guffus
Well-Known Member
Ok, I guess I thought he was younger. My mistake.
Jestin Jacobs in the portal
- Thread starter spliff45
- Start date
RobHowe
Administrator
Out of respect for Fryowa’s job of monitoring these boards, I will refrain from unloading on the WUW because it’s less about what they might offer in actual football knowledge and more about who they are as humans. If you enjoy listening to them, that’s all that matters.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
As someone who paid off Student loans until they were 29, I would say do it if you can.
As I've posted before, it couldn't have mattered if I were James Van Allen and Will Huntng combined. I needed the four (actually five) years to grow up socially and emotionally. But I still made it to the finish line while many who were smarter and wealthier bailed out at the first sign of adversity.
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Casey388
Well-Known Member
I had the same problem and didn't want to grow up. Ended up taking me 8 years on and off to get my 2-year degree. It wasn't until I had kids and was sick of working for a minimum wage that it forced me to grow up.
I don't think the WUW guys are bad humans...but I do think the fanbase that has grown up around them has fostered their worst traits.
Their idea to provide the "player's perspective" was a good one. But it is also tricky to execute. A locker-room is a brotherhood (or sisterhood), and when your brothers start cashing in on some of the secrets of that locker-room, there is bound to be some friction.
But the big problem with any self-created media entity is lack of critical feedback. If all you are judging success by is numbers, you will put out content that drives numbers with little concern for (and no mechanism by which to judge) quality. And we know what drives numbers these days: controversy and righteous indignation.
So they were going along, doing their thing, and then the summer of 2020 happened. And they were among the first to offer a counterpoint to, "Iowa's program has been systematically (if unknowingly) racist in recent history." (sorry @Fryowa , I don't intend to go down the rabbit hole of the racism accusations here, but it has to be mentioned that this is when WUW took off).
I think it was worth raising a counterpoint to further discussion. And they tiptoed into it; it was clunky, it was clear they didn't want to get themselves into trouble, and at first they seemed pretty open to a legitimate dialogue. Their foray into this area brought them huge popularity as there were many fans out there who didn't want their team to be disparaged in any way. Anyone willing to tell them that their team was A-OK was just fine with them. And among this group were many of the worst elements of Hawkeye fandom. As they were gaining popularity and accolades from this segment of the population, they started swinging more and more heavily into, "Iowa is fine, it is the complaining players who are wrong" territory. And then they became more popular. And it kind of snowballed from there.
So you have a bunch of young guys with little world experience whose every idea (no matter how asinine) is being validated by an audience, a nonnegligible portion of whom, to put it delicately, do not reflect well on Iowa. This amplifies their ego, their crudeness, their willingness to stir controversy, etc.
I have enjoyed many of their episodes, but I got out after they decided to call a local woman reporter a very nasty derogatory term because she published an article on KF's salary. Not only was it in terrible taste, but it was the sort of thing that could very plausibly spur harassment of that journalist. I actually raised an objection (back when I had twitter); it was not taken seriously. Why would they care? Most of their audience was loving it.
My guess is in 10-15 years, these guys will look back on some of what they are putting out into the world and have some regrets. And that will be good because it will indicate growth.
Their idea to provide the "player's perspective" was a good one. But it is also tricky to execute. A locker-room is a brotherhood (or sisterhood), and when your brothers start cashing in on some of the secrets of that locker-room, there is bound to be some friction.
But the big problem with any self-created media entity is lack of critical feedback. If all you are judging success by is numbers, you will put out content that drives numbers with little concern for (and no mechanism by which to judge) quality. And we know what drives numbers these days: controversy and righteous indignation.
So they were going along, doing their thing, and then the summer of 2020 happened. And they were among the first to offer a counterpoint to, "Iowa's program has been systematically (if unknowingly) racist in recent history." (sorry @Fryowa , I don't intend to go down the rabbit hole of the racism accusations here, but it has to be mentioned that this is when WUW took off).
I think it was worth raising a counterpoint to further discussion. And they tiptoed into it; it was clunky, it was clear they didn't want to get themselves into trouble, and at first they seemed pretty open to a legitimate dialogue. Their foray into this area brought them huge popularity as there were many fans out there who didn't want their team to be disparaged in any way. Anyone willing to tell them that their team was A-OK was just fine with them. And among this group were many of the worst elements of Hawkeye fandom. As they were gaining popularity and accolades from this segment of the population, they started swinging more and more heavily into, "Iowa is fine, it is the complaining players who are wrong" territory. And then they became more popular. And it kind of snowballed from there.
So you have a bunch of young guys with little world experience whose every idea (no matter how asinine) is being validated by an audience, a nonnegligible portion of whom, to put it delicately, do not reflect well on Iowa. This amplifies their ego, their crudeness, their willingness to stir controversy, etc.
I have enjoyed many of their episodes, but I got out after they decided to call a local woman reporter a very nasty derogatory term because she published an article on KF's salary. Not only was it in terrible taste, but it was the sort of thing that could very plausibly spur harassment of that journalist. I actually raised an objection (back when I had twitter); it was not taken seriously. Why would they care? Most of their audience was loving it.
My guess is in 10-15 years, these guys will look back on some of what they are putting out into the world and have some regrets. And that will be good because it will indicate growth.
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MelroseHawkins
Well-Known Member
I appreciate that they call a spade a spade, especially this day in age where so many worry so much about what they say and how they say it, and worry about the ramifications of the backlash they might get saying something.
I can't stand when someone tries to pull the wool over people's eyes or just doesn't have the spine to say what they feel or takes the easy way out because it just might look better. F that.
I'm a binary guy. A 0 or a 1. It is what it is. A realist.
Fryowa
Administrator
Washed Up Walkons.
Tyler Kluver, long snapper
Drake Kulick, Fullback
Kevin Ward, LB
3 former walkons who have a podcast talking about Iowa football and to a lesser degree college football in general. They get their attention from trying to be edgy, but they just sound like every other peaked in high school alpha.
I don't think it is shocking that any player might want a change after 4 seasons in a program. Iowa is a tough place to be; that is an important element of their success, but it can also wear someone down. We have seen that recently when Mark Kallenberger decided enough was enough, when Ezra Miller transferred out, when Cody Ince hung it up, etc. It can be simultaneously true that Iowa can do incredible things with development for players that make it through the grind, and also the grind wears some players down as much as it builds them up.
Had Jacobs not had health issues in his time here, he probably would have made a different decision. But the injuries, the grind, having a degree in hand: great time for a change in scenery. Eventually Iowa will get some of these change-of-scenery guys in the other direction.
We don't have any reason NOT to believe Jacobs (or his father) when he says it wasn't about NIL money. Is he getting lots of NIL money from Oregon? Of course, but I am sure Iowa made him a counter-offer to stay. He played hard for us, made some great plays, and is now moving on with a degree. We should wish him well, not accuse him of selling us out for the almighty dollar.
Had Jacobs not had health issues in his time here, he probably would have made a different decision. But the injuries, the grind, having a degree in hand: great time for a change in scenery. Eventually Iowa will get some of these change-of-scenery guys in the other direction.
We don't have any reason NOT to believe Jacobs (or his father) when he says it wasn't about NIL money. Is he getting lots of NIL money from Oregon? Of course, but I am sure Iowa made him a counter-offer to stay. He played hard for us, made some great plays, and is now moving on with a degree. We should wish him well, not accuse him of selling us out for the almighty dollar.
They used to do a lot of interviews with former teammates and some Hawks they didn't play with and got to hear their back rounds and more about their time at Iowa. I think they kinda ran out of guys to have come on and haven't been doing as much of that recently.
They are pretty much in Coach Doyles and BFs corners on their whole deals. They'd run through walls for them. So with that they've given their 2 cents on some of the former players like Wadley who all are in on suing the program.
It's been awhile since I remember hearing them talk about all that and Rob Howe too but yeah they aren't all that fond of him either but I can't remember the why exactly.
They donate a significant chunk of what they make it might be half of it to the children's hospital.
I don't agree with every take they have on stuff. But I enjoy some of what they do.
Drake sounds like a walking talking CTE patient most of the time. Kevin is awesome he's a dudes dude he doesn't wade into the controversial stuff usually. Tyler produces it and runs the show mostly. He puts himself out there with his takes and like Drake doesn't give a shit about anyone else's 2 cents.
Good point about the Children's Hospital, thanks for reminding me about that.
