Student support for this team.

homes

homes

Well-Known Member
Barely fill up 1/2 of one section; the tarps took up more room than the students who were in attendance. In my opinion, this team deserves better support from their fellow students. I know, start winning games and they'll come back, but it was surprising to see how bad it was. Hopefully, things will get better next year - more students in attendance can make a difference. A simple message to the students - lead, don't follow.
 
homes said:
Barely fill up 1/2 of one section; the tarps took up more room than the students who were in attendance. In my opinion, this team deserves better support from their fellow students. I know, start winning games and they'll come back, but it was surprising to see how bad it was. Hopefully, things will get better next year - more students in attendance can make a difference. A simple message to the students - lead, don't follow.
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I haven't been in the student section since my freshman year. I go to all the games, but when I've got my pick of pretty much all the seats in the building, why not find better ones than we get in the student section?

I'm sure I'm not alone in that line of thinking. But student attendance is definitely still pathetic. I honestly don't even know how big the student section is supposed to be. I've never seen it anywhere close to full.
 
I stood in the student section a few times around 10 years ago, back when they were good, and it was still pretty empty. Maybe the fact that the seats are God awful has something to do with it.
 
I hate seeing this "our seats suck" argument.

My wife and I are Golden Hawk members, which means that we give a decent amount of money away to the University every year. Some of the best seats in the student section are comparable to ours.

Also, watch other college basketball venues and see where the students sit. Trust me, they all don't do what Duke and Michigan State do. Purdue, Iowa State, Indiana, and Missouri are 4 that come immediately to mind...their student sit (gasp!) behind the backboards, yet they have no problem getting a few thousand students to their games.

The seat location is nothing but a tired, worn out excuse.
 
Iowafarmgirl said:
I stood in the student section a few times around 10 years ago, back when they were good, and it was still pretty empty. Maybe the fact that the seats are God awful has something to do with it.
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I think that's a valid criticism. They could wrap the student section around so that they could be part on the sidelines as well as the baseline - give priority seating to those who have held the student tickets the longest, or something along those lines. It seems like Michigan altered the student section for its home games, bringing them right behind the bench, it could be done at Iowa.
 
IowaBanker said:
I hate seeing this "our seats suck" argument.

My wife and I are Golden Hawk members, which means that we give a decent amount of money away to the University every year. Some of the best seats in the student section are comparable to ours.

Also, watch other college basketball venues and see where the students sit. Trust me, they all don't do what Duke and Michigan State do. Purdue, Iowa State, Indiana, and Missouri are 4 that come immediately to mind...their student sit (gasp!) behind the backboards, yet they have no problem getting a few thousand students to their games.

The seat location is nothing but a tired, worn out excuse.
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If I recall, they have the student section start at the floor and go all the way to the top. Now, if this wasn't a three win conference team, then I could see people willing to sit in the worst seats in the house, but if you're trying to entice people to come, maybe they should widen the student section, since making it super deep has been failing for 15 years, regardless of how the team is playing.
 
It does surprise me the students don't make more of an effort to attend games, especially when tickets basically cost them nothing. Yes, students have studying, etc., etc., but when it comes down to it, the students really should be there cheering on their peers.

Yes, winning cures a lot ... However, student interest has been down for quite some time. Even with some of Alfrod's projected 'better' teams, student interest seemed average at best.

Hell, I attended Iowa State and even went to most of the basketball games. It was just something you did with your friends. Not sure what is happening in Iowa City that students don't take time to come out and support the team.

I don't buy the 'location of the seats' as a valid excuse because honestly, there really aren't too many bad seats in CHA. And when you are getting tickets for free or for $5, why not go attend the game. I know if I lived in Iowa City I would have season tickets.
 
The students will never get sideline seats in Carver. Students stand the whole game and there is no place to put them so they wouldnt be obstructing anybody's view.

It would be different if Carver had different levels of seats but it is all one level and would not work.
 
Section136 said:
The students will never get sideline seats in Carver. Students stand the whole game and there is no place to put them so they wouldnt be obstructing anybody's view.

It would be different if Carver had different levels of seats but it is all one level and would not work.
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That's what the tarps behind them are for. Still won't happen, but not because people behind them couldn't see. It'd be because of the money lost from covering up a bunch of the best seats in the building.
 
Section136 said:
Huh?
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Have you not seen the black and yellow tarps that are behind the students? They each cover up a big block of seats, so that nobody is sitting right behind the students. Fans don't have their view blocked by students because of the tarps that they put over those seats right behind the student section.

They will NEVER block off seats like that on the sidelines. No way.
 
tm3308 said:
Have you not seen the black and yellow tarps that are behind the students? They each cover up a big block of seats, so that nobody is sitting right behind the students. Fans don't have their view blocked by students because of the tarps that they put over those seats right behind the student section.

They will NEVER block off seats like that on the sidelines. No way.
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Ideally those seats would be filled with students. They would never move the students because people seated behind them would be ticked. Its not because if they move the students they would have to put a tarp over the seats behind the student section.
 
Section136 said:
Ideally those seats would be filled with students. They would never move the students because people seated behind them would be ticked. Its not because if they move the students they would have to put a tarp over the seats behind the student section.
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Like I said, the tarps prevent the view being obstructed for the fans behind the student section. But putting the tarps over seats on the sideline eliminates a lot of the best seating in the building. The athletic department isn't about to give up those seats so that students can stand.
 
[ame="http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BswWt3ii1I"]http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BswWt3ii1I[/ame]

For the people wondering how big the student section is.
 
Iowafarmgirl said:
If I recall, they have the student section start at the floor and go all the way to the top. Now, if this wasn't a three win conference team, then I could see people willing to sit in the worst seats in the house, but if you're trying to entice people to come, maybe they should widen the student section, since making it super deep has been failing for 15 years, regardless of how the team is playing.
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Exactly. Maybe take a proactive, business-like approach and make an investment in the student body by relocating the section. Empower the Hawks Nest to make a difference and help the rebuilding project. Instead, the mantra remains: "win and they will come back, we can't do anything else until then." I say BS.
 
It has gotten better the past few games and although the numbers aren't great, there are few more McCaffrey big heads, teletubbies, Elvis and Jackie Moon imposters in the crowd. Props to this group of students for showing some passion.

I also think the athletic department needs to be more creative with promoting the seats behind the basket opposite the students. That section is nearly empty, so make that a $5.00 section or something and advertise the hell out of it vs. relying on Gary Dolphin to talk about it on the radio. The newspapers need to get on the ball and print a weekly schedule of Iowa, UNI, and yes, even the Clowns on the front page of Sunday paper or something.

Last but not least, can someone rethink the bus situation over to the Hancher lot. It is ridiculous that you have walk 2 blocks or more to the end of the line to walk 2 blocks back to the bus while 3 empty buses sit there with doors closed. Let me get on a freaking heated bus and wait vs. stand outside when it is 10 below.
 
IowaBanker said:
I hate seeing this "our seats suck" argument.

My wife and I are Golden Hawk members, which means that we give a decent amount of money away to the University every year. Some of the best seats in the student section are comparable to ours.

Also, watch other college basketball venues and see where the students sit. Trust me, they all don't do what Duke and Michigan State do. Purdue, Iowa State, Indiana, and Missouri are 4 that come immediately to mind...their student sit (gasp!) behind the backboards, yet they have no problem getting a few thousand students to their games.

The seat location is nothing but a tired, worn out excuse.
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By "some" you must mean about 75 of the 4,000 seats that are in the Hawks Nest.

What needs to happen is the generous donors who sit in the first 10 rows at CHA (on the TV side) such as yourself, Mr IowaBanker, need to unite. If there was a considerable group of you that would be willing to move 10 rows back (above the permanent yellow bars) they could push the first 10 rows back under the permanent structure (as they do during practices) and put in bleachers for the students to use. This would negate the need for any tarps or "killed seats." Plus the Hawks Nest would be on the TV side (showing off a fun atmosphere on TV - good for recruiting) and feeling as if they were involved in the game. Case study: Michigan. Their students sit in an ideal location (and only on one side of the court). They made the bold change when times were tough. As you mentioned, Duke and MSU do this. So does Illinois. Their students (gasp!) actually stand on the floor. As Tom Izzo said, a rocking arena will get you 4-5 more wins/season.

If the university is serious about rebuilding this program as quickly as possible (we're going on about a half-decade long stretch of irrelevance here...) then one of first things they should do is make an investment in the student body - you know, the people who actually stay until the end of the game. Half of the first row of the arena on the TV side (the first row!) was empty during the CRITICAL overtime portion of the game on Saturday afternoon. I am not exaggerating. If you pay so much to support this university and care so much about this basketball team, like so much of us do, then why in the hell would you leave the team during the portion of the game that matter the absolute most so that you can be the first one to your car? Seriously? I cannot fathom that. That's reason enough for Iowa to do what so many other schools successfully have done and make an investment in the student section.
 
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tm3308 said:
I could almost cry watching that video. Was it really just 5 years ago that we were THAT fun to watch?
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Push the first 10 rows of the arena (not permanent structure) back under the permanent structure (as they do during practices to make the floor bigger) and put in bleachers for the students to use in that area. This would negate the need for any tarps or "killed seats" and anyone who used to sit in the first ten rows could be given priority seating in the first ten rows of the permanent structure.
 
TimMcLaughlin said:
Push the first 10 rows of the arena (not permanent structure) back under the permanent structure (as they do during practices to make the floor bigger) and put in bleachers for the students to use in that area. This would negate the need for any tarps or "killed seats" and anyone who used to sit in the first ten rows could be given priority seating in the first ten rows of the permanent structure.
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I like your idea....

How much does a student season ticket cost?
 
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