Chad Leistikow throws appropriate shade at Carver crowds
- Thread starter FWIW4922463
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I’d like to see DM get 2 conference games per year.
Also 2 non conference games per year. 1 of these being Drake & UNI every other year again. Or play them both each year in DM.
Another thing, with less home games in IC it would put a premium on the fewer home dates. Maybe get some people out there off their asses & into Carver.
Not sure what exactly "throwing shade" means. But I'm pretty sure this article would not be an example of it.
At no point is Carver even mentioned in the article. All he said is that Pentagon was the best "home feel" so far this season
At no point is Carver even mentioned in the article. All he said is that Pentagon was the best "home feel" so far this season
I guess Des Moines is the answer to everything!
Yeah that's bullshit. I get many wrestlers have a basketball inferiority complex but why do you have to lie about this constantly? On a basketball board of course
There's events where Carver is on fire and dead for both bball and wrestling, let's stop the BS. And does anyone think Carver wouldnt have been rocking last year when bball was top 10 most of the season?
They were ranked #1 briefly and had an elite 8 and sweet 16 b2b in 87/88, I'm guessing that had something to do with fan enthusiasm. It's a program problem, not a fan or building problem. It's no coincidence fan enthusiasm fell off in the years flowing the last sweet 16 over 20 years ago.
Nah, enthusiasm was great the early Alford years with Recker and Evans, watching them beat #1 UCONN at the Column his first game was one of my better hawk memories and the runs in the BTT were fun in 01 and 02.
Pierre Pierce and how Alford handled it is what gutted fan enthusiasm along with missing the tourney 02-04. The 06 #2 seed team that almost won the b10 helped a bit but the damage was done before Lick (Barta) put the program in the dumpster and set it on fire
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You are identifying brief moments that were enormous outliers. The first two tournaments were great, of course. That produced a miracle in 01 and made little difference to the 02 team. Although both teams were supposed to be outstanding both had losing conference records, 7-9 and 5-11. Neither team would have qualified, and 02 ultimately did not but for that 01 championship. So those tournaments were exciting, the seasons were not. So even the brightest moments quickly dulled for Alford.
Alford's seasons were usually noteworthy collapses in conference and losses to what appeared inferior talent. All spirit crushing.
Is that based on sales, like most "attendance" statistics are, or some kind of different metric like butts in the seats? Remember, Nebraska has had sellouts since Jesus wore sandals, but their stadium has looked decidedly less than capacity of late.
Lots of institutional ticket sales (e.g., HyVee, Principal and dozens of other corporate sponsors) that do not produce actual attendance.
Now you're talking. Iowa needs to reconquer dominance of the Des Moines media. Iowa State kills us in local coverage. The DSM met area is twice as large as the entire populations of Linn and Johnson Counties. DSM has the largest media market in the state, obviously. I'm guessing DSM media covers probably a third of the state or even more. The Clowns have a disproportionately large representation in that large market area. Iowa needs to turn that around and create a much stronger presence while presenting the Clowns as a second city/little brother on a permanent basis.
Playing some kind of tournament at Wells Fargo, at least every four years would open us to an entire world of coverage. There are thousands of media broadcasters from all over the world in town for the Caucuses. Iowa vs. St. Johns or UCLA or some other good media matchup. It would be easy for the broadcasting network because all the necessary electronics will already be in place (the trucks start arriving a couple of weeks out).
Bring in 3 other decent programs and call it "The Iowa Caucuses". Hell, we'd probably get millions of hits leading up to the tournament by pure accident.
This is exactly what I’ve been trying to tell this fool in the thread.
Maybe he’ll understand it better coming from you.
Iowa/Iowa State should copy the Braggin’ Rights (Illini/Mizzou) setup in St. Louis, except at Wells Fargo:
I was asking about the games on the remainder of this schedule. Your hypothetical sounds decent but was looking for your opinion on this schedule.
This is probably going to get lost in this stupid thread, but I've gone to two games with my son this year. When I looked on the Hawkeye Ticket website for tickets, the only tickets available were 2/3 of the way to the top and around. Nothing close to courtside. When we got to the game, all of those seats that were "sold" were empty. Completely empty, the entire game. I don't know if it's season ticket holders just buying tickets and not showing, or companies buying allotments and not giving them to employees, but those seats are "sold". This is a large problem.
The issue of Carver being quiet for basketball games is not simply a "fan," "program," or "building" issue - it's a combination
- Carver can absolutely get loud - we've seen it loud for a lot of basketball games and wrestling matches
- Faults of the building:
- Carver's design is not conducive to generating a lot of noise. Kinnick seats nearly 40,000 less than Michigan's Big House, but Kinnick is easily louder. It's not that Michigan doesn't have a devout fanbase. Some stadiums are just simply more conducive to capturing the noise generated by fans.
- Carver has a very large capacity, but when only 10,000 / 15,000 show up, the 10,000 in attendance are less likely to be as engaging as a sold-out arena of just 5,000 fans. Humans, by nature, are very driven by groups and generally don't want to stand/yell when alone. Events like basketball games, wrestling matches, concerts, etc. are much more likely to evoke more passionate interaction from the audience when the venue is at capacity. For example, you're much more likely to get someone to join a packed dance floor than an empty one.
- Faults of the program:
- The program hasn't been to the Sweet 16 in 20 years. There's been some very good Iowa teams since then, but none has had any significant success in the NCAA tournament. That dampers fan enthusiasm.
- The non-conference schedule is often pretty weak, and this year's non-conference schedule is about as weak as I can remember. The best team Iowa has played at home so far is the UMKC Kangaroos. While Carver's design is not conducive to generating a lot of noise, that doesn't mean it can't. It just means that the scenarios have to be closer to perfect in order to get the desired atmosphere. It's simply not going to be very loud playing teams like Longwood and Portland State in the nonconference. But a home game against a top 25 when Iowa has a tournament-caliber team is probably going to be a decent environment.
- Student sections generate the most noise. Iowa gives the student section terrible seats and spreads them out. Reserve even just a small amount of some of the premium seats for students and you'll get the most passionate student-fans to pack those premium seats and generate noise that the rest of the arena can build off of.
- Faults of the fans:
- I won't fault those that actually attend games - and just because you attend does not mean that you need to stand and yell the whole game. But we should devote some sections for the fans that want to sit so they don't throw a wet blanket on the enthusiasm of those who sit around them.
- Faults of circumstances:
- Iowa is obviously very cold in winter and bad weather can often make it dangerous to travel long distances, and the cold in general makes it less appealing for fans to travel to games.
- Parking options kind of suck around Carver - many people need to walk 15+ minutes to/from Carver to get to their cars, which again in winter, sucks.
- Most students are not from the Iowa City area originally, and thus are less likely to make it to games during winter break.
- Many games are at 8:00 pm on week nights. If you stay for the full game, even if you're only traveling from Cedar Rapids, you'd be lucky to get home by 11:00 pm.
Iowa/Iowa State should copy the Braggin’ Rights (Illini/Mizzou) setup in St. Louis, except at Wells Fargo:
Half Black/Gold, half Red/Gold. Would sell out every year and become an awesome tradition.
Yes they should and play it on a Saturday afternoon every year
If Barta was smart, he would save The first 3-4 rows ringing the arena with students, Tickets should be cheaper and general admission,first come get the best seats,Put the money folks at the top. Also close it in with suites,that would take care of the leaving early. I don’t know how to address the parking issue,but I know it is real. Somebody smarter than me could figure it out,but it would probably be costly.
Honestly, I haven’t looked at our schedule that closely this year.
I’d give DM a big game Pur/Mich St/Oh St & a lesser game Minn/Ind/Mary.
It’d be interesting to see how attendance is for both of those type of games.
It would be interesting to see the Eastern Iowa fans excuses on why they can’t make it to Carver start to disappear when they have 4 less home games as options to go to each year.
I guarantee the average attendance would go up with less dates.
I also guarantee DM would sell more tickets than IC for the few conference games they get each year.
The DM crowd would more than likely be rowdier too. See Sioux Falls.
I guarantee the average attendance would go up with less dates.
I also guarantee DM would sell more tickets than IC for the few conference games they get each year.
The DM crowd would more than likely be rowdier too. See Sioux Falls.
To a lot of students, if it's not happening on their phones, it's not happening.
For whatever reason, at ISU, every game is an event for students. Here, it is an inconvenience.
For whatever reason, at ISU, every game is an event for students. Here, it is an inconvenience.
I was just saying there was fan enthusiasm those early Alford days before everyone realized he was Alfraud in response to the statement fan interest was dwindling in the late 90's. I was there then and Carver was frequently full and rocking. Can't remember what year the Pierce stuff happened but that's when it went to hell but Horner/Brunner/Haluska revived it briefly. Lick took it to another level of suck
It's like that for a lot of schools that have been awful to unimpressive at football ie Kansas, Indiana, Syracuse, Illinois, Arizona etc
It was much easier to fill Carver when 90% of games were Wednesday night at 7pm or Saturday afternoon. You could plan around that. That consistency has been traded for TV revenue. Carver was built for a different time. It's still a great place, but it wouldn't be built today.
Newer basketball arenas with closer sidelines, steeper profiles, and premium seating are much better for basketball. I never did understand why they made the floor area so huge in that place. It's like it was built for Olympic Hockey or monster truck rallies, instead of for basketball and wrestling.
Newer basketball arenas with closer sidelines, steeper profiles, and premium seating are much better for basketball. I never did understand why they made the floor area so huge in that place. It's like it was built for Olympic Hockey or monster truck rallies, instead of for basketball and wrestling.
Hey Rocky, what kind of crowds do your iowa Wolves draw? Asking for a friend.
Jizzer pointed out a legit problem. People/organizations are a buying a lot of good tickets and not using them. Building a smaller arena would only hurt the game day atmosphere in these non conference cupcakes especially.
With a smaller arena, it’s safe to assume many of the same number people/organizations will continue to buy season tickets. Jizzer can look to the university for single game tickets, which would be scarce to find anything beyond singles in good sections. The other option would be to go to the secondary markets and likely pay a lot more than the value of the ticket. Which likely leaves Jizzer and Jizzer children staying home to watch it on TV.
The last several years, there’s been a push to build a smaller arena. I just don’t get it. I think if that happened ticket prices would push away the casual fan and likely some hardcore fans (non season ticket holders). We’ll still have many of the high dollar donors that we have now. Nothing would change for the better, IMO.
Iowa has the capability of turning CHA into ~8,500 to 10,000 seat arena now with the curtains. I’m guessing there’s a reason they’ve never done it for men’s basketball but we see it for almost every other function held at CHA.
They would need to look at it during the scheduling window. The remainder of this schedule wouldn't be conducive to moving the games to DSM. Many of the same challenges would exist and the eastern Iowa fans would have similar challenges to the central Iowa fans. I think the first 2-3 games that were moved would generate additional interest but then it would diminish as the novelty wore off.
You like my name.
Here is the solution. How does the University get these people/organizations, round them up and resell their tickets for face value. It needs to happen ASAP.
You like my name.
I do like the name.
Another question would be (and likely why we’re seeing the issue) is why would the university care if someone sits there or not? They’ve already got their money for the seat. The only thing the school is missing out on is concession sales and atmosphere. Only one of those you can put a price tag on. By the complaints, they don’t appear all that interested in concession sales.
It’s up to the individual fan/organization to get these unused tickets out to someone who will actually use them. Donations, stub hub, scalpers….. just get them back out there.
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Agree, and why aren't they doing this? My guess, it's many older hawk fans you'd see knitting at games in previous years, that have the money to not even care. On top of that, Barta doesn't care, because he's getting that money as well, so why would he care how things look as long as they keep their season tickets sold.
I like how he says it's not a complaint then complains. He is right though.
Probably followed with ‘I don’t mean to sound ungrateful but…… ‘
Silly to complain about crowd size for a Thanksgiving break game against Omaha.
I mean yes, the crowd size is pathetic for a good team. It still doesn't mean players or anyone really should be calling out fans for not attending. We live in a world where ever more demand is put on your resources and your time. When people have options, they will exercise them. The Alford and Lickliter years were overall not good, and that coincided with jump up in other entertainment options, whether streaming services or whatever.
The ticket prices are not crazy for single game seats. Looks like Georgia Tech game is priced at around $20 for adults (more for better seats) and $10 or so for kids under 18. If someone lived 30+ miles away, you are looking at $60-75 for tickets for 2 adults and 2 kids, plus gas, plus parking, plus any food and the time factor of it being the whole evening. For some people, dropping $75-100 for that is nothing, for others, that is a serious crimp on the monthly budget for one game.
Yes, and then we get to be lectured by the media members who are paid to cover the game and don't pay for tickets. Nice.
Need to play one game each year at Vibrant Arena (f/k/a the Mark) in the Quad Cities. I’m confident you’d get a full and highly engaged crowd.
It’d be 4 hours there, 4 hours back for me. But for those closer; does UI do any teaser promotions for these types games? Certainly there are creative ways to get people in the stands for these pre conference season ‘buy a win’ game.
But not a good look from Connor, IMO. Their family already comes across as extremely smug and jilted and this type of call out doesn’t help with that.
But not a good look from Connor, IMO. Their family already comes across as extremely smug and jilted and this type of call out doesn’t help with that.
Yeah, I don't think that particular article lectured anyone - it's a year old and was about the great atmosphere in the small Sioux Falls arena.
But there are plenty of times when the size of the Carver crowd is called into question by the media or the fans.
Are the fans supposed to feel guilty for not going to the games? I sure don't.
Perhaps Iowa does need to look at alternative venues for a couple games - DM or the QC.
But of the fans don't want to go to the games, they aren't going to go.
