Iowa bucknell

smhawk

smhawk

Well-Known Member
Anyone know why they decided on this matchup for neutral site game? You think if they weren’t playing at carver they would find a matchup that had a bit more draw than Bucknell.

Either way, I have one spare ticket for this if someone is in Dsm and needs a solo ticket.
 


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.
 


Turns out there is an explanation. The game was last scheduled vs St. Louis with Fran, but Ben McCollum is close friends with their head coach and preferred not playing him. So I guess there was few options to find to replace them when they did.
 


smhawk said:
Turns out there is an explanation. The game was last scheduled vs St. Louis with Fran, but Ben McCollum is close friends with their head coach and preferred not playing him. So I guess there was few options to find to replace them when they did.
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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.
 


trj said:
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.
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He’s correct, McCollum talked about it to the media.

This is basically just a practice tonight, I’m fine with it, get your younger guys lots of minutes. It’ll pay off and one game isn’t gonna hurt anything in the long run. BMC is far from being a bitch, I say let him cook how he wants.
 


trj said:
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.
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Must be miserable. I thought it was fun to watch. There will be a great plenty of tough games coming up.
 




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.
 


Grady said:
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.
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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
 


Seth53 said:
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
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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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HuckFinn said:
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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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.
 


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.
 




Fryowa said:
How often do you go to Kinnick or CHA?
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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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HuckFinn said:
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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haydensly said:
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.
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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.
 


hawkdrummer1 said:
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.
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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.
 


Without specifically mentioning the notoriously quiet Iowa fans at Iowa men's games, after the Bucknell game in Des Moines Coach McCollum offered up this gem: "We need to get those same people to Carver."
 




Fryowa said:
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.
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I'm one of those who has lamented about the parking and area-existing after a BB game.

BB is a two hour in and out. Mid week games mean most have to get home and work the next day. Arduous for those coming from DSM and beyond.

FB existing is different. FB is a 7x/year adventure. It's an event. People like me schedule an entire day around it. If you're foolish and try to leave up to 90 minutes after, then good luck. 70k extricating boo-yahs are going nowhere fast. Stick around, have a cold one. Relax.

BB existing needs to be boom-boom. FB not so much.
 


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