Fryowa
Administrator
Couple things...
You've always been a level-headed Cyclone fan, especially on a visitor's board, and especially more than me. I don't claim to be level-headed about it because I hate the Cyclones. Have since I was a kid, my dad hated 'em and so did my grandpa. So...I feel for you in this whole deal. Honestly.
But...it goes equally both ways, and it happens with every single fanbase in the nation, not just Hawks/Clowns. It's the way college sports works and it's one of the best things about college sports. The competition spills out of the field or arena and into the fanbases always hoping for a leg up as well as the downfall of their rivals in whatever fashion that takes. I guarantee you if the tables were turned on the Hawks, CryFan would be full of threads celebrating the downfall of your big brother. Hell, I even have the nickname tavernhok bestowed on me because I didn't graduate from Iowa, which is hilarious because you guys have taken your hatred of Iowa so far that you've reached the point that the only people technically allowed to be fans are those who graduated from a particular school. And you guys don't see how dumb that is. Do I hate being called a tavernhok? F no, I love it because there's nothing else left for them to say. "Tavernhok" is basically, "I know you are but what am I" from clown fans. But I digress...
So with that out of the way, I don't think you're looking at this thing from 30,000 feet. A couple good seasons and good home attendance don't mean shit. I'm just going to say it bluntly. College football is about two things: 1) value to TV advertisers and 2) national brand recognition. Period. That's the way it is. ISU having 55,000 fans in the stadium doesn't mean shit because that's not what's bringing in revenue. USC had the exact same attendance as you guys, but there were orders of magnitude more people watching their games and everyone from sea to shining sea knows who they are. They'll bring in money even if they suck. ISU won't. You guys kinda admitted it yourself by saying you don't have any "tavernclones" because the only people rooting for your school are grads. Being a major program doesn't work that way.
Be honest with yourself and face facts. Your program has a tiny, tiny fanbase compared to major P5 programs, and even worse than that it's hyper regional. You and I both know that no one other than grads outside the states touching Iowa even know who the Cyclones are. Until Campbell Soup had his unicorn year last year, sure as HELL no one knew who they were. Let's compare that to Iowa. We might not be a good football team, but we're a consistently above average football team with brand recognition nationwide. Because of what Fry did back in the 80s and a little decent success sprinkled throughout, everyone (even if not sports fans whatsoever), knows who the Hawkeyes are. Show almost anyone in the US the Tigerhawk and they'll go..."That's the Iowa Hawkeyes logo." Same with Michigan State and nebraska and Michigan and Penn State... Maybe you guys should have created a brand at some point and not had 37 different mascots and logos and uniforms and EVEN CHANGED COLORS every year for god's sake. Hayden Fry knew what the F he was doing when he ripped off the Steelers unis (with permission of course), and KF knew what the F he was doing by not changing our logo and colors except for a few dumb alt jerseys. Newsflash, ISU people...ONE LOGO. Don't change it. ONE mascot...don't change it. Ever. All it's going to do is alienate fans who stick with your program through the down years. Changing the face of your team does not energize people. The Cubs have sucked shit 99% of their existence but do you think their fans would've wanted a "logo refresh" and some stupid goddamn "black chrome" helmets? No. There's solidarity in being a miserable fan of a miserable team and once they do get good then you can say you haven't sold your soul to the devil. The lesson...even if you suck you can still be worth money on some sort of scale. To do that people have to both know who you are and want to watch it. Say what you want about Iowa, but at the end of the day we have that "thing" in our own conference. ISU doesn't. Hell nebraska is the biggest example of it...they stay in a P5 conference just for that reason...they make bank. That's the sad reality.
Yeah there are gonna be job losses and destroyed fan bases when this thing is over, but that's sports. Fans will be ok, and if you got employed in the college sports field with job security at the front of your mind, well, you're an idiot. Things change and the world moves on. I know you said your favorite times were Clown games with your family. I get it. That sucks. But my absolute most fond memories are fishing with my dad in a quiet, beautiful spot that's now covered by 250,000 sq feet of concrete camper spots. We had some of the best personal moments ever there and I wish I could take my kid there for the same thing. But my dad is gone and so is that spot. And I'm ok. Everything's temporary, my man. If we're honest with ourselves, college football ain't even gonna be a thing in 20 years anyway.
