Empty Seats

[ColoradoHAWKEYE]

Not good enough.

LULZ...Beth Mowens was exactly the same thing that went through my head when I read that post..."Walk-off Post"!

 

[ColoradoHAWKEYE]

There must be some great food and the concession lines and restroom lines are atrocious at those stadiums....maybe the parking lots are full of halftime tailgating.

 

[ICHawk24]

Does anybody even look at these pictures? The bands are on the field, I am guessing way before the start of the game.

Two of them have bands, but the Purdue pic appears to show the team taking the field, with 2,000 fans in the background.

Chicago Tribune's Teddy Greenstein covered the Purdue game and wondered if they had 10k.

 

[DesMoinesHawki]

It's not even the team being bad for me. Here is a list of what is different from 2006-07 to today that have nothing to do with the product on the field (in no particular order):

1) Replays are frequent and take forever - makes game longer bince they jam TV timeouts into them and the long TV timeouts can really change momentum (not great when it is 25 degrees outside)
2) Lost my seats due to AD greed
3) Tailgating crackdown and changes with respect to the hospital and parking regulations have drastically diminished tailgating scene
4) Season now ends after Thanksgiving which adds a late season, awful weather game every other year
5) We'll never get to see the Big Ten trophy handed out in Kinnick like we did in 2004 - magical moment gone
6) The schedule has been diluted to high hell and teams I remember watching and learning to hate growing up, Michigan, MSU and OSU (plus relative newcomer and great rival PSU) have virtually been eliminated from the home schedule
7) Even before the expansion that shifted the aforementioned teams off the regular schedule, we missed great rival Illinois for 6 years and even missed Wisconsin, which is a great rival

Basically, they (and I don't lay all the blame on Iowa here) have taken a tradition rich product that made me want to drive 3.5 to 4 hours each way and turned it into something that I don't care about nearly as much. The advent of widespread HD TV has further added to my desire to stay home, though I dislike the narrow angles they use bince I can't see when guys get open down the field. Don't get me wrong, if I lived in IC or CR, I would still be out there, but there has been such a drop in gameday experience that I don't really desire to drive 8 hours anymore. I still love college football and hit several Northwestern games a year, but they (a) are cool about tailgating, (b) offer a very reasonably priced product and (c) are unlikely to steal my seats from me. It's a much more fan-oriented experience, plus they actually play BCS teams other than ISU at home (in games I want to see), including Cal, Stanford, Notre Dame and a resurgent Duke team.

All good points. And yes, many of the things you mentioned definitely factored into my decision. Factor in all of it, and it's hard to justify the time and money.

 

[kicker22]

Good list of reasons, but for someone like me there will never be anything comparable to experiencing a game live. What did it for me, was growing up. As a dad, who coaches during the spring and rarely gets home before bed time, I realized that despite how big of a fan I am, while the kids are too young to go to games, I simply don't have the time to spend my Saturdays away from them. Really was an easy decision after 15 years of being a season ticket holder.

That said hopefully all those talking about not renewing will follow through as I would love to get my season tickets back and a few extras for the little ones in a few years.

 

[hawkfan340]

I had 2 extra tickets to the Wisky game, couldn't sell them for $10 a piece a hour before the game. Just held onto them for more room

I think you made a good decision. If offered, I'd pay $10 to get some extra space around Kinnick.

 

[hawkfan340]

Imagine her voice over standard def viewed on a 27 inch tube television.

/thread

Lolz!

 

[MNHawkeyeFreak]

A growing number of fans do not want to stand the whole game.
Yes, in moments, like a touchdown and when the defense is trying to stop the opposition on 3rd down, but the standing the whole game is silly, and doesn't make me more of a real fan, than one who stands on those key moments.

I don't think I said anything about standing in my post...

 

[Knight78]

Does anybody even look at these pictures? The bands are on the field, I am guessing way before the start of the game.

All this proves is that fans do not show up to see the band. Show me a picture when they are actually playing football!

I saw pics on another site of Illinois during the game. It didn't change much. The real sad thing is that it was Senior Day at Illinois and it looked like only the senior parents were in the stands. Not that I'm such a fan of the Illini but the seniors on every team deserve better.

 

[guffus]

Two of them have bands, but the Purdue pic appears to show the team taking the field, with 2,000 fans in the background.

Chicago Tribune's Teddy Greenstein covered the Purdue game and wondered if they had 10k.

I am going to ask you again. Did you look at the pictures? The Purdue one was clearly with the band still on the field.

I calling all these pictures B.S. Show me a picture when the actual football teams are on the field playing otherwise its meaningless.

 

[herkish]

"Don't get me wrong, if I lived in IC or CR, I would still be out there, but there has been such a drop in gameday experience that I don't really desire to drive 8 hours anymore. I still love college football and hit several Northwestern games a year, but they (a) are cool about tailgating, (b) offer a very reasonably priced product and (c) are unlikely to steal my seats from me. It's a much more fan-oriented experience, plus they actually play BCS teams other than ISU at home (in games I want to see), including Cal, Stanford, Notre Dame and a resurgent Duke team."

So true, except for the if i lived near Kinnick i'd still go part. I live closer to Ames than I.C. and have found myself at approx 1 cyclone game/yr vs 0 at Iowa. What is troubling is that i used to have season tix to IA and now find myself at more Cyclone games and sometimes even skip watching the hawks on tv when i'm home.
I'm so confused. This terrible staffing and decision making at Iowa is causing similar affects for me as somebody with a cognitive disorder. I need to get some semblance of my life back, i'm becoming a cyclone.
prayers and wishes are needed now more than ever

 

[MNHawkeyeFreak]

"Don't get me wrong, if I lived in IC or CR, I would still be out there, but there has been such a drop in gameday experience that I don't really desire to drive 8 hours anymore. I still love college football and hit several Northwestern games a year, but they (a) are cool about tailgating, (b) offer a very reasonably priced product and (c) are unlikely to steal my seats from me. It's a much more fan-oriented experience, plus they actually play BCS teams other than ISU at home (in games I want to see), including Cal, Stanford, Notre Dame and a resurgent Duke team."

So true, except for the if i lived near Kinnick i'd still go part. I live closer to Ames than I.C. and have found myself at approx 1 cyclone game/yr vs 0 at Iowa. What is troubling is that i used to have season tix to IA and now find myself at more Cyclone games and sometimes even skip watching the hawks on tv when i'm home.
I'm so confused. This terrible staffing and decision making at Iowa is causing similar affects for me as somebody with a cognitive disorder. I need to get some semblance of my life back, i'm becoming a cyclone.
prayers and wishes are needed now more than ever

You sound more looserish than herkish.