked him if this is the best we have at QB what does the future hold for next season........he just laughed and said the basketball team should be damn good next season.
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That's the thought that keeps me up at night. At least in 2008, Stanzi was at least capable of coming in and being an effective QB. So 2009 ended up having alot of promise, as did 2010, with Stanzi at QB.

If I take KF at his word that JVB is that clear-cut of a #1, and this is the play we're getting at that position, then I don't know how to expect next year's offense to be any better than it is this year. Unless Rudock (or someone else) drastically improves between now and September 2013.
 
Iowa Hawkeyes right now = BORING.. We all watch games from all over the country and Iowa football on offensive side of the ball is what I call GENERIC.. There are some teams right I would be afraid for Iowa if they had to play them.
 
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trj said:
It just seems like there is a bunch of 7-5/6-6 seasons on the horizon, not to sound like a Obama motto, but I need a little hope that there is an occasional Big Ten title mixed in there. I do not quite have the emotional investment I did as a kid, so if you do not want apathy to kick in with me I need to know that these last 3 years were growing pains and not the status quo.
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Yeah. I think the one thing 2010 did to all of us was take away any genuine excitement at possible championships. I drank some of the Kool-Aid that was being peddled around here about last year's O-line and Coker, but as soon as we lost to ISU, I thought "even if we are good enough to do it, we'll screw it up." It'll take a lot of convincing wins over MAC teams before I again feel like we're just an upset or two from Indianapolis. Honestly, without the 2010 NW and Minnesota losses, I don't know that I feel this way. But after those losses, I'm thinking even after we have 'rebuilt' by 2014, we'll still be screwing things up and settling for 7-5.

I wouldn't mind being a 7-5 program if that was our legitimate talent level (which it was last year and is at best this year), but 2005, 2006, and 2010 have tainted my outlook on Ferentz.
 
BAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAAAAAA!

tm3308 said:
Honestly, I've always cheered for ISU outside of 4 days a year. But anymore, I enjoy and get more emotionally from watching the Cyclones play. They have QB issues, too (I truly think they're a good QB away from being a damn good team this year). But they're still fun to watch.
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I have been bleeding black and gold for 32 years now. Reading this post made me realize I feel the exact same way as you. I have no emotion left for this coach. I can't even stand to look at him on the sideline. Makes me want to puke. He will not change a freaking thing and no one can make him. Pull the kid out before he is booed, dumb ***.
 
On the bright side I am sitting on my back deck looking at pikes peak. The weather is fabulous and I love being outdoors. I already skip the nfl b/c I refuse to be inside on nice days. I seriously have to start questioning whether this product is worth giving up my time to do "stuff" outside for staying in only to watch Kirk make the same mistakes over and over.

I see this in terms of business with Kirk and barta as COO/CEO. Would you invest in this company?
 
tomhawk80907 said:
I see this in terms of business with Kirk and barta as COO/CEO. Would you invest in this company?
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Gold star for you, my friend. At the end of the day, Hawkeye football is nothing more than a giant corporation. And what would investors do if the stock continued to decline and the long-term forecast showed no signs of progress ahead? SELL! SELL! SELL!
 
Iowa plays football like its 1985 everyone else in the NCAA plays football like its 2012. Last night a former OC from the New England patriots ripped our vanilla D to threads because our coach is to stubborn to adapt to the way college football is played in 2012. Iowa will never be what it once was under this coach many fans who were on the ledge in regards to Ferentz have now joined "The Lunatic Fringe" which is actually the reality fringe. It's been time to move on from Ferentz for years the reality of this fact is now becoming clearer to many more. Next Saturday I will watch whatever big 12 or SEC game is on other then watching Iowa get rolled again by the wildcats. In Ferentz we trust??
 
SamsonHawk515 said:
Iowa plays football like its 1985 everyone else in the NCAA plays football like its 2012. Last night a former OC from the New England patriots ripped our vanilla D to threads because our coach is to stubborn to adapt to the way college football is played in 2012. Iowa will never be what it once was under this coach many fans who were on the ledge in regards to Ferentz have now joined "The Lunatic Fringe" which is actually the reality fringe. It's been time to move on from Ferentz for years the reality of this fact is now becoming clearer to many more. Next Saturday I will watch whatever big 12 or SEC game is on other then watching Iowa get rolled again by the wildcats. In Ferentz we trust??
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The defensive scheme isn't behind the times. Also, neither is the offensive scheme, in the sense that I don't think whatever ad hoc/haphazard/disjointed conglomeration of arrhythmic playcalls Iowa has in its playbook has ever been a prevalent system in college football. We just need any identity on offense. Right now, we're stuck in between Texas Tech and Wisconsin, only with less talent, and combining those two is pretty impossible.
 
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