Was at the game 5 rows up behind the scorers table between the benches and here are my takes on the game / atmosphere.
1. Iowa is a scrappy team and impressed me. Sandfort has one of the quickest shots I've seen. Did find it odd how much they celebrated after making shots.
2. Was hoping to see some Francon meltdowns but he was pretty calm the whole game. Only time I really seen him upset was when he called a guy in to sub and he checks in and then takes off his warmup suit which got Fran a bit chippy. Even hoped to see Mrs Fran earn her reputation but I'm not even sure I seen her.
3. The last time I was in Carver was when Brad Lohaus played so early to mid 80's I would guess. Keep hearing about how much of a dump it is but I guess I didn't see that so much. Also had passes to go to their equivalent to Johnny's and all it was was a unused supply room with tables and chairs and $6 water and $9 beers.
4. Fans were good and that probably has more to do with apathy but I expected more harassment. Only person who was crappy was an 80yr old guy across the aisle from us that kept yelling at TJ to sit down and bitched about every call that went against Iowa. He then got real chippy midway through the 2nd half when Cyclone nation was overtaking the chants in the arena. That was awesome. What was real awesome to witness live is the fans were into the game and loud until we started to come back in 2nd half, then you seen the worry set in and when we tied it up all their energy left the building and when we got the first lead the mass exit was well in motion.
5. For most of the game, Iowa really moved the ball well with quick passes to get open shots. I personally think that if we kept dishing off to Jackson and Jefferson, this game would have been out of reach early on but Gilbert kept driving the lane trying to draw the foul and throwing up prayer shots and that gave Iowa momentum. Don't get me wrong though, as I love Gilbert and the entire team we have.
Not sure I'll be back anytime soon, but it was an enjoyable time