Iowa bucknell
- Thread starter smhawk
- Start date
trj
Well-Known Member
Neutral site games in the Quad Cities and Sioux Falls, usually get a sellout. Games in Des Moines have a pretty good turnout. Playing a 3-9 Bucknell team is a hard sell. Not going to lie, watching that Western Michigan game was a hard watch. It was so hard I tapped out half way through the 1st half.
trj
Well-Known Member
What? They had a “secret” scrimmage earlier in the year…why not just run it back? Is their friendship that fragile? You need to play teams with a pulse in these neutral site games. This Bucknell team is awful.
Fryowa
Administrator
trj
Well-Known Member
You are a better man than me…congrats.
I tuned into the game off and on, not realizing it was in Des Moines. Then with just a few minutes remaining, I heard loud "Let's Go HAWKS" crowd chants -- when Iowa was up by 50 pts! I was like, WHAT? What's going on to make this game special and the crowd so enthusiastic?
Then I realized where the game was....and was reminded how freakin' lame and jaded Carver men's bball fans are.
Then I realized where the game was....and was reminded how freakin' lame and jaded Carver men's bball fans are.
Seth53
Well-Known Member
My 30+ trips to CHA have yielded the following personal observations;
Almost zero parking close by. In the dead of winter, a definite no-go for me. The Cambus or the Hancher shuttle make this somewhat tolerable.
Although you're standing for 10-15 minutes outside afterwards to ride back to Hancher
The normal seats are horribly narrow, cramped regarding leg room and hard as a rock. Do they have cup holders that are actually functional?
Until recently, the A/V was SD and about 10+ years out of date. Audio was muffled.
Food is OK for arena offerings, but of course is priced for a captured audience.
Most crowds were into the game, but there are a lot of folks disinterested in what was going on. (Men's BB crowds)
I'll give it C+ experience
HuckFinn
Well-Known Member
I use the Hancher shuttle always. As crowds grow, yeah, you will have some post game wait time. Post game traffic out of Hancher is a breeze.
Yeah, the seats are uncomfortable. At least they aren’t benches.
Other than ice cream and soda, I don’t do food there. Same with football.
Crowds have improved in size and attention. Will be interesting to see what happens with real BT games.
New student seating going well. Pep band as always is active and fun.
New coach is doing what he can. Appreciate him and the players post game.
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hawkdrummer1
Well-Known Member
CHA sucks
I think the crowds for the Big Ten games will be lively. This team is gaining momentum and I believe Hawkeye fans will show up and support them.
The Hancher shuttle is the only way to go. Much, much easier to get out of the area than driving your own vehicle, parking a quarter mile from CHA and getting stuck in traffic after the game.
trj
Well-Known Member
UCLA
@Minnesota
Illinois
If they can sweep those 3, or go 2-1 when B1G play resumes, that would be huge. KenPom projects Iowa to go 12-8 in conference, which you will take sight unseen. I’m not a Homer, so I will nitpick here and there, but I like where Iowa sits, in a conference that is a little top heavy.
@Minnesota
Illinois
If they can sweep those 3, or go 2-1 when B1G play resumes, that would be huge. KenPom projects Iowa to go 12-8 in conference, which you will take sight unseen. I’m not a Homer, so I will nitpick here and there, but I like where Iowa sits, in a conference that is a little top heavy.
Fryowa
Administrator
How often do you go to Kinnick or CHA?
hawkdrummer1
Well-Known Member
I've been going to both for years. Football season ticket holder for almost 30 years. I attend multiple games every season despite living out-of-state.
CHA not as frequently now. But I've been there enough to know its inherent design flaws. Too many aisles down low, too much empty space between the court and the stands. Look at a courtside photo of almost any other B1G arena and you'll see it too.
A good product will certainly improve the crowd and atmosphere. But you're never getting the kind of home court advantage you see other places and certainly nothing like Kinnick.
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Fryowa
Administrator
Also people complaining about parking and exiting the area after basketball games have apparently never tried to leave Iowa City after a football game. It's not even in the same solar system. If you tailgate within a mile of Kinnick and stay for the end of the game you ain't goin nowhere for a long time.
Fryowa
Administrator
I didn't mean that you didn't know about them, was just wondering. CHA is the worst basketball venue I've been to if we strip away all the Hawkeye homerism, and the best wrestling venue on the planet. I've had wrestling seasons for a long time and been to probably 30 basketball games over the years.
Back when we were good at wrestling I'd have said leave CHA and give it solely to wrestling, and put a new basketball arena and related nightlife/shopping/restaurants west of Finkbine where the XC/soccer/tennis programs currently live, but with wrestling in a death spiral I don't think they'll support the operating costs much longer. 5 years ago they would have, but not now.
CHA is just plain not a good experience for basketball. I love seeing Hawk basketball and that arena will always have a soft spot in my heart, but we all have to admit that if we were a visitor fan it sucks. The huge bowl layout is like the Rose Bowl...nothing about it lends it to good viewing. Sucks having to trudge all the way to the top for bathrooms or food, you sit a long ways from the floor, and seating /leg room is miserable. I'm 6'2" so shorter people might think different. If you sit higher up and are in the middle of a section, you have to stumble and shuffle past so many people it's an ordeal just getting out to the aisle. Again, it's the bowl configuration making that an issue. The one thing they could do that I think especially with a new coach/culture they could do is move the student section courtside and they won't.
I hate to say this, but nebraska has the best b-ball arena in the B1G that I've been to. I have not been to any on the east coast though so I can only speak to maybe 8 or so venues. Pinnacle Bank is just so far heads and tails above CHA it isn't even funny. I've sat upper deck there a few times and even though you're at the top, you're still way closer to the court and have a better view. Bathrooms and food are a breeze because they have a concourse at each level. Also, having the different levels makes in and out super easy as well.
Fryowa
Administrator
He ain't wrong.
