~Spring Game HN Content Links
- Thread starter RobHowe
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Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Played it one weekend too late!
Is there an official number of fans who attended? Or even a best estimate?
The only number I've seen was a mention of "several hundred" in the Gazette.
It was cold, indeed, but several other schools hosted huge crowds. Yes, some of them had actual games. But to some extent, the lack of keisters in the seats has to be the disappointment with the doubling and tripling down on nepotism. Our OC's comment that he had nothing to say to the fans was no doubt a source of inspiration to many who were on the fence about attending, and they chose to stay away.
The only number I've seen was a mention of "several hundred" in the Gazette.
It was cold, indeed, but several other schools hosted huge crowds. Yes, some of them had actual games. But to some extent, the lack of keisters in the seats has to be the disappointment with the doubling and tripling down on nepotism. Our OC's comment that he had nothing to say to the fans was no doubt a source of inspiration to many who were on the fence about attending, and they chose to stay away.
I can only speak for myself but I was planning to attend until the weather didn't cooperate. Didn't have anything to do with the state of the program. I don't mind giving up a Saturday morning to catch a glimpse of the Hawkeyes but I'm not going to freeze my ass off doing it. And it's just an overhyped practice.
RobHowe
Administrator
Agree. They used some odd scoring system when Greg Davis was here. Now it's just odd when Iowa's offense scores.
I bet a lot of folks were like minded with ya. It sounded like a cold windy day. When the weather is nice there's literally no better time to go watch them either. Can get great seats it's just a fun different atmosphere. But the older I get the less I'm apt to go brave the elements either.
Fryowa
Administrator
Yeah I'm pretty sure the only ones they televise are the ones that do a scrimmage type game. I think the last one the Hawks did like that was 2017. That one was at night. Kittle, Beathard, LeShun Daniels, and McNutt were all roaming the sideline; I just looked at the pics in my phone. I went again with my kid in 2018, then 2021, haven't been back again and don't plan to. The practice format rather than the scrimmage blows ass.
I want to say that they did televise another schools practice format though... I can't say who's it was off the top of my head though. But yeah there's no fireworks or breaking news being made at these things. But with it only being 90 mins or so I'd figure it's something they could still record edit and show later. ANYTHING would be better then the nothing they did.
NorthKCHawk
Well-Known Member
I have said this before, but the Spring Game should be an actual game against a FCS team. Instead of playing a cupcake the first game of the real season, the spring game should be agaisnt UNI or Northern Illinois or the like. It would sell out and part of the gate could go to UNI to help pay for their football program. If you are worried about injuries, keep your key starters out, but there are 80 kids out there. Surely there are a critical mass of players you want to see in game action that a competitive game could be fielded. The NFL figures out how to do it in the preseason. This is workable.
You could charge gate, parking, concession and get TV money. Such a no brainer. BTN is starving for content this time of year. Easy money and makes sense football wise.
You could charge gate, parking, concession and get TV money. Such a no brainer. BTN is starving for content this time of year. Easy money and makes sense football wise.
Fryowa
Administrator
Kirk wants the practice time. He doesn't care at all about ticket sales to something like that.
From a purely team standpoint it makes way more sense to have a practice, I just think it's boring.
As a coach you have everything controlled and you get to see the exact situations you want. They also get to see each kicker/punter boot the ball 20-30 times which is huge.
All they need to do is bring back the intra-squad scrimmage. That way they can still set up scenarios that they want but fans can watch something a little closer to a game.
Temperatures were 35-40 degrees and the wind was brutal. No need to sit through that. And yes, I believe there were probably a lot of no-shows because of it.
Fans prefer that I'm sure. It's another game. But not all coaches are crazy about another game that doesn't even count. I think they want to save all that intensity and prep for games that do.
I'm with ya BTN is absolutely starving for content besides womens softball. Football is king. Even if it's just practice if they can interview coaches and players you'd think they'd be all about it.
I'll one-up you...have spring practice, play your warmup cupcake, and then play your bowl game (as long as you didn't qualify for the playoffs). And as long as we're wanking around, the cool schools that actually care about football will push back their spring breaks until mid-April so they can line up with the bowl game.
Not sure what you would do with the playoff qualifying teams, I will leave that to someone else to figure out.
Bowl games would still matter to the coaches' overall records, but they would stand alone from any individual season (that is, the April 2023 bowl game is not part of the 2022 season or the 2023 season).
We would probably have to think of some incentive-structure to make the bowl games more than just exhibition...something like a conference vs. conference challenge with something tangible being earned based upon performance.
We would probably have to think of some incentive-structure to make the bowl games more than just exhibition...something like a conference vs. conference challenge with something tangible being earned based upon performance.
