Does the lack of fans @ Carver annoy Fran?

[rhoffs8]

I do envy what ISU has going on for their atmosphere.

With the exception of booing EVERY SINGLE CALL that doesn't go their way. It's pathetic, a clear out of bounds call on Iowa State and those idiots are booing.

 

[Hawknigh]

With the exception of booing EVERY SINGLE CALL that doesn't go their way. It's pathetic, a clear out of bounds call on Iowa State and those idiots are booing.

Same as the Breslin Center for Michigan State, Cameron for Duke, Allen Fieldhouse for Kansas, etc. I've never seen a vibrant crowd that only cheered for the good things and didn't boo the things they didn't like, particularly if they are close calls by the ref.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

With the exception of booing EVERY SINGLE CALL that doesn't go their way. It's pathetic, a clear out of bounds call on Iowa State and those idiots are booing.

You'll get that everywhere... Iowa's crowds are hardly 'perfect' I've heard them chant stupid stuff and BS all spelled out for kids to hear. When you look at it without Hawk glasses on Iowas atmosphere isn't even close to what I think most coaches or players would want. And to answer the question I bet it does annoy Fran to some extent in which he'll never be able to be honest about.

 

[DP5555]

Same as the Breslin Center for Michigan State, Cameron for Duke, Allen Fieldhouse for Kansas, etc. I've never seen a vibrant crowd that only cheered for the good things and didn't boo the things they didn't like, particularly if they are close calls by the ref.

I think I'll meet you both halfway here. It does seem like Cyclone fans at Hilton boo way more than average, but when you have a venue filled with passionate fans often times it's going to sound like that. You can't really have it both ways. I'd be thrilled if Iowa had a raucous atmosphere even if it did seem like they booed too much.

 

[SidFarkas]

FSU game really took the cake. Players just back from tough Florida trip, kind of a must NCAA win needed after one day's rest. Hundreds of people left at OT. Players looked kind of like WTF...They need the energy from a supportive loud crowd, not quiet leavers.

I realize it was a late game, and I had to work the next day as well. Don't blame people that can't make it.

BTW, Carver is an awesome arena period.
When people show up and yell, it is as loud as any other.

 

[atomicblue224]

Blame it on El Nino! El Nino bodyslammed me !

 

[Stanzi]

With the exception of booing EVERY SINGLE CALL that doesn't go their way. It's pathetic, a clear out of bounds call on Iowa State and those idiots are booing.

This is so true. I went with a couple of my Cyclone friends to the Iowa game, and we were up in the 200 level where you obviously can't see things in great detail. This moron behind me was screaming "THAT'S A TRAVEL!!!" and "CALL IT BOTH WAYS REF!!!" despite the fact the foul disparity at that point was like 8 to 1 in favor of ISU.

 

[FirstDownHawkeyes]

One of my biggest pet peeves is how so many fans leave early like that... It blows my mind. Why do they even go then???? Don't get me wrong it's great your spending your money how you want to I just don't understand the why. Is it more fun to listen to the end on the radio for them? Or miss it all together? Because like you here say it's not just blowouts one way or the other that they do it. If beating traffic is your goal in life I just don't see why one would bother going at all... I do envy what ISU has going on for their atmosphere. We aren't touching that. Be it that DSM is 2 hours from Carver as opposed to about 45 mins from Ames I suppose that has some to do with it. But Iowa should pull Cedar Falls/Waterloo and the Eastern side to come that's closer... I dunno how to fix that seems to be one of those things it just is what it is....

I suspect many of those that leave early have a long drive and need to work the next day. I begrudgingly leave early with 3-5 minutes to go at 8pm weeknight games. The alternative is to not go and leave my seat vacant. When you need to be at work at 0630 and have a 1:45 drive back to DSM, that is the cost. It is just another way the TV schedules have affected the game experience.

I never leave a FB game early and stay until the end of the weekend and 6pm basketball games.

I made an exception to see the end of the MSU game!

 

[PCHawk]

I suspect many of those that leave early have a long drive and need to work the next day. I begrudgingly leave early with 3-5 minutes to go at 8pm weeknight games. The alternative is to not go and leave my seat vacant. When you need to be at work at 0630 and have a 1:45 drive back to DSM, that is the cost. It is just another way the TV schedules have affected the game experience.

I never leave a FB game early and stay until the end of the weekend and 6pm basketball games.

I made an exception to see the end of the MSU game!

To each his own, but to me the end is the most important part. I would change whatever I had to to avoid missing the ending.

 

[ISC]

It would help if all their weekday games weren't at 8pm. So dumb.

I've thought the same thing with the cyclone's schedule this year... the 8 PM games make it hard to get up the next morning. It's just one of the downsides of pretty much every game being on national TV now (for both Iowa and Iowa State).

Luckily, Ames isn't as far away for me as carver probably is for most of the fans on this board, so it's a bit easier for me to make it to hilton for these weekday late games.

 

[ISC]

When they designate seats, they should have sitting sections and standing sections. I live in des moines and had season tickets the last 2 years but dumped them this year because it's not worth it. I would drive all the way there just to be annoyed at the fans sitting on their ***** and leaving with 5 minutes left in a close game. I decided I could pick and chose which games to go to, spend less money, and probably get better seats. The problem with that though is it's too easy to not go.

Love this idea... i would rather stand the whole game if I could, but don't want to **** off the entire section behind me in hilton. So, i find every opportunity to stand up and cheer that i can get.

 

[blubberhawk]

How can we expect to keep what seems to be an elite level coach if he's doing his job and fans aren't showing up?

I've always been a proud Hawkeye fan. Part of that pride is because Hawk fans are well known for being incredibly loyal. I know the dwindling ticket issue in both football and basketball is real for many schools. Not just Iowa. People are getting comfortable watching games in their own house on a big screen TV. Again, I'm not blaming anyone else because I'm guilty of that as well. However, if Hawk fans don't start to show up I can't say I'd blame Fran if at some point he decided to move on to a storied basketball program where the venue is rocking night in and night out. Even when Carver is full it isn't near as loud as some places because of the design of the stadium and the seating arrangements. Most of the big donors who sit up front do just that. They sit and clap occasionally. They aren't the kind of fans who should be up front. We should surround the court with students. I've felt like that for quite awhile. I actually emailed Barta that a couple years ago and he responded with some lame excuse basically stating that "I appreciate your support, but the seating arrangements can not be reconfigured."

As a Hawk fan, I'm embarrassed by it because I always thought our fan base would deliver if the product delivers. Right now the product is delivering and we aren't. That's the cold hard facts folks.

What storied program do you see going after Fran? He is very well paid at Iowa. He has won just one NCAA tourney game thus far at Iowa. The students need to fill the place. Old rich people need to watch on tv and give up seats to students.

 

[brozley]

1. The design is flawed with the wide aisles up and down the stadium breaking up the seats. Any would be section is broken up by to many and too wide aisles.
2. Location is inconvenient for students to get to.
3. No tradition of winning. Team went forever with so much as an NCAA birth with teams like WIsky getting them every year.
4.in time if they keep making making tournament and a Sweet 16's happen pretty often, the crowd may come.

Look, I'm as big of a Hawk fan as there is, and this topic isn't something I enjoy bringing up. The reason I bring it up is because I want other Hawk fans opinions on the subject. I'm pretty embarrassed by the lack of fans at Carver. Fran has built this program brick by brick. They're competing for a B10 Title right now and Hawk fans simply aren't filling the place. I'm one of them. I haven't gone to a game yet. My excuse? I live in Johnston, IA. I have a wife who is 36 weeks pregnant right now. It's difficult to make it to 8 pm games on a week night. I don't place the blame on anyone else because I don't have any room to talk, but I have no problem saying that I am embarrassed at the lack of crowd support the Hawks have had so far this season.

Now I know there are some realistic excuses. For instance, Iowa's football program making it to the Rose Bowl had many Hawk fans, including myself, not quite ready to move onto basketball yet. The holiday break for students certainly had an impact on attendance as well. It will be interesting to see if the crowd improves over these next couple of weeks because the students are back and the team has built some momentum.

If the crowd doesn't improve over the next several weeks... Do you think the lack of support bothers Fran? Do you think it could play a factor in him being pouched by a more prestigious program or a basketball school? I firmly believe he's done pretty much everything he can up to this point to satisfy Hawk fans. As a fan base I don't think we're giving Fran and his team the support they have earned. Carver should be rocking right now. Fran and those players deserve that much and I hope we give it to them or I'm afraid we could end up regretting it down the road.

 

[Hawkeyes5]

I think it's going to be this way all year. We got hosed on the home schedule this year....big time. Our remaining home games are Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday, Wednesday, Wednesday. Not a single Saturday game to be found anywhere.

We're coming over from Sgt Bluff on the 31st. It's a Sunday so if my family and I can make it no excuse for students and Hawk faithful to not show.

 

[HawksMN]

Rip out 1000 lounge chairs in there and put in bleacher seats. Fill up with students OR if they are too much of a loser then whomever wants to sit there, for a great price. Then they STAND ONLY during the game.

 

[Stanzi]

I hate the wide aisles. On TV even if the arena is full it doesn't appear that way because of the aisles.

 

[DP5555]

What storied program do you see going after Fran? He is very well paid at Iowa. He has won just one NCAA tourney game thus far at Iowa. The students need to fill the place. Old rich people need to watch on tv and give up seats to students.

I have no idea. Does it matter who? When you've proven that you're a great coach who knows how to build a program up from the cellar you're gonna get offers. I'm not saying he's quite there yet, but I am saying the trajectory he's on he will be there at some point in the near future.

Maybe he's perfectly happy here. Maybe it doesn't bother him at all. I certainly hope so. All I'm saying is if I'm in his shoes I'd be mighty frustrated that the fans haven't responded the way I would have expected them to. He deserves it. The players and coaching staff deserve it. It just hasn't happened yet. Hopefully it will in the next couple of weeks.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

I could be wrong, but I don't think the Illanoy @ MSU game was sold out. When the B1G had a Thurs/Sat schedule for all games, at least fans could sacrifice one tired morning (Friday) during the week and who cared, the next day was Friday. Plus, all tv was local to the state, unless it was on ESPN. Now, the idea is to get your games on tv in prime time so that you can have a broad based viewership which could help recruiting.

I think Fran understands this; at least I hope he does. The Holidays and beginning of January is always iffy for fan attendance, it seems.

 

[Hawk1960]

I have been jealous of what they have at ISU for BB heck even the fans that show up to a horrible football team. You want to talk about a loyal fan base. Iowa fans don’t even come close to what they have up in Hilton. It doesn’t hurt that a lot of alum live in Des Moines or close by that does play a big factor.

I think that is what it comes down to. You’re not going to get a lot of people from DM area to buy season tickets. Not as many that buy FB season tickets. Number of games, time, day, cost of travel, and so on just not feasible and especially with Iowa weather. If the students don’t show up it feels empty and the students don’t show like they used to.

Not sure I buy the proximity to the DM area excuse. If you look at the population base within an hour drive of Carver Hawkeye (IC, Cedar Rapids, Quad Cities, Muscatine, etc.) your talking roughly 700k people. Probably equal to if not more than an hour drive from Ames.

I agree with others above about start times and the lack of student attendance, that is a factor. Also, keep in mind Hilton capacity is 14,400 and Carver is 15,400. Hopefully we see more seats filled with the B1G games coming up.

 

[trj]

I have no idea. Does it matter who? When you've proven that you're a great coach who knows how to build a program up from the cellar you're gonna get offers. I'm not saying he's quite there yet, but I am saying the trajectory he's on he will be there at some point in the near future.

Maybe he's perfectly happy here. Maybe it doesn't bother him at all. I certainly hope so. All I'm saying is if I'm in his shoes I'd be mighty frustrated that the fans haven't responded the way I would have expected them to. He deserves it. The players and coaching staff deserve it. It just hasn't happened yet. Hopefully it will in the next couple of weeks.

I am going to play the age and family card here. As far as fan atmosphere goes Iowa isn't ideal, but he has a pretty good setup here......Financially, family wise he is in a pretty good place. At this point in his life i don't know if he would want to start over unless it is an opportunity to build or rebuild a blue blood.