Recruiting Info

Pro sports are different than college sports. In pro...winning is the only thing,cept for the Cubs. In college there is a lot more loyalty for the home state school.

Hawks should serve beer and have coeds in halter tops,and cub fans would flock to the place, assuming some bad baseball might break out.
 
You are right about the fair weather fans. But that is what you have to go with if you don't have enough "true" fans, which seems to be the case or Carver wouldn't be empty.

If you build some consistent success, some of those fair weather fans will turn into "true" fans.
 
CAARHawk said:
Really? Are you serious? North Carolina had a top recruiting class heading into last year's down year. The reason they are able to keep recruiting is because they are a legendary program. Look at ND and Michigan in football. They have been down for awhile and still draw. Why? Because they are legendary programs and people expect them to be back. Same with the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Washington Redskins, etc. But all that fan support didn't guarantee that each team stayed out of a slump.

But Iowa BBall is different. It is not a legendary program. It is a program that has had limited sustained success over a decade ago. Really more like the KC Chiefs, Rams, and Jags.

Now you asked me what teams didn't have support until they started winning. How many people went to Davidson basketball games before Curry showed up? How many people were showing up at KState games before Hugs showed up? How many people were going to watch Siena play before FM made them a winner? For that matter in 2000, you could get 4 tickets, 4 sodas, and 4 hot dogs for $40 at Kinnick!

Not saying fans shouldn't show up to games. I just understand the reality that if you have lost your fans you will not get them back until you start winning, or you bring in a recruit that gets people really excited. Really, I hope people do just show up. But there is absolutely no precedent for that to have happened in a similar situation.
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Why was Fry so convinced he could turn Iowa Football around? You're both right and wrong. It is not a matter of one or the other it is both. Fans and victories impress recruits, and atmosphere and victories keep fans comming. A great program needs both, and one feeds the other without question.
 
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IATrainMaster101 said:
Why was Fry so convinced he could turn Iowa Football around? You're both right and wrong. It is not a matter of one or the other it is both. Fans and victories impress recruits, and atmosphere and victories keep fans comming. A great program needs both, and one feeds the other without question.
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This is the correct answer! It wasn't that long ago when Iowa was top 20 in attendance every year. Hopefully getting away from Lick, and from Alford, the fans will start coming back. I think if we put a decent product on the floor, that is fun to watch, they will return!
 
I think it will be incredibly hard for Iowa to fill the stands even with a good basketball team. TV has come a long way since we were in the Top 20 in average attendance.

I love the Hawkeye's but leaving my house in the middle of winter to watch a basketball game is tough when I can watch it on my 55" HD TV in the comforts of my own home...

The key are the students, you have to get them in the stands...
 
TritonHawkeye said:
I think it will be incredibly hard for Iowa to fill the stands even with a good basketball team. TV has come a long way since we were in the Top 20 in average attendance.

I love the Hawkeye's but leaving my house in the middle of winter to watch a basketball game is tough when I can watch it on my 55" HD TV in the comforts of my own home...

The key are the students, you have to get them in the stands...
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Some 2010 Men's Basketball attendance numbers:
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect...ERES&CACHEID=8753820042742b01b8b6be967b4a3893

How many bad teams do you see listed in the Top 20? You'll notice that there are some cold-weather teams in the Top-20 as well. What do those teams have that Iowa doesn't? Tradition? Success? You bet! They are winning programs, and people come out to watch them play, even if it's cold out.

To me, the attendance (or lack thereof) is almost entirely all about the fans just not giving a rip about Hawkeye hoops the past few years.

Win, get people to care, and they will start showing up for games again. It was just 5 short years ago where we won 25 games and our conference home games were pretty full. In the 1990's when we were winning, I remember virtually every single game being televised if you were in-state. Never missed a game unless it was maybe the first-round game in some tournament in Puerto Rico or something.

I agree on the student section - we have to get that going. That's the #1 thing IMO to getting a good atmosphere going in Carver.
 
Barta did not help Fran in the least for the upcoming season. If I was the AD, I would have cut both season and general admission ticket prices in half. I think you could have sold more than twice the tickets, and gotten even more revenue from concessions and parking. Once the program gets back to winning, then you could start moving ticket prices back up.

The way things are, I predict that Carver will continue to look like a morgue, no matter who the coach is, and what style of play they employ. Now, if Fran is able to make the team competitive, we could see an increase in attendance, but I am not looking for miracles in the first season.
 
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