hawkfan1319
Well-Known Member
I don't really get Bret's trolling with that picture.
Why the Iowa game means more to ISU fans...and will stay that way
- Thread starter JonDMiller
- Start date
hawkfan1319
Well-Known Member
Also the premise of this thread leads one to believe that ISU fans actually believe in facts and statistics. In most of their heads they believe they are a national power.
I totally understand the concept about making this a big game and firing up the team to beat down the rival - it puts an edge on how you get things done. But I have to admit, in the last 15 years I've always looked at the ISU players going wild and pumping up the crowd as underdog desperation. In another way, every time in the last 15 years we had the talent to beat ISU - and should have. I never felt like the one in charge had to turn possessed to win the game. Iowa was the better team. We had control. We should put them down. Every year. Their desperation turned into raving lunacy on the field.
Now, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2012 - somehow that craziness turned into wins on the field. I blame underperformance more than ISU's ability, but W's and L's are the same.
To sum it up - I've always felt we had the ability to win and dominate every game. So why do we have to turn this into a motivation-fest to beat down your younger brother? I guess that's why I've always resisted idea that we have to come out as "pumped" as they are.
In the end, wins are wins and they are a precious commodity. So if we have to sell our players to take the inferior little brother outback and beat the **** out of him, so be it.
Now, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2012 - somehow that craziness turned into wins on the field. I blame underperformance more than ISU's ability, but W's and L's are the same.
To sum it up - I've always felt we had the ability to win and dominate every game. So why do we have to turn this into a motivation-fest to beat down your younger brother? I guess that's why I've always resisted idea that we have to come out as "pumped" as they are.
In the end, wins are wins and they are a precious commodity. So if we have to sell our players to take the inferior little brother outback and beat the **** out of him, so be it.
HawkFrenzy
Active Member
Although I do agree with most of this as reasoning, I think the "superbowl" comments are more of a pre-game (and post game) excuse if Iowa loses. It's along with some of the same comments KF says when a game is lost...mostly a way to shrug it off. Reading some of the posts, I think you have two different types of hype. The players who are an extension of their coach and the fans who I believe do take this game more seriously than what they show on the outside. Personally I am more disappointed about this loss than most others because 1. I DO see it as a rivalry and 2. I get tired of hearing the talk from ISU fans. On the flip side, I also do a lot of chatting after when Iowa wins.
I also firmly believe that any coach or player who doesn't take every game seriously, should not be on the field. ISU may have a bit more push because of the "little brother" routine which tells me their coaches may add a little to their speeches only. Still, if they do not put the same amount of work to every game, they are in the wrong business.
I think the thought of most ISU fans of "if we only win one game, it better be Iowa" mentality is a thing of the past. I think they seem to want it more because they can smack talk the one next to them much easier and Iowa fans are still stuck in the 80s.
I didn't play college football. But how in the world when these guys's careers are as short as they are can't get "fired up" to play each and every single game (12 a yr plus one hopefully) is beyond me. 12 days a year they need to be fired up at their best. Nothing frustrates me more then when the better team doesn't win do to not being ready to play emotionally.
FreedComanche
Banned
That must mean you are one frustrated guy if you've been a hawk fan for the last several years.
Wassabbe
Well-Known Member
Losers. Both of you. If you honestly think our athletes aren't emotionally ready to play you are idiots. Flat out delusional idiots. These young men work their ***** off all year to play football. They are jacked up and ready to play all 12 games. Go tell James Morris he's not emotionally ready to play.
And to answer your first question Hawkfnntn.....they are fired up each game. Just because we may lose some games that you didn't think we should lose doesn't mean they weren't fired up.
hawkfan340
Well-Known Member
Do you think that players have the exact same level of emotion for every game? I don't. I think players get up more for certain teams than they do others. E.g. I think the players will be more excited to play ISU than they will be to play Western Michigan.
It's not a matter of "emotionally ready to play". It's not binary. There's a spectrum. And you can't be at an emotional 100 for every game.
If you except this premise, then isn't not unreasonable to think that ISU can gain an emotional edge in this series based on a range of factors affecting their state of mind.
1977Hawkeye
Well-Known Member
Exactly the way I see it. ISU consistently outplays Iowa (meaning more effort and heart) every year and it will remain so until KF stops taking the "just another game on the schedule" approach, and starts treating this game like a rivalry. In years where Iowa has had clearly superior teams (2003, 2004, 2009, 2010), it is enough to win the game regardless, particularly in Kinnick. When the teams are closer in talent, and especially in Jack Trice, getting outplayed equals defeat.
hawkfan340
Well-Known Member
Also, it's not just a matter of emotion. There is a level of focus that ISU has had on this game since the Mac era that Kirk has not matched. Watch the Knock video in the other thread. Macarney would tell the players 9 months before the season started that "they're going to beat Iowa" on Sept. X.
He saw the game a critical one for ISU to win for both perception and motivation. Same can be said for Fry in the late '70s.
There's a certain mental edge that can be gained through that type for focus. And Kirk has never had it for this game for whatever reason.
He saw the game a critical one for ISU to win for both perception and motivation. Same can be said for Fry in the late '70s.
There's a certain mental edge that can be gained through that type for focus. And Kirk has never had it for this game for whatever reason.
AdamHawk
Well-Known Member
I think the main reason for Iowa's struggles in this game have to do with the fact that the entire state puts this game on a pedestal and Iowa is expected to win. Iowa usually comes out with a rigidity and plays tight, basically trying not to make a mistake. Rather than coming out and playing with confidence knowing that they are the superior team, they play like robots.
Iowa State on the other hand, usually plays much more relaxed. They are eager to get out on the field and show the world that they are not the pushovers everyone thinks they are. If they win, it's a big deal and people pay attention. If they lose, it's business as usual and people go about their lives.
I really think it has nothing to do with who puts more importance on the game. They both take the game very seriously but for entirely different reasons.
Iowa State on the other hand, usually plays much more relaxed. They are eager to get out on the field and show the world that they are not the pushovers everyone thinks they are. If they win, it's a big deal and people pay attention. If they lose, it's business as usual and people go about their lives.
I really think it has nothing to do with who puts more importance on the game. They both take the game very seriously but for entirely different reasons.
THIS
Wassabbe
Well-Known Member
Dan McCarney hasn't coached the Clowns in 7 years! Our problem with losing to them the last 2 years is lack of talent and our coaching has been dog ****. Has nothing to do with being emotionally ready to play.
FreedComanche
Banned
I tend to agree with this. Emotion gets killed going up against superior talent and coaching.
hawkfan340
Well-Known Member
My point is that ISU generally has more focus and emotion involved in this game. And again, I'm not saying Iowa isn't emtionally involved or focused. I'm saying ISU is more so on a relative basis.
I agree the Jimmys and Joes matter first. Then the Xs and Os. But if those two things are a push, then that mental edge can tip the scales. (And keep in mind ISU's last 3 wins in this series have been by an ever so slight margin. I wish Iowa had had the edge on the third factor)
Wassabbe
Well-Known Member
Woah slow down there. I do not think that they have superior talent. But ours has severly dropped lately and the gap isn't there anymore.
Bigtenchamp
Well-Known Member
this is very true... conference season is what matters now...(really always did)
TBH I don't even care anymore about playing ISU
TBH I don't even care anymore about playing ISU
Wassabbe
Well-Known Member
That's the same defeatist attitude that the Clowns use after they lose to UNI. We loved playing them back when we kicked their *** all the time.
