Speaking of Cameron Bell

ISUclones33 · 07-18-2007, 10:27 AM

Everyone has their different view of how things are happening. The problem is, some cyclone fans have been given reason not to give into preseason excitment because we have been let down so many times. But with a new coach, for lack of a better word... Gene Chizik and his staff give us hope and reason to be excited. Excited fans filling the stadium in turn equals excited football players. Do you think the players are excited when its opening night and there are 50,000+ in the stands? Hell yes they are, it is the best feeling om the world to them. When the fans give up on the team, 40,000 fans, empty corners... players have that empty feeling, that people have abandoned them. We as fans have to support and be excited for our team game in and game out, With the Iowa State Cyclones, every game is a new day. You never know what is going to happen with Iowa State, that is what makes being a fan exciting. We beat a rising missouri team last year at the end of the season because the team was playing for something, they were playing for Coach Mac, and i cant even explain to you the emotion that went on with these players in that game. I personally cant excite you for Cyclone football, but if there is a time to be excited fans..... guys it is now. The more momentum and support we have for Gene Chizik and the Iowa State Cyclones going into the season, the more we have coming out. GO BUY YOUR SEASON TICKETS, QUIT BEING PESSIMISTIC AND YELL LIKE HELL. after all..... we are Iowa State

everyyard · 07-18-2007, 10:37 AM

Originally Posted by ISUclones33

Everyone has their different view of how things are happening. The problem is, some cyclone fans have been given reason not to give into preseason excitment because we have been let down so many times. But with a new coach, for lack of a better word... Gene Chizik and his staff give us hope and reason to be excited. Excited fans filling the stadium in turn equals excited football players. Do you think the players are excited when its opening night and there are 50,000+ in the stands? Hell yes they are, it is the best feeling om the world to them. When the fans give up on the team, 40,000 fans, empty corners... players have that empty feeling, that people have abandoned them. We as fans have to support and be excited for our team game in and game out, With the Iowa State Cyclones, every game is a new day. You never know what is going to happen with Iowa State, that is what makes being a fan exciting. We beat a rising missouri team last year at the end of the season because the team was playing for something, they were playing for Coach Mac, and i cant even explain to you the emotion that went on with these players in that game. I personally cant excite you for Cyclone football, but if there is a time to be excited fans..... guys it is now. The more momentum and support we have for Gene Chizik and the Iowa State Cyclones going into the season, the more we have coming out. GO BUY YOUR SEASON TICKETS, QUIT BEING PESSIMISTIC AND YELL LIKE HELL. after all..... we are Iowa State

Awesome post. Is it game day yet!! Of course I will be there waiting for the lots to open at the usual 5AM bell.

rd4isu · 07-18-2007, 10:39 AM

I totally agree 33. And I'm really excited about what this coaching staff can do.

I've purchased season tickets since my first year as an undergrad. I've been to every game (minus a few weddings) and sat through some horrible beat downs. The problem seems to be a large percentage of the fan base jumps ship after one thing goes wrong. It's embarrassing and frustrating as a fan to see empty seats and hear fans moaning and groaning constantly. Not sure how to change that, just an observation I guess.

dinger · 07-18-2007, 10:45 AM

is bell quick or is he just fast? a guy like that (230 4.4) would be great for iso's and dives but can he get the corner? either way its amazing, im just wondering if he will bring that final part to wrap up the whole package.

joepublic · 07-18-2007, 10:47 AM

Originally Posted by rd4isu

The problem seems to be a large percentage of the fan base jumps ship after one thing goes wrong. It's embarrassing and frustrating as a fan to see empty seats and hear fans moaning and groaning constantly. Not sure how to change that, just an observation I guess.

To change the fanbase you win, and then you win, and then you win some more.

That's really only happened consistently under Earle Bruce. I'm sure their will be folks that say 8-3 just isn't good enough, but I'd take Earl's 8-3 with regularity (not adjusted for games played inflation) in a heartbeat.

ISUclones33 · 07-18-2007, 11:00 AM

he is straight line fast and he is a bull, he dont move much side to side. one thing i noticed is he needs to lower his shoulders more... 230 pounds, he can run some guys over. He will learn. I think he will be a tremendous goal line back this year.

pulse · 07-18-2007, 11:01 AM

Originally Posted by jdoggivjc

I think most of us are in agreement that the result of the team from last year boiled down to coaching decisions. Take that team and put it in the hands of capable coaches and it's not a 4-8 team. That's the reason for optimism. The talent's there - the question that will determine the season is how is all of this offseason work going to impact the O and D line. It sounds like it's having a huge impact. It sounds like we're not going to be pushed around this year. And if the coaches play calls this year that cater specifically to the O and D needs instead of hampering them (and if the stars and planets align in just the right way), then this COULD be a very special year.

I agree. Coaching (predictability) has been a big reason for our struggles. Chizik and Co. will bring us back. JP wouldn't have hired him otherwise. If we wanted to go 4-8 again, and again he might as well have stuck with Mac, no doubt about it.

ISUclones33 · 07-18-2007, 11:11 AM

agreed, Mac would have us back at 7-5 sooner or later, JP knew that. JP wants more. Gene will get more than 4 in 2007. we should AT LEAST be bowling. Why not be optimistic?

BryceC · 07-18-2007, 11:19 AM

It'd be kind of cool to have some two back sets with Bell and Bass, since they bring two very different styles to the field.

cybsball20 · 07-18-2007, 11:21 AM

Can bass catch the ball? Can he line up in the slot some? If he could that would make us very dangerous and unpredictable, especially with both of them in the game...

ISUclones33 · 07-18-2007, 01:41 PM

Bass has good hands for a back, i think we will be using him in slot or in screen situations.

clonecone · 07-18-2007, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by joepublic

I'm sorry but I disagree. It was an issue of talent in too many games, not just coaching. Blame the coaches for lousy recruiting, or blame them for lousy player development leading to no depth. But the butt whippings I saw last year were related to not enough talent to compete more often than not.

I hope you are right and I am wrong. We'll know soon enough.

Unfortunately, we did have talent last year. Youth and inexperience too, but talent none-the-less. A lot of the same talent that put us in a position to win 10 games in 2005. Last year was an embarrassment. If you'll recall, we had about 5 or 6 players who were given preseason all-conference honors, and at the end of the year we had 1 all-conference performer who wasn't even on the preseason list. Some had to do with injuries (Blythe, Jackson). But a lot of it was coaching and development.

I will agree that we had little depth last year after the talent in the starting positions, but we've always had little depth. Teams like Kansas, Toledo, UNLV, UNI, K-State, Colorado all had the same type of talent as us, some even lesser. We very well could've lost to all 6 of those teams, when at the beginning of the year, on paper, we should've beaten all 6 handily.

darts180 · 07-18-2007, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by jdoggivjc

I think most of us are in agreement that the result of the team from last year boiled down to coaching decisions. Take that team and put it in the hands of capable coaches and it's not a 4-8 team. That's the reason for optimism. The talent's there - the question that will determine the season is how is all of this offseason work going to impact the O and D line. It sounds like it's having a huge impact. It sounds like we're not going to be pushed around this year. And if the coaches play calls this year that cater specifically to the O and D needs instead of hampering them (and if the stars and planets align in just the right way), then this COULD be a very special year.

I do agree that it did come down to coaching decisions, however, I think that some of the decisions were of the recruiting variety. Yes we were lousy fundementally, and that can be improved upon, but the real problem was that, in spite of what we were told, we didn't really close the talent gap. Then you take into consideration that kNU has walked past us in three years, it is certainly a daunting task.

I do expect to see a tougher team, mentally as well as physically. I expect to see a coaching staff that, not only makes adjustments, but also puts the hammer down, instead of praying for the clock to run out.

But at the end of the day, in spite of the hope that we had over the past 12 years, it comes down to making plays, and we are at least a couple of bullets short.

darts180 · 07-18-2007, 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by rd4isu

I guess the question becomes how quickly will our fan base "fracture" when things don't go as envisioned? What if we get drilled by Iowa or have a near miss with UNI again? Will the fans toss in the towel and say it's no different than the previous regime or will they give it time to get off the ground?

I think that there is still a segment of the Cyclone population that wishes that Dan were still the coach. I expect those people to make themselves heard when something goes wrong.

I also expect the people on here, who set themselves up before every season, to lament their lot in life as a Cyclone fan. We saw last football season, and basketball season, hell we are seeing it in basketball recruiting threads, and I am sure that we will see it again.

jdoggivjc · 07-18-2007, 02:24 PM

Originally Posted by darts180

I also expect the people on here, who set themselves up before every season, to lament their lot in life as a Cyclone fan. We saw last football season, and basketball season, hell we are seeing it in basketball recruiting threads, and I am sure that we will see it again.

No kidding here. Sure, I think we can pull out 7 wins this year, but I won't be overly disappointed if it ends up being 4 wins or less. It just means I grossly overestimated the amount of talent that Chizik is working with this year.

As far as the MBB, what's the deal with the attitude change in the last 48 hours? Earlier in the week most of us couldn't wait for the BBall season to start because they were looking forward to what the recruiting class could add to the team this year. Suddenly McD isn't able to pull in two recruits for the '08-'09 season (which is debatable if we even needed those guys anyway) and Chicken Little's going around saying that the sky is falling - McD's not getting the job done. The guy's in his first full offseason and he pulled in ONE HELL of a recruiting class, one that may very well have set us up for the next four years. And Chizik's got the football team going in the right direction. Cyclone sports hasn't looked this good in a long time and we are letting minor setbacks derail our enthusiasm. Can we as a fanbase get a grip just for once?