Since it was a week off for the Hawks, a friend of mine and I decided to go to the game in Ames. Here's my impressions; the tailgating atmosphere was OK but it did have the feel of sitting in a Walmart parking lot for me. There's no trees and buildings close by and you're out in the open - just didn't do for me. I did get to spend some time with a great former Hawkeye who played in the 90's. He happended to be at the tailgate that we got invited to. This made my day and it was fun to be able to talk Hawkeye football at an Iowa State game.
The game itself was definately lacking in atmosphere. Iowa State uses a lot of "gimmickry" to try and get the crowd involved. The fog, the siren and the "there's another Cyclone First Down" chant seemed very small time and gave the game an Arena Football feel. The music absolutely sucked - its all hip-hop and rap - not music that the typical Iowan really listens to or even relates to. I guess they're trying to be cutting edge but I'm not sure that's the best way to do it.
The one positive is their new video screen is awesome! It's a hideously large structure overall and is over-bearing over the stadium but the graphics are great. I found myself watching the game on the screen quite a lot instead of watching it live. Another cool thing they did was before the game, they let a bunch of little kids out on the field and they stayed out there during the National Anthem and when the Clowns came out onto the field. That's got to be a great memory for those little kids and would be a great addition to Kinnick pregame. I thought it was a nice touch.
I woke up this morning with a headache and I'm not sure if it was from drinking too much or seeing far too much red and yellow together - those two colors shouldn't be seen on anything simultaneously except on a hot dog!
Overall, I would give the experience a 5 out of ten. To me, nothing beats the atmosphere of Iowa City and Kinnick on game day but I'm biased. It's a ten in my book.
The game itself was definately lacking in atmosphere. Iowa State uses a lot of "gimmickry" to try and get the crowd involved. The fog, the siren and the "there's another Cyclone First Down" chant seemed very small time and gave the game an Arena Football feel. The music absolutely sucked - its all hip-hop and rap - not music that the typical Iowan really listens to or even relates to. I guess they're trying to be cutting edge but I'm not sure that's the best way to do it.
The one positive is their new video screen is awesome! It's a hideously large structure overall and is over-bearing over the stadium but the graphics are great. I found myself watching the game on the screen quite a lot instead of watching it live. Another cool thing they did was before the game, they let a bunch of little kids out on the field and they stayed out there during the National Anthem and when the Clowns came out onto the field. That's got to be a great memory for those little kids and would be a great addition to Kinnick pregame. I thought it was a nice touch.
I woke up this morning with a headache and I'm not sure if it was from drinking too much or seeing far too much red and yellow together - those two colors shouldn't be seen on anything simultaneously except on a hot dog!
Overall, I would give the experience a 5 out of ten. To me, nothing beats the atmosphere of Iowa City and Kinnick on game day but I'm biased. It's a ten in my book.
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