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Wow, what a difference 5 months can make

RockEyeState

RockEyeState

HB MVP
Nov 17, 2015
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In July, you had nerds, like John Muller and his clowns (TOS) actually calling for
Captain Kirk to be replaced, as soon as possible.

You also had the Chuckleheads who were 'not going to Renew their
Season Tickets until blah, blah, blah'.

Those same 'fans' are now scrambling around to buy $500 Rose Bowl tickets.

Myself? I've been a Season ticket holder for over 15 years. And, by continuing to renew in
2015, when other whiner-types were not, I was able to upgrade my seats.

It is ALWAYS GREAT to be a Hawkeye.

Very truly yours, Ashton Kutcher
 
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I also remember the media and fans saying Iowa had the worst O-line in 30 years after the spring game.

I had a feeling Kirk would make another run at a NC. He refocused and got his assistants on the same page. The value of Brian Ferentz was underestimated. He was under Bill and NE for a few years and the knowledge he collected paid off.

I hope Kirk can keep this team focused in 2016. We will have a target on our backs all year and probably be ranked in the top 10. In the past, Iowa has not played well being ranked in the top 10. I hope Kirk continues to attack and not revert back to his old ways of ball control and field position.
 
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The state of Iowa and its people invest heavily in its football team. It is perfectly reasonable to expect a return on that investment. By any objective measure, the previous five seasons (2010-2014) were not a good return on the amount of investment made. I do not fault people one bit for pulling their money out of the program after the end of last season; it was a perfectly reasonable decision at the time.
 
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markfromj said:
Those "chuckleheads" got the attention of Barta and Kirk, and played an albeit minor part in forcing changes that led to this magical season. I am one of them.
Click to expand...
Changes happened more than 5 months ago. None of the whining over the summer had any influence
 
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5 months ago I was worried about beating Ill. St.

Man how things change.

Still disappointed we didn't pull out the CCG because of the opportunities they had to do so. Hard time not being thrilled overall with the year and direction of the program
 
PCBHAWK said:
I also remember the media and fans saying Iowa had the worst O-line in 30 years after the spring game.

I had a feeling Kirk would make another run at a NC. He refocused and got his assistants on the same page. The value of Brian Ferentz was underestimated. He was under Bill and NE for a few years and the knowledge he collected paid off.

I hope Kirk can keep this team focused in 2016. We will have a target on our backs all year and probably be ranked in the top 10. In the past, Iowa has not played well being ranked in the top 10. I hope Kirk continues to attack and not revert back to his old ways of ball control and field position.
Click to expand...

I must have missed the first run at a National Championship, what year would that have been?
 
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So by another run at a NC, you meant he would start another season? You were right, sorry to have questioned it ;).
 
markfromj said:
Those "chuckleheads" got the attention of Barta and Kirk, and played an albeit minor part in forcing changes that led to this magical season. I am one of them.
Click to expand...
Oh, the need to justify and quantify. If you are so good at getting people to listen and change, please talk to Trump.
 
RockEyeState said:
In July, you had nerds, like John Muller and his clowns (TOS) actually calling for
Captain Kirk to be replaced, as soon as possible.

You also had the Chuckleheads who were 'not going to Renew their
Season Tickets until blah, blah, blah'.

Those same 'fans' are now scrambling around to buy $500 Rose Bowl tickets.

Myself? I've been a Season ticket holder for over 15 years. And, by continuing to renew in
2015, when other whiner-types were not, I was able to upgrade my seats.

It is ALWAYS GREAT to be a Hawkeye.

Very truly yours, Ashton Kutcher
Click to expand...

Ahhh ... Another "I told you so" from another "I'm a superfan and you're not" message. Nice
 
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icwesthawk said:
I must have missed the first run at a National Championship, what year would that have been?
Click to expand...


Finishing as a consensus top ten team in each of 2002, 2003 and 2004 did not really happen.

And that 2009 team that was 9-0/5-0 at one time with a win over highly ranked Penn State.... just ignore that also.
 
Agreed... KF didn't make a single mistake over the last 5 years

Agreed... KF didn't deserve any criticism for anything over the past 5 years

IMO what happened is he got complacent... after a period of doing a half ass job he couldn't live with himself and reinvented himself and the program.

While people debate whether or not the fans had anything to do with the turn around, I think Kirk would be the first to admit that he didn't like the direction of the program at the end of the 2014 season and change was required. While Kirk should absolutely be praised for his success in 2015, he should have absolutely been criticized for the teams performance before this season.
 
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markfromj said:
Those "chuckleheads" got the attention of Barta and Kirk, and played an albeit minor part in forcing changes that led to this magic season. I am one of them.
Click to expand...
Massive rationalization of the
Fire Ferentz Faction is hilarious.
You all were completely wrong and ignorant, were a impediment to success, and the very definition of fair weather fans, a/k/a Whinny Ass Titty Babies.
 
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I've struggled with this all year. Not because fans shouldn't have questioned KF, but because many of them couldn't act like grownups in the process. I'm not even just talking about the message board - it was people i talked to in the real world. Some of these people were friends or even family.

I think I've landed in a place I feel good about though.

Those people that weren't acting like grownups - you are idiots

The people (like myself) that respected KF but hoped he retired or maybe it was time for a change - we are idiots

The "super fans" that talk about how great of fans they are because they never question anyone - you are idiots.

We're all just dumb people following a bunch of college kids play a silly game. I'd rather just do that than ask for apologies.
 
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Come May or June if people who chose not to renew this year can't get ST's in 2016. I won't feel sorry for them.
 
markfromj said:
Those "chuckleheads" got the attention of Barta and Kirk, and played an albeit minor part in forcing changes that led to this magical season. I am one of them.
Click to expand...

Complete BS but if it makes you feel better. Any changes that were made were planned or in place long before season tickets went on sale. Tennessee had an order of magnitude more impact than fans who chose not to renew season tickets.
 
One of the single biggest signs to me re where the program was before the season started is the schedule poster.
Iowa-Football-Poster-Schedule.jpg


Cannot remember when the poster last did not show star seniors-to-be or at least the coach. Pretty sure that is not even A. Stone or J. Jackson in the photo. Are they other players wearing those numbers? Are they "male models"? The design was positively Lickliterian. It just screams, "yeah, this is another year."
 
Titanhawk2 said:
Changes happened more than 5 months ago. None of the whining over the summer had any influence
Click to expand...

The 5 month parameter was the OP's. But he went into "not renewing season tickets", which many folks (me included) chose to not renew long before 5 months ago. (For example, I wrote Barta in March as to why I was not renewing, and got a nice response.) So keep me out of the 5 month limit.
 
Titanhawk2 said:
Yep, in August when word was they were 10,000 short, Gary and Kirk just whipped those boys into shape and voila...
Click to expand...

Yes, because, since the drop in ticket orders was announced publicly in August, that was the first Gary and Kirk knew of it, too. Good point.
 
SingaporeHawk said:
Oh, the need to justify and quantify. If you are so good at getting people to listen and change, please talk to Trump.
Click to expand...

Exactly proving my point: How a good size group of individuals can impact something big (a football program, a presidential race).
 
Last edited:
Hwk-I-St8 said:
Complete BS but if it makes you feel better. Any changes that were made were planned or in place long before season tickets went on sale. Tennessee had an order of magnitude more impact than fans who chose not to renew season tickets.
Click to expand...

Saying the Tennessee outcome had more impact than fans (I agree) does not mean fans had no impact. It all adds up.
 
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markfromj said:
Those "chuckleheads" got the attention of Barta and Kirk, and played an albeit minor part in forcing changes that led to this magical season. I am one of them.
Click to expand...

I know what you are thinking you accomplished and I respect your right to think that way. But you guys accomplished nothing. Zero. Nada. Ferentz and staff came to their own conclusion after being very unhappy with the just ended season ...and especially motivated to address the final three games performance. All of the credit for this season goes to the coaches, staff and players. The rest of us were just bystanders watching the parade of victories roll on down the street.
 
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It's all about the individual fans' perspective on what they believe Iowa football, and Kirk Ferentz...are.

KF is an outstanding coach who got stuck in a rut of doing things colectively "his way". He recognized it - and I don't give a shit what happened to enable that - but he did, and he took steps to correct it. We now see the results. He didn't suddenly get smarter or a better coach, nor was he stupid or a bad coach prior. He merely adjusted to the times...and the results were positive.

I only wish it had been a couple years ago. And I think it's a fool's errand to hold that against him too. It's not like he tried deliberately to suck...but I'll remind you, would you rather have a 4-8 or 7-6 year...or a 2-10 year like our cousins to the northwest suffer through regularly.

It doesn't take a lot of imagination to see Iowa falling to the depths of a Purdue or Iowa State or Illinois. All it takes is one bad coaching hire to happen here at Iowa.



Secondly, fans of the Hawks as witnessed on this board view Iowa football very differently from an expectations as it relates to KF's salary aspect. They believe we're paying $4M a year, we expect $4M a year results - is a view shared by many in the lot. A lot of money in the CFB world, especially when it was signed.

I fully understand that line of thought. I would only say I would agree with that with a caveat.

I don't give a crap who the coach of Iowa is, it's very hard to do what Iowa did this year at Iowa. There's a reason why this has only been done once in all our lifetimes. This is why, even in recent years when Iowa paid $4M for their football coach and we "didn't get our money's worth"...my thinking is KF is a BARGAIN at $4M a year. Here's why.

How much do you think Iowa State would pay a coach to wind up at #5 in the nation after the regular season is over? 80 years of football, 10 seasons ranked, exactly one week in the top 10.

$5M? $8M? How much per year would Iowa State fans be willing for their university to pay any coach that actually led them to a season such as what we just witnessed? Just OPNE season like this? $50M over 10 years?

I'm betting they would, and not think twice about it.

Kirk Ferentz is a bargain, folks. And a great football coach. Would we wish for more seasons like this? Sure. I just wouldn't expect them regularly whether KF is coach, or Knute Rockne or any other great coach there is or ever was. Otherwise, it would have been done a lot more times over the years.
 
Hwk-I-St8 said:
You apparently ignored this sentence: "Any changes that were made were planned or in place long before season tickets went on sale."
Click to expand...

Not buying season tickets was not the only way Gary and Kirk could have gotten feedback, you know. Hell, as far back as the 2014 Nebraska game meltdown, I am sure that generated some negative messages to Gary and/or Kirk.

But let me ask you: How do you know when changes were made or even planned versus any particular date?
 
ih8iast8 said:
Exactly. The program was evaluated & changes were made months before a single season ticket order was placed.
Click to expand...

Why just the continued focus on season tickets as the single, only way feedback was given? For all you know, a big donor called Gary January 3rd and said "change or you're toast". My letter to Barta was long before "season tickets ordered could be placed". (Not saying my single letter did much, but maybe 500 such letters did.) Recall Kirk's rhetorical question: "Is it really that bad out there?". They heard the consternation in many ways. I do not believe all of that feedback had no impact.
 
Sometimes it takes the extreme case to prove the marginal point: So, to those of you saying fan feedback, including declining to buy season tickets, had no impact: Are you saying that if we sold zero season tickets, that would not have generated other changes? Or even more pressure to succeed?
 
markfromj said:
Sometimes it takes the extreme case to prove the marginal point: So, to those of you saying fan feedback, including declining to buy season tickets, had no impact: Are you saying that if we sold zero season tickets, that would not have generated other changes? Or even more pressure to succeed?
Click to expand...


Mark - You are a good poster so please rethink this and get back to us when you are ready to make a valid point.
 
soybean said:
I know what you are thinking you accomplished and I respect your right to think that way. But you guys accomplished nothing. Zero. Nada. Ferentz and staff came to their own conclusion after being very unhappy with the just ended season ...and especially motivated to address the final three games performance. All of the credit for this season goes to the coaches, staff and players. The rest of us were just bystanders watching the parade of victories roll on down the street.
Click to expand...

i'm not completely buying this. for a couple of reasons: why did kirk release the 2 deeps in january? why did he do those promotional videos stating that he was going to get back to work and the reason the product wasn't up to snuff was because he was spending too much time fund raising? why even bring this up if you you're not trying to placate the fan base?

if you think the internet fans fom this site were the only ones complaining loudly to the admin, i'm willing to bet you are wrong. this is a business, we are the consumers, and there were a lot of upset consumers. some with a lot of pull and dough to throw around. it's my belief that anyone who thinks this turn around had zero, nada, to do with the unhappiness of the consumer, is naive.

no one is claiming it to be the only reason, but to dismiss it entirely is nonsensible. imo

edit to agree: yes, the season's success are due exclusively to the players and coaches. but there was a facilitator for the change we saw. i think those fans had a say in that change.
 
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