Brian Ferentz 'Stadium Experience is Lacking'

Win.

A certain reporter tried to argue on twitter with me that the black friday game is a bad idea bc students go home for thanksgiving and the dorms aren't open.

One, dorms are open. Two, win and hawkeye football will trump turkey with grandma.
 
The key to every home game is 1. How Iowa plays and 2. The coaching decisions by KF. That will go a long way into how rockin Kinnick Stadium will be tomorrow, it is that simple.
 
Who knows exactly what he means ... To start with, of course the environment inside the stadium coincides with the product on the field. And we know the past couple of years have not been the best. Kinnick used to be sacred ground. When teams like Central Michigan come in and beat you at home it does a little something to the pride :)

As a 9-year season ticket holder (this is my first year without tickets) some of the top things that come to mind that used to annoy the heck out of me:

* The stadium coordination of the music and person on the PA
* The way the stadium announcer would simply ruin the moment when the crowd was really into something and they they kill it with an announcement about "Get your women's season tickets..."
* The PA person himself ... "And be kind to your neighbor and treat our guests ..." Sorry, he may be a nice guy but he does little to inject any excitement into the crowd. Is he really the best voice out there to be the stadium announcer? Seriously ... I have been to a lot of different stadiums and the PA guy can make a big difference ... The Kinnick PA guy made me feel like I was at a bingo hall.
* The band playing the same songs, over ... and over .. and over
* And that ridiculous Panchero burrito gimmick. Okay, that may have been fun when you started it 5 years ago ... Let it go

Ha ... going back and reading my post makes me realize I made the right decision for me ... I sound bitter! Ha ... No, those were just things that when you take the sum total sort of took away from the environment.

Iowa should take a look at the game-day experience it offers fans. I am not saying the university should lax its drinking rules, etc., because Lord knows we don't need more people stumbling around who can't handle their alcohol ... but the environment definitely changed a lot in the 9 years I had season tickets. Many of fun parking lots closed ... vendors gone ... etc. When the Hawks were winning fans could have cared less what was piped into the stadium ...

But in general ... Iowa is sort of a step behind in general ... We are cautious by nature ... Don't really like change (i.e. the fans who still hate the idea of Pro combat unis - even though every team except for Drake has them) ... Sure, I like tradition ... But you need to adapt to the times ... I think even our coaching staff got caught up with not adapting to the times ... how we recruit ... etc. And now we have a little injection of youth in the staff ...

Winning cures a lot ... But sure, there are definnitely some things the university can do to liven up the atmosphere ... Personally, after 9 years of season tickets I don't miss making the all-day trek and sitting next to the drunk ahole behind me calling for "O'Keefe's" head when O'Keefe is no longer there. Now ... I fire up my smoker on game day ... grab my favorite beverage ... turn on the new 65 inch tv ... and life is good. Sure, being at Kinnick is a wonderful experience ... but not what it used to be ...
 
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What year did the tailgating crackdown begin? My first game back in 20 years was 2008. I thought it was fun that year and in 2009 and 2010 as well. This year was ok, I guess for the one game I went to. We weren't interested in getting completely drunk, but we had no hassles.
 
Just going to games and walking thru tailgating territory I haven't noticed the difference people are mentioning. Whar changes?
 
I'm disapointed that any Iowa coach is spending 1 second thinking about stuff like this.

I somehow doubt that Brian is the one writing up (or even coming up with the idea) for these surveys. He's just calling for the fans to bring it tomorrow, regardless of what they might think of the "stadium experience".
 
Cracking down on tailgating is frigging ********. Ran into a Wyoming guy after they had a good game against nebby, he was going down to watch them @ air force and asked if we would like to attend. I said oh no, its on goverment property (ie no tailgating) he laughed and said oh there will be tailgating. One of the things i hated about the whole state of iowa was their nazi attitude. Like someone else said dang let people have a good time and go bust some crack house or something.
 
1. The entrance is pathetic. They come out and stand there for like three minutes while we all watch the stupid video of a semi-truck. The stupid video of a semi-truck should just be axed altogether. The video should just be a big tiger hawk. The team should be gathered in the tunnel and not visible to the stadium yet, then they should walk out until everyone is ready which should take no longer than 15 seconds from the time they're first visible. Then Herky needs to come out on the platform with the iowa flag onto the field and then Ferentz follows and the swarm follows.

2. Kinnick is dead on 90% of first and second downs. Kinnick is sub-par on 75% of 3rd downs right now. Brian Ferentz has a point.

I like the team walking the tunnel to back in black. I love the long intro to enter sandman. I'd be willing to bet the players get even more pumped as they are standing at the entrance with the fans going nuts and 'tallica blaring (I know I get amped up). Watch it on YouTube sometime and tell me the players are getting bored. I'm even ok with the semi crashing through the fine fields.

A couple tweaks I'd suggest are to start enter sandman when the players reach the entrance, and not play out B&B so long. I'd also say let enter sandman play out longer when the players take the field. I HATE it when they cut it off immediately and the band goes into the fight song. Play it for a minute or two; then have the band hit the fight song.
 
I like the team walking the tunnel to back in black. I love the long intro to enter sandman. I'd be willing to bet the players get even more pumped as they are standing at the entrance with the fans going nuts and 'tallica blaring (I know I get amped up). Watch it on YouTube sometime and tell me the players are getting bored. I'm even ok with the semi crashing through the fine fields.

A couple tweaks I'd suggest are to start enter sandman when the players reach the entrance, and not play out B&B so long. I'd also say let enter sandman play out longer when the players take the field. I HATE it when they cut it off immediately and the band goes into the fight song. Play it for a minute or two; then have the band hit the fight song.

The fans are not going crazy is the problem. They go crazy for maybe the first 10 seconds. Then everyone half ***** a cheer for about two full-minutes and Kinnick pumps in music like you wouldn't believe. Then finally, they take the field and fans go crazy again, but not as crazy as it would be if it all would happen in 20-seconds.

The entrance is a joke.
 
Hating Wisconsin doesn't make the above statement true, no matter how much you might want it to.

The burrito lift is the absolute dumbest thing I've ever seen at a football game.

Never said anything about hating Wisconsin. Not sure where you came up with that.

And yes, the jump around is lame and stupid.
 
Just my opinion, but buying a ton of Hawkeye merchandize doesn't make someone a true fan. Also, I don't think a true fan needs a big play in order to create some noise. True fans are the select individuals in each section who **** a number of people off with their incessant yelling and no, I'm not talking about the guys who question every decision the coaches make.
 
Sorry to break it to you, Brian but bubble gum and note pads aren't very exciting. Neither is punting on the opponents 35 yard line. The problem you have is on the side lines and in the AD's box suite.

what a complete tool you must be. and, this just in, your favorite coach doesn't chew bubble gum.
 
1. The entrance is pathetic. They come out and stand there for like three minutes while we all watch the stupid video of a semi-truck. The stupid video of a semi-truck should just be axed altogether. The video should just be a big tiger hawk. The team should be gathered in the tunnel and not visible to the stadium yet, then they should walk out until everyone is ready which should take no longer than 15 seconds from the time they're first visible. Then Herky needs to come out on the platform with the iowa flag onto the field and then Ferentz follows and the swarm follows.

2. Kinnick is dead on 90% of first and second downs. Kinnick is sub-par on 75% of 3rd downs right now. Brian Ferentz has a point.

especially for 11 a.m. games. has been this way for several years. i've always thought 'wake up' re: the crowd.
 
Cracking down on tailgating is frigging ********. Ran into a Wyoming guy after they had a good game against nebby, he was going down to watch them @ air force and asked if we would like to attend. I said oh no, its on goverment property (ie no tailgating) he laughed and said oh there will be tailgating. One of the things i hated about the whole state of iowa was their nazi attitude. Like someone else said dang let people have a good time and go bust some crack house or something.

I don't know if it has changed, and if so by how much, there at Air Force, but for a very long time, it was always a great inside-the-stadium, college gameday experience. Beyond multiple flyovers and the cadets, they did many things AND they let you take full COOLERS of beer or whatever (I think everything had to be in plastic bottles or milk jugs). It's been awhile since I have been there, and that tradition has probably fallen by the wayside, but it certainly helped add to the experience (of course, their on field product was much better back then too). Not saying that is how you change the inside experience of Kinnick, but...

...bottom line, continue to improve the product presented, and the fans will rally with their lungs....and leave feeling good about their team, their effort, and themselves.
 
I don't know if it has changed, and if so by how much, there at Air Force, but for a very long time, it was always a great inside-the-stadium, college gameday experience. Beyond multiple flyovers and the cadets, they did many things AND they let you take full COOLERS of beer or whatever (I think everything had to be in plastic bottles or milk jugs). It's been awhile since I have been there, and that tradition has probably fallen by the wayside, but it certainly helped add to the experience (of course, their on field product was much better back then too). Not saying that is how you change the inside experience of Kinnick, but...

...bottom line, continue to improve the product presented, and the fans will rally with their lungs....and leave feeling good about their team, their effort, and themselves.

what you describe is what used to happen at iowa, in the 70s - but, opposite of what you describe of AFA, Iowa's on the field product sucked. i think in '71, the team didn't score a point all year. at least every home game. can you imagine that!? you'd have to allow coolers for that.
 
I want to give huge props to Brian for calling this situation out. That is so refreshing and gives me hope in his potential as a future leader. This type of thing is long overdue.

Many of these things have been said already but are worth repeating....

First the product is improving but has not provided enough action especially offensively to get excited about. The fans will bring it like we did in OT but the team has to do something and the in-game coaching needs to let it all hang out. Throw the bomb to Powell or rip off a long TD run and the crowd will go crazy. Show physicality in the team play and the fans will reward the effort. Stop managing the game like we are afraid of everything.

Next the in-game promotion is terrible and stale. I would fire everyone in Marketing.

- Team entrance is a disaster now (too long with players just standing there)
- Semi running over the helmet has gotten stale. Needs to be scrapped or re-thought
- Consider past player video clips and highlights pumping the fan base up; Roth, Sanders, Gallery, Greenway, Hodge, etc.
- Nile Kinnick speech has gotten way old (find better way to honor him)
- Herky being brought in on a stand that looks like it could collapse any minute sucks. How about having him run in just in front of the players as the come onto the field or come in on a Harley or bad a-- black and gold 4-wheeler?
- Herky needs to be more involved in the game and be a lot tougher - act like he is ready to throw down
- The band is horrible. Either play like your life depends on it or get rid of them all together
- Add a big time drum core banging some awesome beats now and then as action dictates
- The sound system is horrible
- Music... Keep ACDC but incorporate great tunes new and old. How hard is that?
- Halftime needs more fun and filled with good tunes to keep the energy going. So many boring inductions and promotions. Halftime zaps the energy.

Last the new scoreboard is a COMPLETE fail in terms of it's size and usefulness. How on earth did the actual viewing areas for fans on each end come out that small? Those viewing areas should extend across from end to end, not just in the corners to allow for multiple different views of stuff. Then the stats areas rarely work and are tiny. No offense to ISU but anything we put up should dwarf what they have so again MASSIVE fail. It was a great idea but faulty purchase plan. If you are going to do something do it right.
 
Leave it to iowa to out nazi the federal goverment. Maybe in order to work security or police game day it out to be required to attend a really wound up tailgating scene.
 

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