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Chad Leistikow throws appropriate shade at Carver crowds

In the postgame with Dolph , Fran thanked the Iowa fans for their support.
No big deal.
 
Carver stinks….that Dayton NIT game years ago was fun though….drop the ticket prices and make it general admission.

And these holiday break games? Play them at. Xtream arena and make it general admission too. I know I would be much more inclined to get a crew together, hit up Backpocket, Iowa Athletic Club and 30-hop….then head in and watch the game. It would be a fun evening at IRL.
 
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.
Exactly. There are other places around the country where the atmosphere is much different for most any game (see Indiana or Michigan State). And I don't think just giving the students the best seats around the court would solve the problem (although it might help).

The schools I cited have a decades long tradition of excellence that Iowa is not going to recreate. It is just in the student body DNA or culture that the students go to games. And for people that have not lived/worked in Indiana for any length of time, the attention to basketball in general and to the Hoosiers in particular is magnitudes different than in Iowa. Indiana also has nearly 7 million people, while Iowa has about 3M.

The average home life of the family in the IC-CR corridor that has expendable income is also much different that it was in the 1980s. Families with kids above age 5 or so likely are involved in youth basketball, swimming, indoor soccer, music lessons or any of a myriad of things. All activities the parent have already spent money for and aren't skipping for a Monday night game against Omaha. For most families, just going to every Iowa home basketball game no matter what isn't an option. So you end up with the fans that attend the most games being the retirees, who do have the time and income. But they aren't venturing out if the weather is bad or health reasons or whatever.

There is no easy answer/fix. The answer may be that for home non-con games against bad teams, attendance is just going to be bad.
 
no yea... I don't think the problem is the blue hairs... I think its the mom and pops... they spend too much time eating ice cream and looking at their phone... and nearly no time at all cheering on the Hawkeyes and applauding their effort.

I do think ticket prices are way too high... I agree with that.

but its almost as if we live in world where people aren't getting excited unless they have something to complain about... as if, people are looking for faults in players and or coaches... rather than looking for reasons to support the team they pretend to root for..

I'm serious about that.

look at the game thread from last night... people spend so much time focusing on how poorly they think JO and RM are playing... and PS for that matter... they lose focus on how well the others did play.

the outstanding play of our Hawkeyes gets overshadowed by the perceived weakness of others.

you have a choice to be positive or negative.
being negative does not make you smart.. it makes you dumber than dog doo.

how about this for a unique perspective... enjoy the team you root for..
have fun watching the team you love.
 
The game threads tend to be full of malcontents and trolls. They pounce on the 1st negative and keep looking for the negative. It is exhausting.
especially after this football season and look how that’s panned out….. I’ve quit engaging for the most

F5n5 pretty much summed it up but it’s not what people want to hear…… I’ve been a fan of everything Hawkeye for longer than many on here have been alive and there’s a few bumps in the road but overall they’ve always made me proud for the most part

anyone that actually competed athletically has to understand that there’s going to be disappointing times….. even in down years there can be positive things occur….. players growing and improving over the course of the year….look at the football team…… there’s lessons we could all learn from their resilience and sticking together now having success…..

in some ways teams like that are are even more deserving of our respect and support
 
"Even with just 3,250 in the stands, this was the loudest home feel Iowa players have experienced all year." That's what Chad wrote in his Press-Citizen story of last night's Utah State game, and he was absolutely right.

Here's the link: https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/s...e-sanford-pentagon-fran-mccaffery/8952263002/

We've had recent threads devoted to the problem that is Carver and the people who show up to watch basketball there, and most people realize something needs to be done to bring the energy back to Iowa's home court. Many excellent ideas have been proposed, but the only real option for the rest of this season is for fans to show up and act like sports fans rather than an audience attending a funeral.

I said in another thread before last night's game in Sioux Falls that I thought it was fortunate that Iowa was coming off the break and playing in the Pentagon where the fans would provide energy all night long whereas a Carver crowd would have been on mute.

It's a shame that the rowdy Iowa crowds of days gone by are as infrequent as 70-degree days in an Iowa City December. But Barta needs to do something about it ASAP. And I said several years ago, were I Fran, I'd demand the students be seated around at least the bottom 20 rows of one side of Carver and that other changes be made to reestablish a home court atmosphere.

And as I said a few days ago, even one the nation's top 11 football players said he chose Iowa partly based on the amazing atmosphere in Kinnick during the PSU game this season. Iowa very well may be missing out on key recruits because nobody wants to play college basketball in a cone of silence. And the Hawkeye players deserve much better.

I will never forget how the old field house rocked the night Iowa almost upset Ohio State on February 18, 1961.
The fan noise was deafening with students stomping on the metal stands in the upper deck. Iowa led almost the entire game before succumbing in the waning seconds 62-61, The Iowa starting five was Don Nelson and four reserves as four of the starters were academically ineligible. Ohio State was undefeated and ranked No. 1. It would be great to have noisy crowds like that again.
 
Exactly. There are other places around the country where the atmosphere is much different for most any game (see Indiana or Michigan State). And I don't think just giving the students the best seats around the court would solve the problem (although it might help).

The schools I cited have a decades long tradition of excellence that Iowa is not going to recreate. It is just in the student body DNA or culture that the students go to games. And for people that have not lived/worked in Indiana for any length of time, the attention to basketball in general and to the Hoosiers in particular is magnitudes different than in Iowa. Indiana also has nearly 7 million people, while Iowa has about 3M.

The average home life of the family in the IC-CR corridor that has expendable income is also much different that it was in the 1980s. Families with kids above age 5 or so likely are involved in youth basketball, swimming, indoor soccer, music lessons or any of a myriad of things. All activities the parent have already spent money for and aren't skipping for a Monday night game against Omaha. For most families, just going to every Iowa home basketball game no matter what isn't an option. So you end up with the fans that attend the most games being the retirees, who do have the time and income. But they aren't venturing out if the weather is bad or health reasons or whatever.

There is no easy answer/fix. The answer may be that for home non-con games against bad teams, attendance is just going to be bad.
I curious, but not curious enough to figure it out.

How many schools in the country have great crowds for both football and basketball?

Sure, there are some - including in the B1G. But I think Penn State struggles to get a home crowd for basketball, Indiana and Purdue struggle to get big crowds for football.

It might be a case of saturation - Football crowds are huge, Iowa women and wrestling draw well.

Anyway, as long as Carver gets filled for P5 games, I'm not sure it's a problem.
 
especially after this football season and look how that’s panned out….. I’ve quit engaging for the most

F5n5 pretty much summed it up but it’s not what people want to hear…… I’ve been a fan of everything Hawkeye for longer than many on here have been alive and there’s a few bumps in the road but overall they’ve always made me proud for the most part

anyone that actually competed athletically has to understand that there’s going to be disappointing times….. even in down years there can be positive things occur….. players growing and improving over the course of the year….look at the football team…… there’s lessons we could all learn from their resilience and sticking together now having success…..

in some ways teams like that are are even more deserving of our respect and support
Bingo!
 
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I notice that the so called "Blue Hairs" stand and clap when the fight song is played as they are supposed to. The 25 or so students who showed up last night sit on their butts and play with their phones.

The problem with Carver is not the donors. It is the disengaged students. They simply have no pride or interest in the team. I don't understand it. Some smart marketing person should attack this problem and fix it. I believe it could be done, but not sure the administration gives a crap. "Let's just do what we have always done that has never worked"". Sheesh.
 
What’s funny is we’ve been good for awhile now. And very fun to watch. I bitch about our offense in football, and Frans teams get up and down the court. We’ve had Garza, player of the year, Murray, player of the year and now Kris Murray looks primed to do the same. While we haven’t had huge NCAA success we’ve won a conference tournament and actually been better than the football team.

I think Kinnick is an experience. And it’s only 6-7 times a year. Once conference starts I think the crowds will be good. We’re a couple days before a holiday and it’s Omaha on a Monday. Just my 2 cents.
 
It all comes down to winning. Iowa Basketball is decent, but nothing to get that excited about.

If Connor wants more people to attend, maybe the team should make more noise in the NCAA tournament.

Until then, there is no national relevance and no excitement around the program.

Winning cures all.
 
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I think location is horrible, the arena is too big for us, the seating for students sucks, the marketing team blows, and the lickliter stink is somehow still lingering. He did a number on this program and it is still trying to recover
 
It all comes down to winning. Iowa Basketball is decent, but nothing to get that excited about.

If Connor wants more people to attend, maybe the team should make more noise in the NCAA tournament.

Until then, there is no national relevance and no excitement around the program.

Winning cures all.
Again, you’re not really right. Frans won 20 games every season since 2012 except 1. 26 games last year. And we play a very fun style of ball. Since 2012 we’ve been equal to the football team at a minimum. And won a conference tournament. There’s no divisions in basketball either, so not avoiding the big boys some times like we do in football. Just saying.
 
I notice that the so called "Blue Hairs" stand and clap when the fight song is played as they are supposed to. The 25 or so students who showed up last night sit on their butts and play with their phones.

The problem with Carver is not the donors. It is the disengaged students. They simply have no pride or interest in the team. I don't understand it. Some smart marketing person should attack this problem and fix it. I believe it could be done, but not sure the administration gives a crap. "Let's just do what we have always done that has never worked"". Sheesh.

Our student section is awful and has been for years. Even for some of our packed WBB games last year, standing up during the game was too much work for them.
 
Again, you’re not really right. Frans won 20 games every season since 2012 except 1. 26 games last year. And we play a very fun style of ball. Since 2012 we’ve been equal to the football team at a minimum. And won a conference tournament. There’s no divisions in basketball either, so not avoiding the big boys some times like we do in football. Just saying.

The football team has been in the national spotlight in the past ten years much more than the basketball team has. Maybe it's a function of the sport, but it is reality.

Get back to me when the basketball team makes a tourney run.
 
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The football team has been in the national spotlight in the past ten years much more than the basketball team has. Maybe it's a function of the sport, but it is reality.

Get back to me when the basketball team makes a tourney run.
So if that’s all that really matters the football team has not been relevant either. We’ve been in 2 finals, against Michigan State and Michigan. Embarrassed last year against Michigan. After we lost to Michigan State we made our 1 RoseBowl and got destroyed by Stanford. I think the basketball team is held to a little different standard than the football team. You’re correct however that basketball has pretty much become about the tournament.
 
agreed.

we have a fan problem, not a building problem.

I have said this before; to get students to come, especially for these cupcake games we are playing, get creative. Maybe have Caseys bring in pizzas and feed the students. Give them a voucher for free ice cream. Have your water/soda vendor sponsor a free bottle of water to the students to wash down the pizza. once B1G play begins, you might not have to do this as often.

for the rest of the fans? i am not sure what you can do. seems like most make excuses for why they can't make it. or they'd rather watch at home, on their 4K TV. But this is not the building's fault.
The building causes the fan problems along with TV.

Not enough close convenient parking. The line of people waiting for buses sometimes reaches all the way down Newton. Buses come late and not ready to pick up people. 30 minute waits in the cold at 10 pm stop people from coming back.

6pm and 8pm start times are bad for people who work or have kids during the week days. Not all can get off work to pick up kids and be at Carver by 6. Likewise 10pm and driving home for 1 and a half hours on ice and snow covered roads sucks.

One thing is not going to solve the problem.
 
When Alford got the job at UCLA the local media destroyed him during his first presser in regards to PP...it still matters.
You hate Iowa basketball to this day because of PP? You've got serious issues (and others if that's their reason) to hold your hatred/bitterness over current players, coaches and the school. For the .0001% of you like that, stay home and keep making posts like you do. Stay far away from IC.
 
It all comes down to winning. Iowa Basketball is decent, but nothing to get that excited about.

If Connor wants more people to attend, maybe the team should make more noise in the NCAA tournament.

Until then, there is no national relevance and no excitement around the program.

Winning cures all.
Turrrrrrible, entitled take.

Iowa fans can play a direct role in winning, but instead you say fans are not showing up because the following hasn't created enough "excitement"... another Top 25 this season, again (out of ~350 teams). Iowa was rated #2 a few years ago, which eventually led to a #2 seed. They've won the Big Ten Tourney championship. They play exciting, offense-oriented bball. They've had multiple Big Ten Players of the Year. They've had 3 NBA players, about to be 4 recently. They are very much relevant on the national level. (How) ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!

I'm very glad Connor is trying to drum up some support, as Iowa has done plenty of winning to deserve additional fan support.

Simply put, more energy from fans means better chance of winning, which means better Tournament seeds, and more likelihood of advancing in the NCAA Tournament. Iowa fans need to do their part in this equation, because right now (and for some time) it's just not good enough.
 
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
That's a YOU problem. Stay home, live in the past. PP and Alford still rule your decisions. What a freaking joke.
 
Turrrrrrible, entitled take.

Iowa fans can play a direct role in winning, but instead you say fans are not showing up because the following hasn't created enough "excitement"... another Top 25 this season, again (out of ~350 teams). Iowa was rated #2 a few years ago, which eventually led to a #2 seed. They've won the Big Ten Tourney championship. They play exciting, offense-oriented bball. They've had multiple Big Ten Players of the Year. They've had 3 NBA players, about to be 4 recently. They are very much relevant on the national level. (How) ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!

I'm very glad Connor is trying to drum up some support, as Iowa has done plenty of winning to deserve additional fan support.

Simply put, more energy from fans means better chance of winning, which means better Tournament seeds, and more likelihood of advancing in the NCAA Tournament. Iowa fans need to do their part in this equation, because right now (and for some time) it's just not good enough.
Well said.
 
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Turrrrrrible, entitled take.

Iowa fans can play a direct role in winning, but instead you say fans are not showing up because the following hasn't created enough "excitement"... another Top 25 this season, again (out of ~350 teams). Iowa was rated #2 a few years ago, which eventually led to a #2 seed. They've won the Big Ten Tourney championship. They play exciting, offense-oriented bball. They've had multiple Big Ten Players of the Year. They've had 3 NBA players, about to be 4 recently. They are very much relevant on the national level. (How) ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!

I'm very glad Connor is trying to drum up some support, as Iowa has done plenty of winning to deserve additional fan support.

Simply put, more energy from fans means better chance of winning, which means better Tournament seeds, and more likelihood of advancing in the NCAA Tournament. Iowa fans need to do their part in this equation, because right now (and for some time) it's just not good enough.
Not so sure on this take….the team has had a plenty high enough seed recently and failed to make it out of the first weekend each time. We have been punching down most of the time and still get beat up.

I don’t believe Fran’s absolute failure in the NCAA tournament has much to do with the Iowa fan base….and to suggest otherwise is a bit disingenuous.
 
Not so sure on this take….the team has had a plenty high enough seed recently and failed to make it out of the first weekend each time. We have been punching down most of the time and still get beat up.

I don’t believe Fran’s absolute failure in the NCAA tournament has much to do with the Iowa fan base….and to suggest otherwise is a bit disingenuous.
I don’t think he’s saying that at all. Yes, last year was a big disappointment after winning the Big Ten tournament. As a top 4 seed you need to make the 2nd weekend. Doesn’t mean over the course of a 30 game season where our team is leading the Big Ten in scoring and starting to put guys in the league and playing exciting bball they shouldn’t be getting bigger crowds. And bringing up Alford and Pierce is beyond idiotic. Has nothing to do with today.
 
I’ve been saying this for a while. Eastern Iowa just doesn’t support the Hawks.

I wish there was a way for Iowa to play most of its home games in Des Moines.

You know, where the people are.
There are plenty of people in Eastern to fill Carver, especially if the students were to get involved. McCaffery puts an entertaining product on the floor every year, so I wouldn't blame the quality of the players. The BT hasn't done us any favors with some of scheduling. We should never be the "late " game in a doubleheader during the week. Some blame Alford for turning off the public and Lickliter for putting the rest to sleep, but they're long gone now. I don't believe there is anything wrong with Carver. I've been to a lot of very enthusiastic basketball crowds there. We know the crowds will be better once the BT conference games begin. Maybe it's just the non-conference home schedule that annually brings up this discussion.
For the record, the tickets sold last night was announced at over 9,000 and both Bobby and Fran applauded the crowd's enthusiasm in the postgame interview.
 
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The problem is becoming clear. Local Iowa City metro doesn’t have enough interest to fill seats. That’s why football doesn’t have a problem and basketball doesn’t when the games are on the weekend.
 
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If we continue to win this season (beating Duke, etc), there will be better attendance.

It's all about winning and national relevance. Until then, the students won't be excited.
 
They’ve had a tournament team 7 of last 9 years. Going to be 8/10.
Blast this from the rooftops. These results are unquestionably national relevance in college bball. The vast majority of the programs in the country would kill for this.

As a comparison, I'd say making the Dance is at least as equivalent as making the Outback Bowl every year, and Hawk fans fully support the football program with those results (while watching a much more "boring"/defense oriented team and product). I guess we are a football school?
 
Not so sure on this take….the team has had a plenty high enough seed recently and failed to make it out of the first weekend each time. We have been punching down most of the time and still get beat up.

I don’t believe Fran’s absolute failure in the NCAA tournament has much to do with the Iowa fan base….and to suggest otherwise is a bit disingenuous.
I think the last 2 years are the first time in Fran's tenure he has lost as a higher seed. And Iowa would have been an underdog/lower seeded team in Round 2 even last year since they were a 5 seed.

In any case, you have to keep putting yourself in the best position possible in the Dance and that directly comes from regular season results, which fans can affect (see Iowa-Penn St football game last year).

I'm certainly not saying Iowa losses in NCAA Tournament are caused by fans, I'm saying the likelihood of better Tournament results increases as the team does better in the regular season, and a better home environment can assist on that front.
 
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...and not past the second round.

Our attendance is better than our performance, year in and year out.
So you’re not interested in watching Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State during a regular season game at Carver?
 
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