Other pre game issues....

[MidwestZest]

As a former member of the band and a current member of the service, I too think the presentation of the colors has a long way to go before it looks professional. I was actually quite embarrassed the first time I saw it this season at the UNI game. They could do much better - and at basketball games as well.

 

[VeloClone]

I hear a lot of ragging on those who don't make kick-off and even those who don't make the team's entrance. I confess I don't often make kick-off as my wife does not want to hurry into the game and I compromise with her for the sake of domestic peace. She is a very marginal football fan and I am just glad she is willing to go to the games with me at all. Two fans there for 58 and a half minutes is better than one fan there for 60 by my estimation.

If we are so ****** with those fans who don't make kick-off, where is the outrage with all of the fans who leave early. I see a lot emptier stands at the end of the game than when I am there for the kick-off. Why are you not upset at the fans who leave early and don't support the players who practice just as hard as the starters but don't get the opportunity to play nearly as much. I am there supporting those players and celebrating with the team in victory or thanking the team for the effort in defeat but many of the fans who have to be there for the team entrance are already out of the parking lot on their way home.

How are fans who are on time but leave early better fans than those who may be a few minutes late but stick it out to the bitter end?

By the way, I am not ******** about these fans. They can do what they want. I may not like it and I may make comments to them as they are leaving with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, but ultimately it is their choice. I also know that there are sometimes extenuating circumstances of which I am not aware for some of those fans. I am only bringing it up because I see a lot of hypocrisy here.

 

[jmb]

I hear a lot of ragging on those who don't make kick-off and even those who don't make the team's entrance. I confess I don't often make kick-off as my wife does not want to hurry into the game and I compromise with her for the sake of domestic peace. She is a very marginal football fan and I am just glad she is willing to go to the games with me at all. Two fans there for 58 and a half minutes is better than one fan there for 60 by my estimation.

If we are so ****** with those fans who don't make kick-off, where is the outrage with all of the fans who leave early. I see a lot emptier stands at the end of the game than when I am there for the kick-off. Why are you not upset at the fans who leave early and don't support the players who practice just as hard as the starters but don't get the opportunity to play nearly as much. I am there supporting those players and celebrating with the team in victory or thanking the team for the effort in defeat but many of the fans who have to be there for the team entrance are already out of the parking lot on their way home.

How are fans who are on time but leave early better fans than those who may be a few minutes late but stick it out to the bitter end?

By the way, I am not ******** about these fans. They can do what they want. I may not like it and I may make comments to them as they are leaving with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, but ultimately it is their choice. I also know that there are sometimes extenuating circumstances of which I am not aware for some of those fans. I am only bringing it up because I see a lot of hypocrisy here.

responses should be interesting.

 

[clonomaniac]

dumbest thread ever

 

[jbhtexas]

Your holier then thou approach is a joke. I was at the ******* game in plenty of time to see the ******* team take the field and for the opening kickoff. Are you that dense? I said I was in my ******* seat in plenty of time just so we are clear.

And you were also complaining how painful it was for you to spend those 10 minutes in the stadium before kickoff, and that you would have better spent your time tailgating, so I incorrectly assumed you probably wouldn't be on time in the future. My bad.

Is ISU athletics a business? Yes. Does the gameday experience need to be exciting or more then just a football game? Yes. Is ISU competing against many other things for people to spend their discretionary money on? Yes.

What does any of this have to do with getting into the game in time to see the kickoff?

Some of you people need to get it through your thick heads that there is a very large portion of ISU football fans that make an entire day out of going to a game. It isn't just a game, it is an event. People go to see the damn game because they love ISU but they also go to be entertained. They bring their family, kids, etc... they meet up with old friends to enjoy not just the game but the entire experience. Why is that such a ******* hard concept for some of you to grasp?

And quite a few of those those people are in the stands in time for kickoff; how does that happen??? It happens because they've made seeing the entire game a priority over the other events of the day. That's a personal decision, it's not a decision that ISU makes for them.

[more ranting deleted]

There.... did I clear that up for you JBH "Iowa State Superfan of the Century"???

No, you haven't cleared anything up; profanity-laced ranting rarely does.

The bottom line is that come kickoff time, for those tailgating, one can be at a tailgate, or one can be in the stadium; one's priorities will decide which will be the case. There is no debate on that point. With a modicum of planning, anyone tailgating in the lots can be in the stadium in time for kickoff. The decision to be or not to be is the personal choice of people attending the game, not the choice of the university.

If tailgating is of such importance to a fan that he can't pack up a few minutes early (a few minutes out of several hours of tailgating in many cases) in order to get to the kickoff on time, and if watching a few minutes of Jeff Johnson doing some cheers is just completely and utterly repulsive, then there's little to nothing ISU can do to get that fan in the seat in time for kickoff, short of paying him to do so. There is nothing ISU can do to make everybody happy. Many people make the choice to be there regardless of how "exciting" the pregame activity is.

It's a simple decision for each fan: is it important for me to be in the stands when the team comes out? Is it important for me to be in the stands for kickoff? The pre-game activities are really irrelevant in that decision.

 

[jbhtexas]

If we are so ****** with those fans who don't make kick-off, where is the outrage with all of the fans who leave early. I see a lot emptier stands at the end of the game than when I am there for the kick-off. Why are you not upset at the fans who leave early and don't support the players who practice just as hard as the starters but don't get the opportunity to play nearly as much.

You make good points, and there have been threads in the past about this as well.

Just for your consideration...when do you think a loud screaming crowd would have a better opportunity to swing the W/L outcome of a game (assuming that a loud screaming crowd can have some effect on W/L):...at kick off time when the score is 0-0, or early 4th quarter when the score is 5x-1x?

 

[Frak]

Have the truck go around blaring a tornado siren with a PA system stating, "Cyclone Warning! All fans please take shelter at Jack Trice!" Maybe start doing that about 20 minutes before kick-off.

No need to get too hokie with it. Get an old firetruck, mount a scoreboard clock in the back. Then incorporate that into a "Countdown to Kickoff" sign/display. Drive that thing around the lots with the siren blaring starting an hour before kickoff.

 

[VeloClone]

You make good points, and there have been threads in the past about this as well.

Just for your consideration...when do you think a loud screaming crowd would have a better opportunity to swing the W/L outcome of a game (assuming that a loud screaming crowd can have some effect on W/L):...at kick off time when the score is 0-0, or early 4th quarter when the score is 5x-1x?

We've got a lot people leaving long before the game is out of hand either way. People were pointing out that it affects recruits. You don't think an empty stadium at the end of the game (win or lose) affects recruits' impression of ISU?

I think 5 to 15 minutes at the end of the game can be just as harmful, if not more, to the team's morale and impressions of our gameday atmosphere as a minute or two at the beginning of the game. That's my opinion.

In a perfect world we wouldn't have to worry about either, but I think it is short sighted to crucify people for one and give out a free pass for the other. That's just my opinion. Either it is important or it isn't. I can be disappointed in my fellow fans without being judgmental. Heaven knows I have been too judgmental about too many other things on this board.

 

[MNCyGuy]

I always love the couple of people who get all indignant because, "I have kids and that's why I don't make it in" or "I came straight to work and couldn't find a parking spot". Clearly you are not the people the complaint is addressed to.

 

[VeloClone]

I always love the couple of people who get all indignant because, "I have kids and that's why I don't make it in" or "I came straight to work and couldn't find a parking spot". Clearly you are not the people the complaint is addressed to.

Apparently the complaint is addressed to them because when they respond like this they get "you don't care enough to leave 15 minutes earlier with your kids so you are part of the problem."

 

[Cyvilian]

Yes, fans are late everywhere. I have no problem with people trickling in for the first few minutes of the first quarter. But with players taking the field for the kickoff, there were still THOUSANDS, if not TEN THOUSAND PLUS people not in their seats. The stadium capacity is ~45,000 and it was only half full with less than one minute to kickoff. Where the hell are these people?

When you go to a concert, do you stand outside for the first song? When you go to high school games, do you wait until after kickoff to go inside?

When my wife and I were walking back to our car, a couple drunk students stopped us and asked what the final score was. I was disappointed - they had come out to the game and didn't do anything but drink in the parking lot. They didn't even know the freaking score. And when I told him the score, he said he was screwed because they didn't beat the spread. He had money riding on the game and didn't even care enough to pay attention.

This is the culture that Rhoads has to change - the "it's football season, time to get drunk and see if there are any games on" culture that has taken hold of campus. I understand that for many years tailgating WAS the highlight of Saturdays in Ames. But that is changing and fans need to start embracing the football more than the shiny 12 ounce cans. You have 6 other days to drink and talk to your friends. On Saturdays, make it about the football game.

This.

Is the day about partying in the parking lot, or about watching the 'Clones? Attendance at kickoff Saturday was pathetic. Come on people, is it that hard to get into the stadium and to your seat before kickoff? There was no line--zero wait--to get into the stadium when we went in at about 12:15. 40,000 people can't all get into the stadium at once. Stragglers coming in after kickoff is one thing; the entire crowd piling in as the teams line up is another.

End of rant...

 

[GoShow97]

dumbest thread ever

Not even close. For example,

http://www.cyclonefanatic.com/forum/football/105186-week-will-earn-deny-cpr-raise.html

 

[cyowa]

This.

Is the day about partying in the parking lot, or about watching the 'Clones? Attendance at kickoff Saturday was pathetic. Come on people, is it that hard to get into the stadium and to your seat before kickoff? There was no line--zero wait--to get into the stadium when we went in at about 12:15. 40,000 people can't all get into the stadium at once. Stragglers coming in after kickoff is one thing; the entire crowd piling in as the teams line up is another.

End of rant...

I agree with your rant. And for those who say late arrivals happen every where, I say, not true. I've been in two other venues this year, (I'll not mention where because it would just tick some off), but the stadiums were full way before the teams came out of the locker rooms. Places were rocking and the home field advantage was evident. The ISU scene is embarrassing, and definitely not BCS "big time". Sorry, that's how I see it.