I became a Cyclone when?

cyclonelifer · 07-17-2007, 05:28 PM

I can honestly say I was never a hawkeye fan. Winter of '66 became a Clone fan. I forget which coach it was but he came to NJ to recruit my brother. We took pictures off the wall and he set up his video projector and we watched the highlights of the '66 season.

Spring time of '67 we enter Clyde Williams field and the rest is history. Got to see some great athletes play on that field. Jack Mildren, Johnny Rodgers, Lynn Dickey, and I can't remember who was the CU QB in 70-71 but he was a talent too. And ISU had a few good players as well Dean Carlson, Otto Stowe, George Amundson, Keith Krepkle (sp?), Matt Blair.

Then watching the program grow and watching the '71 Sun Bowl on TV and my brother out on midfield for the coin toss. A very unique time in Cyclone history, played in a very unique stadium.

candg4ever · 07-17-2007, 05:31 PM

I moved to Ames in 1961. The first year there we lived across the street from the old stadium in what was then called Lincoln Apts. (kittycorner from Taco Bell). I think they're condos or something now.

I always heard the shouting and cheering on Sat. afternoons. Finally bugged my mom and dad enough that they let me go to a game, and I been hooked ever since.

ornryactor · 07-17-2007, 05:36 PM

I was born and raised in Iowa City. Both of my parents have graduate degrees from Iowa, but neither one really cared about college sports, so I never did, either. My dad was the most casual of Hawk fans (as in he'll watch a football or basketball game on TV if there are no chores that need to be done and he happens to flip past that channel), and my mom only watched them because my dad did. I tried being a Hawk fan in high school alongside all my friends who were raised in diehard homes, but never did get into it. I decided to go to ISU and promptly became a proud Cyclone fan for the last 4 months of high school.

Got to campus, joined the marching band, jumped in headfirst and never looked back. I live and breathe cardinal and gold now.

My initial plan was to at least cheer for Iowa whenever they weren't playing ISU, just because I wanted our state to win. Then I went to the 23-3 game, saw what most Hawk fans were like, and changed my mind on the spot. I still struggle with it, because I want our whole state to be represented strongly, but I also like the sound of silent Hawkeyes. My mom converted almost instantly, and when my sisters bother to care about any sports at all, they're Cyclone fans, too. I'm still working on my dad, but I've almost got him.

BvK1126 · 07-17-2007, 05:37 PM

Originally Posted by candg4ever

The first year there we lived across the street from the old stadium in what was then called Lincoln Apts. (kittycorner from Taco Bell). I think they're condos or something now.

Did they have that understated yet strangely foreboding sign in front that just said "ROOMS" when you lived there?

herbiedoobie · 07-18-2007, 02:59 AM

Basically from birth. Grew up in Northwest Iowa, listening to 1040 AM to the Hawks getting stomped on the radio.

Became fanatical about ISU sports during the 1977-78 era. Still remember reading the front of the "Big Peach" with the frame by frame pictures of "The Run" (Part I) when Dexter Green broke 11 guys' ankles (and something like 6 tackles) and went the distance against some opponent I don't even remember.

Took one school visit to a girlfriend's college at Morningside, said "see ya!" and enrolled at ISU. Ran the pre-game colorguard for the Army ROTC for 4 years, and still make an effort, when I'm in the country, to attend as many games as possible.

Al_4_State · 07-18-2007, 07:37 AM

I escaped my Hawkeye-mother's womb...

jdoggivjc · 07-18-2007, 08:23 AM

Originally Posted by Al_4_State

I escaped my Hawkeye-mother's womb...

That's kinda mean. She may be a Sqwak, but she DID carry you for 9 months (how many times did you hear that growing up?)...

Shall we start calling you li'l Stewie?

CyGal · 07-18-2007, 08:28 AM

I was pretty much a clean slate until I met my husband. He's a HUGE fan, and by then it dawned on me that nearly all of my family members that actually went to college chose ISU, so that was just reinforcement. Well, that and the fact that my husband would probably leave me if I tried to cheer for Iowa.

Al_4_State · 07-18-2007, 06:39 PM

Originally Posted by jdoggivjc

That's kinda mean. She may be a Sqwak, but she DID carry you for 9 months (how many times did you hear that growing up?)...

Shall we start calling you li'l Stewie?

haha, sure, lol. My dad is an ISU grad, and my mom an Iowa grad. Growing up I would cheer for both teams, but ISU always took priority. I think that was my reaction to most people knew back then being hawk fans. Anyways, I always thought that I would still wish Iowa well when they weren't playing us, but 2 weeks into my freshman year, I started my passionate hatred for the University of Iowa. I don't know if my mother will ever forgive me...

CYKID · 07-18-2007, 07:02 PM

Born in Iowa, moved to Omaha in my formative years. Cheered for Huskers because there really wasn't any other choice. Moved back to Iowa in 11th grade and started looking at schools. Chose Iowa State. Realized that Nebraska fans and Iowa fans are cut from the same stock. They blame the officials or injuries for their losses, have tunnel vision, think they are going to win the National Championship every year, think that any Iowa State victory must have some flaw to it, and are generally obnoxious to other fans at their home stadiums. This of course does not portray every fan, but there are definitely more of these types of fans at UofI and NU. Thats not the type of fan I am nor the type I wan't my kids to be. It's good to be home.

darts180 · 07-18-2007, 07:40 PM

I became an Iowa State fan when Gene Smith tabbed Dan McCarney to lead the football program. I knew that it was only a matter of time before the golden age of Iowa State football would be upon us..........JUST KIDDING.

Actually, I was a late in life child, and when I was very young, my oldest brother went to Iowa State, so the first of everything (football game, basketball game, wrestling meet, etc) was at Iowa State.

Then 1981, the Hawks went to the Rose Bowl. Their bandwagon became FULL, and I just couldn't stand to be like everybody else, even then, so I started rooting for State, forsaking the Hawks at all costs.

EDIT

Oh, I almost forgot, I was actually named after an Iowa State player, a punt returner in the late 60's (God I am old), named Jeff Allen. I believe he played for Johnny Majors. My brother suggested it, my mom liked the name, and the rest is history.

PsychedClone · 07-18-2007, 07:46 PM

I became a Cyclone fan last year when I stumbled upon this cool website.

Detasseler · 07-18-2007, 07:50 PM

Grew up in Waterloo, Dad, 3 brothers and 2 sisters went to ISU, also great aunt and great uncle who met at ISU, so I had a pretty good start. What sealed the deal was when I was three days old my dad brought me home from the hospital and baptized me with an Iowa State coffee mug. Dad passed on his great loathing and hatred of Iowa to me.

superfan · 07-18-2007, 07:55 PM

Grew up a die-hard Badger fan. Found out early in High School that UW didn't offer an Aerospace Engineering degree. It came down to Iowa State or Purdue, and I chose ISU because of the distance and partly due to the lack of playing Wisconsin in athletics. When I came here I wasn't about to be a half-a$$ed fan, it was all or nothing.

Finding someone equally as crazy as I was in Flag Guy was a major help, though.

ISUclones33 · 07-18-2007, 08:09 PM

jeez, alot of former hawks.... the point... You are all Cyclone fans, and we are happy to have you here. Especially on these forms, because that means you step just a little bit further than any other fan