View Point of Older Fans

[MontyBurns]

OK I'll make it clear:

Earle Bruce had 3 winning seasons and 2 bowl games (0-2) at ISU, and he beat his biggest rival, Iowa, one time.

Dan McCarney had 5 winning seasons and 5 bowl games including 2 bowl wins, and he beat his biggest rival, Iowa, 6 times. By they way, Dan's two bowl wins are the only two bowl wins in ISU history.

Dan McCarney is the best football coach in ISU's history. Nobody has come close to him in number of wins, number of winning seasons, rivalry game wins, bowl appearances, or bowl wins. Whatever Earle Bruce did at Ohio State is nice for Ohio State. It's irrelevent to me. Do you claim part of Texas' 2005 national title belongs to ISU because Mack Brown was an assistant here 29 years ago?

 

[kingcy]

I know some long time season ticket holders that are upset about the price change in their seats and that is understandable. What some of the mad fans dont realize what it takes to win at this level. JTS need and needs the upgrades bad for a lot of reasons. JP has made people mad but he is putting people in the seats of JTS and that is what he gets paid to do. Even in Macs greatest of seasons ISU had a hard time selling 40,000 tickets and that is now becoming a norm. If a program in the Big 12 isnt making the changes and upgrades then they are falling behind and will have a harder time of catching up. I dont think some realize this. Dan Mac was a good coach at ISU and I am glad he did what he did and he was the coach (why do we always have to say this when talking about him) but the last few years he was at ISU it was more and more visable he was starting to lose the strides he made for one reason or another. At ISU you have small room for error before your program goes backwords and lets face it errors were made at the end of his tenure. These people need to look back and 06 and see how close ISU really was to going 0-11. Change is hard for some but you have to keep up with the times.

 

[bellzisu]

OK I'll make it clear:

Earle Bruce had 3 winning seasons and 2 bowl games (0-2) at ISU, and he beat his biggest rival, Iowa, one time.

Dan McCarney had 5 winning seasons and 5 bowl games including 2 bowl wins, and he beat his biggest rival, Iowa, 6 times. By they way, Dan's two bowl wins are the only two bowl wins in ISU history.

Dan McCarney is the best football coach in ISU's history. Nobody has come close to him in number of wins, number of winning seasons, rivalry game wins, bowl appearances, or bowl wins. Whatever Earle Bruce did at Ohio State is nice for Ohio State. It's irrelevent to me. Do you claim part of Texas' 2005 national title belongs to ISU because Mack Brown was an assistant here 29 years ago?

I'll keep biting on this Monty...

Dan McCarney had 4 winning seasons in 12 years as coach. 1 season 7-7.

Earle Bruce 3 winning seasons in 6 years. Given 12 years he would of easily gotten more wins then Dan, but he left, so who knows.

Dan had the bowl win. Bruce took the team to bowl games back when they meant more then 6 wins. He had one season with 8 wins and no bowls. Only 1 win against Iowa... Not the flippin SUPERBOWL...

Dan only beat Iowa cause of the SUPERBOWL mentality, cause he was an Iowa Hawkeye for a time.

Earle had teams that won 8 games 3 straight years.

Dan had the most underachieving season when we could of gone undefeated for the most part but couldn't beat Kansas or Missouri when it mattered. Although he did beat Iowa.

In no way did I mention anything that would connect coach Brown his title to ISU.

I stated Earle Bruce left ISU to go home and coach where he played college ball.

 

[bellzisu]

Anyway....

I really don't care much for the Dan arguement, cause for every 1 thing you throw out I can state 5 more that counter that. I love Coach Mac. He did alot of good things, but he is gone now for his own doing. He was a victim of his own success, cause we wanted more and ISU stalled out.

So.... What are the view point of older fans? I keep getting this afraid of change attitude.

 

[kingcy]

Anyway....

I really don't care much for the Dan arguement, cause for every 1 thing you throw out I can state 5 more that counter that. I love Coach Mac. He did alot of good things, but he is gone now for his own doing. He was a victim of his own success, cause we wanted more and ISU stalled out.

So.... What are the view point of older fans? I keep getting this afraid of change attitude.

I'm with you.

As people get older they get that afraid of change attitude. I remember my Dad would rip on is dad for never changing. Now my dad is the one afraid of change, not as bad as his dad, but he still fights it. Once the change is made he thinks its great but getting him to that point is hard at times.

 

[loki8838]

Call me what you will, but I honestly think they have cattered(sp?) to the older market for too long. I think its time this program takes a new shape and reaches out to a new generation. Shake things up and get some attention from a younger market. And as mean as this sounds, but the fans in their 70's arent gonna be around forever, and if we worry more about them then the younger fans, its possible Cyclones could fade with their generation.

They cannot alienate the older market, as they have all the money, and thus more donations.

 

[theshadow]

OK I'll make it clear:

Earle Bruce had 3 winning seasons and 2 bowl games (0-2) at ISU, and he beat his biggest rival, Iowa, one time.

Dan McCarney had 5 winning seasons and 5 bowl games including 2 bowl wins, and he beat his biggest rival, Iowa, 6 times. By they way, Dan's two bowl wins are the only two bowl wins in ISU history.

Dan McCarney is the best football coach in ISU's history. Nobody has come close to him in number of wins, number of winning seasons, rivalry game wins, bowl appearances, or bowl wins.

So Earle and Dan had the exact same winning percentage against Iowa. Pretty compelling argument you have there.

Also, Hayden Fry didn't punch an opposing player, resulting in a close-to-home head coaching vacancy.

Nobody came close to Mac in years/games coached, either. But that has no relevance to games won or winning seasons, does it?

 

[CarolinaCy]

Well, I'm not old by any means, but I really dislike the general direction that college football has taken. Basically it comes down to who has the most $$$, and it's so uneven from top to bottom, that the teams at the bottom won't ever be able to compete.

I would almost compare the current situation of the Big 12 to that of MLB. Texas (Yankees) has more money than they know what to do with, leaving teams like ISU (Royals) to flounder. We roll out a plan to spend $20mil on stadium upgrades (maybe another $65mil for the endzone project), then teams like UT and Mich throw $200+ mil into stadiums that already put ours to shame.

I hate to be such a cynic, but I really don't think it matters what we do to our stadium, which coach we hire, etc. We'll never have the financial resources to compete with the upper half of our conference on a regular basis. Sure, we might catch lightning in a bottle once in a while, but anyone who thinks we can consistently compete for conference championships in the Big 12 is chasing a pipe dream.

Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

 

[kingcy]

Sure, we might catch lightning in a bottle once in a while, but anyone who thinks we can consistently compete for conference championships in the Big 12 is chasing a pipe dream.

Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

I'll take it now and then or once every 5 or 10 years as long as we compete, have a good record, have a shot in each game, and go to bowl games 3 to 4 of 5 years. Heck I just want to see a conference title before my oldest girl goes to college in 16 years. Another thing I would like to see is fans still being there for the team in those off years.

I agree on the money spent point, but at ISU we have to be smarter and have less room for error as those big budget schools.

 

[Rogue52]

Well, I'm not old by any means, but I really dislike the general direction that college football has taken. Basically it comes down to who has the most $$$, and it's so uneven from top to bottom, that the teams at the bottom won't ever be able to compete.

I would almost compare the current situation of the Big 12 to that of MLB. Texas (Yankees) has more money than they know what to do with, leaving teams like ISU (Royals) to flounder. We roll out a plan to spend $20mil on stadium upgrades (maybe another $65mil for the endzone project), then teams like UT and Mich throw $200+ mil into stadiums that already put ours to shame.

I hate to be such a cynic, but I really don't think it matters what we do to our stadium, which coach we hire, etc. We'll never have the financial resources to compete with the upper half of our conference on a regular basis. Sure, we might catch lightning in a bottle once in a while, but anyone who thinks we can consistently compete for conference championships in the Big 12 is chasing a pipe dream.

Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

You do know that the parity in college football right now is like none that has ever existed right?

The teams lower on the money chain may not be able to have sustained success, but that doesn't mean they can't have successful years.

 

[CarolinaCy]

You do know that the parity in college football right now is like none that has ever existed right?

Ahh, the parity argument. This might be the biggest myth in college football today. The parity that everyone speaks of is because more and more, teams from lesser conferences sneak up and beat big names in a one-off situation. Boise St over OU, App St over Mich, etc. But look at the top teams in each conference year after year after year. Notice anything? It's pretty much the same teams over the past 10 years or so.

Sure, every once in a while a team like NW will sneak into the Rose Bowl, but how are they doing now? Iowa put together a pretty nice run not that long ago, want to trade places with them? When I see teams like Vandy, Indiana, UCONN, Wash St, ISU, Baylor, etc. compete for conference championships with any sort of regularity, then I'll believe the parity argument. Until then, it's just a myth.

 

[zach]

Like it or not, she is right about this.

Dan accomplished more at ISU (winning seasons, beating Iowa & Nebraska, bowl games, and bowl wins) than all of the other coaches in ISU's history combined.

Well, I like Dan and I am not going to split hairs on this...I bet he is a great neighbor and he has done great things for ISU, really. However, Dan tenure hit a wall and his momentum was lost. If that is the best we/you want, let me know what business you work for as I will never hire you. Good enough is not an option and I think that is what many people are getting used to. Complacency is what the people have that don't want change.

Marketing wise, the younger people are a bigger market and has higher growth potential and more longevity than the older demographic. All of which are important to the growth, however, it would be best if all could go with the flow and deal with the change.

Z

 

[cyclonedcm]

I'm older... I like the new colors and logo and I like Iowa State!

 

[scyclonekid]

If the upgrades in the athletic program are pointless to some old and young fans to compete in D1 ball, then I guess we could always go to the MAC conference!! I think NOT it is pretty simple that you have to spend money to compete in the Big Twelve or D1 ball at that. Sorry, but some people will never be happy and uncomfortabale about change that is life, I am just happy they are not the ones in the drivers seat:yes:

McCarney had a good career here not great. I am glad that Gene Chizik is here to lead the cyclones and also glad that Greg Mcdermott is here as well and Cael Sanderson. The future is bright here, but it is day to day. I like the new uniforms and logo bye bye past and hello future.

 

[Big12Fan]

Dang...I've had to change more in the last half of my 50-plus years than the first half and I'm not complaining either. Change is what keeps you young. I love being at the games...don't know that my kids (20 plus years old) have as good a time as I do! I am for JP and Chizik and what they are attempting to create in Ames. Some older people just like to complain ... ignore them!

 

[zach]

Oh one more thing. If you are going to stop following your team because a coach got let go and the new AD created a new logo and made some upgrades, you were not much of a fan for ISU or was a fan for the wrong reason.

Z

 

[Tornado man]

This is what I have found about old (er) people. As people age priorities change for most, it goes like this:babies->kids->teenagers->empty nest. At this empty nest stage they have less stress or things to gripe about (kids) and replace it with something else. So basically older folks don't have a gripe about the things from yester-year (cyclone wise) b/c they were more focused on griping or envolved kids or whatever.

My parents, empty nesters near retirement...gripe about everything under the sun now that they are getting more and more free time. Things they would have cared less about 2-3 ago and everything was better 10-20 years ago...even though they probably had less $ and more stress (kids).


JMHO from a kid born in the late 70's

You, sir, have hit the nail on the head. Do you write a column or blog on human behavior? If not, start one - I would read it.

 

[Rogue52]

Ahh, the parity argument. This might be the biggest myth in college football today. The parity that everyone speaks of is because more and more, teams from lesser conferences sneak up and beat big names in a one-off situation. Boise St over OU, App St over Mich, etc. But look at the top teams in each conference year after year after year. Notice anything? It's pretty much the same teams over the past 10 years or so.

Sure, every once in a while a team like NW will sneak into the Rose Bowl, but how are they doing now? Iowa put together a pretty nice run not that long ago, want to trade places with them? When I see teams like Vandy, Indiana, UCONN, Wash St, ISU, Baylor, etc. compete for conference championships with any sort of regularity, then I'll believe the parity argument. Until then, it's just a myth.

I think I was pretty clear that teams lower on the money chain can't sustain success forever, but what do you expect? Should the NCAA give less scholarhsips to Texas, Ohio State, and USC? It's not their job to play down to the competition.

By the way, Missouri may play for the national championship this year. And 25 years ago a team like Northwestern would have never played for anything, but I guess since they aren't a powerhouse then parity is a myth.

 

[Wesley]

The best talent we had at Ames was in the 70s. We still have a ways to go. The wide receivers were awesome and the the backfield was more accomplished. That was Johnny Majors time.

 

[Big12Fan]

Hmm...less stress in an empty nest?