I consider myself a pretty average fan. Certainly not as fanatical as some here, especially for football.
I grew up a Cyclone fan in the 80's. It was a pretty miserable time to be an Iowa State football fan. You just kind of put up with a few highlights in football while waiting for Hilton Magic.
In 1998, ISU broke the curse of Fry and a trickle of hope began breaking through. Then over the next couple years you could really see something building. It collimated in 2002 with Seneca at the helm. 6 games into the season, ISU was riding high with a top 10 ranking and a Heisman contender and for the first time in my life it seemed that the Cyclones were going to break out of their cellar dweller roll. Then came the trip to Norman that sent the season into a tailspin, along with all the hope that had been building.
I graduated in Dec '02, and was pretty apathetic to Cyclone football for a number of years. I finally began buying into the hype this off season that ISU was poised to break out of mediocrity with a solid coaching staff and some strong new talent coming in. I was excited about where this football program was going.
Last night completely deflated any optimism I had, just like in 02. I understand it was just one game, but it had way too much of an old cellar team feel to have much to get excited for. I fear a lot of the casual fans are going return to apathy as well. Hopefully this one game doesn't have the same affect on others as it is having on me.....
I grew up a Cyclone fan in the 80's. It was a pretty miserable time to be an Iowa State football fan. You just kind of put up with a few highlights in football while waiting for Hilton Magic.
In 1998, ISU broke the curse of Fry and a trickle of hope began breaking through. Then over the next couple years you could really see something building. It collimated in 2002 with Seneca at the helm. 6 games into the season, ISU was riding high with a top 10 ranking and a Heisman contender and for the first time in my life it seemed that the Cyclones were going to break out of their cellar dweller roll. Then came the trip to Norman that sent the season into a tailspin, along with all the hope that had been building.
I graduated in Dec '02, and was pretty apathetic to Cyclone football for a number of years. I finally began buying into the hype this off season that ISU was poised to break out of mediocrity with a solid coaching staff and some strong new talent coming in. I was excited about where this football program was going.
Last night completely deflated any optimism I had, just like in 02. I understand it was just one game, but it had way too much of an old cellar team feel to have much to get excited for. I fear a lot of the casual fans are going return to apathy as well. Hopefully this one game doesn't have the same affect on others as it is having on me.....