Building a Program v. Sustaining It

ChosenChildren

ChosenChildren

Well-Known Member
I have spent some time on this board defending Kirk Ferentz. Although I'm happy I did it, I have to confess that Iowa football has lost a little of its excitement to me. It feels like we peaked in 2009, and now perhaps we are in another valley. It is hard to sustain the excellence.

Iowa basketball, on the other hand, seems more exciting to me right now. Even though we won only 12 games last year, you can sense that Fran is building something and that the team will improve.

Human nature is curious: Even though we should be celebrating Iowa's success in football, I find myself becoming apathetic about football and excited about basketball. In all honesty, I want the football season to get over with as soon as possible, so that I can concentrate on basketball.

Do other people feel this way? Is it just my weakness?
 
I think a lot of peoples frustration with the current team and Kirk Ferentz is the residual affect of last year. Had Iowa performed the way it should have last year with all that talent, I think people would be as up-in-arms with this season. Iowa has had sustained success for the better part of 30+ years now with a few bumps along the way.
 
You've got problems if you can't get excited about something that happens 12 saturday's a year...let alone only 7 times a year in kinnick.

Disappointed in the 3-2 start yes, but apathetic about Hawkeye football? Wow.
 
Yes, because it's like groundhog day. What's the only thing more boring than watching an Iowa-Penn St game? An Iowa-Indiana game.
 
oh how we forget during the summer we are dying for some Hawkeye football.
I share the excitement for basketball though but in no way would I wish the football season over.
 
If Iowa fights its way into Championship(b10) contention the excitement will return full force.

I agree with you that I am very excited about basketball.
 
If Iowa fights its way into Championship(b10) contention the excitement will return full force.

I agree with you that I am very excited about basketball.
 
McCaffrey understands people want to see up tempo, high scoring games. Ferentz and KOK embrace the Lickliter philosophy of slow, methodical, ineffective play. It's Iowa's offense that has me yawning (again).
 
Iowa scores more than 30pts in each of the first four games of the season for the first time in school history and we have someone ******** about slow methodical play. We are second in the Big Ten in passing yardage,but not enough for some of the critcs...just goes to show, that they should just be fans of the NFL and forget college football. Never satisfied,don't enjoy it...why do they bother with it?

Just watch...Iowa will lose 38-35 this weekend,and the whiners will complain about the defense....or 52-51...and they will whine about the defense. Just win,Hawks,and I am happy.
 
I think the OP brings up some good points. We are sort of in the valley right now. I thought this offense would be one of the most explosive of the Ferentz era and the 3 points against PSU sort of took me back a couple of steps. Still love Iowa football but I have to admit having an average team takes a little bit of the fun out it. I have been a diehard Hawk fan for 31 years and during that time there have been many ups and downs. It is human nature to not be as excited when your team is not in the Top 25 and is sitting with a 3-2 mark.

After last season's finish and through the first five games of this season I do sort of wonder where the program is headed and can we get back to being in the Top 25, etc.

I, too, am more excited about Iowa basketball than I have been in about seven or eight years. Iowa football is still No. 1 for me ... We all want the same thing -- to see some "W(s)" on the field ...
 
PatrickAdamovicz said:
I think a lot of peoples frustration with the current team and Kirk Ferentz is the residual affect of last year. Had Iowa performed the way it should have last year with all that talent, I think people would be as up-in-arms with this season. Iowa has had sustained success for the better part of 30+ years now with a few bumps along the way.
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I agree. The disappointment was last year. Great post.

Another factor to consider is the level of expectation for football, relative to basketball...

Iowa Basketball has been a "cellar dweller" for awhile now, so an Iowa bball team rising to 6th in the B10 (versus 10th) is quite an improvement.

Sustaining the historical 2nd or 3rd place b10 football program is a huge challenge (historical in terms of the last decade or so).
 
I'm excited about basketball because at the end of the game I'm not upset. I don't expect the basketball team to beat the majority of their opponents... So just watching them compete and play is fun. If they lose then it is more like "oh darn. At least it was fun to watch." They are rarely expected to win. So a loss isn't a big deal and doesn't get me down, but a win is a huge deal and sure gets me excited!

Football is held to higher expectations right now. I get upset when we lose to teams we shouldn't be losing to. I get frustrated, because I have grown to expect better things. I know they are more than capable of winning every time they step out on the field. So when they lose... It stings.

Also, it is obvious that basketball is headed in the right direction. The future looks bright and it really can't get much worse than it was with lick.
With football... It seems like last year was our year and it wasn't what we expected. So football doesn't have as much excitement looking ahead to the future, but I'm not saying that I don't get excited for every Saturday... I just don't quite have that same level of excitement like I did last year.
 
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DesMoinesHawki said:
I think the OP brings up some good points. We are sort of in the valley right now. I thought this offense would be one of the most explosive of the Ferentz era and the 3 points against PSU sort of took me back a couple of steps. Still love Iowa football but I have to admit having an average team takes a little bit of the fun out it. I have been a diehard Hawk fan for 31 years and during that time there have been many ups and downs. It is human nature to not be as excited when your team is not in the Top 25 and is sitting with a 3-2 mark.

After last season's finish and through the first five games of this season I do sort of wonder where the program is headed and can we get back to being in the Top 25, etc.

I, too, am more excited about Iowa basketball than I have been in about seven or eight years. Iowa football is still No. 1 for me ... We all want the same thing -- to see some "W(s)" on the field ...
Click to expand...

Excellent post. I remember during the early 80s when I thought just making a bowl was "success". Finishing in the Top 20, and later Top 25, also meant a "successful" season.

You know we are better program since Hayden's arrival, each and every year, when non-Hawk fans living here in Florida ask, "What's happened to Iowa?" when we sit at 3-2 or finish 7-5 or 8-4. This program IS respected now. The most disrespect comes (aside from Dodd, ESPN and the like) from our own fan base. And that's probably a GOOD thing.
 
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