When I was a kid we had season tickets during the Walden era. I know, rough childhood. It seemed like every year we pulled a Kansas and tore down the goal posts after a win even though we sucked. I even think I remember UNI tearing down our goalposts after they beat us (not for sure though). It was so bad I think they installed indestructible goalposts. Does anyone with a better memory than me have a history of all the times we have torn down the goalposts? Some good memories might help after today. Thanks
Tearing down the goalposts...history at ISU?
- Thread starter KCClone1
- Start date
My sister was at ISU from 96-00 and told me they tore them down and drug them to lake laverne. Sorry don't have more details
Freshman in '94, team went 0-11-1. Sophomore year, the opener was against Ohio, who also was 0-11-1 the year before, the two worst teams in college football. It was a Thursday night game, I hadda work at foodservice and didn't go. Buddies called after the game and said that we won, the goalposts were coming down, and we met them at Lake Laverne. It seemed like for a while there, every time we won, they came down. It was like the 'don't storm the courts' threads now, but there was no message boards (well, chat rooms, I guess, but that was mainly for dorks), so it was all letters to the editor of the daily and stuff saying that we have to start acting like we expect it.
I helped tear down one or two when I was there. I think they might have also tried the breakaway ones. But they ended up with the indestructible ones that are there now.
I think during that time they were town down after a win vs. Ball State.
I was on campus in the fall of 1998 when the long losing streak vs. Iowa was broken (of course, that was in Iowa City) and I heard a rumor that some students went and tore down a goal post at the practice field and threw that into Lake Laverne.
By the time I walked by the following Monday I didn't see anything in the lake.
Attempted, but failed. 1998 was the first season of the "indestructible" posts.
The last time they came down was 1997 vs. Baylor. It was ISU's only win of the season.
I was there my freshman year in 1995 when they tore them down after the winless Walden season, then again in 1997. Someone broke their arm when they came down that time so they put the indestructible ones after that. They tried doing the steel ones once or twice but they wouldn't budge.
Last edited:
I was there in 95 when the goalposts got thrown into lake Laverne. Some buddies and i were watching the game on tv in Helser (Mortensen) and saw the mob leaving the stadium with the posts. We had a hunch they were heading for the lake and rushed over to the memorial union to watch the show. You could hear the screaming mob for blocks away. They ran right down the middle of Lincoln way and totally shut down traffic for around half an hour. Several bike racks, street signs, and mailboxes also went into the lake. Good times...
In 1997 they replaced the aluminum posts with steel ones after a student was injured taking them down. They have tried to take them down once or twice since, but were unsuccessful.
Last edited:
Ok, I see that now. Ball State was the first game after the "Iowa Upset" in 1998. Maybe that was one of the occasions there was an "attempted" (but failed) tearing down.
