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 ...