Iowa basketball fan support

InGoodCo

InGoodCo

Well-Known Member
Could you imagine how good Iowa's home court advantage would be (it's one of the best in the sport as it is FWIW) if they had the fan support that Rutgers or Nebraska gave their basketball programs? Niether of these programs have done shit in basketball, hell Nebraska has never even won an NCAA game and their places are full almost every night. When Fran does hang it up, it's going to be a tough sell imo to any coach worth a shit. Beth can't make those changes soon enough at Carver
 
Back in the day before Iowa replaced the barn for a new auditorium, getting a ticket was a task. I can’t help but wonder if Fran’s lack of success once he gets to tourney in March hasn’t seriously dampened enthusiasm for the program.
 
BigD said:
Back in the day before Iowa replaced the barn for a new auditorium, getting a ticket was a task. I can’t help but wonder if Fran’s lack of success once he gets to tourney in March hasn’t seriously dampened enthusiasm for the program.
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I don't buy that for a second. What has Rutgers EVER done in basketball? What has Nebraska ever done at basketball? Their barns are full - week day games, late night games, early games, people are in those stands of those programs that have NO expectations or history. Fran produces All Americans, National Player of the year winners and candidates in multiple seasons, multiple NBA 1st round picks..... Fran's the all time winningest coach at Iowa. He's won conference tournaments, he's had the team eligible for the dance 5 straight years (could be 6), he coaches an entertaining style of basketball, his players are all good kids with very little trouble outside of the program.

Let's not act like playing 1 extra game in March is suddenly going to click and our fans will suddenly come back. Iowa basketball is broken, we have a guy that has provided more than good enough results, been active in the community and has really embraced everything Iowa has to offer him. If I were Fran I would have bolted years ago to a place where he'd be appreciated but here we are, lack of success in March means our attendance needs to be less than 2000 people lol
 
InGoodCo said:
I don't buy that for a second. What has Rutgers EVER done in basketball? What has Nebraska ever done at basketball? Their barns are full - week day games, late night games, early games, people are in those stands of those programs that have NO expectations or history. Fran produces All Americans, National Player of the year winners and candidates in multiple seasons, multiple NBA 1st round picks..... Fran's the all time winningest coach at Iowa. He's won conference tournaments, he's had the team eligible for the dance 5 straight years (could be 6), he coaches an entertaining style of basketball, his players are all good kids with very little trouble outside of the program.

Let's not act like playing 1 extra game in March is suddenly going to click and our fans will suddenly come back. Iowa basketball is broken, we have a guy that has provided more than good enough results, been active in the community and has really embraced everything Iowa has to offer him. If I were Fran I would have bolted years ago to a place where he'd be appreciated but here we are, lack of success in March means our attendance needs to be less than 2000 people lol
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Well after listing all of Fran’s achievements what other explanation is there? Just saying it’s broken doesn’t make sense. The explanation I suggested is the only plausible one as the achievements you listed are all legit.

People look toward March madness as the main thing that the regular season points to. Getting knocked out earlier year after year with consistency at doing it every year is going to turn fans off. It’s a huge letdown.
 
BigD said:
Well after listing all of Fran’s achievements what other explanation is there? Just saying it’s broken doesn’t make sense. The explanation I suggested is the only plausible one as the achievements you listed are all legit.

People look toward March madness as the main thing that the regular season points to. Getting knocked out earlier year after year with consistency at doing it every year is going to turn fans off. It’s a huge letdown.
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Gotcha cool, making a sweet 16 only matters at Iowa and not at Rutgers or Nebraska. Or IL for that matter, it's been over a decade since they went past the first weekend. Place looks pretty full. Northwestern hasn't ever made it past the first weekend, they set a new student attendance record this week when Maryland came to town. Maryland has one sweet 16 in 20 years, there place is packed. At some point Iowa fans are going to have to realize that Fran aint the problem.
 
InGoodCo said:
Could you imagine how good Iowa's home court advantage would be (it's one of the best in the sport as it is FWIW) if they had the fan support that Rutgers or Nebraska gave their basketball programs? Niether of these programs have done shit in basketball, hell Nebraska has never even won an NCAA game and their places are full almost every night. When Fran does hang it up, it's going to be a tough sell imo to any coach worth a shit. Beth can't make those changes soon enough at Carver
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My honest (and probably unpopular) take on this is that there's Fran fatigue. I have it. Enjoy the success, but not enough to go the games. I also don't go because there because I can watch the games on TV. I go to at least 1 FB game each year no matter what the product on the field is because of the game day atmosphere. The only reason I'd go to the BB games is because of the game. That doesn't answer the difference between Iowa and Rutgers/Nebraska, but if enough others have the same attitude towards it as I do, it may make a difference.

I guess for Rutgers, the last 4 years have been some of the most successful seasons in school history. Nebraska? I don't get it, but I used to live there and the longer I lived there, the less I understood them.
 
InGoodCo said:
At some point Iowa fans are going to have to realize that Fran aint the problem.
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I agree he's not the problem. A tough thing for me is to watch the product he puts on the court, knowing that when/if we get to the NCAA tournament, we're going to play a team that's more athletic than us and get our asses kicked. I enjoy the success, but it's tough for me to get too excited about it. That, and the fact that I'm just a casual basketball fan.

I'm also the same guy that's more than pleased with what KF has brought us and continues to bring us. Winning ~9 games a year is great, no matter how ugly they are. I cringe at the thought of being 6-6 every year like the teams around us. But, I'm a huge football fan. I'll watch no matter what. Not the same with basketball for me.
 
rschneider said:
Let's keep everything the same and imagine Iowa City metro has a population of 340,000 (Lincoln) and Ceder Rapids metro had a population of 880,000 (Omaha).

I don't think we'd have a problem then. How many non millionaires actually live near downtown Iowa City that are passionate about sports?
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We do know that are passionate about their iPhones
 
rschneider said:
Let's keep everything the same and imagine Iowa City metro has a population of 340,000 (Lincoln) and Ceder Rapids metro had a population of 880,000 (Omaha).

I don't think we'd have a problem then. How many non millionaires actually live near downtown Iowa City that are passionate about sports?
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Good call - bigger metro's, but those metro's also have A LOT more entertainment options to compete with. I am not all that familiar with New Brunswick, NJ and it's size or Champaign etc. - it just seems so strange to me that people don't support this product. I would totally get it if it was terrible and I am sure a deep run in the tournament would give us a nice bump the next season, but like, only if we're returning those players right? Why would a sweet 16 make the crowds comeback if say we get there this year and it's on the back of Krikke and Tony Perkins? If we made it to an elite 8 with Garza his SR. season, how is that helping next year?

I've never bought that reason. I do buy the bigger metro reason and it's sound. It still doesn't make complete sense to me personally.
 
InGoodCo said:
Good call - bigger metro's, but those metro's also have A LOT more entertainment options to compete with. I am not all that familiar with New Brunswick, NJ and it's size or Champaign etc. - it just seems so strange to me that people don't support this product. I would totally get it if it was terrible and I am sure a deep run in the tournament would give us a nice bump the next season, but like, only if we're returning those players right? Why would a sweet 16 make the crowds comeback if say we get there this year and it's on the back of Krikke and Tony Perkins? If we made it to an elite 8 with Garza his SR. season, how is that helping next year?

I've never bought that reason. I do buy the bigger metro reason and it's sound. It still doesn't make complete sense to me personally.
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More people living downtown Iowa City would help. But this probably all starts with the students/student section. A packed and rowdy student section would make most games feel different. It's a shame you can't see half of them because they are at the top half of the bowl. Simply moving the students (if they show up) to the lower half of the bowl would look better.

Iowa basketball has an excitement issue. Remember how long it took Fran to get over the hump and get to the tournament? That last NIT season the fan support was wild. It's fatigue at this point and I blame Kirk Ferentz.
 
The insistence on HN that the move into the sweet 16 is the answer to all of our basketball attendance problems is absurd. The sweet 16 happens whenever, then the next season rolls around and most season ticket holders won’t even remember what happened a year earlier. The students won’t either. Casual fans? Even worse memories.

This is right up there with the whiners about what a terrible venue CHA is. The other big reason CHA sucks is that the crowd doesn’t stand up enough. I would guess the players would get a good laugh over that one. Blame the blue hairs! Or, as I would add, “Any port in a storm” will work if it satisfies your argument.

So. It is TV, the day of the week, the start times, the inconsistent game schedules in general. People can’t keep track of this abortive scheduling. Go back to Thursday/Saturday games and watch the magic. Yeah, Yeah. The last ditch attempt is that if we move the students courtside, no more attendance issues. Like the Kohl Center and a large number of other venues who don’t follow this golden rule?
 
InGoodCo said:
Good call - bigger metro's, but those metro's also have A LOT more entertainment options to compete with. I am not all that familiar with New Brunswick, NJ and it's size or Champaign etc. - it just seems so strange to me that people don't support this product. I would totally get it if it was terrible and I am sure a deep run in the tournament would give us a nice bump the next season, but like, only if we're returning those players right? Why would a sweet 16 make the crowds comeback if say we get there this year and it's on the back of Krikke and Tony Perkins? If we made it to an elite 8 with Garza his SR. season, how is that helping next year?

I've never bought that reason. I do buy the bigger metro reason and it's sound. It still doesn't make complete sense to me personally.
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I agree, it's baffling. An exciting style of play that results in more than their share of wins, a relatively modern venue -- not new, but it ain't Assembly Hall where the ceiling leaks and falls down -- a team that's in the hunt for an NCAA bid most years, quality BTen opponents...it really doesn't make logical sense.
 
rschneider said:
More people living downtown Iowa City would help. But this probably all starts with the students/student section. A packed and rowdy student section would make most games feel different. It's a shame you can't see half of them because they are at the top half of the bowl. Simply moving the students (if they show up) to the lower half of the bowl would look better.

Iowa basketball has an excitement issue. Remember how long it took Fran to get over the hump and get to the tournament? That last NIT season the fan support was wild. It's fatigue at this point and I blame Kirk Ferentz.
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They moved the student section down when Alford arrived l can’t remember why it went away. IIRC, wasn’t it called the “Hawks Nest” or something like that?
 
I blame Barta!!!! Seriously, move the old folks (I'm one) closer to the ice cream and the students behind the players. The old folks knees will not hurt so much from not having all those steps!
 
I like Fran and his personality doesn’t bother me. However, I do know a portion of this fan base do not like his persona and it gives them a reason(excuse) for not putting their arms around the program.

I am too lazy to do the homework on this, but it often seems like Fran teams often get off to a slow conference start and doubt immediately creeps in. Fran has proven over and over again that he can recover from a slow start, but there is that doubt every year that hangs over the program.
 
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HuckFinn said:
The insistence on HN that the move into the sweet 16 is the answer to all of our basketball attendance problems is absurd. The sweet 16 happens whenever, then the next season rolls around and most season ticket holders won’t even remember what happened a year earlier. The students won’t either. Casual fans? Even worse memories.

This is right up there with the whiners about what a terrible venue CHA is. The other big reason CHA sucks is that the crowd doesn’t stand up enough. I would guess the players would get a good laugh over that one. Blame the blue hairs! Or, as I would add, “Any port in a storm” will work if it satisfies your argument.

So. It is TV, the day of the week, the start times, the inconsistent game schedules in general. People can’t keep track of this abortive scheduling. Go back to Thursday/Saturday games and watch the magic. Yeah, Yeah. The last ditch attempt is that if we move the students courtside, no more attendance issues. Like the Kohl Center and a large number of other venues who don’t follow this golden rule?
Click to expand...

All most people remember about the NCAA Tournament

Is the Final Four, perhaps

And the Tournament Champions

Every year, the first weekend ousts 32 teams

Nobody really remembers the first and second-round losers

Unless you are named Purdue

Just a mystery to me the lack of student attendance at Carver

Perhaps they have tender noses and spout blood throughout the game

:cool:
 
No mystery to me…..at Carver, fans go to “watch” the game. We can do that in our living room, and the beer and nachos are better and cheaper.

In other venues, fans (students) get the sense of participation. Up close and personal.

Those of us who went to games know what I am trying to say……

WBB is the exception only because we have one of the best and most dynamic players ever to grace the hardwood.
 
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