Why the Iowa game means more to ISU fans...and will stay that way

[JonDMiller]

I have backed away from the 'This is Iowa State's Super Bowl' opinion that I had say 8 to 10 years ago....ISU has climbed a few hills with some big wins that make this win not the 'Super Bowl' level and going to a bowl game is no longer a rarity for that program.

That said, it's going to continue to mean more to them than to Iowa fans in general because of this simple and undeniable fact:

Iowa State plays second fiddle to Iowa in this state.

Iowa has more fans, Iowa gets more media attention, Iowa makes more businesses more money in advertising as they have larger audiences for their programming, etc.

I list those things not as reasons to incite Clone fans to riot, rather merely as fact.

This game will stop meaning more to ISU fans once they consistently get more media coverage, have a larger fan base and begin to generate more advertising revenue than do the Hawkeyes for the big media companies in this state.

Or in other words, we won't have to worry about that in our lifetime.

But one problem has been: I wish Iowa played with the same intensity that we see from ISU's players in this game year after year.

 

[Bret44]

 

[HawkeyeRyno]

Agree Jon. One of the things that annoy me about KirK is his "business as usual, every game is the same" mentality approach he takes. He doesn't get fired up for games or overlook others. He treats Iowa State game just like he does against Ohio State, Wisconsin, Western Michigan, or Missouri State. Fry didn't, he got the troops fired up for ISU. Same as McCarney and Rhoads do against Iowa. Team is a product of their coach. Hence why Kirk is 6-8 against ISU.

 

[hawkfan340]

Agree Jon. One of the things that annoy me about KirK is his "business as usual, every game is the same" mentality approach he takes. He doesn't get fired up for games or overlook others. He treats Iowa State game just like he does against Ohio State, Wisconsin, Western Michigan, or Missouri State. Fry didn't, he got the troops fired up for ISU. Same as McCarney and Rhoads do against Iowa. Team is a product of their coach. Hence why Kirk is 6-8 against ISU.

Yep. There's a reason Fry, Mac, Chiz, and Rhoads have had success in this game. They made it a focus point for the season.

Kirk, not so much.

 

[homes]

Kirk is 6-8 against ISU.

This is annoying to me. For the same reason that he loses to teams like CMU, NIU, WMU, and then UM, IU, NU over the years. My guess is there are about 15 games over his time that he "should" have won, but lost. I don't think there are a like number of games that he "should" have lost, but won.

 

[homes]

I have backed away from the 'This is Iowa State's Super Bowl' opinion that I had say 8 to 10 years ago....ISU has climbed a few hills with some big wins that make this win not the 'Super Bowl' level and going to a bowl game is no longer a rarity for that program.

That said, it's going to continue to mean more to them than to Iowa fans in general because of this simple and undeniable fact:

Iowa State plays second fiddle to Iowa in this state.

Iowa has more fans, Iowa gets more media attention, Iowa makes more businesses more money in advertising as they have larger audiences for their programming, etc.

I list those things not as reasons to incite Clone fans to riot, rather merely as fact.

This game will stop meaning more to ISU fans once they consistently get more media coverage, have a larger fan base and begin to generate more advertising revenue than do the Hawkeyes for the big media companies in this state.

Or in other words, we won't have to worry about that in our lifetime.

But one problem has been: I wish Iowa played with the same intensity that we see from ISU's players in this game year after year.

This perspective (err, recitation of facts) is why Iowa State fans don't like Iowa fans. Excellent job, Jon. Excellent.

 

[enmaster]

Another thing, and i posted this in another thread- Iowa State doesn't have very many other rivals. Mizzou and Nebraska left. What other rivals do they have- Kansas? K-State? Whereas Iowa has long, tradition soaked rivalries with Sconnie and Minnesota, and minor rivalries against Illinois, Northwestern, and Nebraska.

That said, I wish Iowa went into this game with the same intensity as State.

 

[hawkfan340]

Do ISU fans really dispute that this game generally means more to ISU than to Iowa? I'm not talking the "Super Bowl" hyperbole level more, just that it means some quantity (however defined) more to ISU than Iowa for XYZ reasons.

I would think there would be consensus even among ISU fans, that this is true.

 

[okeefe4prez]

I have backed away from the 'This is Iowa State's Super Bowl' opinion that I had say 8 to 10 years ago....ISU has climbed a few hills with some big wins that make this win not the 'Super Bowl' level and going to a bowl game is no longer a rarity for that program.

That said, it's going to continue to mean more to them than to Iowa fans in general because of this simple and undeniable fact:

Iowa State plays second fiddle to Iowa in this state.

Iowa has more fans, Iowa gets more media attention, Iowa makes more businesses more money in advertising as they have larger audiences for their programming, etc.

I list those things not as reasons to incite Clone fans to riot, rather merely as fact.

This game will stop meaning more to ISU fans once they consistently get more media coverage, have a larger fan base and begin to generate more advertising revenue than do the Hawkeyes for the big media companies in this state.

Or in other words, we won't have to worry about that in our lifetime.

But one problem has been: I wish Iowa played with the same intensity that we see from ISU's players in this game year after year.

Jon - I hate to say this, but I will anyway. If Rhoads sticks around and has a consistent 6 win floor with a surprise season or two and Iowa trends down and hires the wrong guy to replace Ferentz, I think a substantial number of TavernHok fans will fall off the bandwagon and we could see a shift in the balance of power. Iowa has two big advantages in that its conference is better and much more rich in tradition and its stadium is better. The first point can't be changed, but on the second point, Pollard is going to build the South End Zone out when he gets a big check from a big time donor and the stadiums will be relatively equal, except the parking situation in Ames is way better than it is in IC.

I get that we have a lot of folks who are lifetime Iowa fans, but those lifetime fans will disappear if we suck for a prolonged period and the Clowns are decent, especially as Des Moines continues its exponential growth and fans become less willing to pay the outlandish ticket prices Iowa charges. ISU is a program on the rise and our place at the top of the heap is tenuous.

 

[Cydkar]

Agree Jon. One of the things that annoy me about KirK is his "business as usual, every game is the same" mentality approach he takes. He doesn't get fired up for games or overlook others. He treats Iowa State game just like he does against Ohio State, Wisconsin, Western Michigan, or Missouri State. Fry didn't, he got the troops fired up for ISU. Same as McCarney and Rhoads do against Iowa. Team is a product of their coach. Hence why Kirk is 6-8 against ISU.

Kirk also failed to see how big the game was at OSU a few years ago when he thought playing for a tie was a good idea. The Rose Bowl will always be there later, I guess.

 

[Cydkar]

Do ISU fans really dispute that this game generally means more to ISU than to Iowa? I'm not talking the "Super Bowl" hyperbole level more, just that it means some quantity (however defined) more to ISU than Iowa for XYZ reasons.

I would think there would be consensus even among ISU fans, that this is true.

I can only speak for myself. I will be driving from Ames to CR during the game Saturday. That's how much I care. Hopefully I'll be sobered up by then.

 

[hawkfan340]

I can only speak for myself. I will be driving from Ames to CR during the game Saturday. That's how much I care. Hopefully I'll be sobered up by then.

If you were forced to speak for more than yourself, gun-to-your-head style, do you think the game does not mean more to ISU?

 

[bws258]

stadiums will be relatively equal

part of your post made a lot of sense, but this line is FAIL

I don't care what JP builds in the SEZ, unless it's of Jerry Jones scope/size, the stadiums will continue to be incomparable

 

[vosov]

I can only speak for myself. I will be driving from Ames to CR during the game Saturday. That's how much I care. Hopefully I'll be sobered up by then.

You have 1,537 posts on an Iowa message board. Clearly you barely even realize Iowa exists. Probably won't even check the score until Wednesday when you look at all the rest of the Big XII scores to see who will get second in the conference this year.

 

[okeefe4prez]

part of your post made a lot of sense, but this line is FAIL

I don't care what JP builds in the SEZ, unless it's of Jerry Jones scope/size, they stadiums will continue to be incomparable

Relatively equal. Iowa's will still be bigger, but ISU is closing the gap.

 

[fsanford]

Another thing, and i posted this in another thread- Iowa State doesn't have very many other rivals. Mizzou and Nebraska left. What other rivals do they have- Kansas? K-State? Whereas Iowa has long, tradition soaked rivalries with Sconnie and Minnesota, and minor rivalries against Illinois, Northwestern, and Nebraska.

That said, I wish Iowa went into this game with the same intensity as State.

Some truth to this, though Minnesota? I thought fan's need to care to make it a rivalry?
Not sure if Gopher fans get too fired up about football.

Nebraska and Iowa has the potential to be a great one, though will not really take off unless both teams are ranked several years in a row when playing head to head.

 

[hawkfan340]

And I'm talking generally with my question. I personally think this particular game this season means a huge deal to Iowa b/c of the state of the program and the fact that his is a winnable game in a season that there may be very few. It could also serve as a confidence booster for the rest of the season. So I do think this game is different from the majority of the series.

 

[IAHAWK1982]

Iowa also has more of a national attraction. I grew up in New Jersey with my mother being an Iowa native and a Hawk fan, so I knew about the Iowa football. Iowa State was actually the first Division I school to contact me, but I couldn't have even told you where Ames was. When I walked-on at Iowa way back when we had many players from New Jersey and the East Coast. The Iowa fan base has always been much larger than Iowa State's and always will be. You also have alumni with much deeper pockets than Iowa State. It has always been a matter of 'Clone fans being jealous of the Hawks.

 

[alexzelada]

Agree Jon. One of the things that annoy me about KirK is his "business as usual, every game is the same" mentality approach he takes. He doesn't get fired up for games or overlook others. He treats Iowa State game just like he does against Ohio State, Wisconsin, Western Michigan, or Missouri State. Fry didn't, he got the troops fired up for ISU. Same as McCarney and Rhoads do against Iowa. Team is a product of their coach. Hence why Kirk is 6-8 against ISU.

6-8 is so sad.

If Kirk owned Iowa State the way Hayden did Iowa would be viewed differently than it currently is

 

[Sirhouseman]

Agree Jon. One of the things that annoy me about KirK is his "business as usual, every game is the same" mentality approach he takes. He doesn't get fired up for games or overlook others. He treats Iowa State game just like he does against Ohio State, Wisconsin, Western Michigan, or Missouri State. Fry didn't, he got the troops fired up for ISU. Same as McCarney and Rhoads do against Iowa. Team is a product of their coach. Hence why Kirk is 6-8 against ISU.

I'm not 100% convinced that this is true. I do think Kirk gets a little bit into playing Michigan State because of a distaste for Dantonio. I also don't think it is a coincidence that Iowa has a ridiculous track record against PSU. He's a native and I think that game means a bit more for him. I would be that PSU says the EXACT same thing about Iowa that we do about ISU.