And they only need 1 more to make it possible.
Big Ten rules say you need 6 -- they have Minnesota, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin.
Upgrading the Hockey Program Makes More Sense Than Bringing Back Baseball
- Thread starter drednot57
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And they only need 1 more to make it possible.
Big Ten rules say you need 6 -- they have Minnesota, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin.
It really surprises me actually that the conference hasn't offered incentives to a current member to add it. I know in the twin cities Gopher hockey is just about as big a draw as the Wild are. Maybe that's not the case in the other Big Ten markets, but there are TONS of big hockey cities in their footprint, I have to think it would drastically increase their ad revenues during the winter season.
I totally agree with the OP. This is weird because I went off on the same topic in yesterday's mailbag.
If Iowa State ever added hockey as a D-I sport over baseball I'd quit giving my money to the university.
It is not a mute point, we can hear it just fine.
Neither one is even going to be contemplated until our football team is a juggernaut that brings in heaps of cash. The likelihood of that happening is pretty low.
Nobody gives a flying **** about hockey in Iowa. Look at the Chops - the highest level of hockey Iowa could ever hope for and nobody cared. You're not going to beat the northern schools for recruits and even if ISU was good nobody would care. Also, it doesn't fit our conference.
Baseball at least a few people would care. Iowa has some pretty good baseball talent to recruit from, our conference is strong which would help recruiting. The cost of starting a baseball team would be huge. You would need a whole new field/complex. The only way I could see it happening is with a joint venture with the city and a professional summer league team (Northwoods League).
If you want to see baseball or hockey at ISU - buy a ******** of season football tickets. Get enough sold and maybe the money will be there to add one of those sports someday.
Very good point. I never thought of that side of it.
I was only thinking of the recruiting factor. Thanks for pointing that out.
I don't know that this is necessarily true. I think the Chops was more a case of crappy management, not lack of interest. I thought the Chops/Stars had decent fan support and I'm pretty sure most of the USHL teams in the state do as well. ISU baseball has been PROVEN to not be a draw.
I get that. Forgive me for asking a question not specific enough for some. When was the new facility built mon frere?
Northwestern, Illinois, Iowa, and Penn State would supposedly all be in prime hockey areas, but none have added it. If it was a budget issue, those schools could drop baseball and add hockey. And the school that the Big Ten just added doesn't play hockey either. Yet 11/12 play baseball. If there is an NCAA conference that would sponsor hockey, given the geography, you'd think it would be the Big Ten, yet they don't, and they just passed up an opportunity to add a school that could put them in the position to do it.
Could the writing on the wall be any more obvious?
The Big Ten Network does broadcast Big Ten related hockey games. Anything involving two Big Ten teams they have the rights to. They broadcasted the Michigan vs. Wisconsin game held in Camp Randall earlier this year and I watched numerous Michigan State games as well.
No, I think your bias could not be any more obvious.
Listen, from a pure competitive standpoint hockey would be a better addition to Iowa State than baseball. There is already a built in recruiting base of players in Iowa from the USHL. While more athletes from Iowa high schools may play baseball that does not necessarily make them any more loyal than the athletes who come through here to play juniors.
There are handfuls of quality junior players from Iowa each year that when recruiting a few of them can make a difference on a team. I can think of one I have played with this spring that will likely make a DI roster and is from Des Moines. His only problem is the Bucs will not take a look at him and he is trying out for their USHL competitors.
Baseball was not incredibly successful in its first stint and we were recruiting Texas. Before people say that the team was never given a fair shake in the Big XII before being cut, I will agree. However, just because we get more TV and travel time in Texas will not make our team any better.
Amateur hockey in Iowa is very well supported and a university team in Ames would likely gain a healthy following very, very quickly.
I was not aware of this. I was pretty sure that all the U of M games were on FSN North, which I assumed wouldn't have been the case if Big Ten was able to broadcast WCHA hockey. If that's the case, the whole thing is a little bit of a moot point then.
Would still rather see hockey than baseball though. I think baseball is a dying sport in this country (coming from somebody that watches more Twins than Wild) and just because more high schools in the state play baseball doesn't mean more kids would become fans because of baseball.
Most or all of the WCHA schools listed have women's hockey as well.
I don't think going from club hockey to the WCHA is a good idea. You are talking the creme de la creme of college hockey and ISU would be getting their lunch handed to them on a regular basis.
I have to agree on Al Murdoch. He won't be getting any favors from anyone at ISU. He has done a lot for ISU Hockey, but unfortunately it has been at the expense of ISU Hockey, if you know what I mean...
Maybe you are wearing hockey-knitted earmuffs...
Do you play hockey? I don't play either sport.
Isn't there also a built-in recruiting base for baseball? You have provided no evidence to support your claim that ISU would be more competitive in hockey.
If there are more playing baseball, then there is a bigger base from which to draw potential future ISU supporters. Generally, a bigger base from which to draw from will yield more supporters.
Perhaps that had to do with coaching. The last coach was not particularly successful. However Corrigan and Randall (1980-1994) before him were right at 0.500 for those seasons.
How do you know that?
It may very well develop a healthy following, but this isn't the primary issue. The bigger question is whether baseball would develop a stronger following, and which sport would ultimately be of more overall benefit to the university.
This comment irks me.
Did you ever make it to an AHL game?
After the past few weeks people browbeating ISU in the realignment talk you should learn to stop making obtuse statements. I could make a superficial assessment that "nobody" gives a flying **** about ISU athletics.
Iowa's AHL franchise was doomed the day Howard Baldwin sold out to the Schlegels. The failure of the AHL in Iowa had nothing to do with support (Iowa's AHL team had attendence figures that were healthy, and on average for the league) it had more to do with the desire of the Schlegels and Tom Hicks on getting their farm club to Texas.
I was a fan of ISU baseball, and I went to numerable games at Capp Timm when they were still playing. So please don't take offense, but the Iowa Stars/Chops attendence figures dwarf even the stoutest season-attendance records for Cyclone baseball. If you can give me some solid figures when 4500 people were showing up routinely for Cyclone baseball games in the 1990s, I'll eat my hat.
2010 Division I Baseball Attendance
School Avg. Total #
1. LSU 10,598 201,363 19
2. Arkansas 6,615 79,380 12
3. Texas 6,225 93,368 15
4. Ole Miss 6,206 86,883 14
5. South Carolina 6,083 85,161 14
6. Mississippi State 5,919 71,026 12
7. Florida State 4,665 55,985 12
8. Clemson 4,476 58,189 13
9. Alabama 4,043 44,473 11
10. East Carolina 3,619 50,667 14
11. Texas A&M 3,415 51,232 15
12. Miami, Fla. 3,307 46,303 14
13. TCU 3,304 27,308 9
14. Rice 3,268 35,952 11
15. Southern Miss 3,229 38,752 12
16. Arizona State 3,227 38,730 12
17. Florida 3,086 46,294 15
18. Hawaii 3,049 51,833 17
19. Wichita State 2,877 23,019 8
20. Tulane 2,827 50,879 18
21. Baylor 2,534 38,013 15
22. Georgia 2,500 27,495 11
23. Virginia 2,310 25,413 11
24. Auburn 2,195 26,351 12
25. Texas Tech 2,062 24,744 12
26. Louisiana-Lafayette 2,046 28,645 14
27. Cal State Fullerton 2,008 18,074 9
28. Oregon 2,004 16,031 8
29. Vanderbilt 1,882 24,460 13
30. Fresno State 1,805 23,475 13
31. Oregon State 1,795 16,160 9
32. Georgia Southern 1,700 23,797 14
33. Stanford 1,588 14,295 9
34. Kentucky 1,501 19,571 13
35. Georgia Tech 1,426 18,538 13
36. New Mexico 1,422 15,643 11
37. Louisville 1,370 17,812 13
38. North Carolina 1,250 22,500 18
39. Nebraska 1,224 4,895 4
40. Long Beach State 1,220 13,420 11
2008-2009 AHL Attendance
Team Yesterday Total Games Average
Hershey 0 359,499 40 8,987
Manitoba 0 310,761 40 7,769
Grand Rapids 0 297,905 40 7,448
Chicago 0 292,635 40 7,316
W-B/Scranton 0 279,347 40 6,984
Philadelphia 0 258,376 40 6,459
Providence 0 253,718 40 6,343
Houston 0 239,281 40 5,982
Lake Erie 0 237,370 40 5,934
Manchester 0 235,289 40 5,882
Milwaukee 0 235,107 40 5,878
Syracuse 0 208,429 40 5,211
San Antonio 0 206,680 40 5,167
Portland 0 193,132 40 4,828
Hamilton 0 184,952 40 4,624
Bridgeport 0 181,114 40 4,528
Iowa 0 172,881 40 4,322
Hartford 0 167,606 40 4,190
Norfolk 0 164,363 40 4,109
Rochester 0 163,188 40 4,080
Peoria 0 160,759 40 4,019
Springfield 0 158,064 40 3,952
Binghamton 0 156,671 40 3,917
Rockford 0 156,352 40 3,909
Worcester 0 156,089 40 3,902
Toronto 0 149,139 40 3,728
Albany 0 141,550 40 3,539
Quad City 0 121,396 40 3,035
Lowell 0 91,728 40 2,293
League 0 5,933,381 5,115
So the Iowa Chops averaged attendance on par with at Top 10 Collegiate Baseball Team.
I still won't say that "nobody" cares about college baseball.
Hey! We're talking about this again!? This might get a little long.
Anyways... Here are my thoughts on this whole thing. Conference realignment rekindled my love for this topic in a big way. Chris can tell you, that this has been a passion of mine since I was a junior at ISU and this is something I've researched a lot.
Full disclosure: I worked for the hockey team at ISU. I still work in hockey somewhere else.
Just this past year, an organization called College Hockey, Inc. (Play College Hockey!) was formed. One of its main goals is to persuade 5-7 schools to add college hockey within the next five years. Paul Kelley, the director of this organization has already mentioned ISU as a potential. That's of course without talking to JP, but knowing the school is in just about the perfect recruiting location in the sport.
Unfortunately for all of us, there are few conference options. The WCHA is at capacity having added Bemidji State and Neb.-Omaha just this year. The CCHA (includes Notre Dame, Michigan, MSU, OSU, etc.) has one spot open and would be the second most ideal conference. They are at 11 teams after UNO's departure.
There is only one Division I independent in all of college hockey in U of Alabama-Huntsville (yes, they have hockey and yes, they made the NCAA tournament last year) Their conference dissolved when four teams left, and now they are on their own and may cease to exist if no conference option is found. Independent teams won't work in college hockey.
As it stands, the college hockey landscape is poised to expand. I believe the primary targets, outside of ISU, from College Hockey, Inc., are Illinois, Penn State, Syracuse and Northwestern. College Hockey, Inc. is also pushing hard to encourage Pac-10 schools to add hockey (this is the longest of long shots, but in theory: brilliant).
JP needs to do what is right for ISU. Right now, that's keep status quo. However, if ISU ever wants to be considered a major player in the NCAA landscape, it HAS to add sports. Winning championships in football and basketball is great, but competing in multiple fan-friendly sports is a feather in our cap and, I think, great for enrollment.
In the ideal world, ISU adds Baseball and Hockey (M & W) and so on. It may be years away, but hockey would make a TON of sense at ISU for reasons already mentioned.
If you're still reading... CONGRATULATIONS! We're done... for now.
Anyways... Here are my thoughts on this whole thing. Conference realignment rekindled my love for this topic in a big way. Chris can tell you, that this has been a passion of mine since I was a junior at ISU and this is something I've researched a lot.
Full disclosure: I worked for the hockey team at ISU. I still work in hockey somewhere else.
Just this past year, an organization called College Hockey, Inc. (Play College Hockey!) was formed. One of its main goals is to persuade 5-7 schools to add college hockey within the next five years. Paul Kelley, the director of this organization has already mentioned ISU as a potential. That's of course without talking to JP, but knowing the school is in just about the perfect recruiting location in the sport.
Unfortunately for all of us, there are few conference options. The WCHA is at capacity having added Bemidji State and Neb.-Omaha just this year. The CCHA (includes Notre Dame, Michigan, MSU, OSU, etc.) has one spot open and would be the second most ideal conference. They are at 11 teams after UNO's departure.
There is only one Division I independent in all of college hockey in U of Alabama-Huntsville (yes, they have hockey and yes, they made the NCAA tournament last year) Their conference dissolved when four teams left, and now they are on their own and may cease to exist if no conference option is found. Independent teams won't work in college hockey.
As it stands, the college hockey landscape is poised to expand. I believe the primary targets, outside of ISU, from College Hockey, Inc., are Illinois, Penn State, Syracuse and Northwestern. College Hockey, Inc. is also pushing hard to encourage Pac-10 schools to add hockey (this is the longest of long shots, but in theory: brilliant).
JP needs to do what is right for ISU. Right now, that's keep status quo. However, if ISU ever wants to be considered a major player in the NCAA landscape, it HAS to add sports. Winning championships in football and basketball is great, but competing in multiple fan-friendly sports is a feather in our cap and, I think, great for enrollment.
In the ideal world, ISU adds Baseball and Hockey (M & W) and so on. It may be years away, but hockey would make a TON of sense at ISU for reasons already mentioned.
If you're still reading... CONGRATULATIONS! We're done... for now.
Perhaps to gauge Iowa interest in the two sports, it would be better to compare the I-Cubs to the Chops. Don't the I-Cubs average over 7000 per game for a 70+ home game season?
