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Fan since 1963

fsanford said:
At the same time you cannot be out there telling me the Honda Civic you are selling is gonna turn into a Lexus or a Tesla. If you believe that you will be in for a huge disappointment.

Nothing wrong with expectations, as long as you can accept the pain that unreasonable expectations are going to bring.

I get where Pollard is coming from on this, if he is out there saying the program should win 9 or 10 on a consistent basis HCPR should have been axed after last year.

Like it or not sometimes people need to get a reality check. And the reality its Ames Iowa, not Ames Texas, not Ames California, not Ames Florida. Its the northern most school in a conference that has 6 of its 10 members located in or on the border of the largest high school football factory in the country. It has no true rival within its conference. The closest major conference schools are 3 Big Ten schools sitting to its West, East and North.
It plays in a state with a small population, and limited division 1 talent which it shares with a Big Ten affiliated university that has had moderate success over the year. Look on a map, I would bet that aside from WV, Iowa State is the only school in the nation where we do not have a conference affiliated school on the border of our state. (Talking major conferences ) How F'd up is that? I mean you trying to go into these states to recruiting knowing if they come to ISU they will never play against schools they are familiar with.

It hot and humid in the summer, its cold snowy and windy in the winter. And lately it seems to flood every other year:-)


So tell me again what kind of advantages ISU has so it can consistently win 9 games a season year in and year out? I am all ears. Because 85% of the programs in the country do not win 9 games a year, year in and year out.
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This is the most accurate assessment of the reality of Iowa State football that I have read on this site in a long time. The #1 problem that Iowa State football has is the lack of local talent, period. If you have never lived outside the state of Iowa in a southern state, you just can't grasp the talent difference. Oklahoma high school football is night and day vs. Iowa high school football. The commitment to football here is in on a whole different level than in Iowa. Texas high school football is then night and day vs. Oklahoma. The lack of local talent to draw from in Iowa, and the small population base, is just a very tough thing to overcome.

Not saying that Iowa State can't be a consistently competitive program, but my goal for ISU every year is bowl eligibility. If we can consistently play in bowl games, we stay relevant.
 
tulsacyfan said:
This is the most accurate assessment of the reality of Iowa State football that I have read on this site in a long time. The #1 problem that Iowa State football has is the lack of local talent, period. If you have never lived outside the state of Iowa in a southern state, you just can't grasp the talent difference. Oklahoma high school football is night and day vs. Iowa high school football. The commitment to football here is in on a whole different level than in Iowa. Texas high school football is then night and day vs. Oklahoma. The lack of local talent to draw from in Iowa, and the small population base, is just a very tough thing to overcome.

Not saying that Iowa State can't be a consistently competitive program, but my goal for ISU every year is bowl eligibility. If we can consistently play in bowl games, we stay relevant.
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And our #2 problem is lack of money. Ag and engineering grads don't typically become big time boosters. #3 is lack of historical success.
 
Agree completely. Look at Oklahoma State, even with access to good local talent and some degree of historical success (Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas), it took Boone Pickens' money to get them to the next level.
 
tulsacyfan said:
Agree completely. Look at Oklahoma State, even with access to good local talent and some degree of historical success (Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas), it took Boone Pickens' money to get them to the next level.
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Right, it was all because of the money. Had nothing to do with the young, energetic alumnus they have for a coach, did it?

That money equals wins is bogus. Sure, it does not hurt, but it hardly guarantees success. Take a look at the Big Ten.
 
Money definitely doesn't equal success, but lack of money is a huge barrier to overcome. Poorer programs might have a successful year every once in a while, but not consistantly. Especially without local talent and/or historical success.
 
MarkCorrigan said:
Right, it was all because of the money. Had nothing to do with the young, energetic alumnus they have for a coach, did it?

That money equals wins is bogus. Sure, it does not hurt, but it hardly guarantees success. Take a look at the Big Ten.
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You ever been to Stillwater for a game? Before the stadium expansion? After the stadium expansion? Before the expansion it looked like a glorified high school stadium. Union high school here in Tulsa had a nicer stadium. Yes, Gundy has done well but any number of other coaches across the country could have done the same thing at OSU given what he has had to work with.
 
In conference play this year the Texas and Oklahoma schools are 20-7, the rest of us 2-15.
 
tulsacyfan said:
You ever been to Stillwater for a game? Before the stadium expansion? After the stadium expansion? Before the expansion it looked like a glorified high school stadium. Union high school here in Tulsa had a nicer stadium. Yes, Gundy has done well but any number of other coaches across the country could have done the same thing at OSU given what he has had to work with.
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Well, by that argument, Tennessee should not be terrible, nor should Kentucky or Minnesota or North Carolina or Virginia or Indiana, as they all have comparable revenues to Oklahoma State. Remember how mediocre Notre Dame was (and arguably still is) for like 20 years before last season, despite their massive fan base and likely insane amounts of revenue?

Sorry, I do not buy it. You cannot just throw money at a program and expect results like Oklahoma State has seen.
 
MarkCorrigan said:
Well, by that argument, Tennessee should not be terrible, nor should Kentucky or Minnesota or North Carolina or Virginia or Indiana, as they all have comparable revenues to Oklahoma State. Remember how mediocre Notre Dame was (and arguably still is) for like 20 years before last season, despite their massive fan base and likely insane amounts of revenue?

Sorry, I do not buy it. You cannot just throw money at a program and expect results like Oklahoma State has seen.
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I already said local talent base was #1. I am talking about one school's rise in this conference, which occurred simultaneously with Boone Pickens' commitment to the program. Whatever, you are right - money does not make any difference. OSU would be just as good playing in the old stadium with metal bleachers and without the athletic village.
 
Sorry, but it takes money. Lots of money.

Tulsa's point is that it takes money and more. He's right. To get to the next level and sustain it, you have to have money and more.
 
fsanford said:
At the same time you cannot be out there telling me the Honda Civic you are selling is gonna turn into a Lexus or a Tesla. If you believe that you will be in for a huge disappointment.

Nothing wrong with expectations, as long as you can accept the pain that unreasonable expectations are going to bring.

I get where Pollard is coming from on this, if he is out there saying the program should win 9 or 10 on a consistent basis HCPR should have been axed after last year.

Like it or not sometimes people need to get a reality check. And the reality its Ames Iowa, not Ames Texas, not Ames California, not Ames Florida. Its the northern most school in a conference that has 6 of its 10 members located in or on the border of the largest high school football factory in the country. It has no true rival within its conference. The closest major conference schools are 3 Big Ten schools sitting to its West, East and North.
It plays in a state with a small population, and limited division 1 talent which it shares with a Big Ten affiliated university that has had moderate success over the year. Look on a map, I would bet that aside from WV, Iowa State is the only school in the nation where we do not have a conference affiliated school on the border of our state. (Talking major conferences ) How F'd up is that? I mean you trying to go into these states to recruiting knowing if they come to ISU they will never play against schools they are familiar with.

It hot and humid in the summer, its cold snowy and windy in the winter. And lately it seems to flood every other year:-)


So tell me again what kind of advantages ISU has so it can consistently win 9 games a season year in and year out? I am all ears. Because 85% of the programs in the country do not win 9 games a year, year in and year out.
Click to expand...

You are spot on. Contrary to what people who still live in Iowa believe it's a tough sell to come to Iowa. I left after graduation like most graduates do.
 
Lived in college station for a few years and the high school football there was an insane difference compared to iowa. It's hard as hell to recruit here to the middle of iowa just how it is especially when we have pretty much no tradition.

can that change? Absolutely, just gonna be really tough.
 
swarthmoreCY said:
How the **** did you come up with that?
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You said one down year in 5. Let me lay this out for you, that implies the other 4 years of never having a winning record in conference play and winning 6 games a year, and 7 tops, were considered good years by yourself. That is what you implied, or are you backpeddling? At no school other than a bottom feeder would those be considered good year. At UT, our best season in that span would be considered a very down year.

I want to see a truly up year at ISU. I knew this wasn't going to be it, but this is so bad it makes me believe getting back to 6 wins will take a whole decade.
 
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brett108 said:
You said one down year in 5. Let me lay this out for you, that implies the other 4 years of never having a winning record in conference play and winning 6 games a year, and 7 tops, were considered good years by yourself. That is what you implied, or are you backpeddling? At no school other than a bottom feeder would those be considered good year. At UT, our best season in that span would be considered a very down year.

I want to see a truly up year at ISU. I knew this wasn't going to be it, but this is so bad it makes me believe getting back to 6 wins will take a whole decade.
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In fairness to you, I wish you were a UT fan just about every time I see one of your posts.
 
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